The Classics Club

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Reading the classics has always been a joy for me. So I am very happy to finally become a member of The Classics Club!

My list is a mix of novels, novellas, non-fiction, short stories, and poetry, a combination of adult and children’s literature. Many of these books are already on my bookshelves or on my Kindle, and I love listening to audiobooks. I add to or change the list occasionally as I find other classics I’d really like to read for this challenge. My goal is to read 50 books in 5 years. That sounds so far away, but I know that five years goes by in a flash. What pleasurable reading years they will be!

Classics Club List #1

Goal date: March 7, 2022. COMPLETED on September 30, 2021!

Progress = 50/50

Red = Link to my review
Blue = Read but not reviewed yet

  1. Death Comes For the Archbishop, Willa Cather
  2. The Railway Children, Edith Nesbitt
  3. Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren
  4. A River Runs Through It, Norman McClean
  5. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
  6. Persuasion, Jane Austen
  7. The Rainbow and the Rose, Nevil Shute
  8. Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne
  9. The Solitary Summer, Elizabeth von Arnim
  10.  A Very Easy Death, Simone de Beauvoir
  11. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
  12. The Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett
  13. Death in the Castle, Pearl S. Buck
  14. Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter
  15. This Star Shall Abide, Sylvia Engdahl
  16. The Haunted Bookshop, Christopher Morley
  17. A Tiger For Malgudi, R. K. Narayan
  18. The Moorland Cottage, Elizabeth Gaskell
  19. The Call of the Wild, Jack London
  20. Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
  21. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Kate Douglas Wiggin
  22. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
  23. The Spectator Bird, Wallace Stegner
  24. Kindred, Octavia Butler
  25. The Unicorn and Other Poems, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  26. Excellent Women, Barbara Pym
  27. Crooked House, Agatha Christie
  28. Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson
  29. Marcovaldo, or The Seasons in the CIty, Italo Calvino
  30. Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee
  31. The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman
  32. The Outermost House, Henry Beston
  33. The Door in the Wall, Marguerite de Angeli
  34. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
  35. The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
  36. Kew Gardens, Virginia Woolf
  37. One Day At Teton Marsh, Sally Carraghar
  38. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  39. The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim
  40. Most Secret, Nevil Shute
  41. The Reluctant Dragon, Kenneth Grahame
  42. Travels With a Donkey in the Cévennes, Robert Louis Stevenson
  43. The Measure of My Days, Florida Scott-Maxwell
  44. The Living Reed, Pearl S. Buck
  45. Lost in the Yellowstone, by Truman Everts
  46. A Christmas Tragedy, by Baroness Orczy
  47. Pietr the Latvian, by George Simenon
  48. The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
  49. Barracoon, Zora Neale Hurston
  50. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving

20 thoughts on “The Classics Club”

    1. Robin Post author

      Thank you, Weebitsofhappy! I know I’ll enjoy reading these books. And it’s only time, after all.😊 By the way, I linked over to your new blog and it’s really nice. I love the idea of it and I plan to be a frequent visitor.

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  2. fandakutubuku

    Hi Robin, welcome on board! I’m also a Classics-Clubbers since 5 years ago. I have just finished my challenge several days ago, and am now beginning my 2nd round. It’s always nice to meet more classics-lovers 🙂

    Impressive list you have there… many of them I haven’t heard.
    The Ramayana is very interesting. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The House of Mirth, and Crooked House are among my favorites. I think there will be a new adaptation of Crooked House coming out soon, starring Gillian Anderson. That made me wanting to reread it…

    Anyway, good luck with the challenge! I’m adding you to my blogroll 🙂

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    1. Robin Post author

      Fanda Kutubuku, congratulations on finishing your first 5 years worth of classics and starting on your second round! That’s quite an achievement and inspires me as I get started on my first round. And thank you for adding me to your blogroll.

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  3. Kay

    I’m not a big classics reader, but wish you luck in your challenge. I know that many participate in this one. You’ve got a few of my favorites on your list. ROSE IN BLOOM, PERSUASION, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, CROOKED HOUSE – love all those.

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  5. Robin Post author

    Kristen, it took me 5 years to decide to finally do it. It seemed like a huge commitment back then, but I’m glad I’ve finally decided to just do it. I know I will enjoy it.

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  6. Jillian

    This is an amazing list. I find your choices really exciting and different. Silent Spring! Rose in Bloom! Can’t wait to see your thoughts on these books. Very best wishes. 🙂

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    1. Robin Post author

      Thank you, Jillian! I put together a list of books I’ve always wanted to read but just haven’t done so yet (and included a couple of treasures to reread), so I am really enjoying my classics reading!

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  9. FictionFan

    I’m just popping through from the Classics Club Membership List to say hi! I joined the CC a couple of years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far. Your list looks great – a nice mix of well known and lesser known classics, and I like that you’ve included a bit of classic crime fiction in there. Looking forward to reading more of your reviews! 😀

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  10. booksbythecup

    I’m a newbie here in the CC and am trying to pop in and visit some of the members blogs to check out their list and read some of their reviews. I see you’ve read Persuasion (it’s my favorite Austen to date although I have a few left to read) and Jane Eyre is also one I really enjoyed. I have a few of these on my list too, Excellent Women which I probably will read next month, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I’m going to look up Kinfolk by Pearl Saturday Buck; I recently read The Good Earth for the 3rd time and decided I need to read something else by her. Thanks for sharing The Book of Tea (I’m a tea lover and will look that up now too)

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  12. Elena

    What a great list! You have made wonderful progress so far. Do you have any favorites from the ones you have read off your list?
    I read and loved: Middlemarch, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Persuasion, Heidi, Jane Eyre
    I have these classics on my list too: Around the World in Eighty Days, Excellent Women, Rebeca of Sunnybrook Farm.

    Here is my Classics Club list, if interested! https://elle-alice.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-classics-club-55-classics-in-5.html

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    1. Robin Post author

      Thanks, Elena! I took a peek at your list and love it! Lots of favorites and lots that I would love to read, too! Good luck and enjoy your reading!

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