Group Check-In #24: June 2017

Posted on by under Group Check-Ins

What is this? Click to find out.

Hi Clubbers! How’s the reading going? Check in with the group below!

Tell us about your project — or you! Introduce yourself. Chat.

Tell us what you’ve read, how you’re feeling about your progress, how much you love the classics or the community — any struggles, a favorite read so far. Really, whatever you feel like sharing!

Some people prefer writing an update at their own blog and linking it here in the comments. That’s fine, too.

Feel free to respond to one another in the comments below — ask questions, visit each other, tell us you are new to the club, planning to join the club — etc. This is a meet and greet.

If you’re having trouble with your list and need encouragement, say that! That’s understandable. We want new classics readers to join us, so there’s nothing wrong with arriving to this thread with all of the newness showing!

(Please also note the “check-in” feature here is entirely voluntarily, intended for those who like weighing in with others in the group, and having a periodic place to reflect upon goals for the club. For some this feature would feel like an unwanted intrusion. Silent participation in this group is of course welcome!)

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm about this project!

New? Introduce yourself to the group on Twitter using hashtag #ccintroductions @ourclassicsclub. You can also introduce yourself here at the blog. 🙂

Twitter hashtag for reading check-ins: #ccreadingupdate

Note that if you’re on Twitter, you can also tweet your latest classic book reviews to the group using hashtag #ccbookreviews.

Book Corner: What Are You Reading?

Posted on by under Book Corner

“Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot).” Berthe Morisot, 1873.

Here’s a space to tell the club what you’re currently reading. You’re welcome to use the comments below.

No pressure, of course! But if you’re feeling social, here’s a space to tell us about your latest classic. As always, you are of course welcome to leave a link to your blog if you prefer to share there.

Twitter hashtag: #ccreadingupdate

– The Club

Today is the Day! Did you finish your SPIN book?

Posted on by under Classics Spin

Click for details about the Spin.

All right, clubbers! Back in early March, we announced The Classics Spin #15, challenging you to read Book #12 on your spin list by May 1.

Guess what? Today is May 1!

Did you read your book? Did you write about it, or will you?

What was your book, and what did you think? Share below. Feel free to link to your post below, if/when you write about your book.

 

As always, the prize is the reading experience. Details here.

Twitter hashtag: #ccspin

– the Club

Group Check-In #23: April 2017

Posted on by under Group Check-Ins

What is this? Click to find out.

Hi Clubbers! How’s the reading going? Check in with the group below!

Tell us about your project — or you! Introduce yourself. Chat.

Tell us what you’ve read, how you’re feeling about your progress, how much you love the classics or the community — any struggles, a favorite read so far. Really, whatever you feel like sharing!

Some people prefer writing an update at their own blog and linking it here in the comments. That’s fine, too.

Feel free to respond to one another in the comments below — ask questions, visit each other, tell us you are new to the club, planning to join the club — etc. This is a meet and greet.

If you’re having trouble with your list and need encouragement, say that! That’s understandable. We want new classics readers to join us, so there’s nothing wrong with arriving to this thread with all of the newness showing!

(Please also note the “check-in” feature here is entirely voluntarily, intended for those who like weighing in with others in the group, and having a periodic place to reflect upon goals for the club. For some this feature would feel like an unwanted intrusion. Silent participation in this group is of course welcome!)

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm about this project!

New? Introduce yourself to the group on Twitter using hashtag #ccintroductions @ourclassicsclub. You can also introduce yourself here at the blog. 🙂

Twitter hashtag for reading check-ins: #ccreadingupdate

Note that if you’re on Twitter, you can also tweet your latest classic book reviews to the group using hashtag #ccbookreviews.

Book Corner: What Are You Reading?

Posted on by under Book Corner

“Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot).” Berthe Morisot, 1873.

Here’s a space to tell the club what you’re currently reading. You’re welcome to use the comments below.

No pressure, of course! But if you’re feeling social, please do tell us about your latest classic. As always, you are of course welcome to leave a link to your blog if you prefer to share there.

Twitter hashtag: #ccreadingupdate

– The Club

The Classics Club Lucky SPIN Number!

Posted on by under Classics Spin

Click for details about the Spin.

We promised you a spin number this morning, and here it is!

Your Spin Number is . . .

12!

If you joined the game last week, find number 12 on your Spin List! That’s the title you are challenged to read by May 1, 2017. We’ll toss a post up on that day to see who completed the game.

As always, the prize is the reading experience. Details here.

In case anyone asks — it would be awesome if everyone posted about their Spin book on May 1. But that’s not mandatory or anything. If you want to, though, have at it! 🙂

Check in below if you played. What’s your #12 title? Are you glad, hesitant, excited about your title? Do tell!

Twitter hashtag: #ccspin

– the Club

Happy Anniversary to The Classics Club! Five Years Strong!!

Posted on by under Club Business
classicsclub

The Club was founded five years ago today.

Happy Birthday to The Classics Club, founded five years ago today.

For many of us, this is the last year of the challenge. Who is still with us? How many books do you have left to read?

How long have you been with us, and what is your favorite memory from the club so far?

If you could do it again, would you still join us?

Thanks sincerely for a great five years, everyone.

Feel free to comment below!

The Classics Spin #15!

Posted on by under Classics Spin

Spins! So far!

Hello, Clubbers!

It’s time for another Classics Spin!

What is the spin?

It’s easy. At your blog, before next Friday, March 10th, create a post to list your choice of any twenty books that remain “to be read” on your Classics Club list.

This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in March & April. (Details follow.) Try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, re-reads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

On Friday, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by May 1, 2017. We’ll check in here in May to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

Do you have that?

  • Go to your blog.
  • Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
  • Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, re-reads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
  • Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before next Friday.
  • Friday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
  • The challenge is to read that book by May 1, even if it’s an icky one you dread reading! (No fair not listing any scary ones!)

As usual, this is all for fun and, of course, the “rules” are, as always, very relaxed. Really, you can make up your own rules. We don’t actually care. Just play along with us and read a classic! 😛

So, today (or any time this week) at your blog, you might post something like:

My Book Spin List for the Classics Club  –

  1. Jane Eyre
  2. Pride and Prejudice
  3. Crime and Punishment
  4. Oliver Twist
  5. Clarissa 
  6. Gone With the Wind
  7. Ulysses 
  8. Emerson’s Collected Essays
  9. Richard III
  10. The Iliad
  11. Jude the Obscure
  12. Leaves of Grass
  13. The Monk
  14. Dracula
  15. The Importance of Being Earnest
  16. Sense & Sensibility
  17. The Tempest
  18. The Diary of Anne Frank
  19. Paradise Lost
  20. Pilgrim’s Progress

(Obviously, YOU choose what books you want to list, in what order.)

Next Friday, we will announce a number from 1 through 20. When we announce it, go to your Spin list. Find that number, and read the book listed for that number by May 1.

So, if (for example) we announce #2 — if the above list was your Spin List, you’d have to read Pride and Prejudice by May 1.

Make sense? As always, the prize is the reading experience. 🙂

When we announce the number next Friday, come back and tell us your spin title — weeee!

Anybody in? If so, you can link to your spin lists below. Happy week(end)!

Twitter hashtag: #ccspin

– the Club

Group Check-In #22 – December 2016

Posted on by under Group Check-Ins

What is this? Click to find out.

Hi Clubbers! How’s the reading going? Check in with the group below!

Tell us about your project — or you! Introduce yourself. Chat.

Tell us what you’ve read, how you’re feeling about your progress, how much you love the classics or the community — any struggles, a favorite read so far. Really, whatever you feel like sharing!

Some people prefer writing an update at their own blog and linking it here in the comments. That’s fine, too.

Feel free to respond to one another in the comments below — ask questions, visit each other, tell us you are new to the club, planning to join the club — etc. This is a meet and greet.

If you’re having trouble with your list and need encouragement, say that! That’s understandable. We want new classics readers to join us, so there’s nothing wrong with arriving to this thread with all of the newness showing!

(Please also note the “check-in” feature here is entirely voluntarily, intended for those who like weighing in with others in the group, and having a periodic place to reflect upon goals for the club. For some this feature would feel like an unwanted intrusion. Silent participation in this group is of course welcome!)

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm about this project!

New? Introduce yourself to the group on Twitter using hashtag #ccintroductions @ourclassicsclub. You can also introduce yourself here at the blog. 🙂

Twitter hashtag for reading check-ins: #ccreadingupdate

Note that if you’re on Twitter, you can also tweet your latest classic book reviews to the group using hashtag #ccbookreviews.

December Meme: Question #48

Posted on by under Monthly Club Meme

Hi clubbers!! We’re excited to be posting our latest meme question for the club! (A bit early, since many may be celebrating the holidays when we usually post the monthly meme, so we thought we’d offer an early start this month.) Feel free to answer now or next month at your place, & leave a link to your response in the comments below so others can see what you have to say. Or really, you could just answer in the comments if you want. We really are quite flexible here. 🙂 Here’s the question this month:

see future questions for this meme

A meme rewind from March 2014: Contributed by Dale, who joined us in September 2012: What is your favorite “classic” literary period and why?

Remember to check out this page for details or to share suggestions for future meme questions! And then check out one another’s posts!

Twitter hashtag: #ccmeme

“Reading” – Auguste Renoir (1890-1895)

Final Check-In: Women’s Classic Literature Event 2016.

Posted on by under Women's Classic Literature Event 2016
Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurson, George Eliot, Rose Wilder Lane, Louisa May Alcott, & Virginia Woolf.

Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, George Eliot, Rose Wilder Lane, Louisa May Alcott, & Virginia Woolf.

Our final group question: If you could meet any of the authors you read for this event, which one would you meet, & why? What would you ask her?

Here’s the last check-in for the 2016 Women’s Classic Literature Event. We would love to know how you did? We have a few weeks left till the year fades into its twilight embers. Are you planning to finish up any women’s classics for the remainder of the year? Are you going to keep exploring classics by female authors?

This is really the big question we want to ask: what has been your favorite title for this challenge? Do you have any recommendations for others going forward? Lost authors they might try? Why do you recommend that author? (What made you love her work, and if it’s possible, why do you think she was forgotten? Will she make a comeback?)

If you’ve read some great titles or written some great posts, please feel free to share them below! And thanks so much for participating! We hope you liked this event. 🙂

Twitter: #ccwomenclassics.

Today is the day! Did you finish your spin book?

Posted on by under Classics Spin

Click for details about the Spin.

All right, clubbers! Back in late September, we announced The Classics Spin #14, challenging you to read Book #1 on your spin list by December 1. Today is December 1!

Did you read your book? Did you write about it, or will you?

What was your book, and what did you think? Share below. Feel free to link to your post below, as and when you write about your book.

As always, the prize is the reading experience. Details here.

Twitter hashtag: #ccspin

– the Club

November Meme: Question #47

Posted on by under Monthly Club Meme

Hi clubbers!! We’re excited to be posting our latest meme question for the club! Feel free to answer now or next month at your place, & leave a link to your response in the comments below so others can see what you have to say. Or really, you could just answer in the comments if you want. We really are quite flexible here. 🙂 Here’s the question this month:

see future questions for this meme

A meme rewind from January 2013: What is the best book you’ve read so far for The Classics Club — and why? Be sure to link to the post where you discussed the book! (Or, if you prefer, what is your least favorite read so far for the club, and why?)

Remember to check out this page for details or to share suggestions for future meme questions! And then check out one another’s posts!

Twitter hashtag: #ccmeme

“Reading” – Auguste Renoir (1890-1895)

Book Corner: What are you reading today?

Posted on by under Book Corner

“Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot).” Berthe Morisot, 1873.

Here’s a space to tell the club what you’re currently reading. You’re welcome to use the comments below.

No pressure, of course! But if you’re feeling social, here’s a space to tell us about your latest classic. As always, you are of course welcome to leave a link to your blog if you prefer to share there.

Twitter hashtag: #ccreadingupdate

– The Club

Classics Club Event Call – December & January

Posted on by under Club Business, Events

Hey guys! We want to make sure we’re all on top of the Community Events our members offer through the club. If you are hosting anything for The Classics Club community in the coming weeks, please give a shout out below with the name of the event, the dates, a link (either to the event, or your blog), and any special rules. (Like, you must check in weekly or don’t take part — that sort of thing.)

And then maybe also add it to the Events Page. This post is mostly a way to keep things present in our clubbers’ plans. It’s probably easy to forget that page is there. 🙂

If you’re on Twitter, please tweet your event to –

Please note:  For this month, please tell us about any events you have planned for December & January.

Have ideas for future events but prefer someone else host them? Please share them in the comments! Maybe someone will take up the torch!

Good reading –

– The Club