Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Classics Club Group Check-In #1: September 2012


It’s been six month that I have been joining The Classics Club, and so far it’s been enjoyable. Especially when this club has been grown to a bigger community (221 clubbers to date), and has been taken seriously by a number of moderators. Here we are not only organizing our classics reading for five years, it’s also a place where we can meet others who share the same interests in classics. There are plenty of events and features that make classics reading more fun.

My list has been growing, from 100 at the start to 120 at this moment. So far I have been reading 19 books, I love most of them, but the most memorable one was L’Assommoir by Émile Zola. It shocked me when I finished it, and the impression lasts till now. But the most enjoyable read was probably Germinal. Yep, both are from Zola, I’m crazy about him! :)

The latest book I’ve finished is Robinson Crusoe, it was a good experience to read it, the review will be published in a couple of days. I am now reading Gone With The Wind for my read along, I am quite struggling with this one, being not in my usual reading genre. However, the read along is so far fun, there’re several of us whose pace is similar to me, and we’ve been discussing how we hate Scarlett :) or whether we are on Rhett or Ashley’s team… *poking Bzee, Chinoiseries and Vannya*

There are a lot of classics books waiting for me for next months till the end of 2012. Besides continuing Gone With The Wind during October, I’m going to read Toni Morrison’s Beloved together with Joon Ann and Listra (it’s not an official event, though). Then there’s Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde I’ve been meaning to read for months.

In November, I will be hosting a yearlong plays reading event. The sign up post will be up in several days (I’m just waiting for my co-host to finish the—I hope—lovely button for this event. Hey, the button will be showed up in my blog the whole year, it’s got to be lovely, right?). Besides plays, The Scarlett Letter and Notes From Underground are waiting for me in the same month. As for December, I’m planning to read The Jungle Book and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and finally ended the year with Great Expectations. Sounds exciting, right? And busy… :)

While I’m not reading, I will be busy blogging! Lately I really enjoy writing character analysis for my Character Thursday weekly features. I’ve made myself to write at least two characters for each book. I’ve been waiting Saturday afternoons lately, for it’s a perfect time for me to concentrate on my writing; either reviews or one or two character analysis. Listra’s Weekend Quote is always a fun too; not mentioning other monthly meme from Classics Club and November’s Autumn A Classics Challenge. Far from burdening, these memes and features only add my excitement in classics reading, as I can explore more about them.

So, how have you been with your classics club, dear clubbers? :)

8 comments:

  1. I enjoy the Character Thursdays as well, though I cannot always participate every week, but I like to analyse characters and look deeper into their personality.

    I don't want to add any, actually, but you mentioned Beloved for readalong, so.. My concern is the thick books such as Les Miserables and the Bible itself that takes so much time to read, not only for the size, but the material inside that demands much thinking.

    Happy reading.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Listra! And enjoy reading the tedious books, they were great works.

      Delete
  2. Your classics club list is long now! Mine is currently 72 and I'm resisting the temptation to add any more books to it (instead I'm anticipating classics club list #2, when I finish #1). I'm 3 books in at the moment and working on number 4.

    Stick with Gone With The Wind, it's worth it in the end :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds a good idea to make a second list, it's inevitable while you're reading those reviews by the clubbers, it would be difficult to not adding something to the current list, LOL!

      Thanks for the encouragement, I can feel even now that Gone With The Wind would be worth to read anyway.

      Delete
  3. Fanda, I picked up a copy of Beloved this weekend so I'm ready for October. I read a few pages to see if I would like it and I do. I look forward to reading it next month! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yayyy... I haven't stolen a glance over it, because I'm afraid I'll be tempting to keep reading once I started.. :P

      Delete
  4. I cannot help constantly adding to my list and so many titles waiting to be read it's so hard to choose. Germinal has been high on my list for several months now - hopefully in November to be read.
    I enjoy reading your Character Thursday posts :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like those posts :)
      And Germinal is great, you'll enjoy it! Can't wait to read your thoughts on it.

      Delete

What do you think?