10 years ago today, The Classic Club Blog was born!
Adam, Allie, Heather, Jillian, Melissa and Sarah were our foundation moderators, who guided us through the first six years with LOTS of fabulous ideas, events and enthusiasm. All designed to get us excited about reading classics together.
Four years ago, The Classics Club experienced a changing of the guard.
Brona, Deb, Kay and Margaret arrived with a new bout of enthusiasm, refreshing the blog and working behind the scenes to update member and review information. And suddenly, here we are with 10 years of blogging about classics behind us!
During that 10 years, bloggers have also come and gone. That’s life in this blogging world. We love that after 10 years, new members are still finding their way to us and that older members continue to circle around as their schedules permit.
So what does the future hold for us at The Classics Club?
In these uncertain times, it can be hard to think about anything much beyond our immediate concerns. But that is why we are readers. Books bring us solace and comfort during trying times. Classic books, in particular, can help us to understand our time and place in history and give us a perspective other than our own. They help remind us that nothing about human nature is new or hasn’t been experienced before.
We will stay here at The Classics Club as long as the rest of you want to keep reading classics with us.
To celebrate our 10 years of blogging about Classics, we want to know more about YOU. New members and old.
- Share a link to you blog and/or classic club list/s.
- Answer the 10 questions below.
- As always we are very flexible about how and when you do this.
- Tweek, add or subtract the questions to suit you best.
- Have fun!
The Questions
- When did you join the Classics Club?
- What is the best classic book you’ve read for the club so far? Why?
- What is the first classic you ever read?
- Which classic book inspired you the most?
- What is the most challenging one you’ve ever read, or tried to read?
- Favourite movie adaptation of a classic? Least favorite?
- Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
- Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Respecting? Appreciating?
- Classic/s you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
- Favorite memory with a classic and/or your favourite memory with The Classics Club?
You can answer the questions in the comments below or at your own blog, then post your link below. We can’t wait to meet you all and catch up with old friends.
^ Photo credit: Julia Taubitz on Unsplash
The Classics Club 
What a fun idea to celebrate 10 years of the club! I almost forgot to post the link but here are my answers: https://warmdayswillnevercease.wordpress.com/2022/08/24/the-classics-club-10-year-celebration-questionnaire/
LikeLike
Happy anniversary! Here’s my 10 questions, most answered!
https://eelsbutnohovercraft.blogspot.com/2022/08/classics-club-10-year-anniversary.html
LikeLike
Hi everybody, Great to be part of the classics club. The first ever classic that I had read in original was Robinson Crusoe. The character that I would love to identify with is Jane Eyre. Revisiting the classics is part of Cultural and Memory studies. Thanks. Regards.
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary! Here are my attempts at answering the 10 questions:
LikeLike
Such a great challenge. I finally did it and here are my answers to the questionnaire.
LikeLike
I’ve been doing the CC since 2015, and am grateful to those who organized it and maintain it, as well as my fellow readers. 🙂
https://readingfreely.com/2022/08/18/ten-years-of-the-classics-club/
LikeLike
Yay to 10 years! And looking forward to many more.
https://carolsnotebook.com/2022/08/17/10-year-classics-club-celebration-questionaire/
LikeLike
Here are my answers, with special thanks to all of you who make this club happen and live well. An to many more years!
LikeLike
Here is the link to my answers.
LikeLike
Here are my attempts at answering the 10 questions. Some were quite challenging …https://bookertalk.com/in-celebration-of-reading-the-classics/
LikeLike
OK, here I go just once more to see if my comment sticks…
Here is my link: https://withfreedomandbooks.blogspot.com/2022/08/classics-club-ten-years-celebration.html
Thanks!
LikeLike
Here is a link to my current CC list: https://thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com/the-classics-club-ii/ and I will be doing a post for the questionnaire too. Thank to all the moderators and contributors that have made this challenge one of the best! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s my answer to the questionnaire: https://thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/%f0%9f%8f%9b-the-classics-club-10-year-celebration-questionnaire/ 🙂
LikeLike
I just posted my answers to the questionnaire on http://powerfulwomenreaders.wordpress.com
LikeLike
Answering the questionnaire and reading other people’s responses has been fun!
LikeLike
Congratulations, clubbers! And thank you for the hard work. Here are my answers to the questionnaire: https://theblankgarden.com/2022/08/06/celebrating-10-years-of-the-classics-club/
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve answered the questions on my blog, but I’d like to thank all of you who have been a part of the Classics Club over the years. You have helped me choose good books and you have shared thoughts that have made me a better reader and thinker and, even, a better citizen of the world. So thank you!
My post: https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2022/08/happy-10th-birthday-classics-club.html
LikeLiked by 7 people
I’m a proud charter member, and here’s my post! https://howlingfrog.blogspot.com/2022/08/classics-club-10th-anniversary.html Thanks so much to all of you who make this fun little community happen. 🙂
LikeLiked by 7 people
Congrats and much gratitude to all the moderators over the years for keeping this club going. Here are my answers:
When did you join the Classics Club? – I think the year after I started blogging, so 2015.
What is the best classic book you’ve read for the club so far? Why? – I have a hard time identifying one book as the “best”. So many were impressive for different reasons. So I think I have to pass on this one.
What is the first classic you ever read? – The first “grown-up” classic that I remember reading and enjoying is Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I was assigned it in school, and unlike most such assigned books that I found terribly boring, I was riveted by Steinbeck’s brief yet emotionally wrenching tale.
Which classic book inspired you the most? Jane Eyre inspired my senior comprehensive project in college, and I still think of it often for its psychological insights and inspiring story of empowerment.
What is the most challenging one you’ve ever read, or tried to read? Don Quixote was a challenge due to its length. It helped when I realized it was really published as two books, ten years apart, and gave myself permission to break it up.
Favourite movie adaptation of a classic? Least favorite? From childhood I adored The Wizard of Oz and watched it every year. I still think it’s actually better than the book in many ways. On the minus side,the bloated Hobbit Part I was a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of the LOTR films that left me cold.
Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? Sophie Hatter in Howl’s Moving Castle.
Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Respecting? Appreciating? Mrs Dalloway — I did not get on with Woolf’s style at all for the first half or so, and then it suddenly clicked and I loved it.
Classic/s you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? I’m not making any promises about anything for next year!
Favorite memory with a classic and/or your favourite memory with The Classics Club? Readalong of Don Quixote (yes, the most challenging one) with Emma of Words and Peace. I do not think I would have gotten through it without that little push of companionship. And that’s what I appreciate most about the Club in general, the sense of having companions on the way, as we try to make sense of books and life and our crazy world. Thanks for being there!
LikeLiked by 8 people
Happy 10th Anniversary! I’ve been a member from the beginning and loved every minute of it. I’ve answered some of the questions on my blog today:
LikeLiked by 6 people
I haven’t really joined officially, but I do participate in the spins now. Does that count? Congratulations of 10 years of advancing the reading of classics!
LikeLiked by 6 people
We’re just happy you’re reading and loving classics 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Happy Anniversary…and thanks to the mods, past and present. This forum really adds to the enjoyment of my book reading. Answers to the questionnaire at my blog. https://100greatestnovelsofalltimequest.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-classics-club-10-year-celebration.html
LikeLiked by 7 people
Yay to everybody for ten years! It’s getting close to five years ago for me. And let’s see if I can get a post together to answer the rest of the questions…
LikeLiked by 5 people
Happy 10th Anniversary and thank you for all your hard work. I have answered the 10 questions in this post – https://thecontentreader.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-classic-club-celebrating-10-years.html – and remembering what I love, and do not love, with the classics. Looking forward to coming events and hope to be reading more spins than I have so far.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Happy 10th, and thanks to all the moderators, past and present!
I’ll have a little think about the questions and either post on my blog or pop back and post here – always so difficult to pick “bests” when it comes to classics, isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 9 people
1. I have been a member since 2014 and am working on my third list.
2. Although I have read many good classics as a member of the club, I think my favorite so far is The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson, because it was such a surprise. It was a romp of an adventure and funny besides.
3. I don’t remember what the first class I ever read was, maybe The Secret Garden.
4. I don’t feel that this question applies to me.
5. The most challenging was Moby Dick. I tried to read it twice before finishing it, and I didn’t like it.
6. There are too many good movie adaptations of classics to answer this question. I think my least favorite was the version of Persuasion where they made Fanny too perky. They totally missed the point of the book.
7. Maybe Dorothea Brooks reminds me of myself a little, although I’ve never been that earnest or naive.
8. Maybe, but I’m blanking.
I’ve run out of steam. I think 10 open-ended questions may be too many.
LikeLiked by 10 people
Hip hip hooray for TEN years!! Here’s to another ten!
I am new to The Classics Club, starting my journey in January of this year. I’m right on track, so far, (a bit ahead, actually!) having read and reviewed ten books on my list. Two bloggers I follow are active members and it was through their posts that I was inspired to join in. It’s definitely made me step out of my comfort zone and read some books I might never have considered before!
I love all these questions, but it might be too soon for me to answer most of them. As for my first classic? I guess that all depends on one’s definition of “classic”. I learned to read before I began school, so maybe Hop On Pop by Dr. Seuss? 😉
LikeLiked by 8 people
I also learnt to read thanks to Dr Seuss – for me it was Ten Apples Up On Top and One Fish Two Read Fish Blue Fish 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Those are still on my shelf, too, along with many other much loved books. ☺️
LikeLiked by 2 people
What a fun idea and great questions. I’m answering the questions on my blog. I’ll be answering one or two questions a day. 🎈🎈🎈
LikeLiked by 5 people
Llongyfarchiadau, as it’s said in Wales! A splendid achievement – and what you say about classics bringing solace and comfort, helping us to understand and giving us alternative perspectives is all spot on, as well as what you say about human nature.
Me joining the Classics Club? A year or two before the new team took over, though I’ve yet to finish even my latest ‘new and revised’ list, to my shame.
Best classic so far? I can’t choose, possibly *all* the Austen and Brontë fiction I’ve read up to now.
I’ve stalled on far too many, stuttering and restarting the likes of Moby Dick and Middlemarch. As time goes on I seek out shorter and shorter novels and novellas – that’s growing old for you, and soon I’ll become my own classic!
LikeLiked by 10 people