The Classics Club Vol. 2

The Classics Club

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 decided it was 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.

Links from the title will take you to the book description on Goodreads, although not necessarily to the edition I own. I will update the list 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… 

  1. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (1839)
  2. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
  3. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens (1840)
  4. Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens (1841)
  5. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens (1865)
  6. The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson (1889)
  7. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope (1894)
  8. The History of Mr. Polly by H. G. Wells (1910)
  9. Trent’s Last Case by E. C. Bentley (1913)
  10. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (1915)
  11. Dr. Syn by Russell Thorndike (1915)
  12. Quartet by Jean Rhys (1928)
  13. Journey’s End by R. C. Sherriff (1928)
  14. After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean Rhys (1930)
  15. The Hound of Death and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (1933)
  16. Good-bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton (1934)
  17. Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys (1934)
  18. Victoria Four-Thirty by Cecil Roberts (1937)
  19. The Smiler with the Knife by Nicholas Blake (1939)
  20. Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys (1939)
  21. The Last Abbot by A. F. Webling (1944)
  22. The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier (1946)
  23. Lord Hornblower by C. S. Forester (1946)
  24. The Purple Plain by H. E. Bates (1947)
  25. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (1947)
  26. Creatures of Circumstance by W. Somerset Maugham (1947)
  27. Shannon’s Way by A. J. Cronin (1948)
  28. Head of a Traveller by Nicholas Blake (1949)
  29. The Blessing by Nancy Mitford (1951)
  30. A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by George Simenon (1951)
  31. The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier (1952)
  32. Trial by Terror by Paul Gallico (1952)
  33. The Story of Esther Costello by Nicholas Montserrat (1952)
  34. The Golden Hand by Edith Simon (1952)
  35. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie (1953)
  36. Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie (1954)
  37. Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier (1954)
  38. Island in the Sun by Alec Waugh (1955)
  39. Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute (1956)
  40. The Red Rock Wilderness by Elspeth Huxley (1957)
  41. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (1957)
  42. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden (1958)
  43. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (1959)
  44. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee (1959)
  45. Up into the Singing Mountain by Richard Llewellyn (1960)
  46. The Satanist by Denis Wheatley (1960)
  47. Thunderball by Ian Fleming (1961)
  48. Fear is the Key by Alistair MacLean (1961)
  49. Castle Dor by Arthur Quiller-Couch & Daphne du Maurier (1961)
  50. Stephen Morris by Nevil Shute (1961)