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Holly's 2013/14 Classics Bookshelf Challenge
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Nice list - I see a lot of great books on it:)I will be reading Middlemarch in January; if you don't finish it before then, you are welcome to join me!
Some great classics there Holly - I really want to read Persuasion but won't get to it until next year now. I'm going to try to read Wuthering Heights as it's our classic group read Nov/Dec. Good luck with your challenge!
I envy you this delicious stack of classics, Holly! A lot of them are my all-time faves, and you get to discover them all for the first time. Guh!
I read Middlemarch years ago. It is still one of my most memorable reading experiences. Hope you enjoy it.
@Faye: They're the result of buying but not reading for about 2 years. Only now am I trying to get round to them. What have been your favourites?@Albert: I'm 100 pages in, and enjoying it. It's just caught me out at a time where I have loads of work to do (typical), so it's been slow reading. If I have time tonight, hopefully I'll get a decent portion done!
Holly wrote: "@Faye: They're the result of buying but not reading for about 2 years. Only now am I trying to get round to them. What have been your favourites?"A Tale of Two Cities is my favourite book of all time, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is my favourite poem. Les Miserables and Tess of the D'Urbervilles are both in my top 5 favourite books, and The Phantom of the Opera isn't far behind. I also enjoyed Middlemarch and Dracula.
A Tale of Two Cities is up next after Middlemarch! I'll hopefully fit The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in sometime this November as it's only short! I just want to start everything now, but alas, I need to do one at a time!
Holly wrote: "A Tale of Two Cities is up next after Middlemarch! I'll hopefully fit The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in sometime this November as it's only short! I just want to start everything now, but alas, I ..."I also love A Tale of Two Cities - my favorite Dickens, and definitely one of my all-time favorites!
You're making me want to read it now! And I still have 600 pages of Middlemarch to read... I really should have picked a shorter book...
The one thing you need to know about A Tale of Two Cities before you start - even though the beginning seems slow, it totally pays off in the end. A lot of people think it's boring and quit before Dickens has a chance to show them what he's building up to, so I always try to make that clear to anyone who's about to read it. It's such an excellent book! :)
Holly wrote: "You're making me want to read it now! And I still have 600 pages of Middlemarch to read... I really should have picked a shorter book..."You can always change your plans! However, A Tale of Two Cities will still be wonderful when you get to it, regardless of when that is. :)
I've started A Tale of Two Cities twice already, and never got past the first book. I'll make sure to keep on going this time round!I know if I stop Middlemarch now, I'll never finish it. It's just going to take longer than expected...
Holly wrote: "I've started A Tale of Two Cities twice already, and never got past the first book. I'll make sure to keep on going this time round!I know if I stop Middlemarch now, I'll never finish it. It's ju..."
One thing that I like about GoodReads is that if you hit a difficult patch, you can get support. I would never have finished Ulysses if I had been reading it on my own! Sometimes, you find out that a section can be skimmed over; sometimes, you get the 'attaboy' which is needed to carry on; sometimes, you find that others also dislike a 'well-loved' classic and free you to say a book isn't for you.
In the meantime, I am restraining myself from joining you in Middlemarch as I have already agreed to a buddy read of this starting in January.
Holly, I plan to read A Tale of Two Cities in 2014, too, so I will be interested to hear how you get on with it. I hope you enjoy it this time!
Holly wrote: "I decided to start this now, as there is rather a lot and I really need to focus on them. There's a lot of time where I can read coming up (Christmas!). I have way too many unread classics on my bo..."
Les Miserables is probably my favorite book. You'll love it. It is work to get through, but once you get into it, it's hard to put down. I have two posters that are made out of the text of Les Miserables hanging on my walls, haha (my favorite one is from Postertext, if you want to get an idea of what they look like). A Tale of Two Cities is also one of my favorites. I don't think I've ever read it without crying like a baby during the last chapter, haha.
Les Miserables is probably my favorite book. You'll love it. It is work to get through, but once you get into it, it's hard to put down. I have two posters that are made out of the text of Les Miserables hanging on my walls, haha (my favorite one is from Postertext, if you want to get an idea of what they look like). A Tale of Two Cities is also one of my favorites. I don't think I've ever read it without crying like a baby during the last chapter, haha.
Lissa wrote: "Les Miserables is probably my favorite book. You'll love it. It is work to get through, but once you get into it, it's hard to put down. I have two posters that are made out of the text of Les Miserables hanging on my walls, haha (my favorite one is from Postertext, if you want to get an idea of what they look like). A Tale of Two Cities is also one of my favorites. I don't think I've ever read it without crying like a baby during the last chapter, haha."*looks up Postertext*
OHMIGOSH I'LL TAKE ONE OF EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!
*ahem*
I agree about Les Miserables - same thing as A Tale of Two Cities, if you stick it out through the first few chapters, you'll be rewarded. And I sob like a baby at the end of Two Cities, too, haha!
Faye wrote: "Lissa wrote: "Les Miserables is probably my favorite book. You'll love it. It is work to get through, but once you get into it, it's hard to put down. I have two posters that are made out of the te..."
I love Postertext, haha. They come out with a new poster on the 25th of every month and I have a bunch of them hanging on my walls and two more on the way, haha. All I need is to pick it up at Carton's speech and I am done for. I have the A Tale of Two Cities poster hanging in the living room, haha. You have to start Les Miserables when you have time to really sit down and take your time with it. It might just be me, but I cannot just casually read it on the train; I have to be at home in my big puffy chair with some tea.
I love Postertext, haha. They come out with a new poster on the 25th of every month and I have a bunch of them hanging on my walls and two more on the way, haha. All I need is to pick it up at Carton's speech and I am done for. I have the A Tale of Two Cities poster hanging in the living room, haha. You have to start Les Miserables when you have time to really sit down and take your time with it. It might just be me, but I cannot just casually read it on the train; I have to be at home in my big puffy chair with some tea.
I've just had a look at PosterText, it's amazing! I might have to ask for one for Christmas. Problem is, I don't have any more room on my bedroom walls... I own too many posters...I unfortunately got like 2/3rds of the way through Les Miserables, but just didn't have the push to finish it. Now I'm going to have to start all over again.
Just some updates:Middlemarch by George Eliot - read 05/11/13
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - read 10/11/13
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Middlemarch (other topics)Rocket Man (other topics)
My list:
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - Read 28/10/13. See my review
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Read 10/11/13
Middlemarch by George Eliot - Read 05/11/13
Selected Poems by T.S. Eliot - Read 29/10/13
Grimms Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Odyssey by Homer
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (I've failed once before to get through this...)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Really want to re-read this)
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
Gullivers Travels by Jonathon Swift
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
I wish I hadn't typed them all out now... It looks hideously long.
Anyway, I'll bold the ones I've read, and hopefully I'll get most, if not all, of them done by December 31st 2014...