What classic has most surprised you so far and why?

The classic that has probably surprised me the most is a tie between Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.  I love Persuasion, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice....but I barely finished Sense and Sensibility and I haven't been able to finish Mansfield Park.....I don't know why but it surely is surprising to me that I haven't enjoyed these two Jane Austen classics. Maybe one of these days I will try to get through Mansfield Park and I will try Sense and Sensibility.

January 2016's Question Meme from Classics Club (Repeat of February 2013).  Add your answer.

50 Question Survey Part 1

From The Classics Club 50 Question Survey that I stumbled on awhile back--I am going to do this in two parts. 

1. Share a link to your club list.
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club?  I joined the club in 2013.  I have finished five books....unfortunately I'm behind my idea of reading 10 a year.
3. What are you currently reading? I'm currently listening to Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot and reading Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? I just finished listening to The Brothers by Chris Stewart-- I loved it and it is the first in the series so I'm excited to get the next books.
5. What are you reading next? Why? I want to read the second book in The Great and Terrible Series--the series I mentioned earlier.  The first book is really like chapter 1 of a six part series.
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? My favorite Classics Club book so far would have to be 1984.  I loved teaching it to my six seniors!
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? I am excited to re-read Little Women again. 
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? I am avoiding Pickwick Papers because I started it and it was very boring.
9. First classic you ever read? Um....not sure-I have read Classics since I was very young
10. Toughest classic you ever read?  The Fountainhead
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?  My favorite classic will always be The Blue Castle 
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list? One I've read? Maybe Catch-22...actually probably The Fountainhead....left on my list? Probably Les Miserables
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list? Not sure of the oldest....
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any? I have read many sections of biographies on Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott and I have enjoyed both 
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why? I think everyone should read 1984.
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any? I love Oxford Classic editions of my book
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? Love the newest Pride and Prejudice
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film. I would love to see a new version of Anne of Green Gables
19. Least favorite classic? Why?  Not a big fan of Steinbeck books
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. Emily Bronte, H.G. Wells, John Milton, A.A. Milne, and Tennessee Williams
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Wuthering Heights 
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving?  Catch-22
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?  I love Mr. Darcy :)
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? I have always related to Anne Shirley
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? Valancy Stirling from The Blue Castle

Right Now I Am....

So as promised...life update time.  As I was thinking about how I wanted to do this I thought of how one of my favorite bloggers Trish does it (Check her out at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity).  I messed with the order a little so that the two things people really need/want to hear about are at the top, but the headings are all her.

Feeling: Better. This is the most often question that I'm getting from people right now which is why I put it first. I had surgery last week of July to hopefully deal with the pain I have been dealing with since April last year. We haven't had a diagnosis really until now--possibly endometriosis.  I have taken a while to heal but I am pushing through thanks to pain killers.  The nice thing about still healing is that the pills work better and I am in less pain longer.

Yep coming home with boxes was not in the plan
This is only half of them too

Loving: The time off...so in part of my life update I must update everyone that I no longer work at Cedar Ridge Academy. I will be starting at Vernal Middle School teaching 7th grade English in just a few days--first day of school is about a week away. I really needed the time off....though not as early as CRA wanted me to be. They decided to lay me off a month ahead of time. Prompted me to have to pack up my room late at night and not having closure with the students. Just liked to remind me why I was leaving--I was done not being treated like a professional or a person.

Listening To: Almost done with City of Bones--two discs left.  Will probably put it in when I get done with this. Also listening to The Confession by John Grisham and enjoying it.  It has been awhile since I've read a Grisham novel.

Reading: I have a lot of books juggling right now.  The Classics Club spin book was #17---so for me Fahrenheit 451. I also want to get in on Austen in August--so I'm going to read Lady Susan because it is also on my TBR Pile List....though I really need to start it!  Still reading Fablehaven #5--current really wanting to get through it so I can move on.  Just been busy with other things and not in too much of a reading mood.  And I need to start Gone Girl for book club.

Watching: Lots since I have been in bed or on the couch for about a week and a half. I got through two seasons of How I Met Your Mother.  I have loved seeing how well they really set us up for the series finale....and the connections to Friends.  Maybe one of these days I will devote a blog post to it....since I did when the series finale came up.

Eating: Anything that sounds good....I was cooking more in July because I was home and then I lost my appetite and I bet a couple of pounds after surgery.  Appetite back to normal so that's good.  Hopefully going to do some freezer meals in the next few days for the school year.

Making: I am knitting a great purple blanket....can't wait to show it to you. I finished a yellow one earlier this summer that will be featured in a new blog post to come.

My awesome planner :)

Planning: Mentally constantly writing to-do lists and then writing them down--I have my planner that I bought at the beginning of the year and I am using it more now than I did at my job--more time to write again.  I am re-evaluating what I want...plans for the blog, plans for writing more, planning ideas for school...I think my brain is more active now that I'm not at school but easier to shut it off when I go to sleep.

Hope that fills everyone in...as always I am a pretty much open book so ask away :)

Classics Club Spin Challenge

So I haven't blogged in awhile and I seriously owe my readers a life update--and that was the plan for today. But it is late, I'm tired and the update part is just going to have to wait.  I will update tomorrow--I hope! :) But I want to hop on this challenge because I haven't done this before. This challenge is done by the Classics Club . So I go through my Classics Club Reading List to pick 20 books that I will put in a numbered list.  They will tell everyone a number tomorrow--and then we read the book that goes with that number in about a month and a half.  Sounds great to me, especially since I haven't looked at this list since I wrote it! (And I seriously should update with what I have read)

So here are my 20--here goes nothing.

Ones that would be really hard to do by October--because they are really long or I have given up on them before:
1. The Pickwick Papers
2 Mansfield Park
3. Les Miserables
4. We the Living
5. Anna Karenina

Ones that I want to read:
6. Lady Susan
7. Things Fall Apart
8. The Secret Garden
9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
10. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Wouldn't Be too Hard to Do:
11. Little Men
12. The Cask of Amontillado
13. Emma
14. Pride and Prejudice
15. Oliver Twist

Miscellaneous because I need 5 more:
16. Wuthering Heights
17. Fahrenheit 451
18. Gulliver's Travels
19. Their Eyes were Watching God
20. The Three Musketeers

December Classics Club Meme Question

So I have been a non-participatory Classics Club member the last little while. This question grabbed my attention this month as I started to want to move back into being more of an active member.

Let’s do this again: What is your favorite classic book? If you already answered this question in August 2012, great! Tell us what you picked then, and if your answer has changed in the last year and a half. If you are new since that meme, what is your favorite classic as of today? (Yes, you can of course list multiple books.)

Of course, I have multiple favorite classic books! I have talked about my all-time favorite book was The Blue Castle on here before.  And I have talked about A Tale of Two Cities on here too.  So I thought that for my answer today I would talk about Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

I have always loved Little Women. I remember when I first read it from the library--I think I was in middle school. And I was becoming a bit of a romantic.  P.S. There will be spoilers if for some reason you haven't read the book. But when Laurie proposed to Jo and she said no....I was so shocked I threw the book against the wall.  I was sooo mad at her!! I was soo soo mad.  I felt so bad for Laurie and felt like he had the right to be best. I was eventually okay with how it ended with Amy and Dr. Bauer, but I still loved the Laurie and Jo relationship.

As I have gotten older, I have better perspective on Jo and I understand why she says no to Laurie and I am glad with her relationship with Dr. Bauer--but I still have sympathy for Laurie every time I get to that point in a re-read. And I have also come to love the Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder movie---like it or not--it is cute :)

So what is your favorite Classics book?

Very cute :)

A Review of June and Coming Soon

Wow, can't believe another month has come and gone.  As I typically do on the first of the month, I do a run down of the top posts of the previous month and what's to come up this month.

3. We had a tie for third place...so you get two posts!
Classics Club Meme This one was actually a lot of fun!  I enjoy participating in the Classics Club, and doing little things with them.  It has no pressure and I love that!!
Article Review: Sending My Child Away I was actually glad to see that this one made it on the list. I debated actually posting this one, but I was very impressed by this article and wanted to share it.  I hope that it helps someone out there.

2. Shakespeare Plus Autism Another fun one to write! I love talking about Shakespeare!  I have a new found love for him with my job, as I mentioned in this post.

1. Another Doctor's Appointment I should have predicted that this one would be first, all the rest of my ones about my health issues have been.  It is nice to see that everyone cares.  This gives me an opportunity to catch everyone up on how I'm doing now. I have good days and bad days, and because I was having good days I thought that I would get better on my own. Biggest reason, I am done with doctors!  This weekend was a testament that I maybe shouldn't do that anymore.  So I called today--and I have another appointment next Monday.  I'll update then.

Upcoming this month...July will bring lots of new changes and busy times.  We will be closing on our new house this month!! How crazy is that! So my life will be full of signing and boxes. I have a family reunion that I am looking forward too and hopefully I will get my teaching license renewed this month too.

Blog wise I will be participating in my first ever read-along with To Kill a Mockingbird and RoofBeam Reader. This is one of my favorite books and I want to share some lesson plan ideas that I have had.  Feel free to join in too! I also really need to finish a blanket for a good friend who is having her first baby this month and I will share that too!!  I also hope to hop on some more blog hops. Finally, I am looking forward to possibly fixing up my blog following ways.  I need a better system...I am thinking about Bloglovin' or Feedly.  I can't decide...but I need too because I don't want to miss stuff!  Suggestions?

Our new house!!!

Reflection on Resolutions

So today I have an interesting train of thought as I have been looking at different things on the Internet. I have become very aware of how quickly life has gone this year.  At the beginning of the year, I had a lot of great plans for the year.  The only plan that I have stuck with is this one, which shocks me.  Honestly, some of them are a little bit more important (like renewing my license which I totally am procrastinating!!). Some of them are probably a bit more productive....like I had lots of readings planned for myself--both academically, enjoyment wise, and spiritually.  I haven't even come close to doing what I had planned with that. This became apparent when I signed up for RoofBeam Reader's Austen in August.  UGH! It is almost August. I had planned to read all of the completed Austen novels this year (well at least the seven in my complete works book) and I have only read one!

But on the positive side...August will bring a great trip home to see my baby brother come home! I am so excited.  Hopefully by then I will feel like I have accomplished something...if nothing else I will be reading a little bit of Jane Austen! I hope to finish Pride and Prejudice (for the umpeth time) and Mansfield Park. Feel free to sign up too here.

Classics Club June Meme

As member of the Classics Club, I am more of a quiet member.  But each month they ask a question to prompt a blog post--sounds perfect right? Sometimes I don't have an answer for the question but this month I do.  The question is:

What is your favorite opening sentence from a classic novel (and why)? 

So I want to share two lines that I want to share with you today.  The first is from a well-known favorite of mine: A Tale of Two Cities.  I can't talk about first line without doing this one.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

This is ALL one sentence! That is one of the reasons why I love this opening line.  I love the repetition of the lines.  I also love how it really describes life...especially the hard times. The hard times are the best for us and the worst for us.  They are times for us to be stupid, but also learn a lot.  Any faith that you have is tested, and any things that you think aren't there might change.  We are led by light through this hard time but also feel like we are at the darkest time in our lives. We try to go through the experience with hope but inside we have a lot of despair.  I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.  I love being able to relate to a story right away like that.

My second favorite line is a lot shorter and about a book I haven't talked about yet--Rebecca.  That line:

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again"

It sets up the WHOLE book which has so many twists and turns.  You never know what is going to happen the first time you read it.  But as you look back over the book that line is loaded with SO much foreshadow. You don't know what they really mean until the end.

What is it about a first line of a book for you?

Learn more about Classics Club  http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/

Jane Austen

This month's Classics Club question is about Jane Austen.  They ask why you hate or love Jane Austen and what your favorite or least favorite novel.  Another fellow Classics Clubber Roofbeam Reader talked about how Mark Twain really didn't like Austen.  He shared a quote in which Twain said, "Whenever I take up Pride and Prejudice, I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin bone."  My question with this quote, is that if he knew that he didn't like the book the first time, why did he keep reading it over and over again?

Personally, I do read Jane Austen over and over again--and I LOVE it.  Sometimes when I have had a long day,  I turn my MP3 player on set it to turn off in about 20 minutes and then I listen to a book that I know really well on tape.  I can just focus on the words and ignore what is going on in my brain from the day.  Sometimes the book of choice is Pride and Prejudice.  So I don't want to beat her with her shin bone over that book.

The cool thing about this question is that I am have set a goal to read all of the main Austen novels because I bought this complete set a while ago and I haven't ever really read them all.  I have read Sense and Sensibility this year, and technically finished listening to Pride and Prejudice this year--but I'm not counting that.  My favorite of hers is actually Emma--I think because she reminds me the most of myself.  Persuasion might be my least favorite...but it has been awhile, and I had to read it in college so I read it REALLY fast.  So maybe by the end of this year I will have a clear "ranking".     

Top 3 Posts of the Month...February Edition

This was fun to do after January ended, so after February is complete I thought maybe it should become tradition.  Reading the "January Edition" again I commented at the beginning about how my 365 project was coming along...this month was harder than the first month--and I didn't think that was possible!! My life has been really really really boring I think the last couple of days---I don't exaggerate when I say that Saturday-Wednesday was pretty much grading when I came home from work---in which I had done more grading.  I hope that March will calm down and I can get back to reading articles and books so you can get more opinions and reviews.  I also want March to have my first few posts about knitting...which I haven't gotten to on here yet and I want to. So without further adieu...here is the top three posts of February

3. Book Review of Sense and Sensibility...posted on February 6, 2013.

The sad or funny thing about this post was that I first started talking about having read Sense and Sensibility back at the beginning of January...yes it took me that long to finish.  With the long car rides that week that helped wrap the whole thing up.

2. My Classics Club Reading List...posted on February 16, 2013.

I finally completed that idea and posted it--I hope that as the month goes on I will get more involved in the Classics Club and I can write more about it and visit other people's blogs.

1. Book Review of Feels Like the First Time...posted on February 2, 2013.

The coolest thing about this...the author saw my post!! I was very flattered to have his comments on my blog. I was actually a bit nervous to do a post on this one because I figured it is not one people are going to find worthwhile when it is just a simple little freebie from Kindle and it is just a simple romance...but the response has been good.

I won't try to read too much into the fact that most of the views were for book posts...and at the beginning of the month. Well I hope that you guys will still stick with me even if my last week or so has been pretty lame.  As my husband said to me just yesterday....I am glad you have stuck with it because most people would have given up by now.  So here's to not giving up!

Keeping with tradition of a photo of me for this blog post...Me with my sisters!!!
This is still my favorite pic of us even if it is like a year and a half old

My Classics Club List!

I thought that I had joined The Classics Club already...I follow them on Twitter, did the read-a-thon earlier this year, and read fellow member's blog posts.  However, I realized earlier this week that I am not officially a member, because I haven't joined officially or created my book list!  So today I am rectifying that situation.  I am going to post my list of 50 books below.  I am going to try to read all of these books by the end of 5 years (so December 31, 2017) and then start with a new list of 50, especially if I finish early.  I like that I can easily read 10 in a year. Though as I make this list...a lot of them are goals for this year. In terms of how I made this list--it included ones that I want to read this year but also ones that I have always wanted to read but never have. Well, I am considering myself already started...so I have linked my review from Sense and Sensibility below.

1. Sense and Sensibility  by Jane Austen  review
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen
3. Mansfield Park  by Jane Austen
4. Emma by Jane Austen
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen review
7. Lady Susan by Jane Austen
8. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
9. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
10. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
11. Anthem by Ayn Rand
12. We the Living by Ayn Rand
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte review
14. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
15. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury  Finished sometime in Fall of 2014 
16. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
17. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
18. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
19. Animal Farm by George Orwell
20. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
21. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
22. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
23. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe
24. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe
25. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
26. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
27. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
28. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
29. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
30. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
31. Hard Times by Charles Dickens
32. The Brothers of Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevesky
33. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
34. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
35. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
36. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
37. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
38. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
39. Beloved by Toni Morrison
40. 1984 by George Orwell review
41. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
43. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
44. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
45. Dracula by Bram Stoker
46. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
47. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
48. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
49. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
50. Echoes from the Macabre by Daphne DuMaurier

Character Thursday: Sydney Carton

 

In honor of Celebrating Dickens, I thought that I would do my first Character Thursday link-up with Fanda.  I mentioned previously that I love A Tale of Two Cities.  I have taught it and read it often. My favorite character in the book is Sydney Carton. I thought he was appropriate to talk about with this being Valentine's Day and all.

When the book opens, Sydney seems a lot like what we would affectionately call a nerd.  He is very smart, but not socially confident in himself.  He doesn't put himself in the spotlight and just prefers to stay in the background. We first meet him when he is defending Charles Darney, and they look very similar to each other--which actually helps them win the case.  

Carton seems to change as he falls in love with Lucie Manette.  He was a very selfish, self-pity kind of guy.  But in telling Lucie of his feelings for her--he really opens up and tells her that he would do anything for her or those that she loves.  That chance comes as Darney is accused again and faces death.  Sydney convinces Darney to change places with him so that it is not Charles that is killed.  As Charles escapes to be with Lucie, Carton is beheaded at the guillotine.

I love Sydney Carton as a character, because he is so willing to sacrifice.  Love really changes him and it shows us that even some people can surprise us in life. A great lesson on a Valentine's Day like this. 

Dickens, Me, and My Students

Through the great inspiration of a blogger name Fanda, I am aware that today is the great Charles Dickens' birthday.  On your birthday, you should always know why people respect and honor you. I thought that I would write (kind of to Dickens) about my favorite experience with A Tale of Two Cities.

It is kind of interesting/tricky to start teaching students about Dickens because they are intimidated by the length of his books, the denseness of his writing, and it is harder for them to get into it. With this particular class had read three whole Shakespeare plays the previous month, so to me if they get through that--then Dickens shouldn't be hard.  The best thing to me about this opportunity to teach students--they started to get into and catch on.

This is the great part about Dickens--his stories transcend time.  My students were able to relate to the relationship between Lucie and her father.  They start to follow the French Revolution---they are fascinated by the guillotine and the secret plotting.  They relate to the prison and trapped feeling that Dr. Manette experiences.

Some of them might start to appreciate Dickens' writing, but it really starts to come with the teacher appreciates it as well.  Give them the opportunity to really dive into the writing, and they will start to see what is so great about the amazing Charles Dickens.

This is actually the edition we used, because it is very cheap and
the students can  have their own copy to mark up

Book Review: Sense and Sensibility

Title: Sense and Sensibility

Author: Jane Austen

Genre: Fiction/Classics

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Why Did I Read This Book? It was the first novel that Jane Austen published, and I am trying to read all of her novels this year.

Summary: The story follows the family of the Dashwoods.  The father of the family dies, which leaves the mother and three sisters in an interesting bind.  They end up staying in a cottage on the land of with a distant relative.  At this cottage they met a variety of people that come to mean a lot to the family.  We follow their lives and learn of their pasts which ends up affecting their present. I don't want to give too much away, but there are a lot of love triangles to go with it all :) 

What Did I Love: The twists and turns of the love story were very entertaining.  It kept me on my toes the whole time.  I also liked how it fit with the title.  Some of the lovers have sense, but the good ones have sensibility.   

What Did I Hate: Soo many characters!!  You can tell that this is her first novel, because her writing style is not polished.  The biggest thing for me was the fact that I couldn't keep all of the characters apart easily until about halfway through because she refers to most of them by their last names.  And they give big speeches and you lose track of who is speaking.  By halfway through, I had really gotten to know the characters so I could tell the difference better...so it is not a complete deal breaker.

Courtesy of amazon.com

Celebrating Dickens Intro Post

With February starting tomorrow, I am doing my first celebrating Dickens post.  I am excited to get involved in this reading event from Fanda.  The whole point of the month is to read and talk about Dickens, and if you want to join in there is still time!  I have only read two Dickens novels my whole life: A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol.  I have loved both, especially A Tale of Two Cities.  So with this reading event, I have decide to grab one that I haven't done before though I was severely tempted to do T2C (as I fondly call it)....maybe I'll have to do some Character Thursdays with it.  But I will be reading.....The Pickwick Papers.

So why that one? Because of Little Women--which is one of my all time favorites books.  If you haven't read it, then you should know that the four sisters in the book form a society called the P.C. or the Pickwick Club which is modeled after the book by Dickens.  I have been told that there are a lot of references to the novel in the chapter that I will never pick up on until I read it.  AND...I want to know more about Dickens' characters and see if they make sense with the ones that the girls gave to themselves. So I am waay excited to do this....though I really want to finish Sense and Sensibility first.  I am SO close!

Back to the Classics Challenge 2013

To help me reach my goal of 30 books this year, I thought that I would give this challenge a try! This post will serve as my announcement post.  The rules of the challenge are to read a book in each of the six categories.  You can also choose any of the five optional categories to go with it.  I love the idea of the prize too :)  Sarah said that in the announcement post it is more fun to plan what you are going to read.  I like that idea so here we go...

1. A 19th Century Classic: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2. A 20th Century Classic: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. A Pre-18th or 18th Century Classic:  Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
4. A Classic that relates to the African-American Experience: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
5. A Classic Adventure: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
6. A Classic that prominently features an Animal: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Optional Categories:

    A.  Re-read a Classic: Emma by Jane Austen

   B.  A Russian Classic: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

   C.  A Classic Non-Fiction title: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

   D.  A Classic Children's/Young Adult title: A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle

   E.  Classic Short Stories: Three Edgar Allen Poe Stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Fall of the House of Usher

I am so excited to get started!!!  Teaching ideas and book reviews to come...most of the ones that I picked I can use in school too :)

Classics Club Readathon Wrap-up

So now that the Read-a-thon is over, I am finally getting on to do a quick wrap up.  I haven't gotten too much farther from last night, I had some deadlines that I needed to meet.  So this will be a really quick post.

1. What book(s) did you read during the event? Sense and Sensibility
2. What book(s) did you finish? Didn't finish it yet, according to my Kindle I am about 24% through
3. What did you like about our event? I liked the excuse and motivation to get some reading done.  With everything that I do for school, I rarely get to read for myself unless I have got a completely free day.
4. Do you have suggestions for future Readathons through The Classics Club? Maybe have everyone start on a certain day and time for their own time zone...for example, everyone could start at 8 am on January 5th their time.  
5. Would you participate in future Readathons? Yeah I probably would

Thank you Wikipedia for the image.
This is a scene from ch. 12 in which Willoughby cuts a lock of Marianne's hair.

Classics' Club Readathon: Sense and Sensibility

http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/the-classics-club-readathon-starting-post/

So today is the first-ever Read-a-thon by the Classics' Club.  Now, I have seen these things before and have admired people's determination to read ALL day--they are going for 24 hrs!  I did sign up, however, I molded it to my particular style today.  I had A LOT of grading to do (which btw is still not done--ugh) so my reading of Sense and Sensibility was going to be my break.  It actually worked out very well to do that because I would grade for an hour, read for an hour, grade for an hour.... you get the idea!  I thought that I would take a different break to blog and then maybe get a bit more reading in before bed.

Oh and since I didn't do a start-up post...better late than never...here are the questions for the Classics Club to come peruse and see tomorrow for the wrap-up :)

1. Snacks and Beverages of Choice: Did the pretzels and Sprite thing today
2. Where are you reading from today? Home...all over.  I have the audio, Kindle, and print versions to choose from.  Audio for the treadmill and cleaning portion, Kindle for the eating portion, and print for everything else
3. What are your goals for the Readathon? Get some reading and grading done :P
4. What book(s) are you planning on reading? Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
5. Are you excited? Of course!! I get to start one of my reading goals for the year: The Complete Works of Jane Austen