AUSTEN IN AUGUST is an annual reading event celebrating one of literature’s greatest writers! This event was inspired by a Twitter conversation that took place ten years ago between three founders of The Classics Club.
The goal is to read as many of Jane Austen’s works (finished or unfinished) as you want or are able to, during the month of August. Biographies, audiobooks, spin-offs, and re-reads also count.
If you want to sign-up to join us as a reader during the Austen in August, simply leave a comment stating such here!
Readerbuzz and Thyme-for-tea are delighted to bring you the annual blogging event that celebrates all things Paris and French.
The aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through reading, watching, listening, observing, cooking, and eating all things French!
There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of this experience – just blog about anything French and you can join in!
It’s time once again for the 20 Books of Summer, hosted by 746 Books. This year the event will be kicking off on Wednesday 1 June and finishing on Thursday 1 September. If you want to join in, just take the Books of Summer image, and pick your own 10, 15, or 20 books you would like to read. Post the link to your choices in the post’s comments here.
The Big Book Summer Reading Challenge kicks off Friday, May 27! This is the 10th anniversary of the challenge, so the host, Sue Jackson of Book by Book, has some fun surprises planned, including a double end-of-summer giveaway and some cool Big Book Summer products. In case you’re not familiar with Big Book Summer, it is a fun and very easy-going challenge that anyone can participate in (even if it’s Big Book Winter where you live!). A Big Book is 400 or more pages, and you can read just one over the whole season or two or however many you want. Some like to choose a whole stack and devote the summer to Big Books, even though we might not get through them all. The details are explained in a post on Friday, May 27, on the blog (and she will post a video on YouTube, too).
A few people are interested in very slowly reading the Mahabharata with Hibernator’s Library. We’ll probably form a group on Discord or LibraryThing for discussion. The group will start in mid-January and will go for at least a year. Feel free to email hibernators dot Library at gmail dot com if you want to join.
Whatmeread began in 2021 to read Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series in order, and she would be happy to have you join her. For more information about this challenge, take a look here.

Calmgrove will host Narniathon21 beginning in November of 2021. The event will run through July of 2022, and it will feature a group read/discussion of each book in the Narnia series. For more information, take a look here.
It’s time once again for the 20 Books of Summer, hosted by 746 Books. This year the event will be kicking off on Wednesday 1 June and finishing on Thursday 1 September. If you want to join in, just take the Books of Summer image, and pick your own 10, 15, or 20 books you would like to read. Post the link to your choices in the post’s comments here.
2022 (All Year)
It’s back! For the ninth year, Karen at Books and Chocolate is hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge, a year-long challenge in which participants are encouraged to finally read the classics they’ve always meant to read — or just recently discovered. At the end of the year, one lucky winner will receive a prize $30 (US) in books from the bookstore of their choice. If you’re new to the challenge, here’s how it works:
- Complete six categories, and you’ll get one entry in the drawing;
- Complete nine categories, and you’ll get two entries in the drawing;
- Complete all twelve categories, and you’ll get three entries in the drawing
Without further ado, here are the categories for 2022:
1. A 19th century classic. Any book first published from 1800 to 1899
2. A 20th century classic. Any book first published from 1900 to 1972. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written by 1972 and posthumously published.
3. A classic by a woman author.
4. A classic in translation. Any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer.
5. A classic by BIPOC author. Any book published by a non-white author.
6. Mystery/Detective/Crime Classic. It can be fiction or non-fiction (true crime). Examples include Murder on the Orient Express, Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood.
7. A Classic Short Story Collection. Any single volume that contains at least six short stories. The book can have a single author or can be an anthology of multiple authors.
8. Pre-1800 Classic. Anything written before 1800. Plays and epic poems, such as the Odyssey, are acceptable in this category.
9. A Nonfiction Classic. Travel, memoirs, and biographies are great choices for this category.
10. Classic That’s Been on Your TBR List the Longest. Find the classic book that’s been hanging around unread the longest, and finally cross it off your list!
11. Classic Set in a Place You’d Like to Visit. Can be real or imaginary — Paris, Tokyo, the moon, Middle Earth, etc. It can be someplace you’ve never been, or someplace you’d like to visit again.
12. Wild Card Classic. Any classic book you like, any category, as long as it’s at least 50 years old!
For more information, see Karen’s post here.
The aim of the 2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge is to encourage you to make nonfiction part of your reading experience during the year. The challenge will run from January 1st to December 31st 2022. Participants may join at any time up until December 1st 2022. Create a blog post committing to your participation in this challenge, and link up with host Shelley at Book’d Out.
Gather Together and Read will be hosting a 1000 Books to Read Before You Die Project: Classic Fantasy 2022. The first half of the year will feature The Count of Monte Cristo and the end of the year will feature Les Miserables. For more information, take a look here.
If you’re a Classics Clubber and you would like to sharing information about a classics event, fill in the contact form here. Please let us know the start and end date for the event, some details, and a link to the home site. It’s fine to do this whether you’re the host of the event or simply want to share one you’ve discovered, as long as you’re a clubber. (Also check out any events our members on Twitter may have tweeted about at hashtag #cceventsched.) 🙂 – The Club
Anyone interested in a buddy read of Mahabharata?
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Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know I created a list for our group at Goodreads, where we can vote for our top ten classic reads so far with the club. This is just to have fun & get a general reading on our favorites so far. If anyone is interested. 😊 You can totally edit your votes as you go, & if you don’t have ten favorites yet, that’s totally fine. OR, if you want to vote for eleven instead of ten, legitimately no one will know.
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I added some directions for how to vote at the top of the page there in case folks ain’t Goodreads saavy. And yes I can say ain’t in the Classics Club because Twain approves.
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I’m hosting a read-along of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility beginning March 1. We’re aiming to read 6 chapters a week. Read this blog post for more info.
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Thank you for sharing this. I will add it to the events calendar.
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I’m hosting a Russian Literature Challenge in 2020:
https://achaemenids.blogspot.com/2019/12/russian-literature-challenge-2020.html
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I’m hosting a Reading Classic Books Challenge. The plan is to do the 12 challenge prompts to help me read the books on my Classics Club list. So, I hope others will join in.
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I forgot to say it’s a year long challenge that starts January 2020. And, will you add to the Events page? Thanks!
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Are there any events people are planning for next year?
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I’m hosting a Reading Classic Books Challenge, which can be done in conjunction with The Classics Club Challenge. There are 12 prompts, Instagram challenges, and giveaways. So, hopefully people can find books from Classics Club reading list to fit the prompts.
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A little last minute but I’m hosting a The House of Mirth Read-along beginning Nov 1st and going until Dec 15th. Here’s a link to my post: https://classicalcarousel.com/the-house-of-mirth-read-along/
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Spotted this June 2019 event Deb – http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/2019/05/louisa-may-alcott-reading-challenge.html
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And I have a #MobyDickReadalong coming up in August
http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2019/05/moby-dick-readalong.html?m=1
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I’m hosting a read-along of C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves if anyone would like to join me. Here’s my initial post: https://classicalcarousel.com/four-loves-read-along/
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Hello,
I’m hosting a read-along for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft, for the month of April. If anyone is interested, check it out here:
https://greatbookstudy.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-vindication-of-rights-of-womenread.html
Thanks!
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Hi!
I’m hosting a readalong for Gone with the Wind from March 1-31 if anyone is interested!
I know many Classics Club members have this book on their TBR and it might be a good chance to knock it off once and for all!
For more info: https://thebookcorps.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/gone-with-the-wind-readalong-march/
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Not to be pushy, but Brona, dear Brona, is the Moby Dick read-along still happening in February??
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2019 year of Shakespeare anyone? Maybe one play a month?
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I could possibly get behind that.
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We could even make it into a 3 year project to get all the plays, if people got really excited. Though that seems long. 😁
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Part of me says, “Absolutely!” and part of me says, “Yeah, prolly not gonna happen.” Maybe make a poll and have people vote on what they’d like to have included? Or let everyone choose their own things and just have it be a “read some Shakespeare” event like the Women Authors event from a year or two ago?
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I was thinking more aling the lines of voting for the plays, and everyone reading the same. But we could also split it into 4 month tragedy, comedy, history and let people read however many they want.
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