John’s Comments (group member since Aug 23, 2012)

John’s comments from the Read a Classic Challenge group.

When you finish a classic book, please post the following information to the feed to engage with other members: Title, Author, Year of (initial) Publication, Number of Pages. Stare or location is optional in your first post of the year, to help track the global reach of this challenge.

This is a grassroots group, which depends on engagement and suggestions from our fans, so feel free to participate as much or as little as you have time for. Just make sure to try to log at least one book this year. Unfortunately, we, the moderators, can no longer keep up with logging the statistics, but hope that you will continue the conversations and encourage each other to keep reading classics. You may also post analysis, critique, or questions about the book to let others know how you liked it. Classics can be posted at anytime and are open to interpretation.

You can also participate in the challenge on Facebook by joining the Read a Classic Challenge Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60542...

Or our website http://readaclassic.weebly.com/

IMPORTANT: We need your help to log the classics in the Read a Classic Challenge. We love the social nature of posting and chatting about classic books on Facebook & Goodreads, but with our busy lives, the moderators can't keep up with converting the data into a form that can be analysed for our yearly stats.

In order to maintain the challenge, we are asking for crowdsourcing help from our members to help us convert the books, with the idea that many hands make light work. Please use http://bit.ly/RACCVolunteer to sign up for a month(s) and source (Facebook or Goodreads). Use the survey at http://bit.ly/RACCLogging to log any books posted in the month for which you volunteered. If you are helping out, please be sure to log the whole month, even if you have to take a break part way through.

Volunteer: http://bit.ly/RACCVolunteer
Logging Survey: http://bit.ly/RACCLogging
Facebook http://bit.ly/RACCFacebook
Goodreads http://bit.ly/RACCGoodreads

We hope that you continue to enjoy the challenge, the opportunity to read classic books, and the community atmosphere of the challenge. Thank you for your help in advance!

PS - March's Theme is "Haiku", brought to you by Jason on Goodreads.

- John, Dave & the other Moderators.

Jason wrote: "Dry air and wet earth.
Fill hearts with seed yet unsung.
Ran out of mayo.

I vote for Haiku March!"

Done!

When you finish a classic book in 2017, please post the following information to the feed: Title, Author, Year of (initial) Publication, Number of Pages. When logging your first book each year let us know your state or country so we can track the global reach of the group. You may also post analysis, critique, or questions about the book to let others know how you liked it. Classics can be posted at anytime and are open to interpretation.

You can also participate in the challenge on Facebook by joining the Read a Classic Challenge Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60542...

Or our website at http://readaclassic.weebly.com/

This is a grassroots group, which depends on suggestions from our fans, so feel free to participate as much or as little as you have time for. Just make sure to try to log at least one book this year. We will report the statistics each year.

We have selected a January Theme but need our fans' help to propose some other themes that you would like to see this year. Let us know in the comments if you have any ideas that you want to throw into the mix. Past themes can be seen on our website at http://readaclassic.weebly.com/themes...

January - World Literature (thanks to Roberta for the suggestion)
February - Make your Own Theme
March - Haiku!
April - Classic & Popular Psychology (thanks to Roberta for the suggestion)
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Thanks for all the submissions this year, if you forgot any feel free to post them below. I will start a new thread for 2017.

Way Station by [author:Clifford D. Simak|23012
1963, 210 pages. Buffalo, NY

I really liked City by Clifford Simak and decided to branch out. This story was equally good and doesn't feel dated at all. Simple thoughtful storytelling.

This book is on sale for Kindle today at $1.99.

Daily Deal Today:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo is the Audible Deal of the Day today, Great book.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The...

For May, we have a special theme for the Read a Classic Challenge. That is right, it is time for 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

As long as it is a classic and you can make the connection with 6 degrees or less it is fair game! The following is a library website that offers an example!

http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/r...


Here are some easy ones (1 degree) from the film, Footloose.
----------------------------------------------------
Reverend, we have a little problem.
I heard the English teacher is planning to teach that book.
Slaughterhouse Five.
Isn't that an awful name?
That's a great book.
Slaughterhouse Five.
It's, it's a classic.
Do you read much?
In another town it's a classic.
In any town.
Tom Sawyer is a classic.
That's fine.
Ethel, have some more ham.

For May, we have a special theme for the Read a Classic Challenge. That is right, it is time for 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

As long as it is a classic and you can make the connection with 6 degrees or less it is fair game! The following is a library website that offers an example!

http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/r...


Here are some easy ones (1 degree) from the film, Footloose.
----------------------------------------------------
Reverend, we have a little problem.
I heard the English teacher is planning to teach that book.
Slaughterhouse Five.
Isn't that an awful name?
That's a great book.
Slaughterhouse Five.
It's, it's a classic.
Do you read much?
In another town it's a classic.
In any town.
Tom Sawyer is a classic.
That's fine.
Ethel, have some more ham.

Thanks for all the great theme suggestions. We have selected Martha's Theme the Jazz Age/1920s. The following is Dave's message from facebook.

On our Goodreads site there was an excellent suggestion that April be Jazz Age/1920's Month. For those of you looking to get beyond The Great Gatsby, here are some suggestions:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004...

Prize Winners listed here:
http://www.1920-30.com/literature/
http://www.stylist.co.uk/boo…/the-50-...#

Enjoy exploring and padding those to-read lists!

Thanks for the suggestion.

On the desktop version there is an button option to add book or author. Once a book is added (default) when you go back in you select author and generally the relevant author is shown at the top of the list.

Monthly Themes & March Theme
We have selected a March Theme, but need your help in selecting other themes for the upcoming months. Let us know in the comments if you have any ideas that you want to throw into the mix. Past themes can be seen on our website at http://readaclassic.weebly.com/themes...

March - Women Authors
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
December -


March Theme: Women Authors (from Dave)

Hey everyone, I'm trying to be better about posting reading lists around the first of each month to help give you ideas of classics to read. Admittedly this list is recycled from years past (with the dead links stripped out), but it should give you plenty of ideas for what to read in March, or anytime throughout the year. Please add your own suggestions so I can build them into a future March re-post!
Suggested Reading for March (Women’s History Month)
Pre-1700
• Sappho
• St. Hildegard of Bingen
• St. Catherine of Siena
• Julian of Norwich
• Margery Kempe
• Juana Ines de la Cruz
18th Century
• Mary Wollstonecraft
• Anna Laetitia Barbauld
19th Century
• Louisa May Alcott
• Kate Chopin
• Emily Dickinson
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Jane Austen
• Mary Shelley
• Anne Bronte
• Charlotte Bronte
• Emily Bronte
• George Eliot
• Elizabeth Gaskell
20th Century
• Edith Wharton
• Willa Cather
• Virginia Woolf
• Agatha Christie
• Doris Lessing
• Iris Murdoch
• Zora Neale Hurston
• Sylvia Plath
• Katherine Anne Porter
• S. E. Hinton
• Margaret Mitchell
• Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Harper Lee
• Pearl S. Buck
• Ayn Rand
• Carson McCullers
• Flannery O’Connor
• Toni Morrison
• Maya Angelou
• Octavia Butler
• Ursula K. Le Guin
• Anne Tyler
• Joyce Carol Oates
• Joan Didion
• Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Amy Tan
• Madeline L’Engle
• Sandra Cisneros
• Margaret Atwood
Various “Best Of” Lists around the Internet:
http://www.thebookescape.com/Feminist...
http://neurotaylor.com/2013/02/04/50-...
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/04/10/c...

Great to see so many logged books already. We are on our way to another great year.

- Rachel, How did you like Asimov? Cave of Steel is one of my favorites.

- Martha, I would count Halfling's Gem, as that Icewind Dale trilogy brought R. A. Salvatore to prominence above many of the other authors in the Dungeons and Dragons genre.

I have been extremely busy lately, so my reading has been limited to catching up on the newest Muirwood books by Jeff Wheeler (recommended for anyone who likes decent fantasy). However, my son and I have managed a few classic kids books.

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith, 1972, 93 pages.

Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith, 1983, 130 pages.

NY

Martha, I am glad to hear that your husband is doing well. I know that a number of our participants are struggling in one way or another, and I am glad that reading and this challenge can help to bring people together in a positive manner. We will keep you both in our thoughts.

2015 Read a Classic Challenge Statistics

Here are the results of the 2015 Read a Classic Challenge challenge. The results were a little bit lighter than in the past, but many of us, including the moderators, were pretty busy this year.
- A lot of readers read books that were unique this year, as it seemed like there was less overlap among readers reading the same books.
- Rachel and John K. continued to post some very impressive reading stats, with newcomer Bob A. joining the club.
- Scott’s Henriad Reading Group read 9 books catapulting Shakespeare to the top of the most read
- Our Goodreads group has hit 402 members which has surpassed the facebook group which is holding steady at 347.

Be sure to join us for the 2016 Challenge
Remember to log in a book this year, even if 80% of our members log in a book in 2016, we can crush the statistics of the past few years.

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60542...
Goodreads Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Website: http://readaclassic.weebly.com/

Enjoy,
John, David, Crystal & Scott

Overall Totals 2015

Total Pages Read = 109,467
Total Books Read = 377
Different Books Read 332
Total Authors Read = 210
Total Readers = 67

Averages

Average book length = 290 pages
Average books read per reader = 5.6 books
Average number of pages read per reader = 1,634 pages

Most Books Read (3 or more)

5 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
4 - Richard II by William Shakespeare (group read)
3 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
3 - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3 - I am Legend by Richard Matheson
3 - Kim by Rudyard Kipling
3 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3 - The Old Man in the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
3 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Most Read Authors (3 or more)

14 - William Shakespeare
10 - Lucy M. Montgomery
7 - Edgar Rice Burroughs
6 - Jane Austen
6 - Ray Bradbury
6 - Baroness Emmuska Orczy
6 - Laura Ingalls Wilder
5 - Isaac Azimov
5 - Agatha Christie
5 - Charles Dickens
5 - Thomas Hardy
5 - Jack London
5 - Jules Verne
4 - Stephen King
4 - Richard Matheson
4 - Ernest Hemingway
4 - Ayn Rand
4 - Upton Sinclair
4 - Robert Louis Stevenson
4 - J. R. R. Tolkein
3 - Louisa May Alcott
3 - Frank L. Baum
3 - Truman Capote
3 - Joseph Conrad
3 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3 - Robert Heinlein
3 - Homer
3 - James Howe
3 - James Henry
3 - Rudyard Kipling
3 - Harper Lee
3 - Tamora Pierce
3 - Plato
3 - Ann Rice
3 - John Steinbeck
3 - Virginia Woolf

Longest Books Read

2262 pages - The Complete Works by Francis A. Schaeffer
1232 pages - Les Miserables x 2 by Hugo, Victor
1188 pages - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
1157 pages - Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
1037 pages - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Shortest Books/Short Stories Read

6 pages - There Will come by Thomas Parkes
8 pages - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
9 pages - The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
12 pages - The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
19 pages - Apology by Plato
23 pages - Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
24-27 pages - The Skull by Philip K. Dick

Top Readers by # of Books (5 or more)

64 = Rachel
53 = John K.
49 = Bob A.
15 = Patti St. J. M.
14 = Amanda S.
14 = Brian S.
14 = Martha
13 = Scott H.
12 = John S.
10 = Aaron M.
7 = Cynthia
6 = Joann M.
6 = Powder River Rose
6 = Laurie
5 = Diana D.
5 = Josh A.
5 = Abby L.
5 = Angelique

Top Readers by Page Numbers (1000+)

19,128 = Rachel
16,322 = John K.
10,562 = Bob A.
4,957 = Martha
4,018 = Scott H.
3,454 = Amanda S.
3,329 = Patti St. J. M.
3,314 = John S.
2,673 = Brian S.
2,652 = Cynthia
2,228 = Aaron M.
2,028 = Joanne K.
1,987 = Joann M.
1,801 = Josh A.
1,748 = Abby L.
1,695 = Laurie
1,646 = Pamela B. P.
1,524 = Debbie
1,461 = Skip A.
1,128 = Angelique
1,110 = Jenn H. M.
1,090 = Powder River Rose

Henriad (William Shakespeare Group Read)

Scott H. - 4 books
Brian S. - 3 books
Laura S. - 1 book
Josh A. - 1 book

International Geographic Stats

Australia - 1 Reader, 4 Books
Canada - 2 Readers, 7 Books
Philippines - 1 Reader, 1 Book
US - 56 Readers, 345 Books (one book was read in Germany)
Unknown 7 Readers, 20 Books

Domestic Readers by US States (Alphabetical)

AZ - 4 Readers, 10 Books
CA - 7 Readers, 13 Books
CO - 1 Reader, 1 Book
DC - 1 Reader, 1 Book
DE - 1 Reader, 1 Book
FL - 1 Reader, 1 Book
GA - 1 Reader, 49 Books
IL = 2 Readers, 15 Books
IN - 2 Readers, 6 Books
KS - 4 Readers, 20 Books
LA - 1 Reader, 1 Book
MD - 2 Readers, 17 Books
MI - 1 Reader, 7 Books
MO - 1 Reader, 1 Book
NC - 1 Reader, 14 Books
NH - 1 Reader, 1 Book
NY - 5 Reader, 83 Books
OR - 1 Reader, 7 Books
PA - 2 Readers, 2 Books
TN - 1 Reader, 2 Books
TX - 1 Reader, 1 Book
VA - 11 Readers, 31 Books
WA - 1 Reader, 64 Books
Unknown 8 Readers, 21 Books

Top Readers by State

NY - 5 Reader, 83 Books
WA - 1 Reader, 64 Books
GA - 1 Reader, 49 Books
VA - 11 Readers, 31 Books
Unknown 8, 21 Books
KS - 4 Readers, 20 Books
MD - 2 Readers, 17 Books
IL = 2 Readers, 15 Books
NC - 1 Reader, 14 Books
CA - 7 Readers, 13 Books
AZ - 4 Readers, 10 Books

Great to have you all back. I just finished logging what I believe to be the last of the data from 2015 Now to clean it up and crunch those statistics.

We are back!! We are off to a slow start this year because of our responsibilities elsewhere, but never fear, the 2016 challenge is happening.

When you finish a classic book, please post the following information to the feed: Title, Author, Year of (initial) Publication, Number of Pages. You may also post analysis, critique, or questions about the book to let others know how you liked it. Classics can be posted at anytime and are open to interpretation.

You can also participate in the challenge on Facebook by joining the Read a Classic Challenge Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/60542...

Or our website at http://readaclassic.weebly.com/

This is a grassroots group so feel free to participate as much or as little as you have time for. Just make sure to try to log at least one book this year. We will report the statistics each year.

- John, David, Crystal, Scott (Moderators)

Thanks everyone. This thread will stay open for anyone who still needs to log in anything for 2015. We are also taking ideas for themes for 2016.