Well my readers. as I startlingly, now have only about a year and three months left to finish my second list for The Classics Club (can you believe it?!), I thought it was high time I had a look at my list and made some adjustments based on how many books I have read; what I have enjoyed; and how much time I have left.
After much thought, I have made the tough decision to remove a whopping nine books off my list, which are:
- The Invisible Man by H G Wells
- The Island of Doctor Moreau by H G Wells
- The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
- A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
- Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
- Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The first five I’ve removed simply because I do not yet own copies of them. Then next I cut the next three by Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens due to their length and heavier themes, which I feel will just take too much time to read. And finally, poor Tarzan of the Apes has gone so I could make room to read more of Burroughs’ Barsoom/John Carter series, which I have started and would like to read more of.
However, after making so much space, I have been able to add five shorter books by authors I have really enjoyed off of my list so far, which are:
- The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
- Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
That’s two more books from Burroughs’ Barsoom/John Carter series, which I feel will round off the adventure I started as a nice trilogy. Then I have added Where Angels Fear to Tread to replace A Passage of India, as I was gutted to discover the latter isn’t included in my collection of Forster’s work! And last, but not least I just had to add more of Montgomery’s lovely tales with the spirited orphan Anne.
So after all that here’s what my adjusted list now looks like (links in titles will take you to reviews of books I have read):
- Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott
- Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
- Emma by Jane Austen [re-read]
- Lady Susan by Jane Austen
- The Watsons by Jane Austen
- 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 L. Frank 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
- The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
- 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
- This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald
- A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
- Howards End by E. M. Forster
- Where Angels Fear to Tread 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]
- Kim by Rudyard Kipling
- The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Anne of the Island 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
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- The Time Machine by H G Wells
- War of the Worlds by H G Wells
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? Let me know in the comments – I love to chat!
thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com 
I actually don’t know any of the ones you have added. Whereas I have loved 4 of the ones you deleted. enjoyed in particular Tess and the one by Verne.
Here is my current list. It’s my 3rd: https://wordsandpeace.com/2020/11/18/the-classics-club-2020-2025/
Aw I am sorry to hear you loved four of the novels I have taken off my list, however never fear, I do still want to read them, they’ve only gone as there isn’t a great chance of me reading them in the next year and bit.
You’re doing so well and I think the secret to achieving this is definitely to revisit your list every now and again and make changes. I should have done a little of that!
Lynn 😀
Thank you, Lynn 😊 and I hope you will have chance to revisit and tweak your own list soon.
I’m also sorry to see Tarzan go. It is on my list and since it was one of the first books I ever put on my Kindle, I will definitely read it! Perhaps we can both read The Woman in White for RIP next year and compare notes. 😉
Aw sorry Kelly – Taking Tarzan off my current list doesn’t mean I won’t read it, just prefer to read more of Burroughs’ other series in the year and a bit I have left. Great idea to read The Woman in the White together for RIP next year! 😃
I’m devastated to see the HG Wells’ ones go, and Tess, and Dickens. And Tarzan! 😂 The only solution is for you to make sure you include them all on your next list… 😀
However, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the two Barsooms and the Annes, and sometimes changing the list is the only thing to do. I hope you enjoy the remaining books on your list.
Haha aw sorry FF! 😅 I promise taking them off my current list doesn’t mean I won’t read them – I just need to be realistic about what I have a chance of reading in the next and a bit. Thank you. 😊