The Jolly Good Reading Society discussion

Me and Savanna on Youtube have decided to do a challenge called Catch-Up On The Canon.
Basically you just pick one classic author and then read as much as you can in the month of May.

The challenge has no winner for the amount of pages/books read...it's more just an opportunity to challenge yourself to read more classics that you've been putting off.

I've decided to choose Charles Dickens as I have a lot of his books now and have only ever read A Christmas Carol.

Does anyone else want to take part in the challenge?
It would just involve updating everyone on this thread (or in video form if you are a Booktuber). We are using #canoncatchup on Twitter =)

I would be interested in joining in. Would it be ok for me to choose Dickens too? I bought a set of his books last year and need an excuse to start reading them. I'm not sure whether to read them chronologically or just dip in. By the way, I think that I might only read one of his books, two at the most lol :)

Lynn wrote: "Looks like my Jane Austen books will finally get read."

You mean you have never read Austen? Oh my, it's high time.

I would quite like to join in as I have a few classics I have been putting off but I can't quite make a decision, yet. It might be Hardy or I was thinking about Nathaniel Hawthorne. Do they have to be British Classics?

Jen wrote: "I would be interested in joining in. Would it be ok for me to choose Dickens too? I bought a set of his books last year and need an excuse to start reading them. I'm not sure whether to read them..."

Yes! Reading the same author as someone else is perfectly fine! The point of it is more to read those authors you've been putting off or one that you own a lot of unread books by. Any order, it's up to you to set your own pace =)

Jules wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Looks like my Jane Austen books will finally get read."

You mean you have never read Austen? Oh my, it's high time.

I would quite like to join in as I have a few classics I have been..."

No they don't have to be British classics at all...any classic author you want to read more of =)

Lynn wrote: "Looks like my Jane Austen books will finally get read."

I would definitely recommend Pride and Prejudice as the first one you try...that's the only one I've read but I've been told it's the best to start with and I have to say I agree. I loved it!

Love Jane Austen, she was a genius. Personally, I think Emma is my favourite although it is hard to pick one out.

I've changed my mind and decided to opt for Daphne Du Maurier. I've been meaning to read Rebecca for ages plus I have a few other of her books too.

Lora wrote: "What a dilemma. I've just collectred a load of Jane Austen with intent, but the Dickens I've read has been really good.

I advise starting with Oliver Twist for him as it's the shortest and in my o..."

I think Oliver Twist is probably going to be one of the first I choose.

With regards to choosing Jane Austen, bear in mind the Emma readalong that's happening in June =)

Hi! So who's joining in and with what? Challenge starts today but you can join whenever =)

Charlotte wrote: "Hi! So who's joining in and with what? Challenge starts today but you can join whenever =)"

I'm definitely joining in with Daphne Du Maurier as my chosen author. I intend to read Rebecca first.

I'm about a third through Rebecca and I'm so pleased that I've chosen this book, the descriptive writing style is simply beautiful. I can picture the garden at Manderley vividly and almost smell the azaleas :)

I'm reading Great Expectations but I'm only 93 pages into it at the moment. I have lots of other books on the go at the moment and I think Dickens is one of those authors that doesn't seem to hold my attention for very long....hopefully it picks up soon!

I'm now 2/3 through Rebecca and the recent revelation has caught me by surprise, I really didn't want to stop reading this today but had to work. I'm so looking forward to my day off tomorrow and finding out what happens!

I enjoyed reading Rebecca so much that I have earmarked The House on the Strand to be read before the end of the challenge :)

Jen wrote: "I enjoyed reading Rebecca so much that I have earmarked The House on the Strand to be read before the end of the challenge :)"

I'm thinking of switching to some of Dickens' short stories for now because I'm just finding Great Expectations too slow. I don't think I'm in the right mood for it right now but I'll probably go back to it at some point =)

I've just started reading my second book for this challenge - The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier. I'm really glad that I chose this author as I really like her writing style. I also love the Cornish setting of the novels. This particular one is about drug induced time travel and it's absolutely fascinating

Lora wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "I'm thinking of switching to some of Dickens' short stories for now because I'm just finding Great Expectations too slow."

Have you read Oliver Twist? It's the faste..."

No I haven't read any Dickens apart from Christmas Carol...After this week I'll probably pick up either Oliver Twist or some short stories...

Lora wrote: "Most of the short stories are not good examples of his best writing, except the Christmas stories. If you haven't read A Christmas Carol, you really must!"

I have read that but I own a collection of all his Christmas short stories =)

I've just finished reading The House on the Strand and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think I'll have the time to start another book for this challenge but I'm looking forward to reading more by Daphne Du Maurier in the future. I think she could very well become one of my favourite authors :)

OMG I just can't stop reading Du Maurier lol! I've started yet another one for the challenge, The Scapegoat, so far it's really intruiging and beautifully written.
I promise to make a start on the group choices when I've finished this book :)

I know I was supposed to read classics this month but with all the readathons going on I wasn't able to. With there being an Emma readalong in this group in June anyway, I've decided to read Austen books in June to make up for it =)

Jen, you've done really well! I really want to try Du Maurier at some point now