In March of 2012 I joined Jillian’s Classics Club. The goal is to read 50 classics in five years. Below you will find my list and I will keep track of my progress over the next five years.
Jane Austen:
Emma
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey– Completed January 2013
Persuasion
Sense and Sensibility
Albert Camus:
The Outsider– Completed January 2013
The Plague
The Rebel
James Fenimore Cooper:
Last of the Mohicans
Daniel Defoe:
Robinson Crusoe
Roxana
Moll Flanders
Charles Dickens:
Barnaby Rudge
Bleak House–Completed August 2012
A Christmas Carol–Completed December 2012
David Copperfield–Completed May 2012
Great Expectations–Completed December 2012
Hard Times – Completed August 2012
Martin Chuzzlewit–Completed April 2012
Our Mutual Friend–Completed January 2013
A Tale of Two Cities–Completed December 2012
Arthur Conan Doyle:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Hound of the Baskervilles
George Eliot:
Adam Bede
Daniel Deronda
The Mill on the Floss
Henry Fielding:
Amelia
Joseph Andrews
Tom Jones
Gustave Flaubert:
Madame Bovary
Thomas Hardy:
Far from the Madding Crowd — Completed August 2012
The Hand of Ethelberta
Jude the Obscure
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
The Woodlanders
Joseph Heller:
Catch 22
John Steinbeck:
The Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Masters of Ballantrae
Kidnapped
Jonathan Swift:
Gulliver’s Travels – Completed June 2012
A Modest Proposal
A Tale of a Tub
Anthony Trollope:
He Knew He Was Right
The Last Chronicle of Barset
Phineas Finn
Castle Richmond
Edith Wharton:
The House of Mirth
The Age of Innocence – Completed September 2012
I have just finished The Last of the Mohicans. The dated language actually enhances the read I found. Fenniemore Cooper knew his subject though I was surprised to learn that he was criticised by other literary figures such as Mark Twain for the allegedly poor quality of his writing.
I’ve read several other of the classics on your list and I have to say that one of the most memorable was Catch 22 though there are others on there that are probably superior in many ways obviously. Good luck with achieving the goal – reading has given me great pleasure over the years. I seem to spend much of my time writing these days, possibly too much.
If you can please read any book by Chinua Achebe, he is a Nigerian writer.
Of course. I’ve been meaning to for some time and he has two books on my 1001 list. Thanks for the suggestion and reminder. I always love to hear from bloggers who they recommend.
Please give a review when you have read one of his books. I would love to hear what you think.
Absolutely. I’ll bump him to the top of the list if I can locate a copy at my local library.
Wonderful. How I wish I can also accomplish that. I’ve been meaning to read more Classics. I am currently reading Xingu by Edith Wharton.
I haven’t heard of that one. Is it good?
I read it because it is short. Nothing special about it – just a book club story.