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.
The Classics Club 
Do we know, or have we been told, what our next Classics Spin number will be? And when the check-in will be? As I’m new to this I’m not sure what the procedural chronology of all this is! 🙂
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Oh man… I’ve been so neglectful of my Classics List this year – it’s sad, really. And 2019 – my original goal year, is approaching fast, so I’m going to do some strategic planning to get more reading DONE.
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This has never happened before…I finished the spin and posted it BEFORE the deadline date. Pop the cork!! Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey. https://relevantobscurity.com/2017/12/27/agnes-grey/
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I’m feeling good about the challenge, I only begun it in late October and am already five books in. I’m reading books I normally wouldn’t but really enjoy and really like the community. This December I’ve read Gösta Berling’s Saga and The Little Prince and especially the first one was a treat.
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Classics Club has been going well for me, I think. My 2nd year is over and i have read 19/50. In fact, I have read 28 classics, though 9 were not on my original list! I explain: I had listed The Hound of the Baskervilles, but I realized I should read all of Sherlock Holmes, so this added 7 more titles (novels and short story collections). I posted about my Sherlock Holmes experience here today: https://wordsandpeace.com/2017/12/22/2017-my-year-with-sherlock-holmes/
And I read 2 more classics that were not on my list!!
Right now, just finished Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. I had really enjoyed Paradise Lost at the university, so it was wonderful to read it again, and I had never read Paradise Regained.
I need to post my review of my spin, on the French Sherlock Holmes!
Unto 2018 now, I plan to read at least 12 classics of my list.
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My spin is Hamlet! I’ve started but don’t know if I’ll finish by the 31st. But it’s been an interesting challenge so far. I haven’t read one of his plays since high school.
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Even though plays are relatively short, they really do take some work to read, especially Shakespeare!
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I just joined and I’m halfway through Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. I’ve been reading some other WWI era stuff so it seemed like it would fit in. This will be the first book off my list.
Hi all!
Reese
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I finally joined back in October but I think I missed the last check-in. I’ve read a couple of the books on my list so far and am currently reading a third, but haven’t posted any reviews yet. Over Christmas I always like to take a break from my various reading challenges and read whatever I want, though, so I’m looking forward to that!
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I needed to finish Persuasion first, but am now about a fifth of the way through Anne Bronte’s realistic Agnes Grey. Interesting how both Austen and Bronte add semi-autobiography into the mix, one the fear of remaining an ‘old maid’ after having refused an offer of marriage, the other the dreadful experiences of being an abused governess. At least there are happy endings proffered!
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And now I’ve finished and posted my review of Agnes Grey, and what a worthwhile choice that was! In view of the (well overdue) serious debate we’re now having about men’s mistreatment of women it’s salutary to note that in some ways women’s economic and social parity has not changed much since 1837, when this novel was published.
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I’m 200 pages into my Spin book, Don Quixote. Life is getting in the way of reading, though, and I don’t think I”ll make it to the end by Dec. 31. But I’m going to call it a win if I can just make it halfway (the end of Part I). Cervantes wrote the two parts 10 years apart, after all, so I think I can take a short break.
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I read Quixote over the summer and it felt like I was going to be my whole life reading it, but it was well worth the effort.
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Just starting my fourth group of fifty classics. Started in July 2015 – wow that’s nearly two and a half years ago!! I am reading the classics in chronological order and have just reached the Ancient Romans – there were a lot of Ancient Greeks 🙂 Next up is Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul which I have been looking forward to since Day 1. I post at http://www.chronolit.com. A Merry Christmas and happy 2018 to all.
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I keep thinking I want to read some of the Greeks, and haven’t gotten around to it yet.
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A third of my way through my spin book (Diary of a Provinvial Lady) – I’m enjoying but not as much as I thought I would.
I received an OUP edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray from my secret santa at book club during the week – very excited!
Merry Christmas and/or a happy & safe holiday season to all you wonderful cc-er’s ⭐️
xo
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Just finished my spin book today – The Catcher in the Rye. No spoilers though – I’ll save it for my review… 😉 And I’m just about to begin my annual Dickens for Christmas read. This year it will be Nicholas Nickleby, one of my favourites. I also have a new audio dramatization of A Christmas Carol with Derek Jacobi, but that’s not actually on my CC list…
Have a Merry Christmas, everybody! 🎅
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I’ve never read Nicholas Nickleby – need to add that to my list, I guess.
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It’s one of my favourites though it’s been a long time since I last read it. Definitely worth sneaking onto your list… 😀
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In December I typically go for lighter reading or re-reads but I decided on a different finale for this year. Last night I finished my first read of The Iliad (Fagles), and this morning started The Oresteia.
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I’m feeling good too!! I’m listening to Jane Eyre right now and just finished Rebecca, Rip van Winkle, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!
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I just finished a read/listen version of Great Expectations by Dickens. It was a fun experience. I find listening to classic books that can be long and dense at times while following along with the text is a great way to go. I love hearing the various voices of the narrators. I did this with War and Peace and it was nice someone else was pronouncing all of the Russian names.
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Oh, audio would be great for the correct pronunciation of Russian names! I often find I can never quite settle on my own idea of how a name should be pronounced and I really get held up by that.
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I end up saying words that bear no resemblance to the actual name so the characters end up with completely different names!😀😀😀
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I’m supposed to be reading Henry IV Part I for the Spin, but I haven’t gotten far. It turns out that a play revolving mostly around Falstaff is not a good choice for the month of Harvey Weinstein….
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I’m feeling good! For a while I was too busy with other reading and other projects, and neglected my list, but I’m still on track. Have finished two books (including the latest spin) that I haven’t posted the reviews for yet, and am halfway through a third.
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