The Year of Classic Literature

After talking with my friend, Sam, about her love for Far From the Madding Crowd, I resolved to pick it up from the library so I could chat with her about it later. She said she was surprised this one didn't take off and Pride and Prejudice did. That really intrigued me. 

I didn't start reading it right away as I also got a book from the library that "internet people" have been loving. It's a new release and it reminds me of Kate Morton's books (which I love) but it also seems a little flat. There is a time and place for books for pleasure and then books to learn. What I've been learning a lot lately is our brains naturally want us to do the easy thing. It avoids the hard, challenging work. I started noticing that I do this with the books I read. I've been neglecting classics or putting them off and instead gone for the quick, enthralling reads. Again, a time and place for those for sure. I think I will always revert back to those when I need a breather. But I love learning and I've had a great desire to learn how to read these classics but that requires doing the hard work. And I know not all the classics are hard work but I love when the writing challenges me a little more. 

This year I got caught up in the numbers on my Goodreads reading challenge. I did have my  blog reading challenge and in some ways I stretched myself and other ways I didn't. I pretty much have the challenge completed and I'm not sure if that's a sign that it was a real goal or not. ;) Don't we need to fail at these kind of things once in a while? 

Ever since I started putting books on my IG book account, I notice that I follow people who read the new and upcoming "thriller" reads. Not many people post about the classics. And I've read some of these books they highly recommend and in a lot of cases, I haven't jumped on the hype. I think this means that I want more when it comes to my reading. I want to be more intentional about it. 

It's so invigorating to read a classic and find worthwhile gems and it provides a reading experience that will stay with you. 

I found this post (and subsequently read so many of her other posts), that it inspired me to pick up more classics as well. 

Okay, the hard and fun part is what to read and how much I should read. This will be for next year's goal. I'm deciding between once a month or once every six weeks (because that's how long I get a book from the library if I renew it). I'm still trying to figure out if there should be a theme to this. 

And do I do some of them abridged or not? Which ones should I tackle on audio?

I'm also trying to figure out if I should slow my way into the classics by reading books where I'm familiar with the story like Little Dorrit and Mansfield Park? 

And do I intentionally pick books that I think I might hate like Wuthering Heights?

Here is the book list with definite add-ons later...

Far From the Madding Crowd

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Count of Monte Cristo

Anna Karenina

Middlemarch

The Remains of the Day

Huck Finn

Tom Sawyer

Dracula

Frankenstein

War and Peace

The Great Gatsby

Les Miserables

Crime and Punishment

Angle of Repose

The Scarlett Letter

The Age of Innocence 

Little Dorrit

Great Expectations

Walden

East of Eden

Lord of the Rings

The Color Purple

Brideshead Revisted

Brave New World

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Wuthering Heights

Mansfield Park

Northanger Abbey

The Secret Garden

The Woman in White

The Wind in the Willows

The House of Mirth

Quicksand

My Antonia

The Handsmaid Tale

The Portrait of a Lady

Watership Down

Jamaica Inn

Lonesome Dove

The Hobbit

Bleak House

Oliver Twist

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

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What would you add to the list? Are there any you see that I absolutely HAVE to read? Or are them some that I should completely avoid? I would love to know! 

I'm going to try to narrow down my picks by the end of the year so I can make a good headway on them come January. I'm pretty excited about it!