Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Susie's Old & New Classics Challenge for 2016
13/14 Completed challenge on 11/23/16

Old School - 1899 and earlier
1. ✔ Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (1817) 5/29/16 ☆☆☆☆
2. ✔ Middlemarch by George Eliot (1872) 1/31/16 ☆☆☆☆☆
3. ✔ Washington Square by Henry James (1880) 9/29/16 **** 1/2

New School - 1900-1999
4. ✔ O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (1913) 3/29/16 ☆☆☆☆
5. ✔ Dubliners by James Joyce (1914) 2/21/16 ☆☆☆☆
6. ✔ Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) 6/12/16 ☆☆☆☆☆

My Wild Card Six
7. ✔ Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence (1913) 3/25/16 ☆☆☆☆
8. ✔ The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890) 3/8/16 ☆☆☆
9. ✔ Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1851) 9/6/16
10. ✔ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) 4/1/16 ☆☆☆
11. ✔ American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) 11/23/16 ☆☆☆☆
12. ✔ Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (1721) 5/13/16 ☆☆☆


Alternates
A-1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1882)
A-2. ✔ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) 2/12/16 ☆☆☆☆☆

Just getting ready...2016 will be my first year doing this challenge...excited!

Good luck

It's gonna be my first year too. Good luck to you!

I really liked this challenge last year, hope you like it too! I have 1 & 3 and A1 on my lists too (in couple different challenges) :)

Good luck. This is my first year also and I am really looking forward to it. I have Middlemarch on my list. I've been wanting to get to it for a couple of years.

Kris wrote: "Good luck. This is my first year also and I am really looking forward to it. I have Middlemarch on my list. I've been wanting to get to it for a couple of years."

Since it is the 1st quarter long read in 2016, I figured now is a good time...I tackled Don Quixote that way and it was so helpful to do it with a group...

I too enjoy this challenge, hopefully it will be a main stay. Good luck.

I have read several of your choices. Of these Their Eyes Were Watching God is my clear favorite. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle is good novel , make it in list plz

I read/loved 1,3,6&9. Hope they are good reading experiences for you!

I'm curious about Washington Square. I hope it's good :)

I somehow managed to miss reading a lot of the classic 'Classic's' during school so starting a year ago I committed to reading many of the classics I missed, with the help of this wonderful group!
I managed to read 11 last year and was very pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it/them.
This challenge continues that journey for me...

Their Eyes Were Watching God is completely new to me so encouraging to see how many love that book.

Rachid wrote: ". The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle is good novel , make it in list plz"

I actually have to take it off the list because I still need to read 2 others in the series before I get to it.

No worries though...I will get to it!

I have Middlemarch on my challenge and have O Pioneers on my century challenge. Washington Square sounds good and I have added it to my ever growing TBR pile. It seems like I have added more to my TBR than I actually get read.

OK...I'm locked in and ready to go!

Finally! Marking off my first read for this challenge, Middlemarch, which I really enjoyed and would highly recommend it. George Eliot is quite the writer and it shows throughout this substantial book, which was a much easier read than I anticipated...

Next up...Dubliners...

Good luck with Dubliners, I haven't read it but I am currently tackling Ulysses!

Just finished A-2, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 4 stars.
There is much to think about in this portrayal of American life at those times and I loved Twain's writing and his commentary on it.

Good job! I actually want to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer soon... miss Twain's wit and storytelling - actually, "thoroughly enjoyed" is how I felt about the only book I've read from him :)

Finished Dubliners today and I liked several of the stories, while others were quite challenging. I did give it 4 stars because I do like his writing, there's something there that grabs me.

Many stories are quite disturbing in their portrayal of life in Dublin...obviously very tough times for many people during that time of their history...I do like how political themes are part of several stories.

Since they are short, it will be easy to visit some of the stories and see how time and rereading help/further my understanding.

Pink, I don't think I'll be tackling Ulysses anytime soon!

Finished The Sign of Four, one of my wild cards...enjoyable read.

Finished a reread of Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence and really enjoyed it this time around. I took a term of D.H. Lawrence in high school english and not sure how I ever passed it, as I remembered virtually nothing about this book other than it was/is pretty steamy...oh yeah...

I'll definitely be reading more of his work!

Finished O Pioneers! yesterday and gave it 4 stars. I really enjoyed it. Her desciptions of settling the plains just transports you there. Her story flow kept me engaged throughout...definitely recommend this book and I will continue to read more from her...
Loved her portrayal of Alexandra...the main character...

Halfway home!

Susie you are doing great with this challenge. And good books too -- how wonderful.

Well done Susie, you're making great progress!

The only D. H. Lawrence book I've read was Lady Chatterly's Lover and I loved it! I really should read some more of his work.

Appropriate to finish Alice's Adventures in Wonderland today (April's Fool's) ;)
Nice to squeeze in a 'quickie'! I gave it 3 stars, but probably could have gone to a 2...it just didnt do much for me. I think maybe a bit too nonsensical, at least for me...


A 'classics' classic though, so happy to put it in the 'read' column...next!

Thanks for the support...I am really enjoying my first year of challenges!

Susie wrote: "Appropriate to finish Alice's Adventures in Wonderland today (April's Fool's) ;)
Nice to squeeze in a 'quickie'! I gave it 3 stars, but probably could have gone to a 2...it just did..."

Not love Alice--Off With Your Head. lol.
Making some great progress.

I know...disappointed that I didn't it like more...

Regarding Dubliners, I'd read it a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it. I gave it five stars in my review.

I forgot Moll Flanders was on this challenge too! Finished it a few days ago and now I've read 8 of 12 for this challenge... :)

3 stars.

Wow! Only 4 left!

You are rockin' through your list!

That sound you hear is me clapping. Way to go!

Way to go with your challenge, you're nearly there! Good luck with your last few books :)

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Finished Northanger Abbey today and really enjoyed it...4 stars, but more like 4 1/2.
Persuasion still my favorite Austen but I'm on my first time around for all her books and still have a few to go... :)

Susie, I just love NA.

Henry Tilney is my fave JA hero.

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Susie, I just love NA.

Henry Tilney is my fave JA hero."

So far I think I agree... he was always so calm, and straightfoward...the modern term would be 'no drama'... :)

I love the way you have included the stars in your update. What fun reading Austen for the first time!!!!

I loved Northanger Abbey when I read it last December. It's third on my list of preference behind P&P and Persuasion. I finished Mansfield Park just today and it certainly did not displace those top three. I loved Henry Tilney too.

Susie wrote: "Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Finished Northanger Abbey today and really enjoyed it...4 stars, but more like 4 1/2.
Persuasion still my favorite Austen but..."

They're my top 1 and 2 :)

Finally got a copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God off hold from the library and hoping to start it this weekend. After all the great reviews, I'm really looking forward to it!

Finished Their Eyes Were Watching God today and it's everything everyone said it was...wonderful, beautiful book...definitely 5 stars!

Laurie wrote: "I loved Northanger Abbey when I read it last December. It's third on my list of preference behind P&P and Persuasion. I finished Mansfield Park just today and it certainly did not displace those to..."

Exactly my reaction....my third favorite after p&p and persuasion too..
Did you read emma?if so,did you like it?i am thinking of reading it sometime this year or at least next...
MP is my least favorite austen..

I have read Emma and I liked it. It took me a little while to get into and not despise Emma herself, but eventually she won me over. She is about as different a character from Fanny in MP as it is possible to be.

Their Eyes Were Watching God was new to me as well, Susie, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it too. Nice review--I agree!

Susie wrote: "Finished Their Eyes Were Watching God today and it's everything everyone said it was...wonderful, beautiful book...definitely 5 stars!"

Interesting book and review. Never heard of this book.
Oh and yes I really like Northanger Abbey too - so full of humour.

Veronique,
2 very different books, but I loved them both!

Susie wrote: "Finished Their Eyes Were Watching God today and it's everything everyone said it was...wonderful, beautiful book...definitely 5 stars!"

Found this a couple of months ago in a local Goodwill, It's going to be a lot harder to leave in on the coffee table now that I know it's so good.

Finished Cranford today...finally! I liked it (3 stars), but probably didn't give it the attention it deserved, as lots going on these days for me, so I took much longer to read it than I would have liked.
A reread may happen at some point...

I really liked "Cranford" when I read it.