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I enjoy reading the classics and have a personal goal of reading as many as possible. (I realize the term "classic" can be subjective, but there are some pretty established entries on that list.)

Does anyone else read the classics, as much as possible, for their reading challenge? If so, which books are you using for which prompts? Which modern classics are you reading for this?

If this belongs elsewhere, or if there's another thread already, please let me know and I'll move this thread!

Thanks, all!

I'm planning to read Moby Dick this coming year (perhaps on the Serial Reader app), maybe for one of the "water" prompts here or in AtY.

Other possibilities on my list:
Mary Poppins - a movie I've seen
The Mill on the Floss - female writer with male pseudonym
Peter Pan - turned into a stage musical
The Women's Room - book about feminism
The Master and Margarita - alliteration
The Little Prince - childhood classic I've never read
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee - related to my ancestry
Watership Down - allegory

Some of these might not really qualify as classics. I would also really like to fit in Native Son and The Invisible Man somewhere, but haven't fit them into categories. I'm hoping the Book Riot Read Harder list might work out for those.

I was trying to read more classics like 2015-16 but lately I've been focusing on diversity in my reading which isn't as conducive to reading classics which tend to be very European

I agree, Tara. I have a whole list of "own voices" and literature from other cultures and countries. I'm looking for the modern classics that fit that list.

Thanks, Chrissy! Some good suggestions. I'm plugging "Invisible Man" under prompt #14, different ethnicity. Also reading "Moby Dick" for the water prompts.

These are good lists for diverse classics:

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Aubrey wrote: "These are good lists for diverse classics:

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Those are marvelous! Thank you for sharing.

I’m hoping to read a decent chunk of books off the 1001 Books to read before you die list, some of which are classics. But I’m not sure how much focus I’ll put on it.

I don't particularly have any goals around reading classics, but I do enjoy some of them, so I have a few idea for you:

Book made into a movie you've already seen:
I'm personally using North and South. (I'm counting mini-series as movies for the purpose of this challenge.)
Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre
Bleak House
anything Jane Austen (Love and Friendship even came out as a movie recently!)

Nordic Noir: Someone on the thread asked if Beowolf counted for this, and I'm not sure if it technically does, but I like the idea.

A book set in a country that fascinates you: Personal preference of course, but a ton of english classics could be options here.

A novel based on a real person: Dracula (A bit of stretch maybe, but technically based on Vlad the Impaler.)

A book about death or grief: Les Misérables

A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: Anything by Lousia Mae Alcott or Jane Austen, or (I think) the Bronte sisters

A book that is also a stage play or musical: Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
Don Quixote

A book about mental health: Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities

A book with your favorite color in the title:
Rose in Bloom
Anne of Green Gables
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Silver Chair
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Picture of Dorian Gray
A Study in Scarlet

A book about time travel: The Time Machine

A book set at sea: Captains Corageous

A book with an animal in the title: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Black Stallion

A book set on a different planet:
A Princess of Mars
Starship Troopers

A book mentioned in another book should be pretty easy: The Eyre Affair mentions a lot of classics, obviously including Jane Eyre.

Raquel wrote: "I don't particularly have any goals around reading classics, but I do enjoy some of them, so I have a few idea for you:

Book made into a movie you've already seen:
I'm personally using [book:North..."

Those are excellent suggestions which have sparked some ideas. Thanks for getting me rolling!

Emmy wrote: "Raquel wrote:
A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: Anything by Lousia Mae Alcott or Jane Austen, or (I think) the Bronte sisters"

Did Jane Austen use a male pseudonym? I know sh..."

Oh, you're right. I must have muddling up her and the Bronte sisters. Thanks for catching that!

Elaine wrote: "Those are excellent suggestions which have sparked some ideas. Thanks for getting me rolling! "

Yay, glad it helped!

If anyone's interested, my list is #299. I included a lot of classics mixed with some interesting new reads.

Chinook wrote: "I’m hoping to read a decent chunk of books off the 1001 Books to read before you die list, some of which are classics. But I’m not sure how much focus I’ll put on it."
This is what I'm doing as well. There are quite a few books on the 1001 that I really do want to read, and I'm trying to give those priority as I'm planning my categories. At the end of the day, though, I read what I read, so we'll see how it goes.

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Chinook wrote: "I’m hoping to read a decent chunk of books off the 1001 Books to read before you die list, some of which are classics. But I’m not sure how much focus I’ll put on it."
This is what ..."

Do you have the link to that list? I'm finding several with a similar name, but none with that specific wording. Thank you!

I don't read them often but I do try and squeeze in a handful every year

I use the 1001 Books app to track the list - it’s actually at 1306 I think, because they used to update it every few years.

There are also a few groups on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ that read the list, I’m gonna dog Reading 1001. There is a much bigger group but I find it a bit overwhelming.

I think my wording is off, it’s from this book: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

Thanks for recommending the Serial Reader app! What a brilliant idea!

I have included a few classics:

Great expectations for the category of a book mentioned in another book (mentioned in the book Mr Pip). I chose a Jane Austin book for the same category last year (mentioned in The Jane Austen Book Club).

I am looking at an E. Nesbit book for the childhood classic.

George Eliot would be good for for the male pseudonym category.

For modern classics I can recommend:
In cold blood for the true crime category
The Bell Jar for the mental illness category

I hope that helps

I am trying to fit as many classics as I can, so maybe my picks will help anyone.

Movie I've seen but haven't read the book - Anna Karenina
True Crime - In Cold Blood
Set in county that fascinates you - Conversation in the Cathedral (Vargas Llosa is a classic for every Spanish philology student ;) This works for different ethnicity as well)
Female with male pseudonym Middlemarch
Stage play/musical Les Misérables
Book I borrowed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I borrowed it from the library, hope that counts
Favourite colour in title - The Red and the Black
Alliteration in title/childhood classic/next book in series - Lemony Snicket's series
Set at sea - Moby-Dick or, The Whale for me; I already read The Old Man and the Sea but maybe for someone this will be helpful :)
Twin characters- East of Eden
Book mentioned in another book/I've been meaning to read for way too long (prompt from previous years) - A Tale of Two Cities
Song lyrics - Never Let Me Go (Nobel prize winner can be considered as classic, right?)
Celebrity book club - A Confederacy of Dunces (Florence + The Machine book club) - this can count as ugly cover as well for me;

Advanced:
Fruit in the title - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Allegory Watership Down
The same first/last name The Hobbit (I'm cheating here, because Paulina is the name of translator :) )
I think I'll fit 2 more classic books for "recommended by someone else" prompt and "Read by stranger in public"

I hated middlemarch but George Eliot wrote Adam Bede too which I loved!

I also try to insert classics - old and new - into challenge reading, if only 2 or 3. In 2018, I am planning on reading:
George Sand for woman using male pseudonym - probably Indiana.
The Wind in the Willows for childhood classic, or The Hobbit
And if I can fit them in some where: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Bleak House or some other Dickens.

I spent the past three years of my challenges trying to catch up on many of the classics I felt like I missed out on. I've got to the point now where there are just a few left that I really want to read, but I'm taking a break from them in 2018.

I also try to read a good bit of classics every year and also feel your pain about not wanting to just read books by old white men! I made a chart this year to track the diversity of the authors I'm reading and just try to balance the old classics out with authors of color. This year, I'm planning to read Crime and Punishment for "A book about a villain or antihero" and might do A Raisin in the Sun for the "A book that is also a stage play or musical." (which I also consider a classic) Happy reading!

Here's some ideas based on classics I've read and liked.


1. A book made into a movie you've already seen - To Kill a
4. A book involving a heist - Oliver Twist
5. Nordic noir - Henning Mankell is a good source. Faceless Killers is the first one.
9. A book about a villain or antihero - Wuthering Heights, Gone with the Wind
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical - Don Quixote
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you - Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
16. A book about mental health - Wuthering Heights
21. A book with your favorite color in the title - Picture of Dorian Grey
22. A book with alliteration in the title - Pride and Prejudice
24. A book with a weather element in the title - Gone with the Wind
25. A book set at sea - Old Man and the Sea, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (if you go with a book set at water rather than specifically sea)
26. A book with an animal in the title - To Kill a Mockingbird
27. A book set on a different planet - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
30. A book with characters who are twins - Lord of the Flies
31. A book mentioned in another book - Kim, Jane Eyre

5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
6. An allegory - Animal Farm
9. A book about a problem facing society today - Invisible Man

Time travel - Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court

I was just inspired to read Maurice after seeing the restored Merchant/Ivory film based on it. Initially planned it as book for a movie I already saw, but after picking Strangers on a Train from a blind date with a book table at my local bookstore, I want to use that instead. Then I realized that Maurice fits nicely as a claasic for LGBTQ+! Done!

I'm using Pride and Prejudice for the alliteration in the title, and possibly The Picture of Dorian Gray for the LGBTQ+ character. I'd definitely like to add more to my list though!

I'm also reading The Picture of Dorian Gray for the villian/anti-hero category.

Other classics on my list are

A book that is also a stage play or musical - The Phantom of the Opera
A book about feminism Orlando (could also be used for LGBT)
A book about mental health One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A book by a local author Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder
A book mentioned in another book - Dracula
A childhood classic you never read - To Kill a Mockingbird
Favourite prompt form previous challenge (book with a person's name) - Zuleika Dobson

I try to fit a classic in every few books normally. I'll be reading Gone With the Wind for the first time for the title with a weather word in it.

I haven't finished my list yet, but I got a scratch off poster of the "100 essential classics" by PopChart Lab for Christmas so I'm going to try to squeeze as many in as possible from that list.

Amazon is offering some classics for free on the kindle.

What do you guys think about movies that are more loosely based on books. For example 10 Things I Hate About You is based on Taming of the Shrew, Clueless is based on Emma, She’s All That based on Pygmalion etc for a movie that you’ve already seen?

I try to read a good few classics every year. Not sure if or how I'll fit them into this challenge though. No Name by Wilkie Collins could fit "alliterative title", and there's Howards End for "book mentioned in another book" (Susan Hill has a book entitled Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home).

Here is an off-the-top-of-my-head list of classics I've read that have been turned into musicals:

The Woman in White
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Three Musketeers
The Secret Garden
Oliver Twist
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Les Misérables
The Arabian Nights (think "Aladdin")
The Phantom of the Opera
Rebecca
Mary Poppins
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

And that's just one prompt to fill^^

Tara wrote: "What do you guys think about movies that are more loosely based on books. For example 10 Things I Hate About You is based on Taming of the Shrew, Clueless is based on Emma, She’s All That based on ..."

In my view, they are OK. And it's always interesting to see how the same basic plot goes in a radically different environment.

Elaine wrote: "If anyone's interested, my list is #299. I included a lot of classics mixed with some interesting new reads."

were can I see your list?

Melissa wrote: "Elaine wrote: "If anyone's interested, my list is #299. I included a lot of classics mixed with some interesting new reads."

were can I see your list?"
It's post #297 now on page 6.

I try to read a classic every once in a while. I have been wanting to read Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea for ages and plan to read that for 'a book set at sea'.

Johanne wrote: "I try to read a classic every once in a while. I have been wanting to read Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea for ages and plan to read that for 'a book set at sea'."

That's the book I have planned for that prompt as well. At a Christmas party, a gentleman at our table mentioned loving Hemingway and when I asked what his favorite book was by him - that was it.

I've already read a number of the books that have been mentioned. I do try to add Classics each year-- specifically going for titles that I missed when I was younger. (I read "Their Eyes Were Watching God" last year.) I plan on re-reading Siddhartha this year for allegory and Haunting of Hill House for alliteration. I already read Behind the Mask for the pseudonym. (Rose in Bloom was a childhood favorite! I'm glad there are other Alcott fans out there!)

I’m happy to see others (at least one other) have Anna Karenina on their list. I started it today and wonder if it’s at 817 pages its going to keep me from reading 40 books this year. But I have had it on my “to-read� list for ages now, so even if I get it and little else read it will be a successful year.

I love reading classics, ones I have on this year’s list are:

Anti-hero: 1984 by Orwell
LGBTQ: Giovanni’s Room by Baldwin
Also a play: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Alliteration in title: Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck
Time travel: A Wrinkle in Time by L’Engle
Weather: The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway (a stretch for weather but I found it on a list of suggestions)
Song lyrics: Tender is the Night by Fitzgerald
Halloween: “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson
Book mentioned in another book: Murder on the Orient Express by Christie
Childhood: Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery

Then I also have Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Adams (ugly book cover) and The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury (another planet) which some may or may not count as classics.

I'm only reading books by women, men of colour, or LGBT men this year - but still have a few classics on my list!

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

9. A book about a villain or antihero
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
Middlemarch by George Eliot

12. A book with an LGBT protagonist
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

31. A book mentioned in another book
Orlando by Virginia Woolf (mentioned in Fun Home by Alison Bechdel)

32. A book from a celebrity book club
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (from Emma Roberts' book club)

33. A childhood classic you've never read
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I like to throw in a few classics each year, though not with any clear plan. This year I got Moby-Dick or, The Whale (set at sea) out of the way early. I also have The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (male pseudonym), Catch-22 (allegory) and Brave New World (mentioned in another book) on my list.

I didn't set out to read many classics this year but found I owned a fair few that fit with the promts. So here's the ones I plan on reading:

A book made into a movie you've already seen - Requiem for a Dream (not sure whether this classes as a classic or not)
A book about a villain or antihero - Frankenstein
A book with your favourite colour in the title - Black Beauty
A book set at sea - A Descent into the Maelstrom
A book about or set on Halloween - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A book that is also a stage play or musical - The Phantom of the Opera (I'm off to see this next month :D )
A book by a local author - Jane Eyre
A book mentioned in another book - Dracula
A childhood classic that you've never read - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
A book with a fruit or vegitable in the title - A Clockwork Orange
An allegory - The Divine Comedy