I’ve gone against type and joined a club! The Classic Book Club!
I’m so excited to begin my FIVE YEAR JOURNEY reading through and blogging about 50 classic books! My goal is to read and post about a book each month.
The list below is in no particular order (though while compiling the list I’ve nearly finished War and Peace and can’t wait to write my first response post).
I’ve set my starting date as August 1, 2017 and my end date as September 1, 2022 (I think I actually have 51 books on the list and may want to sneak in a few extras).
Any last minute suggestions? I’d love to hear them!
Classics Club Book List
War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Tom Jones Henry Fielding
Clarissa Samuel Richardson
The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë
Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
A Passage to India EM Forster
A Light in August (or The Hamlet) William Faulkner
The Pursuit of Love Nancy Mitford
The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Three Men in a Boat Jerome Jerome
Candide Voltaire
Cecilia Fanny Burney
The Life and Opinions Tristam Shandy, Laurence Sterne
The Vicar of Wakefield Oliver Goldsmith
The Nun Diderot
The Prairie James Fennimore cooper
Blithedale Romance Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
Black Beauty Anna Sewall
The Perpetual Curate Margaret Oliphant
Lilith George Macdonald
Washington Square Henry James
Silas Marner George Eliot
The Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Ambrose Beirce
Love Stendhal
The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe
Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli
The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea Yukio Mishima
The Misanthrope Moliere
Writings on Nature John Muir
Animal Farm George Orwell
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak
The Story of an African Farm Olive Schreiner
The Red and the Black Stendhal
The General CS Forester
The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri
Lord of the Flies William Golding
Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon
Kim Rudyard Kipling
Flowers of Evil Charles Baudelaire
Night Elie Wiesel
Moonstone Wilkie Collins
Miss Ravenel’s Conversion from Secession to Loyalty John W. De Forest
Author Adrienne Morris 
31 responses to “50 Books Before I Die (or in the next 5 years)”
Excellent list. I read many in college, thought some I don’t know at all. I’ve wanted to reread many on this list and my own “classics” list. You’ve listed Three Men in a Boat twice – that would be your 51 books.
You know I wrote my own 26 posts of favorite books, with many other book titles at the end of each post, so if you’re looking for more, there they be. You’ll be kept busy for the next five years with great reading. Turn on the reading lamp.
LikeLike
Not sure I want to Read Three Men in a Boat twice! Thanks for noticing. At college and after I read more history, politics and polemics (with a smattering of New Age self help–what a waste!).
Also was forced to read some modern “classics” at college I definitely didn’t enjoy so I’m glad to go backwards. i was at first proud of how many classics I’d already read–but that pride quickly fell away when I explored some more. LOL
LikeLike
You’ll have fun. There are 17 I haven’t read.
LikeLike
War and Peace left me upset and awed for weeks this summer. Do you have a favorite classic?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t really think I have a favourite, although War and Peace is up there with the best. I did like Proust which isn’t on your list. The Wind in the Willows is a lighter favourite.
LikeLike
i was thinking of In Search of Lost Time but I was afraid he’d take up too much time for my 5 year goal. What did you like best by Proust? I love long books so I tried to throw in a few short ones too. It was actually difficult to make the list. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like his developing thoughts, keeping in the mind, but also having different narratives.
LikeLike
Together with the dog you read the books 🙂
LikeLike
She’ll tell me what they’re about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is interesting
LikeLike
I’ve read 23 of the books on this list, and there are some that I keep kicking myself for not having read them yet. YES, I have suggestions, but you’ve maybe already read them. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells, Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, Bartleby the scrivener by Herman Melville (long short story), The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Death in Venice or The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor, and Night by Elie Wiesel. I also really loved Charlotte Bronte’s Villette, but it’s more important to read Jane Eyre–at least first. What about Emily’s Wuthering Heights? Maybe you’ve read the ones I’ve listed :)?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some I’ve read already–I think Edith Wharton is an excellent writer but I just didn’t like her negativity–i did read her a long time ago so maybe I’d feel different today but to me she seemed bitter.
Moby Dick was a slog for me. Where’s the romance LOL.
Zora Neale Hurston I was supposed to like according to all my professors but I was not moved by her.
Toni Morrison I think writes interesting stories (I’ve read a few novels) but I feel nothing for the characters–her writing distances them for me.
The Handmaid’s Tale again was well written but the story annoyed me–I think it would have been more compelling if she wrote it about Islamic fundamentalism since there’s a lot more truth to the depiction there.
I think I read Invisible Man but not sure. I would like to read Thomas Mann, William Dean Howells and Theodore Dreiser–maybe when the 5 years is up 🙂
Wuthering Heights is my sister’s favorite book but I had the image of Laurence Olivier in my head and it spoiled it for me.
I think my reviews will be more responses since all of the books I disliked above I still knew were fantastic in their way–you can’t help who you fall in love with 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You crack me up! I disagree about The Handmaid’s Tale in one way or maybe two. For one thing, when the book was written our North American world was very different from today. I don’t think it’s important what religion is depicted, ultimately–it’s the idea that fundamentalism gone crazy is just that: crazy. And I see a lot of connection between the book and Islamic fundamentalism today, but that is from today’s perspective. I also am fascinated by religious history and at one time was working on a master’s in the history of the Reformation, so I’m a little weird that way. When I was 30, I loved the Hurston so much I ran around buying copies for all my friends. I also LOVE Invisible Man. But I ALSO love Richard Wright. And Frank Norris. I guess some of those harsh books really speak to me or I admire them maybe. I read Wuthering Heights before I ever saw any version of it and was just the right age to be slain by it. The Dollmaker is one of my favorite books. And The Maimie Papers which is just a collection of real letters haha. Beloved is ALL THAT.
LikeLike
What a great list 🙂 I’m working my way through my Classics Club list …. but very behind on the book reviews. I like the fact that you’re hedging your bets: “50 Books Before I Die (or in the next 5 years)” !
LikeLike
Do you have your list on your blog? I’d love to take a look. I hope to have a review for War and Peace next week but I have so much to say! The next book is going to be a short one! haha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, do pop along 🙂 @ thelongvictorian.com – I’m very behind on my reviews. I’m impressed you’re tackling War and Peace!
LikeLike
My daughter and I were going to read it together a few years back but we never got started so the book just sat there staring at me for years–silly me. I LOVED it! I made sure not to watch the miniseries I didn’t know existed until half way through. I hate when film ruins my image of characters. I won’t ever watch the series now. It can’t possibly capture the book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So you have 2 blogs! Excited now that school has started to read other people’s stuff!
LikeLike
Two at present! One blog is new, it covers prints and illustrations. I may not continue it. I’m always looking at other blogs.
LikeLike
I used to have two blogs too. One was just about our farm but it was time consuming. Instagram is so much easier for just pictures of sheep. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
What a fun challenge. I love reading classics. Wonderful list. 🙂
LikeLike
I stumbled upon The Classics Club and felt I’d found what I’ve always been looking for. 🙂 We shall see where it goes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you have a favorite classic, btw?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the Brontes, Hardy, and Austen. I read all those when I was in my early 20’s and just loved the era and style and emotion in the stories. Just writing this makes me want to read them again. 🙂
LikeLike
I’m going to finish reading Tess this fall (I started but got side-tracked with War and Peace). I love the 19th century so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely list; I’ve read most of what you have on there, but I teach college English lit, so it’s almost a given for many of them, lol! If you haven’t read Middlemarch by George Eliot, I would highly recommend it 🙂
LikeLike
Middlemarch was my all time favorite book until I finished War and Peace. Now it’s a tie 😉
I loved every single character in Middlemarch. Loved the book so much we played with our farm being named Middlemarch until my husband suggested Middlemay (combining the book with our wedding month).
Thanks for coming by, Stephanie. is Middlemarch your favorite?
LikeLike
It is one of my all time favorites! An absolutely wonderful book. I love that story, and Middlemay is perfect. 😊 I have no story that great to share, lol!
LikeLike
One of my favorite scenes in Middlemarch is right at the beginning when Dorothea is discussing jewelry with her less spiritually minded sister–so funny.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate your ambition. Some of the titles I slogged through. Please read some great sci fi! I’ll never forget the Ugly Little Boy by Asimov and Silverberg. Its a short story, but a great introduction to science fiction. Anything by Asimov is worth reading! Also, Willa Cather: My Antonia. Its so lyrical. I dreamed of wheat fields for a long time. PS: I’ve just finished all your books. Waiting for some happiness for Lulu and Buck. Enjoyed the series, but disliked the characters! Please continue! I’d love some happy endings that didn’t involve such stupidity and pain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jennifer, I remember wanting to live in those wheat fields as well, but I didn’t like Antonia (can’t remember why). My Antonia is my sister’s favorite book. What book felt the most like slogging?
I hadn’t thought of sci-fi but I think I will read something by Asimov. Thanks for the suggestion! It was really hard to decide what books to include.
I’m so excited that you’ve read my books! I had to laugh at you not liking the characters. They can be so foolish, but of course I love them. Most of their decisions are very similar to the decisions of my friends and family (some of my characters’ worst mistakes and behaviors echo my own–I consider my characters part of my gene pool).
Buck, for instance, is so self-destructive and fatalistic but now that I’ve got a real-life traumatized foster kid in my house I see that her ways are very similar to Buck’s making her at times unlovable. Sad what life can do to a person. Buck does eventually see the light (with Lucy’s help) but I must warn you that while I find their path together funny and delightful in the last book–there is a little more pain to get thru. William begins to shine and Thankful–well–you’ll have to just wait and see.
In a week or two I’ll be posting an excerpt from the final book which will give insight into Buck and Fred’s behaviors. I hope you come by and read it!
Can’t tell you how I appreciate that you’ve stuck with the Weldons and Crenshaws for this long.
Love-
A
LikeLike