I have yet to do my “Fave Books of 2009” post because I am reading five books right now and any one of them could end up on the list!Â
BUT, I’ve been thinking about 2010 and I think that I’d like to focus more on the classics. Not the entire year of course, but I have strayed from the classics and with my reading of Moby Dick, I find myself yearning for them once again so I plan to add them back in here and there and maybe do another read-along.
The covers that I included in this post are just a few of the titles that I have been wanting to read. That’s right! I’ve never read Wuthering Heights. I read a lot of classics in college, but these never made it into my pile. It’s a shame really because I really do enjoy the classics.
Out of all of the classics you’ve read, if you had to pick one classic novel to recommend, which would you choose?
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I love that cover of Wuthering Heights! I have yet to read Slaughter House Five but I did read and enjoy the other two, especially The Awakening!
I love The Awakening and Slaughter House! Both are such wonderful books. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I have never read Wuthering Heights, so I look forward to reading your thoughts on it. As for which classic I would recommend, well it would have to be one of my favorite books, either A Confederacy of Dunces or Good Morning, Midnight – both are truly amazing reads. Cheers!
I have not read any of these books Ti, but am sharing your happiness. I LOVE when I’m on a reading roll with nothing but great books:) Can’t wait to see you end of year list of favs.
Five books? Oh now I really feel lazy about my reading list this year:(
Well, I end up reading five at a time because I try to cram it all in and I am a moody reader. I get bored with just one book so I choose what I am reading based on my current mood.
Trust me…I would much rather read one at a time.
I’m impressed with your commitment to reading more classics! I can’t think of one to recommend off the top of my head, but I will come back if I think of something.
I have two very different ones to recommend: Dracula and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Loved A Tree Growns in Brooklyn!
I would have to go with MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot. I read it in grad school and it literally changed my life.
It changed your life? Those are the kinds of books that I want to read. I am definitey putting it on my list.
I’d recommend Jane Eyre — it took me about five tries to get it finished but it was so worth it.
I think I’ve read Wuthering Heights, but since obviously it didn’t make much of an impression on me I might try to read that next year. I too am making an effort to read more classics.
That’s another that I have not read. I read so many in college but so many escaped me. How did that happen?
I read The Rainbow, by D.H. Lawrence, this year and I would definitely recommend it!! He is able to describe feelings you never thought could be transmuted into words. Sometimes it seems like too big of a task, but definitely worth the read.
I’ve not heard of The Rainbow but I am looking it up now.
Hi
That is weird – not that you want to read the classics but my book club just decided to read classics for 2010, we were just chatting about it an hour ago. Crazy.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee has to be in the list. Only 3 people in my book club have read it!
I just read for the first time Catcher in the Rye, which was a great read.
Maybe not a classic in the traditional classic sense but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd or Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie are amazing stories.
Cannot wait to see the final list.
T.
My book group heads back to the classics when we’ve had a lackluster year of reading. You can always rely on them and there is always a lot to discuss.
I once read Wuthering Heights, and didn’t remember it well enough, so a few months ago I did the movie version, and was glad I hadn’t spent any more time on it than a couple of hours! :–)
I’m impressed you remain committed to the classics even with the Moby Dick reading!
I would have to limit it to one book??? Torture! If I were recommending to a woman, I’m all about Pride & Prejudice. But for both sexs, I’d have to go with David Copperfield. Now if you’re talking a classic that I would consider more of a modern classic, I’d go with To Kill A Mockingbird. See? I knew I couldn’t do just one! I’m picking a lot of classics for the Gilmore Girls challenge to get myself back up to speed on those in the coming year.
I’ve not read Pride & Prejudice either. What college did I go to? Ha! I’ve read David Copperfield (love it) and To Kill a Mockingbird is great and I re-read it regularly.
You MUST read Wuthering Heights – it is one of my all-time favorites. And Jane Eyre, if you haven’t already. 🙂
That is a good idea. When I started 2009, I intended to read more classics. Well, I might have read a half dozen I guess. I am sadly lacking in that area. I DID host a read-along on Wuthering Heights last spring, and oh what a trip. We were definitely all very opinionated on that book. If you want a good laugh, dig them up on my blog sometime.
I will definitely check it out.
NOT a Wuthering Heights fan, and I gave it more than a fair shot. I actually read it a second time to see if I’d like it any better, and I didn’t. Having said that, it’s worth reading, but it seems to be a “love it or hate it” experience, mostly related to what one thinks of Heathcliff and Cathy.
My “classic” recommendation? If you haven’t already read it, East of Eden.
East of Eden is one of my faves. Loved Grapes of Wrath too.
I’m a big fan of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Really, I need to re-read it. I barely remember what happened, but I do remember *loving* it when I read it, which I rarely find myself saying with regard to classics….
Cathy is just pure evil! It was a really good read and on my list of faves.
I think returning to the classics is a wonderful idea. I would really like to get back to mixing them more regularly in with my reading too. There are so many that I’ve yet to read that I’ve always wanted to.
It’s hard to pick one favorite to recommend. I confess I’m not a huge fan of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte but put Jane Eyre by her sister Charlotte in front of me any day and I’m there. I’ve reread very few books in my life, but that’s one I’ve returned to and hope to again.
I’m a big fan of Jane Austen. And Crime and Punishment is another favorite. Anna Kareninia, which I read last year was awesome. And this year I discovered Wilkie Collins. Can’t wait to read more by him.
See? In your comments alone there are so many that I haven’t read. I feel slightly unbalanced in my reading. Hopefully a classic here and there will remedy that.
I love that cover on Wuthering Heights! I was in the book store the other day and I saw what Penguin was doing with their classic covers, and I must say that I am a fan.
Me too! Those covers are great.
As we’ve discussed on Twitter, I’ll be redefining my reading philosophy for 2010, also, and it will certainly include more classics.
As for recommendations, I think any day is a good day for a re-read of THE GREAT GATSBY.
That “Wuthering Heights” cover is really cool looking! And I would reread “Of Mice and Men.”
Love Wuthering Heights to death, have read it many times, but not going to recommend it to everyone, as I discovered so many others do not like it. (I just got another edition with that cover, so beautiful.. the back part is Heathcliff.)
I’d rather recommend Dickens’s Great Expectations. Or Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Although I’ve heard so many complaints about those two as well. But I absolutely loved them.
i’m a fool for classics and spend my days trying to get my students interested in them! i’ve had the most success with ‘the glass menagerie’, ‘a raisin in the sun’, and ‘pride and prejudice’ (especially if i show the BBC version of the movie as a culminating activity!)
I haven’t read Wuthering Heights either…maybe we should read that after Moby Dick? I think I need an excuse to buy that cover!
Let’s do it! A read-along of Wuthering would be really fun.
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I was an english major and I’m a big fan of the classics! I love Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, Crime & Punishment is a must I think! as is The Great Gatsby. I was very impressed by Ang’schoice of Middlemarch, that’s a book I didn’t care much for. I haven’t read much Dickens and hope to in 2010!
I’m a Dickens fan. A Tale of Two Cities.
I love Dickens too. I’ve read all his popular stuff and re-read them all regularly.
My #1 classic that I recommend to everyone is East of Eden. You should totally join us in the Classic Reads Book Club. We’re going to do one classic per quarter, starting with East of Eden. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of our selections too.
Thanks Jen! I need to check it out!
I would most definitely pick Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. One of my favorite books of all time, and certainly my fav classic.
I love the covers on those new Penguin Classics (there are just 4 or 5 they’ve redone, right?)
I’ll be watching your blog for a read-along of a classic; maybe I’ll join in …
If I had to choose one classic? I’d recommend Gone With the Wind. 🙂