At the beginning of the month, I reflected back on the first year reading from my second list for The Classics Club. From the start I have left my list open to alteration, so I could add or remove books to reflect my mood and reading experiences. After reflecting on my first, slightly disappointing, year of reading, here are the alterations I have made to my list:
ABC – Additions
ABC – Removals
ABC – Read
- Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
- Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
- Emma by Jane Austen [re-read] ***
- Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon by Jane Austen
- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen [re-read]
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen [re-read]
- Persuasion by Jane Austen [re-read]
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [re-read]
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen [re-read]
- The Marvelous Land of Oz by Frank L Baum
- Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë ***
- The Professor by Charlotte Brontë
- Villette by Charlotte Brontë
- The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan **
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
- Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
- Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens [re-read]
- The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Middlemarch by George EliotThe Mill on the Floss by George EliotRomola by George EliotTom Jones by Henry Fielding- This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald *
- A Passage to India by E M Forster
- A Room with a View by E M Forster
- Howards End by E M Forster
- Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
- King Solomon’s Mine by H. Ryder Haggard
- Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy [re-read]
- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor HugoLes Misérables by Victor Hugo- Kim by Rudyard Kipling
- The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit *
- Sandokan, The Pirates of Malaysia by Emilio Salgari **
- The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari
- The Queen of the Caribbean by Emilio Salgari
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott [Re-Read]
- Heidi by Johann Spyri
- The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- The Time Machine by H G Wells
- War of the Worlds by H G Wells
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
That leaves me with a list of 52 books. All the additions are from Lost Worlds: The Ultimate Anthology: 24 Classic Tales edited by Nico Lorenzutti, which I am excited to dive into after getting my hands on a copy of it at the end of last year. While most of my removals are books I don’t own copies of and so would rather prioritise the books I do already own. Except Les Misérables that has been removed after I watched the recent BBC adaptation, because I now know the story is too long and too miserable for me to manage!
What do you think of my changes? Have you read any of the books on my list? Are there any you think I should prioritise?
It’s always good to update your list I think. I still need to do mine. I’ve read a couple of your new additions. I read a few Ryder Haggard stories a good while ago and enjoyed them. Good fantasy adventures.
Lynn 😀
Lynn, I am very happy to hear you thought Ryder Haggard’s books were good, fantasy adventures! Looking forward to reading them even more now! I hope you are able to adjust your own list soon and that it will help re-ignite your enthusiasm. 🙂
I have read 13 of the books you have listed to read. I love Alcott, Austen, Verne and Wells, so you have a pretty good list here.
Nicole, I already loved Alcott’s Little Women, Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days and all of Austen’s novels, but Wells with be completely new for me.
Oh no, you’ve removed my favourite book of all time – Middlemarch by George Eliot!
Sorry, Karen! It has only been removed so I can prioritise books I already own – Not because I don’t still hope to read it one day.
I am a big HG Wells fan and loved both his on your list. If you know of or see any of the film versions of War of the Worlds, don’t cross it off your book list. I am tellin’ ya none are like the book and the book is so much better!
And I like Wharton so much after reading her major work I am reading all her lesser knowns this year including biographies. She was such an interesting person.
All in all a very thoughtful way of putting together a CC list.
Sorry too late Laurie… I saw the 2005 War of the Worlds film, starring Tom Cruise when it first came out! I actually really enjoyed it. but did realise, especially with the modern setting, that quite a fair few changes had been made from the book. Never fear it didn’t put me off wanting to read the book – In fact it just wetted my appetite. Also it is great to hear you have enjoyed all of Wharton’s major works. Out of the two on my list is there one you would recommend starting with?
The War of the Worlds is quite philosophical in terms of the thought processes of the main character and how he survives the invasion. But not in a boring way. All of this is left out of the films, which concentrate on the special effect aspects of an alien invasion and are quite good. Wells was an interesting and prolific guy!
As for the Whartons, they are both very different in terms of subject matter, but her strength in both is the dynamics between men and women, courting and the institution of marriage, with The House of Mirth’s addition of how deadly gossip and mean girls can be. My favorite of the two is The House of Mirth, but the other is good, too….er, that isn’t much help!
Laurie, if The House of Mirth is your favourite than I am taking that as your recommendation to read first. 🙂
Yay!
I enjoyed all of the George Eliot and Victor Hugo books you’ve removed, but I can understand why you’d rather concentrate on books you already own. The new books you’ve added all sound good – I haven’t read any of them so I will be interested to hear more about them!
Aw I am little sorry I removed books you have enjoyed Helen, however maybe with my new additions I can tempt you to try them too! 🙂
A wondrous list and I understand the changes you made. One of my reading groups almost picked A Passage to India recently. Bummer. I may still read it on my own.
Thank you, Judy and I hope you will be able to read A Passage to India soon. 🙂
This looks like a great list. I love Jane Austen…it may be time for me to revisit some of these!
Michelle, I hope you are able to enjoy some comforting Austen re-reads too then 🙂
I just read Northanger Abbey for the first time! What did you think of it when you read it? I liked it but found the gothic parallels a little weird
Well I have to be honest Hannah it has been a while since I read Northanger Abbey, hence why I think it is overdue a re-read. However I remember enjoying it – perhaps not my favourite Austen, but still very enjoyable. I don’t think the Gothic elements were to be taken seriously, instead Austen was poking gentle fun at the genre. I often heard Northanger Abbey described as a gothic parody.
King Solomon’s Mines is one of my all-time favourite books! I love The Lost World too, so I think your additions sound great. What did poor George Eliot do to get bumped off? I was actually thinking of adding Middlemarch to my own list…
FF, that King Solomon’s Mines is of your all-time favourites and that you loved The Lost World too is excellent news! As for poor George Eliot they didn’t do anything – I just don’t own any of Eliot’s books and I want to prioritise the books I already have.
Ah, that sounds like an excellent reason! 🙂
I do try and bring some reason and organisation to my heaving TBR and wish lists! 😉