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.
The Classics Club 
I’m delighted to say that I finished my spin #6 book with a month to spare this time – it was a wonderful read by Wilkie Collins – No Name – who knew he did more than Woman in White & Moonstone?
Not I until recently!
I will schedule my review for the 7th though…and use this time to finish off spin #5 (The Brothers K) still a work in progress.
LikeLike
I had a terrible six months with Blogger and after total frustration I moved my blog to WordPress. You can find it here: http://scrambledbooks.wordpress.com/ I am going about the long process of moving the blog posts I can save over to the new blog. I’m not really clever with WordPress yet, so if you can’t find the “subscribe” button, please let me know and I will try getting it where it belongs. I’m looking forward to a blogiesta because I have A LOT of work to do.
In reading news, I’m leading a book group on historical mysteries, a nonfiction group, and participating in a crime fiction genre study. My books for this month are 1776 by David McCullough, The Queen’s Head by Edward Marston (plus some other Nicholas Bracewell mysteries), Jane Addams by Louise K. Knight, and Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. I will be taken a six week class beginning in mid-July on the writings of Dorothy Parker.
Classically speaking, the next book I would like to tackle is U.S.A. by John Dos Passos.
LikeLike
Sadly, though I’ve kept reading, I haven’t gotten lots of my *classic* reading done. I still need to do my spin read (Emily DIckinson’s complete poems), which I’m actually really looking forward to. I’ve just felt like reading fantasy and more contemporary things, but I’m thinking about editing my list a bit and adding some shorter works to see if I can get back on track.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just finished Gone With the Wind and ADORED it. (Here’s my post: http://ravens-and-writingdesks.blogspot.it/2014/06/gone-with-wind.html?m=1)
Next up, I’m going to take a break from Classics and read some of the contemporary stuff on my TBR. But I will be back to classics soon! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Sophia, GWTW is next on my list, so I’ll wait to read your review until I have finished it. (sorry it will be a bit yet, as I am still working through Anna Karenina). I’ll look forward to sharing thoughts when finally get to it. Cheers…Joseph
LikeLike
Hi, all, I am currently reading a book from my Classics Club list, The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter! So far, it is really good. I also just finished Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata, but I have not posted my review yet.
LikeLike
Hello, everyone! 🙂 I’m a newly arrived here, so I have very little to share, actually. I’ve only reviewed Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë so far
http://moonlightandsims.blogspot.com.es/2014/06/book-review-1-agnes-grey-by-anne-bronte.html
I’m currently reading A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf, and I think I’ll have to reread it before I can come up with something coherent to say about it, such is the depth and subtlety of her thinking.
LikeLike
I just joined the club in January, and I’m so excited, because today I posted my tenth review! I was worried I’d have a hard time making my quotas because I have three small children, but it turns out that this club is exactly the sort of incentive I needed to really make finding reading time a priority. Instead of spending an hour watching a TV show when my kids are in bed, why not read?
I’m almost done with the “Lord of the Rings” read-along I’ve been hosting on my blog, and next month I’ll be hosting a read-along of “The Old Man and the Sea.” You’re welcome to join in — info on that read-along is here.
My Classics Club to-read list keeps getting longer and longer — I have 65 books on it right now! But I figure even if I don’t manage to read all of them in 5 years, I should definitely manage to read 50 of them 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m currently reading Possession by A.S Byatt.I have 200 pages left!
It’s a great book which can take so many forms; a study of the lives of two poets,a compilation of fairy tales and poems,or a passionate love story between two people.
It’s been more than a month ago since I started Possession,and when I finish reading it, I’ll pick rather short little classics from my to-read list,such as The Myth of Sisyphus,Kafka’s Short Stories,Waiting for Godot,and The Outsider.
LikeLike
My numbers are a little low, but any progress pleases me. I finally finished Invisible Man, which I loved. Then, this week I knocked Hard Times out in just two days, although it definitely is not my favorite Dickens novel. What I am really behind on is posting about the Classics Club books I have completed.
LikeLike
I read Invisible Man not long ago. I wouldn’t quite say I loved it, but I thought it was very good…and a very important novel. My reviiew….http://100greatestnovelsofalltimequest.blogspot.com/2012/10/invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison-1952-11.html
LikeLike
I just hit my first year in the Classics Club! Update post is here: http://ted-reader.blogspot.co.nz/2014/06/classic-club-one-year-update.html
Apart from that, I’m currently reading both Three Men in a Boat and The Canterbury Tales. The later of which is far dirtier than I expected!
LikeLike
Yes, isn’t it a hoot how baudy Canterbury Tales is. I love it.
LikeLike
I’ve set myself a goal to reach 75/150 on my list this summer (I started at 67), which probably means I’ll go for a bunch of short things like plays and novellas. So far I’ve gotten to 70. I just finished “Death in Venice” (meh) and am planning to pick up Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain” soon.
LikeLike
Oh, and I’m reading Pynchon’s V. right now. Pretty weird.
LikeLike
I have been reading multyiple books at the same time. Today, I will finish Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw and The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. The Maltese Falcon has been enjoyable so far, but the end of any crime novel is the most important. A bad ending will destroy the whole work for me. I hope the ending is to my liking.
As for my Classics Spin book, I will not be finishing The Canterbury Tales before July 7. I guess I could rush the book and still make the deadline, but I don’t want to. I want to savor each and every tale. I may make multiple posts for the book, but I’m not sure yet. I have a lot on my plate right now.
Here is a recent review I posted on The Hobbit: http://exploringclassics.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/the-hobbit-or-there-and-back-again/
LikeLike
So glad I read The Stranger, Heather, so now at least I can understand references made to it in my readings. I purposefully try NOT to research classics before reading/re-reading them, and I think it helps me formulate my own interpretation with which to compare with others’ reactions. Glad I did that with Camus. Wow, Joseph, you are ambitious! Anna Karenina! Wow…I am impressed and awestruck! My next CC Spin read is The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. It’s rather lengthy and I’m anxious to dig in!
LikeLike
I’m way behind. Ha!
I went a long time without reading any classics at all. But I just finished THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO and it is so good. SO GOOD. I don’t remember enjoying it this much the first time I read it (years ago). Next up is THE STRANGER by Albert Camus, and then THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME by Victor Hugo (right?).
LikeLike
Hello readers; I’m Joseph…fairly new here. My reading pace is a bit slow right now, as everything on my list right now is 1000 plus pages. I’m currently reading Anna Karenina. I like it so far, though I really detest Count Vronsky. I imagine I’m supposed to at this point; no idea if he will redeem himself to the reader before the end. This is one of those rare treats…a novel I’ve never read, and that I know NOTHING about (except classic Russian lit). So every twist is a surprise. You know, so often when you read a new book, somewhere along life’s path, you’ve picked up a snippet or two, or worse seen the movie, and you know what to expect. None of that with Anna Karenina. That’s nice.
LikeLike
I’m impressed with the length of your reading list! I loved Anna Karenina. Enjoy!
LikeLike