#ClassicsCommunity 2021 Reading Challenge discussion

Welcome to the Classics Community!

Introduce yourself to everyone else in the group! Tell us who you are, where you're from, and what your favourite classic is -- if you can choose, that is!

My name is Ellen and I live in New Zealand. I struggle to read classics as my dyslexia means I have difficulty with the language. However I'm so keen to challenge myself and read more. My favourite classic is Dracula by Bram Stoker I love the creepiness and find the language easier than others I've tried.

Hey everyone, my name is Naomi, I'm from Belgium and I study archaeology.

I've started reading classics last year and I've really enjoyed a couple so far, especially the 'children' classics such as The Secret Garden and Peter Pan. I'm going to set my goal for next year to 10 classics. 3 titles I definitely want to read next year are Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility (let's hope third time is a charm because so far I'm not really an Austen fan) and Anne of Green Gables, the other 7 I'll pick at random from my classics collection.

Hello!

I’m Abi from Essex in England. My favourite classic is Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë because it’s helped me through some very hard times at my former job. I connect with this book more than any other that I’ve read, it’s almost like talking to a friend.

I also love Charlotte & Emily Brontë, Russian literature, Virginia Woolf & Jane Austen.

Looking forward to starting this challenge!

Hi everyone! I'm Caitlin from the UK. I've been reading classics for a few years now but I really want to read more in 2020. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre (and loving it!) and my favourite classics are The Picture of Dorian Gray, Pride & Prejudice and, of course, The Bell Jar (which is my favourite book of all time). This is not a 2020 goal but I want to read Little Women before the film comes out at Christmas~

Hi everyone, my name is Rosie! I am so elated and excited to be part of this community since it's what I've been searching for for a really long time... People who love and dedicate their reading to classics. Although I feel like I haven't read many, I do love Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Recently I've also dwelved into some Russian classics and definitey found another gem.
So excited to hopefully read many more classics with you, especially since I haven't picked up any Bronte or Dickens books yet

Hey everyone, my name is Helene and I come from Copenhagen, Denmark. I am 15 years old and I have just startet getting into classics. I am looking forward to reading more classics in 2020 and hopefully find a lot of new favorites.

Hello everyone! My name is Sierra Armstrong from Albuquerque, New Mexico in the US. I love classics and am finishing up my undergraduate degree with a minor in English Literature. I hope to eventually pursue a graduate degree in English. Classics are far and away my favorite books to read. Some of my favorite authors are: Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Frances Hodgkin Burnett, Kate Chopin, and the Brontes of course. The list truly could go on and on. One goal I have for 2020 is that I hope to read more Russian and French classics. I’m so excited to be a part of this group! Thank you for creating it Lucy!

Hola everyone! My name is María and I believe I’m the first one from Spain! First of all, thank you Lucy for giving us this opportunity to meet and share our love for classics! 🖤 I got into classic thanks to our lovely Jane Austen and since then, 90% of what I read are classics. I’m such an enthusiast that I just started a degree in English Literature! I can’t wait to start this journey together. I would love to follow you all on Goodreads, so be aware that I might do it! ¡HASTA PRONTO!

My name is Shannon and I'm so excited for this reading group. My soon to be 14 year old will be joining in. Classics is all the she reads, and she has read so many at such a young age. So she is excited that I'm making 2020 Year of the Classics.

I love Dracula, Rebecca, The Birds, Julie of the Wolves, Island of the Blue Dolphins, etc...

Hello, my name is Martha and I'm from Germany. I'm very excited to join this book club, I hope it will help me tackle some of the unread classics on my shelf. Even though I love reading classics, I rarely do it because I like to read them in English which can be a bit challenging as English is not my first language. So far my favorite ones are Frankenstein and 1984.
My number one goal is to finish War and Peace as I've been reading it for quite some time now and I've only read about a third of it. I'm also hoping to read The Trial by Kafka and some more Austen, Dickens and Bronte books in 2020. Happy reading everyone!

Hi, I am Regina and I’m from New Orleans. I also have an MA in English Literature. I’m a pretty eclectic reader and I love classics. My focus has been English Lit, but I’m trying to branch out a bit and read more American Classics and classics in translation.

Hmmm, my favorites? Anything and everything Jane Austen, Marcel Proust (Yes, I have read all of In Search of Lost Time), William Faulkner, EM Forster, Flannery O’Connor, Virginia Woolf. Individual favorite books include Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Mrs. Dalloway, Howards End, A Passage to India, The Good Soldier, Tristram Shandy, Madame Bovary, Death in Venice, Jane Eyre, Swann’s Way, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and more!

Hello everyone!

I'm Jordan from the US. I'm currently studying history and the Ancient Mediterranean in college. I already created the goal of reading more classics next year, so this challenge is perfect! My favorite classics so far are Little Women, Jane Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Fortune of the Rougons. I'm really hoping to get to Les Miserables next year and reread a few of my favorites.

I'm so excited to be a part of this group and can't wait to get to know you all!

Hi Lucy and everyone. This will be such fun. I have fallen back in love with classics over the past few months and can’t wait to be involved in a group off like minded readers. I finished Far from the Madding Crowd yesterday and am currently half way through the Barsetshire Chronicles. I am loving Anthony Trollope. 😊

Hello, my name is Debra. I've lived all over the place but tend to think myself as a Nevadian as I lived there for eight years and went to college there. My favorite classic is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It is an absolute masterpiece, but I also love Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and many more!

Hi everyone.
I'm Emma from Australia. I've always loved Shakespeare, as he was the first real classic author I ever had to read, but my love for classics was really sparked by Jane Austen. Some of my favourite classics are: Pride and Prejudice, A Midsummer Nights Dream and A Tale of Two Cities. This year, however, I'm looking to read classics outside of my comfort zone, so I'm planning to read classics such as The Iliad by Homer, Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory and other books I would not have read in the past.
Thank you Lucy for creating this challenge!

I'm from Canada, and enjoyed Victober so much, I wished it had lasted all year. So I'm excited to see that Lucy has decided to do pretty much that.

I got sweet talked into starting my own group here on Goodreads, inspired by Victober, but dedicated to reading Georgian literature in January. So I'll be starting my year of reading classics with that.

If anyone else would like to join us, the group is called Georgianary.

Hi everyone! I'm Heather, a 28-year-old teacher from Connecticut, USA. I have to say my favorite classic author is Jane Austen (I'm on the leadership team for our JASNA Region), but I also love Shakespeare, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, North and South, and Hardy and Tolstoy's novels.

Hello!! My name is Sunniva, and I'm 20 years and from Norway. I've started getting into classics in the past year or so, and I think my favorite might be Anna Karenina. I've really enjoyed the few Russian classics I've read so far, and I'm hoping to read a few more of them in the coming year!

Hello everyone!! My name is Crystal and I'm from California in the United States. Ive been trying to get into reading classics for so many years because I've enjoyed all that I have read, but I'm still pretty inexperienced. My favorites are The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Count of Monte Cristo. But I've also read The Picture of Dorian Gray, Pride and Prejudice, War of the Worlds, and A Christmas Carol. I feel like 2020 is the year to really commit to classics. I can't wait!

Hi everyone! I’m Hannah, and I live in Brisbane in Australia. I love reading classics and have discovered many new and now favourite classical reads through #Victober and #classsicsathon hosted by Lucy.

I love Historical fiction, Crime and Mystery stories. Jane Austen and Enid Blyton are the two writers that made me love reading.

In 2020, I’ve tried to stay calm with my reading pile. Because I always chose so many I’d like to read, but realistically with shift work it doesn’t really happen. I find I push myself a little to hard and find I’m not giving some classics time to unfold. Some classics you just can’t rush along.

But this year, My goal is to read Anna Karenina and some Russian literature!

I can’t wait to see what everyone else discovers in their reading journey!

Hello, I'm Elle (she/her)! I own so many classics but really haven't read many, so this challenge will be perfect for me. I love many genres but some of my favorite authors are Alice Oseman, Rainbow Rowell, Marissa Meyer, and Ngozi Ukazu (as you can tell, all YA. now you see my problem)

My goal: read most of the classics I own! (plus some more, if it goes well)

Hello all, I am from Wisconsin USA. I’m a Special Education teacher and I’ve been dedicating most of my reading to classics for the past two year. I can’t wait to continue my reading journey by joining this group. My goal for 2020 is to read more classics from a wider variety of countries. My favorite classics are East of Eden, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, and Little Women. I’m currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo and really enjoying it so far.

Hi! My name is Kristina Mandeville and I'm from Florida, USA. I've read a few classics (not as many as I'd like of course) and my favorite has remained as "Pride and Prejudice." I don't have a specific goal for how many classics I want to read next year, because I don't want to make reading what I love into a chore. Can't wait to get started!

Wonderandwanderful wrote: "Hello there!

My name is Giovanna and I live in Orlando, FL USA. My absolute favorite classic to date is Pride and Prejudice but I home to discover more favorites in 2020. I plan on reading at leas..."

Hey, another person from Florida!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Shaani and i'm from Australia.

l have read quite a lot of classics and l am so excited that Lucy has put this lovely community together. My favourite book is 'The Lost World' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and l would like to aim to read around 1 classic per month, however this will also be a long shot as l study English at university and readings can get a bit heavy.

l cant wait to get to know many of you and to talk more classics!

Hannah wrote: "Hi everyone! I’m Hannah, and I live in Brisbane in Australia. I love reading classics and have discovered many new and now favourite classical reads through #Victober and #classsicsathon hosted by ..."

Hi Hannah, another fellow aussie!

l thought l was the only one that loved Enid Blyton!! l read many of the books as a child and l believe it was Brer and Rabbit that got me truly into reading. :)

Hello, I'm Abbey and I live in Australia. I'm a self confessed Thomas Hardy addict, and endeavour to read as many of his novels as possible next year. My current favourite classics are Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Les Misérables. Whilst it's more so a Modern Classic, currently I'm reading (with much pleasure) Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth.

Hello, I'm Jackie and I'm from North Carolina. Reading more classics has been my goal for a few years now. Some of my bigger classics like The Count of Monte Cristo and War & Peace I need to finish this year. I have bought a whole bunch I need read actually.

Hello All,
My name is Elena and I live in California in the US. I have BA in English Literature and a BA in European History. I have loved classics for as long as I can remember and re-read my favorites often. While I love many classic authors, my ride or die is Jane Austen. I read quite a few classics for Victober so I'm not currently reading any but I'm very much looking forward to doing this reading challenge in 2020.

Hi Hannah and Shaani. I also grew up with Enid Blyton. As a child my pocket money was spent on Noddy and Big Ears then The Famous Five and Secret Seven stories. Memories 🤣

Hi, My name is Epsita. I am from India. I am excited to read more classics in 2020! I grew up reading Enid Blyton as well. One of my favorite classics is little women.

Hello. I´m from Iceland. I love to read classics and I think I have read quite a lot of them, but I only read 3-5 a year (at age 40, starting from 15, this is not a small number) so I´m very excited for this challenge because it means I´ll read at least 12 next year. I still haven´t read all of Jane Austen´s books and there are some russian classics that I´m excited for, I´ve gone through pretty much all of Tolstoy but the other big ones are still on my tbr list. Anyway, my favorite classics are: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and the count of Monte Cristo. I can´t wait to think of what books to read for this challenge next year, one plan might be to read a classic from a different country every month, or something like that. Add in various children´s classics too, that should keep things even more fun :) I will probably be setting the goal for 24 books, that´s my favorite number. Thank you :)

p.s I was going over my reading list for this year and I think my definition of a classic has been way too narrow. I´ve actually been reading a lot more classics than 3-5. If I counted all the swedish classics I read (country romans and comedies from 80+ years ago) and short stories and such, my number would be way higher. So going forward I will be counting all of these in for this challenge. And I recommend you try the old Swedes (if you can find them), they were just as good as the swedish crime authors of today!

Hello! I'm Marta, I'm from Spain and I'm 18!
I've been reading a classic per month for 2 years and I'm loving the experience! Some of my favourites are Jane Eyre, Dracula and Little Women.
I'm so excited for this book club!

Hi everyone!
My name is Lena and I'm from Germany. So far I haven't established reading classics regularly, which I want to change through this year long challenge. So far, my favourite classic is definetly Jane Eyre, but I'm really looking forward to discovering new favourites the upcoming year.
Thank you, Lucy, for creating this challenge and encouraging me to finally pick up more classics! :)

Hello,
I'm Agata, I'm from Poland. I read in both English and Polish. I'm doing an MA English degree.
I mostly read modern classics and that's what I'll read next year for the most part, too. In 2020 I want to read more books from a bigger variety of countries and from writers of color.

Hi all! My name is Armi and I'm from Finland. I've been reading classics for a good while and Jane Austen gets all the credit for introducing me to classics. Now days I read them regularly but would like to challenge myself to read some of the hefty ones next year like russian classics. In another group we are hopefully tackling the Bible next year.

My favorite classics are anything by the Brontës, Moomin and Winnie the Pooh stories, Faraway tree books, Mrs Dalloway... Those are the first ones to come to mind :)

Hi everyone!! My name is Carolyn and I'm from New York. Quite a few years ago I discovered book tube, and along with it Lucy's channel! It was like striking gold when I found out about this wonderful bookish community:) I used to be so intimidated my classic literature, but watching Lucy's and some many other videos, gave me the push I needed. Now, classic books are my favorite books to read and the ones that stay with me above all others. I started a book tube channel about a year ago (Channel name: carolynmariereads) and I just love making videos about all things books!! I can't believe that Lucy has created this reading challenge because I have been thinking of starting my own personal classics reading challenge for next year! It feels like fate! Anyway, I'm so excited and happy that we can all talk about the classics we love! My Favorite classics (I can't pick one) are: Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Little Women, Shakespeare's plays, Walt Whitman Poetry, Emily Bronte poetry and of course Wuthering Heights, the Anne of Green Gables series, To Kill A Mockingbird, Rebecca, The Great Gatsby, A Farewell To Arms, Pride and Prejudice, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Little Prince... I can't stop hahaha!! There are so many more but we'll leave it at that!

Hello everyone! My name is Lisa and I used to love reading classics. Then I started studying English Literature and somehow my love diminished (for reading in general). Now, with my degree finished, I want to start all over with reading, especially classics. I want to pick up Charles Dickens again without the dread of being quizzed on it. I simply want to enjoy reading again.

Oh, and I am from Germany :-)

Hello everybody! My name is Alberte and I’m from Denmark🇩🇰
I discovered booktube and bookstagram a little over a year ago. I love sharing my love for reading with other people. I read in both danish and english. I recently started getting into classics. I want to read more classics in English to expand my English vocabulary, and also to enjoy literature from other time periods. I’m looking forward to reading a lot of classics in 2020📚

Hey everyone!

My name is Asli and I'm a Turkish Comparative Literature student. :) I'm planning to get an MA in Romantic Literature next year and my all time favourite is Jane Austen--who would have thought!
I would love to read more women authors in the coming year such as Elliot, Radcliffe and Burney and also read a Dickinson book!! 22 years on this earth and I still have never attempted a Dickinson. I'm really excited to be in a group of Classics readers and good luck to everyone with their reading challenges!

<3

Hi everyone! I'm Erin and I'm from Toronto. I'm currently applying for PhD programs in English so I have read my fair share of classics! I'm really hoping to use this challenge to tackle some of the longer classics that are sitting on my shelf (I'm looking at you, Anna Karenina and Bleak House!) as well as read more classics that aren't from England! I'm also interested in reading modern classics (anything published after 1900) as this is an area I'm lacking in!
My favourite classics so far have to be Jane Eyre, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, North and South, The Mill on the Floss, and Madame Bovary.

Hi! I'm Emily, I'm from Florida. I've been reading classics forever but not very consistently so next year I hope to read quite a lot. My main goal for next year is to finally get through Anna Karenina. I've started that one three or four times but never finished but I'm determined to get through it this time! My current favorite classic is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I just read it for the first time about a month ago and I flew through it, I was immediately hooked and it had so many twists and the writing was gorgeous. I absolutely loved it.

Hi guys!

My name is Elizabeth, I'm from Massachusetts. I have a BA in English Lit and love Austen and the Brontes of course (especially Ann who I feel is underrated). I am so excited to discover new authors through this group. My goal is one classic a month. Thanks for putting this together Lucy!

Hi! My name is Becky. I'm from Texas. I blog about books at Becky's Book Reviews.

My favorite classic(s)?! My top three would probably include Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (I also love RUTH), and Persuasion by Jane Austen. Oops...I can't leave out Les Miserables...sewers and all. (Victor Hugo)

My post about the challenge is here: https://blbooks.blogspot.com/2019/11/...

Agata wrote: "Hello,
I'm Agata, I'm from Poland. I read in both English and Polish. I'm doing an MA English degree.
I mostly read modern classics and that's what I'll read next year for the most part, too. In 2..."

Hello Agata,

Nice to meet you! I'm a very big fan of Wisława Szymborska, do you also enjoy her work? Also, do you know of any Polish classics that are in English, or just the names of some good Polish authors?
Thank you,
Jacque

Hello Everyone,

I'm Jacque and I'm from the Midwest. Our cold, unforgiving winters mean for me lots of inside cozy reading time! I've read countless books, many classics. Don't have a favorite yet, but I look forward to reading Russian classics and women authors. Definitely going to tackle Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and War & Peace, Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment. Also maybe Little Women, any of the Bronte girls' works, or Jane Austen.

Hi everyone :)

My name is Dannii. I adore classics, especially Victorian and Gothic classics, yet, in recent years, I seem to be prioritising newer releases over them. The longer I leave classics unread on my shelves the more intimidating I seem to find them!

I've been reading one classic a month, in 2019, and hope to do the same next year. I'm adoring exploring Virginia Woolf at the moment and am reading her work in publication order. Once I've exhausted her publications I shall move on to Jane Austen. I'm also hoping to sneak in my yearly reread of my favourite book, Wuthering Heights, as it wouldn't be Autumn for me, without it.

Hi, I’m Barry, living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
I’m retired now, so I have a lot more time for reading. By my count, about 52 of the 113 books I’ve read so far this year are classics. Some authors: Allen Ginsberg, Sun Tzu, E.E. Cummings, Huysmans, Baudelaire, Benjamin Franklin, Washington Irving, James Baldwin, Josephus, John Woolman, William Penn, Sadahichi Hartman, Marlowe, Orwell, Norman Mailer, Anna Katherine Green, Omar Khayyám, H.G. Wells, Plato, Thoreau, Upton Sinclair, Homer, Hesiod, Ibsen, Victor Hugo, Zola, Aldous Huxley, Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, Viktor E. Frankl, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Booth Tarkington, James Fenimore Cooper, Italo Calvino, Zora Neale Hurston, Virgil, Virginia Woolf, and Malcolm X.
I’ve bought a lot of the Delphi Classics complete works volumes over the past few years, so I have literally hundreds of thousands of pages of classics stacked up in the Kindle eReader on my phone, so I should be busy for a while.
I’m not really concerned with numeric challenges for next year. I’m more interested in reading for understanding and enjoyment.
One of the more challenging works I have been trying to understand over the past few years is the Bible. I’m an atheist, but its history and its role in society, both historically and in the present day, fascinate me. Since it was originally written by hundreds of people over more than a millennium in historical contexts unfamiliar to most of us, heavily redacted, stirred, misinterpreted, mistranslated, and lied about, it is one of the most difficult classics to read with comprehension. Natalie Wexler, in her book The Knowledge Gap, points out that our reading comprehension depends heavily on the prior knowledge about the subject area we reading about. Nowhere is this more true than in the Bible, where the authorship may change and original intended audience may change from line to line. I have read dozens of books in history, archaeology, and biblical interpretation and criticism to inform my understanding of its authorship, context, and meanings. I expect to continue that.
As for a challenge, after I completed my 100 book challenge this year, I asked myself what works I hadn’t read yet because I found them intimidating. A small one on the list would be Joyce’s Ulysses. I’ve reread Homer now, so I ready for that and will get to it soon. The scariest one for me though has always been Ezra Pound’s Cantos. But, I’m 71 now. If I’m not ready yet, I never will be. Besides, could it really be any harder than the Bible? So a bought a copy of the Cantos and a companion volume last month, as well as started on a biography of Pound and one of his earlier works. One thing about Pound that I’ve realized that makes him less intimidating is that he frequently was an obscurantist twit. What makes him interesting though is that he was a very erudite and sometimes insightful obscurantist twit. Trying to make sense of the Cantos requires a lot of collateral reading which is interesting in its own right. E.g., Canto I is based on Homer, which makes it fairly easy; Canto II though leads us to the Provençal poets, troubadour song, Sordello, Robert Browning, etc. Anyway, that makes for an interesting reading project.
For some other simpler classics I’d like to sandwich in this year and next I’ll name Gibbon, Camoes, and Proust.