Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A Classic You've Never Read

So many!
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
The list seems endless for me!

How about for you?

This is a personal/individual selection, so no Listopia!

I have a copy of The Age of Innocence so I'm going to do that!

The Secret Garden was mentioned on another thread. I may read that, or one of the Jane Austens I haven't read yet. (Depending on how I determine the oldest authors on my TBR, Austen might be in the running there instead...)

I'm planning on The Importance of Being Earnest.

My choices:

The Scarlet Pimpernel
Atlas Shrugged
Heart of Darkness
The Bostonians
Walden

I'm going to read the currently monthly read, The Picture of Dorian Grey, because I don't have time to read it this month. I have 6 other books I need to read to finish the 2024 challenge and this ione won't fit my remaining prompts

The Idiot

I have a really old gorgeous copy of Nicholas Nickleby that I'd really like to get to! I think anything by Dickens counts as a classic.

I have The Brothers Karamazov on my list, so I'll read that.

I have a long list for this one but I'll be going with:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare

I hate to admit there are so many classics I have yet to read...but here is my chance to read one!! I have several on my TBR bookshelf:

*Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*East of Eden by John Steinbeck

I will be reading Little Women

HAPPY READING!!

I read King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard. It wasn't quite as racist as I thought it would be, but it is pretty sexist and "yay, colonialism."

This might be the year I finally read (finish) Wuthering Heights.

I'm finally reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It's a fantastic and essential read, but an absolutely vivid and brutal depiction of war.

Elizabeth wrote: "I'm finally reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It's a fantastic and essential read, but an absolutely vivid and brutal depiction of war."

Oh, you've reminded me to add that to my TBR! I kept meaning to and somehow never have until now.

I bought Bleak House from a library sale!

I read The Plague in which the MC is a doctor in an Algerian town locked down by a plague epidemic.

This book is partly an allegory about fascism, particularly occupied France in World War II, and there is a pertinent warning in the last paragraphs, but after the Covid pandemic, it is an excellent description of dealing with (or not dealing with) such a threat.

LeahS wrote: "I read The Plague in which the MC is a doctor in an Algerian town locked down by a plague epidemic.

This book is partly an allegory about fascism, particularly occupied France in W..."

I read that book in French class in school many years ago! I found it really interesting, and my thoughts did return to it during lockdown. We actually read quite a few existentialists (which Camus was, and which is reflected in the book) across multiple classes. Perhaps it was in vogue at the time, but I do find it quite an attractive philosophy.

I'm working on Moby-Dick or, The Whale and actually enjoying it so much more than I expected to!

Agatha wrote: "I'm working on Moby-Dick or, The Whale and actually enjoying it so much more than I expected to!"

I really liked Moby Dick - learned so much about the time. So much more than just the story arc everyone thinks of.

I ended up reading The Underdogs for this one. It's a translated classic. Only gave it a 3 star rating. It was kind of dull.

I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I'm reading The Valmiki Ramayana Vol. 2 for spiritual reasons and just realised that it qualifies for this prompt!

Rose wrote: "Agatha wrote: "I'm working on Moby-Dick or, The Whale and actually enjoying it so much more than I expected to!"

I really liked Moby Dick - learned so much about the time. So much mo..."

Agatha wrote: "I'm working on Moby-Dick or, The Whale and actually enjoying it so much more than I expected to!"


I read Moby Dick two years ago and I loved it incredibly much! Such a powerful story.

This will probably be a prompt I hold off until the end of the year. I read a few classics last year and I just wasn't feeling them the way I used to so this isn't one prompt I'm too excited about.

Hopefully I can find something that captures my interest.

I do have The War of the Worlds on one of my summer TBR lists though so I might end up going with that one since it's one of my favorites.

Ron wrote: "This will probably be a prompt I hold off until the end of the year. I read a few classics last year and I just wasn't feeling them the way I used to so this isn't one prompt I'm too excited about....Maybe I’ll pick up something lighter or try a different kind of thrill—like https://duospin-de.com/"
I totally get that! Sometimes you have to be in the right mood for classics.

Exactly. I used to love classics, but over the years I've gotten bored with them because so many are by white authors and even as a kid that was off-putting since I'm a person of color. And there aren't many classics written by Indigenous or Latino authors.

I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't hold up well in today's world.

I have been working on this list, so here are some great suggestions and there are most definitely authors of color on it :)

https://1001bookreviews.com/the-1001-...

For this challenge I read Empire of the Sun which was sad, but a good book.

I read Night, because it was the first book on one of those classics lists that didn't look like something that would have been assigned in my high school English class (no offence, but really I'm done reading books by self-important classist white guys). It was incredibly moving. Short, yes, and very accessible in terms of language but it spared no gut punches in the emotional department. A very clear portrait of the WW2 death camps by a survivor who has won the Nobel Peace Prize. I don't say everyone should read a book very often, but this one would be in that category.

For this one, I chose Passing

I read The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy. It was depressing, but well written.

A does this fit question for your adjudication... Murder on the Orient Express. I know The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered one of her best and one to read (I have) but what do we think about my suggestion?

Sorry, I really dislike even the word classic in terms of books.

Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) wrote: "A does this fit question for your adjudication... Murder on the Orient Express. I know The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered one of her best and one to read (I have) but what do w..."

Not only do I think it fits, I'd say it's iconic. It's one of her best-known works and has featured on "top 100"-type lists for both railway tales and mystery novels. It's also been adapted multiple times for radio, TV, cinema, stage, games and as a graphic novel. It's known across cultures, not just via translations, but via adaptations in German, Russian and Japanese. I think it's a great choice for this prompt.

Agatha Christie defined detective fiction in the 20th century. (Look at how many modern writers are touted as the new Christie.)

Murder on the Orient Express
And Then There Were None
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
are considered her three best,

Thanks Dubhease and Sasha. You've been a great help.

Would Girl, Interrupted fit here?

Ashlee wrote: "Would Girl, Interrupted fit here?"

I think so. It's been re-issued in the Virago Modern Classics series. Virago is owned by Hachette, so that means at least one of the Big 5 publishers considers it a classic. Seems like it should be good enough for a challenge like this!

I had way too many to choose from for this one and wound up using The Stepford Wives

I was going to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but then I realized I have The Bell Jar sitting in my shelf already…

There are so many. I think I'm going to try Shōgun.
I want to read before I watch the series.

Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend inspired me to track down some of the books it discussed. I wound up reading Lovers' Vows , the "scandalous" play performed by the characters in Mansfield Park.

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

I'm reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I have read Breakfast At Tiffanys before, and I know that the former is a completely different book from the latter, but I have watched a lot of movies/TV series about Capote and wanted to read his best work. The blurb reads, "Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife, and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human."

Inspired by a comment from Neil Gaiman, I looked up Concrete Island: A Novel, by J.G. Ballard. I'd recently seen the movie, High Rise, based on another Ballard book. It was weird and dystopian (my husband hated it!), and when I saw Gaiman recommend Concrete Island, in a preface to another book, I had to read it. It was also very weird and dystopian. I can't say I loved it, but I'm glad I read it.

I later saw that there was a two part episode of CatDog, on Nickelodeon, based on the book. It was fun! I'd recommend reading the book, first!

Concrete Island