2017 Reading Challenge discussion

Can anyone recommend a classic romance? I have read Pride and Prejudice and thought it was awful, now I'm a bit reluctant to read those classic romances :).

What exactly made you think it's awful? Too long and not enough plot? The Characters? Being set in the country side vs. city, 18/19th century vs. any other time....

I'm going for Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence.

I couldn't connect with the characters at all, they just annoyed me (fragile girl falls for cold rich guy, no thank you). The book was so slow, nothing happened. Really not my thing. So I'm looking for a classic romance that's a bit quicker and more interesting characters.
I've read very mixed reviews about Lady Chatterley's Lover, some say amazing, others say merely a sex book.

So It'd be great if someone here disliked Pride and Prejudice as much as I did but found another good classic romance, as I have absolutely no idea :-).

My favorite all time is Jane Eyre. Great book.

Love in the Time of Cholera? Any takers?

I read East of Eden. It was actually a lot better than I though it would be.

Cynthia wrote: "I couldn't connect with the characters at all, they just annoyed me (fragile girl falls for cold rich guy, no thank you). The book was so slow, nothing happened. Really not my thing. So I'm looking..."

Did you find something?

My guess is you wont like Jane Eyre if you didnt like P and P.

What about Wuthering Heights? It's more of a younger aged romance.

I've decided to read Wuthering Heights! and your comment made me even more sure, thanks a lot!

Cynthia wrote: "I've decided to read Wuthering Heights! and your comment made me even more sure, thanks a lot!"

Oh, good. It's a little dark. But in a good way. I gave it 5 stars, but I generally love classics.

Jane Eyre definitely :)

"I've decided to read Wuthering Heights! and your comment made me even more sure, thanks a lot!"

The main characters are definitely headstrong in this one!

We read it at school - I remember getting confused with all the names (the two main ones start with an H and I remember there being 2 Kathys). There was a useful family tree diagram in our edition though.
I wouldn't mind re-reading now that I'm old.. (er) but would probably make notes about who's who.

Will be interesting to hear what you make of it.

I give up on Lady Chatterley's Lover. I also give up on Northanger Abbey for the 100+ years category. I'm going to go for The Time Traveler's Wife instead, regardless of the "classic" label or not.

Thomas wrote: "I give up on Lady Chatterley's Lover. I also give up on Northanger Abbey for the 100+ years category. I'm going to go for The Time Traveler's Wife instead, regardless of the "classic" label or not."

I've found that's kind of the fun of this challenge. You can interpret it however you want.

I read The Bell Jar for a popular authors first book.

Yeah... I just started out reading the books I didn't own, so I was always on deadlines with library returns. Most of those books, I wasn't exactly thrilled about reading them, otherwise I would already own them. Returned the last library books today and it feels like a load has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can read whichever book I want that I have planned and I can jump between them and leave them unfinished for months if I want. No stress.

This challenge is supposed to be fun and it didn't feel fun with those two books. I'm probably going for Treasure Island or something with Sherlock Holmes for the 100+ years book.

Thomas wrote: "Yeah... I just started out reading the books I didn't own, so I was always on deadlines with library returns. Most of those books, I wasn't exactly thrilled about reading them, otherwise I would al..."

Good for you! Yes, it's supposed to be fun. Use the library as a back up...when you KNOW what you want to read but dont want to buy it to save money. LOL. (That never works out for me though.)

Sherlock Holmes also has short stories so you could do it for that too. I really enjoyed it.

I really like that this category is a bit ambiguous. I was going to read Pride and Prejudice, but decided to read something that was a personal classic instead. I'm going to read A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey. I read it in high school more then ten years ago. It's a personal favorite and very classic to me. I can't wait to read that one!