Classics Without All the Class discussion

Has anyone seen this book or the list? I have the 2008 edition and have been slogging through it. Some of the titles they have added or even the ones they have left out are interesting. Worst one i couldn't get through...120 Days of Sodom. I couldn't finish it. So awful.

Is this the list that has The Hunger Games as #1? I try to avoid all listopias anyway

Sorry for the confusion. That is a long list to compile and we haven't quite been in business long enough to even make a dent.

I am referring to Peter Boxall's book that came out in 2006 and has a couple revisions the last few years. To be honest I have been disappointed with it since it doesn't have Dante on it at all. http://www.listsofbests.com/list/2222...

Very possibly we can figure out our own list as we go. Maybe a thread or poll for each book? I am up to my eyeballs in alligators at the moment so I honestly don't have the time to tackle this project...so lets brainstorm here how we can make our own list.

I just found this app for iPhone users. http://1001booksapp.com/

Karena wrote: "Has anyone seen this book or the list? I have the 2008 edition and have been slogging through it. Some of the titles they have added or even the ones they have left out are interesting. Worst one i..."

Karena wrote: "I just found this app for iPhone users. http://1001booksapp.com/"

There's a group here on GR dedicated to these books:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/9...

lost world should be in the list

Velma wrote: "Karena wrote: "Has anyone seen this book or the list? I have the 2008 edition and have been slogging through it. Some of the titles they have added or even the ones they have left out are interesti..."

I actually have joined it. I can't believe how many they have finished. Amazing.

I just went through 3-4 pages of the list and only read 10 or so of those books and the rest I had never heard of. Is that the same for everyone else or is it just me? I do tend to read classics, non fiction books and biographies though so maybe that is it and don't tend to read best sellers from any list other than non-fiction. I like to "learn" something about a different time, country or culture when I read.
Those of you who have read a lot of books from this list did you enjoy them? I am always looking for more books to read.
I have been working on several book lists myself like BBCs top love novels from the Big list and times list of the top 100 best loved novels and have really liked most of them.

Karena wrote: "Velma wrote: "Karena wrote: "Has anyone seen this book or the list? I have the 2008 edition and have been slogging through it. Some of the titles they have added or even the ones they have left out..."

To date, I think I've read about 110 of the books on the combined list, but many group members have read quite a few more.

And to Shawn: I've enjoyed virtually all of the list books I've read, but if you haven't even heard of most of them, I'm thinking maybe you prefer different genres than the ones represented? Most on the list are considered (I believe) literary fiction, and many are classics of the western canon. There are very few (if any?) non-fiction, which includes biography.

I agree with Shawn insofar as I've not heard of hardly any of the books on the 1001 list. In fact I was somewhat shocked that in 40 years or so (maybe more!) of being alive how few of them in had read. I did better on 19th century novels, but those middle years of the last century I'm hopeless. But it's been brilliant for being surprised, and it's been like a journey in time really, reading about all those places that have gone, or changed irrevocably

I've been using it mostly as a source of introduction and a bit of branching out, not really as an end all list. Because of the unavailability of some of these books it's impossible to read all of them and some just don't appeal to me. I have the printed book (2006 edition) and it gives some great little essays about each book. History and what not.

I would like to check out 1001 Books for Every Mood

We were talking about doing an Advice column on our blog
CWAtC Blog and Karena suggested we recommend a book based on your mood, such as "No Hemingway if you're feeling down." This book looks pretty close to it!

My goodness, that's a long list! I only got halfway through the list, and I've read only 9 titles on it. Most of them I haven't heard of. There sure are a lot of Oprah books on there too. I tend not to trust Oprah's book titles, she always picks ones that are mostly gloom and doom.

This will be the 5th list I will open a folder on my laptop and delete each book I have read. The other 4 are:

50 Most influencing books written by women

100 most influencing books

1000 books you should read

Man-Booker Prize winners.

I couldn't dare--and will not dare--to read Nobel Winners.

Those of you who haven't heard of some/most of the books on the list, I wouldn't worry about it...

I've browsed through the actual book a few times to see why particular works were included. There's a lot of "Firsts" on the list -- Books that really aren't important or interesting by themselves, but are included because they were very influential in inspiring other works.

Like "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. Really, it's not a very GOOD book but it was the first Gothic novel, and look at all the thousands of Gothic novels that have been written since.

Other books are in there, mostly because the editors of the list liked them a lot. (At least, that's what I gather when it's a more recent publication and the list editors just talk about the book itself and not why they included it.)

So, the list is a mix of pop culture and literary history. A big mish-mash.

1000 Books to Read Before you Die is an interesting book to browse through but be warned, they're not shy of spoiling anything. They even gave away the name of the murderer in The Murder of Roger Ackroid! I've learned not to read the explanation for any book I haven't already read.

The grand-daddy of all these "books to read..." books, and in my opinion still the best, is Clifton Fadiman's The Lifetime Reading Plan. I recommend the original edition, usually available at a very reasonable cost on second hand sites (Alibris, abebooks, BetterWorldBooks, and if you really must, Amazon), rather than the New Lifetime Reading Plan edition revised and, in my opinion, weakened by John Major. I see that there are quite a few copies of the original on both Alibris and Abebooks available for under $5, including shipping.

I have just finished 35th book in that list. 966 to go.:)

Anil wrote: "This will be the 5th list I will open a folder on my laptop and delete each book I have read. The other 4 are:

50 Most influencing books written by women

100 most influencing books

1000 books yo..."

I'm not even brave enough to tackle the Man Booker prize, never mind the Nobel.

I've recently decided the Newbery Medal looks like a nice list to tackle.

I hadn't heard of Newbury Medal. I will check it out right away. Thank you, Carolien.