How is your reading challenge going?

[Elisa]

Until now, I've managed to read these classics from my TBR of 20 books:

- Persuasion (Jane Austen)
- Suite francaise (Irene Nemirovsky)
- Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
- Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
- The Painted Veil (W.S. Maugham)
- North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)
- Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
- Mildred Pierce (J.M. Cain)
- Around the World in 80 Days (Jules Verne)

and I'm currently reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte). Beside those, I've read other classics:

- The Ghost-Seer (Friedrich Schiller)
- The Lottery and other stories (Shirley Jackson)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare)
- 'The Custard Heart', 'Big Blonde' and 'You Were Perfectly Fine' (Dorothy Parker)
- 'The Cracked Looking Glass' (Katherine-Ann Porter)

I don't know if I'll be able to achieve all my reading goals. Maybe my TBR was a little too ambitiouos. Well, never say never.

What about you? How is your reading challenge going?

[Tracey]

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is such a great story. I hope you're enjoying it.
My goal for this year was to reread all of Alexandre Dumas' works that I own. So far I've finished:
-"The Three Musketeers"
-"Twenty Years After"
-"The Vicomte de Bragelonne"
-"The Women's War"
And I read "The Red Sphinx" for the first time.
I've nearly finished "Louise de la Valliere".
I think I'll be carrying this challenge in to next year though, I've still about 7 more to read.

[Elisa]

Tracey wrote: "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is such a great story. I hope you're enjoying it.
My goal for this year was to reread all of Alexandre Dumas' works that I own. So far I've finished:
-"The Three Muskete..."

I've never read Dumas, but I'd love to. 'The Black Tulip' and 'The Count of Montecristo' are on my TBR.
And yes, 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' is so great, I'm enjoying it. The first novel by Anne I'm reading, I'm glad to find that she was as talented as her sisters.

[The Bookworms Nook]

I've read pride and prejudice and Jane Eyre. I'm a slow reader and I'm reading other books not just classics.

[Natasha]

I'm a mood reader too and also not just reading classics this year, but the classics I've read this year (so far) are:

- The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe
- The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
- Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
- A Room with a View by E.M Forster
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

And they're all first time reads for me :) I'm also currently reading Medea & Other Plays by Euripides and also hope to get to The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton this year, as well as whatever other classic I'm in the mood for :)

[thelibraryofalexandra]

Like most of us, I am also a mood reader and am reading other books throughout the year. But the classics I have read so far are:

- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Lady Susan by Jane Austen
- Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- Agnes grey by Anne Bronte
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- David copperfield by Charles Dickens
- The moonstone by Wilkie Collins
- Prometheus unbound by Percy Shelley
- Washington square by Henry James
- The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Mrs dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Villette by Charlotte Bronte

I have also read three of Oscar Wilde’s plays:

- The importance of being earnest
- A woman of no importance
- Lady Windermere’s Fan

I am currently reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton! I’ve actually read the 12 books of my classics TBR so I’m thinking of reading a few more Bronte books and maybe some George Eliot books for the rest of the year!

[Elisa]

Candles Coffee and Copyrights wrote: "I am a definite mood reader... I have done lots of reading this year, but I like to take my time and really consume and digest the classics I read.

I've read:

Wives and Daughters
Olive
Two on a ..."

Your list is so great. I've read Les Miserables too. My list is also very ambitious:

- Tender is the Night (Francis Scott Fitzgerald)
- The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
- Bebo's Girl (Carlo Cassola)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
- Song of the Lark (Willa Cather)
- Frankestain (Mary Shelley)
- The Bird's Nest (Shirley Jackson)
- The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
- The Black Tulip (Alexander Dumas)
- Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)

[Elisa]

The Bookworms Nook wrote: "I've read pride and prejudice and Jane Eyre. I'm a slow reader and I'm reading other books not just classics."

It doesn't matter. Everyone has is times. I'm also reading books that are not classics (historical fiction, horror, biography, ecc).

[Elisa]

Natasha wrote: "I'm a mood reader too and also not just reading classics this year, but the classics I've read this year (so far) are:

- The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe
- The House on the Strand by Daphne ..."

I'm also reading others books, not just classics. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is one of my favorite novels.

[Elisa]

allieereads wrote: "Like most of us, I am also a mood reader and am reading other books throughout the year. But the classics I have read so far are:

- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor D..."

Great list! I love the Brontes (Jane Eyre, Shirley, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and all the other works!). George Eliot suprised me last year: The Mill On the Floss was such a good novel (even if not my favorite) and I can't wait to read Middlemarch!

[Gia]

Fun reading everyone's classic reads! This year I was fairly new to the classics; I'm changing that now and having a wonderful time! Most of the classics listed below I read in buddy reads right here in this group:)

The Great Gatsby
Tale of Two Cities
The Three Musketeers
The Borrowers
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Wind in the Willows
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Grapes of Wrath
Charlotte's Web
The Secret Garden
The Ramona book series - Books 1-7 by Beverly Cleary
The Catcher in the Rye
The Little Prince
Anne of Green Gables - Books 1-3 so far
The Outsiders
Northanger Abbey
Winnie the Pooh
Treasure Island
***
Also these novels by Agatha Christie:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Sittaford Mystery
Sparkling Cyanide
Death on the Nile
Crooked House
The Moving Finger
Peril At End House
A Murder is Announced

I'm currently reading Anne of Windy Poplars and the last book in the Ramona series, Ramona's World.

[Cedricsmom]

I finished my challenge in June. I followed Lucy’s advice and kept the number low (25) so I would be free to read without pressure. At this rate I may read 40 books this year, but I’m feeling like it’s more about depth and quality than quantity. I’m growing as a reader!☺️

[Elisa]

Katie wrote: "Slow! I found myself distracted by the lockdown and the sudden overflow of free time. Managed to get myself into a routine and recently picked up Pride and Prejudice. Enjoying it thus far!"

I'd like to re-read Pride and Prejudice sometimes. I was 14 when I read it.

[Erin]

When I discovered this group and the challenge, it was spring, but I had read classics each month already, except for January. I decided that my goal would be to read a classic a month that would be mixed in with my other reading goals. I’ve done well, thanks to this groups’ suggestions and motivation.

So far this year (all first-time reads):
“Anne of Green Gables” by Montgomery
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland“ by Carroll
“Cold Comfort Farm” by Gibbons
“North and South” by Gaskell
“Rebecca” by du Maurier
“Anna Karenina” by Tolstoy
“The Secret Garden” by Burnett
“The Time Machine” by Wells
“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by Baum
“The Monk” by Lewis
“Love and Friendship” by Austen
“Northanger Abbey “ by Austen
“A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Miller

At this rate, I should have picked a more ambitious goal, as I have read more than one classic per month. It’s been fun finding books to read and meeting other reading challenges like Jane Austen July.

[Iza]

I don't really have a reading challenge, but I'm currently reading Wilkie Collins' Haunted hotel and Zola's Germinal.
(Reading challenges tend to become tedious to me, I'd rather not predict what I'm going to read and just... let the good times roll ;)

[Iza]

So far, I've read 57 novels and short stories in 2020. When the year is over, I'll post a link :)

[Anne]

My goal was to read 100 books this year, of which 20 should be deemed classic somehow.
I have read 156 books so far, of which 82 are classics. That is a much larger percentage (52%) than I ever dreamed possible. I hope to keep it at 50%, so I will be swapping out romance novellas with some more classics. I do not have a larger goal than 150, so I will be reading some bigger classics I think. I doubt I can make it to 175 in the last month, as that would be 19 books. That seems impossible. I did read 26 books in November, but I read the Chronicles of Narnia during one weekend, and counted each book. I do not have any more children's books to read, aside from two Anne of Green Gables books (Rainbow Valley and Rilla from Ingleside).

[Anne]

Erin wrote: "When I discovered this group and the challenge, it was spring, but I had read classics each month already, except for January. I decided that my goal would be to read a classic a month that would b..."

How did you get on with Anna Karenina? It is on my list eventually as well, and hoping to hear it is an easier read than it seems haha

[Ashley]

It’s much easier than it seems!! I read it a few years ago. For me, I’d compare it to Jane Eyre. That’s the book that comes to mind when I think of how intense it feels and how long it takes to read. Maybe because I read them in the same year (maybe?). I read Count of Monte Cristo and War and Peace this year. It’s nothing like those. Much quicker read. Not as deep as W&P. I read Les Mis last year and it’s easier than that too. So you can do it!!! You’ll love it! As long as you remember it’s not supposed to be a happy book and the characters suck. Haha. But I love them and I love the story.

[Ashley]

I’m in the same boat as Anne! I planned to read 100 books the last few years. This year was way easier to reach that goal. I’m over 150. I was on track to maybe reach 200 if I pushed myself the last 2 or 3 months, but then I stopped reading 17 ish books a month and had months with 10 or 12, so I gave up striving for that. This year I didn’t really try to push myself. I just read as much as I wanted and this is where I am.

I already naturally read a lot of classics, so my goal there was to finish some big ones, and I finished more than I planned because of groups like this! Count of Monte Cristo, War & Peace, David Copperfield, Ben Hur, and I’m working on Little Dorrit.

[Megan]

I fell into a reading slump last February I know a slump that almost lasted a year. so my number is low and to be honest I barely remember reading the books. I listened to them which was the only way I could even attempt at reading but I could not focus. I'm finally out of it I read 5 books this week. 42 books so far this year most I feel I should re read to give them a proper reading.

[Ashley]

42 is amazing!!! That’s almost a book a week! Way to go! This year has been ROUGH on everyone. Some more than others, I know. I am not surprised that some people had slumps or that others read more. Everyone responds differently to different things. And at different times we ourselves might respond differently to the same situation. Either way, congrats! You did awesome!

[Anne]

I used reading to cope, so that meant i would be reading for hours on the weekend while my husband did other things. I introverted a LOT. Plus, i have a 1h15 commute, so audiobooks get pushed through in my car for 2,5 hours every day. Total of 150 is not a thing to want in my specific case :)

[Lorri]

I joined this group sometime after Jane Austen July, so my goal was to read 12 classics this year. I just finished my 15th classic. I am planning on romance and Christmas novels throughout December. Although I may not read any more literary classics this year, my classics TBR for next year is huge!

Classics Read in 2020:
-Sanditon and The Watsons– Jane Austen unfinished works
-Lover’s Vows – Mrs. Inchbald
-Mansfield Park – Jane Austen (reread)
-The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
-The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
-Three Ghost Stories – Charles Dickens
-Aurora Floyd – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
-A Woman of No Importance – Oscar Wilde
-De Profundis abridged and unabridged versions– Oscar Wilde
-The Cricket on the Hearth: A Tale of Home – Charles Dickens
-Shirley – Charlotte Brontë
-Dombey and Son – Charles Dickens
-Rip Van Winkle – Washington Irving
-The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – Washington Irving
-Moby Dick; or, the White Whale – Herman Melville

[Iza]

Congratulations Lorri, it's a great list - I read 4 of them. I'd love to see your list for next year, sometime ^^

[Lorri]

Iza wrote: "Congratulations Lorri, it's a great list - I read 4 of them. I'd love to see your list for next year, sometime ^^"

I look forward to the link to your 2020 classics list.

Next year I am planning to participate in Jane Austen July and Victober again, so, at least some Austen, Wilde, Anne Brontë, Charles Dickens, and Gaskell.

I also plan to read more American Classics like Stephen Crane, Arthur Miller, Steinbeck, and Hemingway.

I am planning a month of Black Classics including WEB Dubois' The Souls of Black Folk (his writing is exquisite) and pairing Ellison's Invisible Man with Larsen's Passing and MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail with Nic Stone's recent work Dear Martin.

I am also planning some Middle School and Mystery reading all TBRs are still TBD.

[Timár_Krisztina]

I ended up reading the following classics in 2020:

Dersu Uzala by Vladimir Arseniev (found out too late it was an abbreviated edition, but it was still fine)
Old Goriot and Illusions perdues by Honoré de Balzac (the latter one I managed in French)
The Overcoat by Gogol
The Death of Ivan Ilych and War and Peace by Tolstoy
When the Whales Leave by Yuri Ritheu (a chukchi classic)
Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant (in French)
The Phantom Rickshaw and other stories by Rudyard Kipling
The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester
The Saga of Didrik of Bern
Tales of Long Nights and The Color of Smoke by Menyhért Lakatos (Hungarian Roma classics)
poems by Berta Boncza and Sophie Török
Les ​Cinq Livres des faits et dits de Gargantua et Pantagruel by François Rabelais (yes, in French, I had both the old text and a modern French translation to help me)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Bánk bán by József Katona
The Duel by Joseph Conrad
The Republic by Plato
Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo (in French)
all the short stories I could find by Margit Kaffka and Erzsébet Kádár
Colours and Years by Margit Kaffka
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Invisible Legion by Jenő Rejtő
St Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Idiot by F. M. Dostoevsky
The Master and Margarita by M. A. Bulgakov

Some of these were re-readings of course, but most were new discoveries. I read English-language classics in the original, most French classics in the original, the rest I read in Hungarian translation (or in the original Hungarian).

I'm really glad I managed to read so many. Last but not least my French is getting better, my pace of reading faster, and I'm beginning to hope I might learn to speak it properly, too, some day. (I'm reading in this language to keep up my skills until I can attend classes again.)

For the new year I'm planning a lot, too. Now I'm reading Les Misérables and the dialogues of Lucian of Samosata.

[Iza]

Here is the list of all the classics I read/re-read in 2020 :

- Jane Austen : The beautiful Cassandra, Emma, Love and freindship, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sanditon, Sense and sensibility, The Watsons

- Boccaccio : Mrs Rosie and the priest and other stories
- Ray Bradbury : The machineries of joy
- The Brontës : Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell
- Anne Brontë : Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- Charlotte Brontë : The professor
- Emily Brontë : Poems, Wuthering heights
- Frances Hodgson Burnett : The secret garden
- Samuel Butler : The way of all flesh

- Agatha Christie : The ABC murders, Elephants can remember, The man in the brown suit, Poirot investigates, The secret of Chimneys, Hercule Poirot's Christmas
- Wilkie Collins : The haunted house
- Dinah Craik : Olive

- Thomas de Quincey : On murder considered as one of the fine arts
- Charles Dickens : A Christmas carol, The Pickwick papers
- Arthur Conan Doyle : Memories and adventures, A study in scarlet, The sign of four, The adventures of Conan Doyle
- Daphne du Maurier : The doll, The loving spirit

- Elizabeth Gaskell : The life of Charlotte Brontë
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman : The yellow wall-paper
- George Gissing : The odd women
- Anna Katherine Green : The affair next door

- Gerald Manley Hopkins : As kingfishers catch fire
- Molly Hughes : A London child of the 1870s

- James Joyce : Dubliners

- Lucy Maud Montgomery : Anne of Green Gables

- Barbara Pym : Excellent women

- The saga of Gunnlaug serpent tongue
- Mary Shelley : Frankenstein
- Robert Louis Stevenson : Treasure island
- Bram Stoker : Dracula
- Jonathan Swift : A modest proposal

- J.R.R. Tolkien : The Hobbit, The lord of the rings
- Anthony Trollope : The warden, Barchester towers, Doctor Thorne, Christmas at Thompson Hall, Christmas day at Kirby Cottage

- Mary Wesley : The camomille lawn
- Rebecca West : The return of the soldier
- Oscar Wilde : The ballad of the Reading gaol
- P.G. Wodehouse : Jeeves and the feudal spirit
- Virginia Woolf : Londres (in French)

- Emile Zola : Germinal

I listed them all as I did on my blog, but I put the links on the blog, which I won't do here (took me long enough the first time !)

This is the link to my blog post, in case you're interested : https://booksnlivres.blogspot.com/202...

[Jackie]

I have read Hard Times by Dickens, Family Happiness, and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Tolstoy. I liked Hard Times, but didn't love it. The two Tolstoy novella's were great. The next classics I'm going to read are Jacques the Fatalist and Evelina.

[Miriam]

I read "Rebecca" and I've started "The sun also rises" by Hemingway.
I made up my mind to read two books per month instead of four as I did last year, but of highest quality.

[Miriam]

This afternoon I've started reading "The odd women" by George Gissing. Does somebody know it?

[Natasha]

Currently reading 1984 by George Orwell and am absolutely loving it! I don't want to put it down. It's just so eerie and relevant to modern society and is just making me question EVERYTHING. Like how addicted we are to screens and it's all about control. Definitely a must read

[Theresa]

Natasha wrote: "I'm a mood reader too and also not just reading classics this year, but the classics I've read this year (so far) are:

- The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe
- The House on the Strand by Daphne ..."

Just curious, of those listed which was your favorite?

[Lorri]

For January, I participated in Georgianuary (British and Irish texts from 1714-1836) but expanded my timeline to anything before 1837. I read:

• Hamlet 1600 by Shakespeare 4* Eloquent, complex, and ambiguous and I watched the 1996 adaptation
• The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 by Goldsmith 5* wonderful story that influenced many authors such as Jane Austen and elements later incorporated into sensation novels
• She Stoops to Conquer; Or, The Mistakes of a Night: A Comedy 1773 by Goldsmith 4* play that remains funny
• The Vampyre; A Tale 1819 by Polidori 3* first vampire story in the English language that influenced many vampire and gothic authors
• Mysteries of Udolpho 1794 by Radcliffe 2* one of the most-read gothic novels is uneven with both gothic and sentimentally romantic perspectives
• “An Argument Over the Abolishing of Christianity” 1708 by Swift 5* His sarcasm, wit, wisdom, and shockingly accurate observations make me laugh and fill me with astonishment at how much they continue to describe the civilized
• “The Battle of the Books” 1704 by Swift 4* brilliant

I am finishing up:
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 1792 by Wollstonecraft her arguments are against the ignorance of keeping women ignorant and virtual slaves to men and for the education of women beyond acquiring accomplishments and decorum. I give it 4* at 62% of the way through because she makes me want to cheer her reasoning and do bodily damage to the selfish and unreasonable men who created and continue to protect the oppressive system.

[Lorri]

On Tuesday, I finished A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft. I gave it 4*s. It was well reasoned and wisely stuck to the argument that keeping women ignorant is ignorant and both men and women would benefit from educating women.

Wednesday and Thursday, I read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Ann Jacobs. I gave it 3*s because I questioned the credibility of some of the events.

Today, Friday, I read Passing (1929) by Nella Larsen. I give it 4.5*s. It is amazing. Larsen elucidates the social-constructed-ness and ambiguities of racial identity. And she does this in a compelling story of less than 100 pages!

Next, I plan to read Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison to give me more insight into Black perspectives of 1950s America.

[Valerie]

On Tuesday I finished the Scapin the Schemer by Moliér (1671). I gave it 5*s. It was wisely stuck to the personality of Scapin, who is a servant of Octave.
Wednesday till Friday, I read L'Étourdi ou Les Contretemps (1655) by Moliér also. I gave it 3.5*s because it was hard to read and sometimes I was lost in the plot.
Today, Saturday, I started to read the rest of the play of the Streetcar Dream of Desire (1947) by Tennessee Williams. I started this book in my English class at the beginning of January. This book gives me more sight of New America which is described as one of the main man role Stanley.
Next, I plan to read Three Musketeers after 20 years by Alexandre Dumas (1845) the continuation of the 6 books of Three Musketeers.

[Lorri]

It turns out that, in my humble opinion, Invisible Man (1952) is a work of absurd existentialist modernism with violence and a menacing political agenda/message/manifesto. I dislike all of these things and, after about 30 pages, decided not to finish it.

So, I started reading Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents Although this is not a classic, the documents include MLK’s 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which is. I am pairing this book with Nic Stone's 2017 YA novel Dear Martin because I would like to teach them together.

[Lorri]

Valerie wrote: "On Tuesday I finished the Scapin the Schemer by Moliér (1671). I gave it 5*s. It was wisely stuck to the personality of Scapin, who is a servant of Octave.
Wednesday till Friday, I read L'Étourdi ..."

I love Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers series!

[Antje]

Not good, I had a plan of reading 35 books, seems life took over. Lost my job, grandmom died. I'm now on book 5

[D.J.]

Antje wrote: "Not good, I had a plan of reading 35 books, seems life took over. Lost my job, grandmom died. I'm now on book 5"

My heart goes out to you. If it is any comfort, I’m only on book 4 of my classics list. Hope reading gives you some cheer during the hard times you face.

[Shay]

Antje wrote: "Not good, I had a plan of reading 35 books, seems life took over. Lost my job, grandmom died. I'm now on book 5"

i'm so sorry for your loss. may her soul rest in peace.

[Gillian]

Not read many classics yet this year, mainly because two of those I have read have been huge! Finished Don Quixote and The Count of Monte Cristo along with some classic crime - The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne, Great Black Kanba by Constance Little and Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay.

Have quite a few planned classics and modern classics to read soon, next up are:
The Makioka Sisters
Anna Karenina
The Housing Lark
East Goes West
Howard's End
Saplings
Despised and Rejected
Mr Ma and Son

[Lorri]

Classics I’ve read February-April (Including Contemporary Kids Classics)

February (Black American)
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 1861 Harriet Ann Jacobs
- Passing 1929 Nella Larsen (Harlem Renaissance)
- Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937 Zora Neale Hurston (Harlem Renaissance author)
- Dear Martin 2017 Nic Stone
- The Secret Life of Bees 2001 (12+) Sue Monk Kidd

March (Middle School)
- Forge 2010 (10-14) Laurie Halse Anderson
- Ashes pp32016 (10-14) Anderson
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 1967 (9-12) E. L. Konigsburg
- Heidi 1881 (10+) Johanna Spyri (Swiss)
- The Westing Game 1978 (10+) Ellen Raskin
- The Red Badge of Courage 1895 (11+) Stephen Crane
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond 1958 (10+) Elizabeth George Speare
- The Crucible 1953 4-act play by Arthur Miller
- Gothic Tales: Disappearances, The Old Nurses Story, The Squire’s Story, The Poor Clare, The Doom of the Griffiths, Lois the Witch, The Crooked Branch, Curious if True, and The Grey Woman 1851-1861 Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- Agnes Grey 1847 Anne Brontë

April (Gothic)
- The Castle of Otranto 1764 1st Gothic Horace Walpole (British)
- Castle of Wolfenbach 1793 Eliza Parsons (British)
- The Necromancer; or, the Tale of the Black Forest 1794 folktales by Ludwig Flammenberg aka. Carl Friedrich Kahlert (Polish) translated from German and novelized by Peter Teuthold
- “The Fall of the House of Usher” 1839 and “The Gold-Bug” 1843 Edgar Allan Poe
- C. Auguste Dupin Collection (Ill.): Murders in the Rue Morgue 1841, Mystery of Marie Rogét 1842, Purloined Letter 1844 Edgar Allan Poe (American)
- The Midnight Bell 1798 one of the greatest of all gothics Francis Lathom (Dutch)
- Washington Square 1880 Henry James

And still reading classics!