I joined The Classics Club five years ago with the intention of reading 50 books in five years. I managed to read and review 71 books in that time so now I’m starting again.
So here we go with some of the books I’d like to read in the next five years. I’m adding some ‘modern classics’ – books that were written in the last 25 years and including some that I’ve already read years ago and want to re-visit.
Novels
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (1927)
Have His Carcase (1932)
The Nine Tailors (1934)
Busman’s Honeymoon (1937)
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) by Agatha Christie
The Seven Dials Mystery (1939)
The Body in the Library (1942)
Nemesis (1971)
Death in Berlin by M.M. Kaye (1955)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (1859)
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (1946)
A Mind to Murder by P.D. James (1963)
Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude (1935)
Death on the Riviera by John Bude (1952)
Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R. Lorac (1937)
Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes (1942)
While Still We Live (The Unconquerable) 1944
Black Narcissus (1939) by Rumer Godden
Kingfishers Catch Fire (1953)
An Episode of Sparrows (1955)
The Greengage Summer (1958)
China Court (1961)
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1963)
In This House of Brede (1969)
Towers in the Mist (1938) by Elizabeth Goudge
The Castle on the Hill (1941)
Pilgrim’s Inn (1948)
Gentian Hill (1949)
The White Witch(1958)
The Dean’s Watch(1960)
The Scent of Water (1963)
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1924)
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple (1930)
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (1956)
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (1926)
Frederica (1965)
A Civil Contract (1961)
Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer (1925)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien (1937-1949)
The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1866)
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (1878)
The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857)
Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-4)
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells (1896)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948)
The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1901)
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (1922)
Father (1931)
Love (1925)
Vera (1921)
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (1896)
All the Green Year by Don Charlwood (1965)
Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart (1955)
Wildfire at Midnight (1956)
Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)
My Brother Michael (1959)
Airs Above the Ground (1965)
The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte Yonge (1853)
The Clever Woman of the Family (1865)
Non-Fiction
In the Steps of the Master by H.V. Morton (1934)
Modern Classics
Educational Classics
journey & destination 
This is a list of great books. Of the books that I have read, I liked or lived them all. I want to read every single one of the books that you have listed that I have not read. These lists remind me ion just how many great books there are there out there. I look forward to your upcoming posts. Happy reading!
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I agree with Brian, this is a great list and my interest is piqued for almost all of them. One lone exception would be The Gulag Archipelago. I LOVED The Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn and very much enjoyed The Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich. But I found the Archipelago to be impenetrable. This was many years ago, however, when I tried it. Maybe I would have more patience now! 😀
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What a great list of classics! Dracula and Middlemarch are two of my favorites. 🙂
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Nice list, Carol! You have a good balance between heavy and lighter reads. I have intentions to read more Goudge soon, as the couple of books I've read so far have been wonderful. Gaskell is great …. have you read Ruth? It's my favourite so far. The Gulag Archipelago is my nemesis. I tried to read the unabridged version and I think I'm going to have to go against my firm rule and read an abridged version to get through it. Good luck though and have fun with your second Classics Club list!
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Thanks, Brian. Yes, the more I read, the more I find out how much I haven't read 🙂
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Ruthiella, I loved Cancer ward also. I was dubious at first with a title like that, but wasn't it great?!I did read The Gulag when I was about 19 I think and I started reading it again about a year ago but it's probably going to take me till the end of this year to finish it! And I have an abridged version!! I just think it's such an important book.
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Hi Lark, I think I've skiummed Middlemarch in the past or maybe listened to it on audio as it sounds familiar but I want to read it properly.After reading some very positive responses about Dracula from various bloggers I thought it sounded worthwhile. Two of my boys bought me lovely HB copies of both books for my birthday.
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Cleo, I haven't read Ruth yet but plan to at some stage. I might add it above although I don't have a copy of it yet. I mentioned to Ruthiella that I'm reading the abridged version of The Gulag – at leas=t I think it is?? Even so it will take me another year to get through it.
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What a fantastic list!! I keep meaning to join this challenge myself; it's very inspiring to see what others choose to read. I'm SO jelly you get read some of these for the first time (Dracula, Villette, and Till We Have Faces). Enjoy! 🙂
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Hi Marian, it’s a no pressure challenge. You pick books you were planning to read anyway & you read on your own schedule. Yes, I’m going to enjoy getting into these books.
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So many favorites! War & PeaceReturn of the NativeDr. ZhivagoDraculaSense & SensibilityThe GulagMere ChristianityHow Should We Then Live?And I want to read The Four Loves for my next CS Lewis!Best of Luck!
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Hi Ruth, I bought a copy of Lewis's 'God in the Dock' which is a collection of his essays. Hope to read at least some of it this year.Enjoy your reading year 🙂
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I found your blog while I was googling the publishing date for Keeper of the Bees for my blog post listing my 50 Classics in 5 Years, which I am starting this month. How fun to see that you have been doing this challenge for some time now (your second round??) and that we have so many similar authors on our list! Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth Goudge, C.S. Lewis, Bronte, Dickens, Tolkein, Agatha Christie, and Francis Schaeffer! One thing that I wasn't sure about with reviewing the books read for the challenge, does each book need its own post to qualify for the challenge? I review all my books (classics and contemporary) on my blog at the end of the month. Would the link to that post suffice?
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Hi Elena, I can tell you're a woman of good taste!! I love all those authors. Yes, this is my second time around – there are just so many great classics out there.I've done a couple of reviews in a block & I know others have as well. It's a fairly relaxed challenge and I've enjoyed 'meeting' other bloggers through it.I look forward to seeing the list you come up with.
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