Tag: books

The Classics Club, Volume 2

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The Classics Club was founded in March 2012 with the aim of encouraging more people to blog about classic literature.  Members are invited to create a list of at least 50 classic titles they intend to read and blog about within a maximum of five years. 

I completed my first list back in 2021 and I’ve decided it is time to tackle some more of the classic books I own, many picked up in second-hand bookshops at a time when no trip to a place was complete without a visit to one or two. 

In constructing my list I’ve picked books published more than 65 years ago, i.e. 1961 or prior, and concentrated on physical books crowding my bookshelves. Although some are lovely copies, the majority are nothing special and the text in quite a few is very small. For this reason I may read digital versions or listen to the audiobook.  I’ve become pretty ruthless recently so, once read, many of the books on my list will be heading to the charity bookshop to be rehomed.

You can find my list here.

Currently links from each title will take you to the book description on Goodreads, although not necessarily to the edition I own. I will update the list with links to my reviews as I go along with the aim of having read and reviewed them all by 31st December 2030. Blimey, what a long time away that seems… 

My Bookish Goals For 2025 – The Results Are In!

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I set myself ten goals this year and now it’s time to check how I did…

  1. Achieve my Goodreads goal of reading 104 books – A near miss. I managed 102 but just could not squeeze in those final two
  2. Read more of the books I already own, including:
    • At least 20 books that have been in my TBR pile for longer than two years, i.e. January 2023 or prior – I read 19 which is another near miss but better than I’ve done in previous years
    • The five remaining books on my Backlist Burrow list, a challenge I started in 2023 but have made little progress with – I got nowhere again with this one
  3. Attend Henley Literary Festival and at least one other literary event – I went to several events at Henley Literary Festival and attended the Borders Book Festival in Melrose for the first time
  4. Complete two historical fiction reading challenges:
    • When Are You Reading? Challenge (see my updated post here) – Done
    • Historical Fiction Reading Challenge – I surpassed my target of 50, reading 65 historical fiction books
  5. Complete the What’s in a Name Challenge (see my updated post here) – Done
  6. Read all the books on The Walter Scott Prize 2025 longlist before the shortlist is announced – I didn’t manage this but I did read all the shortlisted book before the winner was announced. And I was there at the Borders Book Festival when it was!
  7. Reach the point where I’m read and reviewing every book on my NetGalley shelf in advance of publication – All the books on my shelf are now 2026 publications and my feedback ratio is 98%.
  8. Take part in a reading challenge I haven’t done before – I participated in the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shellyrae at Book’d Out and read three, which was my target
  9. Finally bite the bullet and update my blog’s theme – Pretty obvious I haven’t got around to this although I have updated the header
  10. Embrace audiobooks and aim to listen to one per month – It hasn’t been strictly one per month but I did listen to 12

I think I’m going to give myself 9/10. If you set yourself any bookish goals this year, how did you get on?