The Classics Club
November 2020 – November 2025
In November 2020, I started to read my 3rd list of 50 137 titles for The Classics Club.
But I actually managed to finish 137 titles on September 1st, 2022 (instead of November 2025)
See my full 3rd list here. The post explains why on earth 137!
And as usual, I actually only read 25 of my original list.
See my 2nd list here. (50 books)
And my first list here. (50 books)
Writing short reviews for the Sunday Salon has helped me a bit, but still I haven’t reviewed them all.
📚 Here is a little recap:
From the original list of 50 titles (25 read), what is the most obvious is my discovery of fabulous old classic mysteries – some are getting republished, which is a good thing, as they stayed forgotten gem for too long.
My best discoveries are Cornell Woolrich, James M. Cain, Edna Ferber, Josephine Tey, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Rex Stout, and Eric Ambler.
I was neat to read more by Milne, Orwell, Daphne du Maurier, and Garcia Marquez.
Besides this list of 50, I finished my Bible Project (28 books), by listening to the whole Old Testament, and rereading the New Testament in a recent Orthodox translation.
I also finished my Hercule Poirot Project (34 audiobook in this list).
And I read 51 books that were not originally on my list.
Among these, my major discoveries are Sébastien Japrisot, Mahfouz, Maria Angelica Bosco, and Hansberry.
it was good rereading from Simenon (8 books read with a French student of mine), Kobo Abe, Barjavel (with another French student), Dhôtel, H. G. Wells, Verne, and my favorite Alain-Fournier.
Besides Bible books, the oldest title was published in 1842:
Les Mystères de Paris, by Eugène Sue
And the most recent in 1973:
The Box Man, by Kobo Abe
📚 Genre:
- 1 horror
- 3 plays
- 4 poetry
- 4 literary fiction
- 5 children
- 5 nonfiction + 28 Biblical Books
- 6 scifi
- 7 historical fiction
- 16 Japanese fiction
- 24 mysteries + 34 by Agatha Christie
In nonfiction, my favorite was
📚 Format:
- 60 print
- 77 audio
I only had 1 DNF, The Sleepwalkers (1932), by Hermann Broch.
Obviously, the other titles I have not read yet will be in my 4th list, that you can discover here tomorrow!
Club hashtags on Twitter:
-
- #ccintroductions (Introduce yourself to the group!)
- #ccbookreviews (Share your latest club review on Twitter.)
- #cceventsched (Community events.)
- #ccreadingupdate (Group check-ins/reading updates.)
- #ccmeme (The monthly meme.)
- #ccspin (The Classics Spin.)
- #ccwomenclassics (Women’s Classic Literature Event)
- #cc12months (Twelve Months of Classics)
- #ccsyncread (Sync Reads.)
- #ccreadathon (Classics Club Readathon.)
- #ccdiscussions (Occasional group discussions.)
- #theclassicsclub (Miscellaneous club tweets.)
DID YOU LIKE THE AUTHORS HIGHLIGHTED
IN THIS POST?
COME BACK TOMORROW
TO DISCOVER MY NEWEST LIST!
Words And Peace 
Authors you’ve listed whose work (even if it’s just one book) I’ve read are James M Cain, Eric Ambler, Gabriel García Márquez, Jules Verne, and Georges Simenon – all men, sadly, and all well known. But I have been trying to spread my literary web further afield to get more diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender and culture, even if too many traditional classics lists still feature white males.
LikeLike
Well, from my 3rd list, I can suggest Death Going Down (1954), by Maria Angelica Bosco (from Argentina); River of Stars (1942), poems by Akiko Yosano (a Japanese woman author); A Man Lay Dead (1934), by Ngaio Marsh, she’s from New Zealand, – though I was a bit disappointed by this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried a classic Ngaio Marsh mystery once but just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time, especially its setting in the usual “quiet” English village where dark deeds are done. Thanks for your other suggestions – I’ve got other books by writers from Argentina and Chile, Japan, China and elsewhere all waiting for the moment when I’m ready for them.
LikeLike
awesome! You are right, the mood we are in can be so important when we read a book
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m looking forward to seeing who is on your new list tomorrow.
LikeLike
Lots of rather obscure authors actually!
LikeLike
Congratulations on your accomplishment! This is really impressive! I’m currently working on my first list.
LikeLike
Thanks. On my way to your place
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gosh I’m impressed you read your last list in two years. It took me about 7 to do mine. You must be very disciplined at reading what is in your list – I get so distracted by new novels.
LikeLike
Well, as I highlighted, I did read 137 classics, but only 25 from my original 50…
The consequence is that I now read very few of new books, which tend to interest me less and less, with a few exceptions. And I’m more and more hesitant in launching into brand new authors
LikeLike
There is certainly a lot of new fiction that has been highly praised yet I found disappointing. Too many of them are going to creative writing programmes
LikeLike
I don’t mind the originality and weirdness sometimes, but often the themes are of no interest to me in literature – like family saga or marriage issues, or hot topics as LGBT and the like
LikeLike
Impressive list of classics that you have read. Always nice to discover new authors. Some of yours I have also discovered and liked. I have to get my classic reading going. I have The Idiot on my shelves, maybe to start with that one.
LikeLike
Yes, that’s definitely a good one!
LikeLike
Pingback: Sunday Post #67 – 09/18/2022 | Words And Peace