Welcome to my first ever real TBR list! I normally am not a big fan of setting up TBRs for myself because I am most definitely a mood reader, but I decided it’s time to push myself.
I love classics! ❤ They are just amazing, unique, and beautiful. The only problem is, I hardly ever read them! They do take a little more time to read than most of today’s books, and I just never seem to fit them into my schedule. That is about to change, my friends! Over the next ten months I plan to read 9 classics. (Is this overly ambitious?) I’ll also be doing a review for each one. Here’s my list in no particular order.
1. War and Peace by: Leo Tolstoy
I have made this book my ultimate goal for these ten months. I have wanted to conquer it for quite a few years, but haven’t even tried to start it yet! I can do this!! (Right?)
2. Tom Sawyer by: Mark Twain
Everyone has to read at least one book by Mark Twain in their life.
3. Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by: Robert Stevenson
The only Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde I have seen is the Scooby-Doo version (which is awesome, by the way)!
4. Candide by: Voltaire
Alright, this one is sort of a cheat because I’ve already read it. (Go, me!) I am still planning on doing a review for it in the next few months, though.
5. Animal Farm by: George Orwell
I haven’t wanted to read this book for a very long time! It’s fairly short, so this one might be a little easier on me.
6. The Diary of a Young Girl by: Anne Frank
Non-fictitious classics are something I want to push myself on, too.
7. The Raven by: Edgar Allen Poe
I’m actually planning on reading a Spanish/English version of this to help me brush up on my Spanish. I recently went to a reading of The Raven by an actor pretending to be Poe. He put so much more meaning into it, so I decided that I needed to read it for myself.
8. Things Fall Apart by: Chinua Achebe
If you notice, a lot of these authors are from different parts of the world. I am really wanting to read more diverse books, and this one seemed like a good fit.
9. The Alchemist by: Paulo Coelho
I’ve heard a lot of great things about this book! I hope it lives up to that.
What do you think of my classic TBR? Are you planning on reading any of these books? Have you read any? Tell me in the comments below! I can’t wait to hear what you think of them! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful, bookish day! 📚
For a little while I was making a list as well. I have read The Raven. And I’ve only read a few classic books. I read Anne of Green Gables. I read Peter Pan (a long time ago) and part of The Time Machine. I know there’s something else I read but can’t think of it. I couldn’t finish any of Jane Austen’s books…I find them kind of dull.
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I hated Emma by Jane Austen, but Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books! Haha. Did you like The Raven?
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I liked it. I couldn’t get through Emma or Pride and Predjudice
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I’ve read Animal Farm, The Diary of a Young Girl, and Things Fall Apart and I’ve loved them all. Things Fall Apart is currently one of my top favorite books. It’s important to know the social context at the time Animal Farm was written to really get a sense of what Orwell was saying. I haven’t read The Diary of a Young Girls in YEARS, so I think I’ll give that one a reread at some point.
I love the TBR, I’m not much of a TBR person either but these are really great picks.
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I hadn’t even heard of Things Fall Apart until recently. Now that you’ve said it’s one of your top books, I’m even more excited to read it!
Thank you! I tried to set a reasonable goal with books I was definitely interested in. We shall see how it goes! Haha
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I didn’t hear about Things Fall Apart until the later half of high school, when I started reading books like The Color Purple. I hope you enjoy your selections 🙂
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A lot of good books on this list! Hope you like them.
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Thank you! Me too. Haha
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I’ve read Tom Sawyer, Candide, and Animal Farm. Highly recommend them all. Tom Sawyer is hilarious! I love it. I might actually give it a reread soon if I can find it. The Prince and the Pauper is also pretty good. Huckleberry Finn is the only book by Twain I’ve read and not enjoyed (although I see why it’s important and it has its fun moments).
I’d like to try to read at least one classic by the end of the year. Maybe something I haven’t already read from Jane Austen or something by Jules Verne…Or Ernest Hemingway. Lots of options. Maybe I’ll do a classics TBR too!
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Candide was so weird, but I loved it! Haha. I’ve definitely had no interest in Huckleberry Finn. I just don’t think I’d enjoy it.
Good luck on your classic read! I would definitely say go for Jane Austen. Post a link if you do a TBR! I’d love to see it. Thanks for reading! 😁
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I read some of these.
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Nice! Which ones did you like?
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I like Anne Frank a lot and The Raven. Things Fall Apart and The Alchemist were weird. Candide was utterly confusing.
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I’ve heard very mixed reviews on Things Fall Apart! Candide was super confusing, but I really liked how ridiculous it was! Haha! Thanks for reading.
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I really Loved the Diary of a Young Girl and The Alchemist and I remember having a lot of fun while reading tom sawyer! haha I hope you can achieve your goaal all those sound like really great books!
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Thanks! I know I’m going to have to work at it, but I can do it!!! 😁
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Great list! I guess everyone should read the Classics so they can say with authority ‘dull as ditch water’ 😉
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Hahahaha! I hope I won’t be able to say that for the majority of my list! 😆 Thanks for reading!
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Postscript: ‘The Alchemist’ is good…
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I have read a number of these when I was in school, Tom Sawyer, the diary of Anne Frank and we also did Hodson’s Choice and Jane Eyre. I think out of them all my favourite would be Diary of Anne Frank. Having visited the house she lived in, in Amsterdam and I have been to Auschwitz in Poland and having seen first hand the awful places and conditions she endured and it makes the book that much more poignant. I hope you enjoy your classics.
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Thank you! That sounds really amazing to be able to see those sights.
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It was very moving, very sad and incredibly eerie it’s as if even Mother Nature respects what happened there’s no bird song the only sounds are the ones made by the trees rustling in the wind.
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Wow! That’s something I might want to do someday!
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If you get the opportunity you should, it’s not cheery but it does put things into perspective.
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I was in Auschwitz years ago, such a dark energy there, the hair chamber and burning stoves invaded my thought for weeks afterwards. Very unsettling, I would not recommend for highly sensitive person to ever visit that place.
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Excellent list! Personally I would find hard to fit in this time frame, but I think you will do great. Just do not push yourself to complete in time, I think classics are best read slowly, and I would read some easy-reads in between. We read some fragments from Leo Tolstoy books in school, but I think I was too young to appreciate his works and to remember much. So I, too, have War and Peace on my TBR list (right beside Pride and Prejudice) maybe I should share my own TBR list too, without deadline. I read Alchemist and loved it at the time, but I was conditioned to love it, because it was so much talked about, at the time. Now, I wonder, if it was overrated, not so sure if I actually liked it as much as I though I did… Can’t wait for your review on it, I hope it will be the 1st you will read.
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Thank you! I definitely read quite a few books when I was younger that I know I didn’t fully appreciate. I’d love to see your TBR if you post it!
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I will! I just need to do 2 separate lists for fiction and non-fiction, I think, they are currently all together and the list is way too long hahaha (so many books, so little time)
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Love the classics – there is reason why they have been around for as long as they have. I hope you are going well in your schedule – its a great selection of book 🙂
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Thank you! I’ve done three so far, so I think that’s pretty good! 😃
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Amazing! Good job 💪🏻
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I’ve read The Alchemist, it’s def one of those books that everyone will take differently. I also sent it to a friend and he loved it. Good luck on your reviews
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Thank you! I really enjoyed The Alchemist! I believe I gave it 4 stars. It was a very unique book.
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Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.
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Thank you for reading!
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I started War and Peace a couple of times and just couldn’t keep track of all the characters. It’s a long story and I gave up after 100 pages or so. Good luck with that one. I’ve read Tom Sawyer twice. Once in high school and later to my kids. Excellent fun. I’ve also read Candide twice in French. Another good one. I read Animal Farm in junior high and remember liking it but at this point, I should perhaps say I haven’t read it because I was too young and it was too long ago. The Raven is amazing. I’ve read it and have listened to it being read on several occasions. I read the Alchemist 6 or 7 years ago and I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. I didn’t find it to be the philosophical masterpiece that people claimed it was. Some of my favorite classics are Grapes of Wrath, The Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment, Beloved, and To Kill A Mockingbird. I’d like to read Dracula, Frankenstein, and In Cold Blood someday.
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Yes I’m afraid I still have not gotten to War and Peace on this list! Animal Farm was an excellent book with great meaning! I loved the Alchemist, but I agree with you that it wasn’t very philosophical. It was inspirational, but not very deep. Frankenstein was a very interesting book – much sadder than the movie portrayals. Thank you for reading!
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