2013 Reading List
One of my big goals from 2013 was to read more. I love to read, but unless I make it a point to do it, it usually never happens. I also tend to read the same things over and over again (I have no idea how many times now I’ve read the Harry Potter series!), so I decided I really wanted to focus on classics. There’s a lot that I either never read, or basically skimmed through during high school or college to get a grade for. I kept my eyes out at thrift stores for any classic titles I recognized and just grabbed them whenenever they crossed my path. So here’s what I read…
Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Pride and Predjudice, Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Obviously, I kind of fell in love with Jane Austen and got hooked for a while. I “read” Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice before but rememebered absolutely nothing from them, so I’m really glad I re-read them. Northanger Abbey was also great! It’s got an extra dose of Jane Austen’s snarkiness, so it’s really fun. My favorite would have to be a tie between Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre (who both have amazing movie counterparts, by the way), and my least favorite was definitely Wuthering Heights. I pretty much hated Wuthering Heights, actually.
I also read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain for a book club. It’s not a classic, but it was really interesting and a nice read. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley. It can be kind of sad at times, but just really well written I felt like.
What have you guys been reading? I’m always looking for new (or “old” new!) books to add to my list!
Oh, I’ve read all of these except for Poe, Dickens, and Northanger Abby. You have excellent taste in literature. (And don’;t feel bad, I pretty much hated Wuthering Heights too. :P) I just finished The Scarlet Letter this semester in school, and I loved it. Hawthorne’s style takes a little bit of getting used too, but his allegories and literary alliteration is marvelous. I’ve been compiling my “to-read” list for next year as well, I’m defiantly going to try to read more of C.S. Lewis. And I’m hoping to conquer Gone With The Wind, Cranford, The Great Gatsby, and The Princess Bride. :)(P.S. Do you have a Goodreads account? If you do, I’d love to have your username, and if you don’t I highly recommend it. It’s perfect for tracking what books you want to read!)
I too, adore to read. I can get so lost in a book that everything else stops( not always great, there’s lots to do). I agree with the previous poster, Goodreads is excellent and another way to connect with your readers. “Great Expectations” is as favorite as well as anything by, about or related to Shakespeare. I just received “Barbara Stanwyck:Steel True for Christmas and am looking forward to it, though not a classic. If you are going for classics only, try some French too, Balzac, Hugo and Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary”.Happy New Year & Happy Reading!!!
I’m slowly but surely working my way through the Game of Thrones series right now but I started to read Pride and Prejudice to Amelia while still pregnant. I’m thinking about reading it to her every now and then again.
I’d love to try some CS Lewis and The Great Gatsby this year too! I did not have a GoodReads account by I just set one up now, so thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Oh, I love Shakespeare too! I went through most of his plays in high school:) Thanks for the recommendations! I was wondering about Balzac, so maybe now I’ll try some.
If you want to read Pride and Prejudice to Amelia, I saw on amazon that they now have a kids version of it that looks adorable, I think it’s called “little miss Jane Austen”? It looks so cute!
I’ve read all of those over the years except for the Complete works of Edgar Allen Poe. I’ve read quite a bit of Poe but haven’t quite made it through all of it, I have to put that one on my list this year. 🙂 I read most of them within the span of a few months because after I finally read Pride & Prejudice I got real deep in the classical romantic literature hehe.I hated Wuthering Heights the first time I read it, too, but after I saw a few film adaptations and got all the characters sorted out and saw some other peoples interpretations, I gave it another go and it really grew on me. I’d say it’s probably my favorite out of all of them, now. There are a lot of things that Catherine (the elder) says in the book specifically that are way relatable when you’re able to stop seeing her as this super obnoxious and spoiled character and start realizing she is a complicated woman with lots of desires and dreams who was born into very limiting circumstances and expectations. She definitely makes shitty decisions and it’s really easy to hate her and pretty much every other character in that book, but then you start to realize the deeper motivations they each have, it makes you realize how realistic of characters they are compared to characters in a lot of, say, Jane Austen’s novels who often end up being pretty uncomplicated and two dimensional.
Not to say that I don’t love me some Jane Austen, because I do. Just for different reasons 😉
i love jane austen, and i’ve read and re-read most of hers multiple times! persuasion is tied for my favorite austen (with pride & prejudice), so i’d try that, if you want some more austen! another fabulous classic (though it doesn’t make all of the lists) is north & south by elizabeth gaskell. i’d previously tried cranford by her and was mostly unenthused, but i loved loved loved north & south. it also has a pretty good movie counterpart!on the non-classics side of things (or the contemporary classics side of things) i’d recommend ‘the book thief’ by marcus zusak. it’s pretty amazing.
I see that you’re really into classics! I love classic novels. You never know quite what you’re getting into when you start reading the first page. The Great Gatsby is definitely a good book to add to your list, although just a forewarning — few of the characters are likable. Of Mice and Men is also a great classic (watch the movie afterwards and you’ll appreciate it even more). Watership Down is very lovable, although surprisingly long. You could try Invisible Man if you’re into deep books that really get you thinking. I’ve heard that Jane Eyre is wonderful, I really want to read it. I’m currently reading As I Lay Dying…it’s interesting. If you want to read a cringe-worthy book about dysfunctional lifestyles I think it would be right up your alley.In terms of more contemporary novels, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series (as well as the Harry Potter series of course) give readers a good dose of well-written fantasy. The Hunger Games…eh…not too impressive. Really I think the plot is the only thing driving it forward. Suzanne Collins’ other series, Gregor the Overlander, is much better in terms of writing quality. Those books are a little easier to read, maybe for a quiet afternoon.
That’s about all I can think of right now…but there’s billions of books out there just waiting to be read!
Oh I definitely agree about Jane Austen! Her characters are a little less developed, but I really just love her voice and all the satire. Maybe I’ll eventually re-read Wuthering Heights and give it another try:)
Persuasion is on my list to read this year! Not I’m extra excited:) And I will definitely look up North and South! Thanks Eliza
Oh man! Thanks for all the recommendations! I was thinking about trying out As I Lay Dying so I’ll definitely put that on my list for this year. Weirdly enough I tried The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings a few years ago and really disliked them. I’ll have to look into Gregor though, that sounds interesting!
Yeah definitely check out Gregor. It’s a five-book series that I thought to be very sweet. I think I probably would have been more into the Hunger Games if there was just less hype around it, but oh well. I started reading it after all of the teen-girl craze erupted so I think it was a little bit more peer-pressure-y (if that’s a word) for me. Suzanne Collins is definitely a great author though! And I think you’ll be interested in As I Lay Dying. It’s not too long, and has some great awkward moments. Faulkner was a little bit of an alcoholic though…so sometimes the writing is a little all over the place. On of the chapters is only a sentence long!