Branching Out: Classics

marygraceb13's profile picture marygraceb13 Host

7 participants (15 books)

01 Jan 2025—31 Dec 2025

Overview

For the last 5 years or so, I kept telling myself I would read more classic literature that I really haven’t touched since high school. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy classic literature, it’s just that if I had the choice of reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or the newest spicy fantasy book that’s going viral on booktok, I’ll take the easy way out and let the classics sit in my TBR for years to come.
But I’m hoping to change that with a series of reading challenges I’m calling ‘Branching Out:’. The hope for me is to set more realistic goals for myself and finally get some of these classics out of my TBR after years of sitting on a shelf, while also expanding what I was taught of classic literature to new authors, genres, and perspectives that I maybe wouldn’t have gotten to experience otherwise.
So come along and join me for the ride (or don’t, it’s up to you) and happy reading!

Challenge Books

All books added
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

283 pages • first pub 1947 (editions)

nonfiction classics history memoir emotional reflective sad medium-paced
The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life by Sun Tzu

The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life

Sun Tzu

9 hours, 15 minutes • first pub -500 (editions)

nonfiction classics philosophy informative reflective fast-paced
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

Lud-in-the-Mist

Hope Mirrlees

9 hours, 51 minutes • first pub 1926 (editions)

fiction classics fantasy adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Az Apró Dolgok Istene by Arundhati Roy

Az Apró Dolgok Istene

Arundhati Roy

472 pages • first pub 1997 (editions)

fiction classics historical literary dark emotional sad slow-paced
Az Usher-ház vége - filmklasszikusokat ihlető rémtörténetek by George Langelaan, Daphne du Maurier, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, John Wood Campbell
Az Usher-ház vége - filmklasszikusokat ihlető rémtörténetek
—
George Langelaan, Daphne du Maurier, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, John Wood Campbell

Az Usher-ház vége - filmklasszikusokat ihlető rémtörténetek

George Langelaan, Daphne du Maurier, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, John Wood Campbell

334 pages • first pub 2023 (editions) user-added

fiction classics horror
Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

168 pages • first pub 1606 (editions) user-added

fiction classics play dark tense medium-paced
Szerelemből gyilkolt by Deledda Grazia
Szerelemből gyilkolt
—
Deledda Grazia

Szerelemből gyilkolt

Deledda Grazia

252 pages • first pub 1908 (editions) user-added

fiction classics
Emma by Jane Austen

Emma

Jane Austen

15 hours, 18 minutes • first pub 1815 (editions)

fiction classics literary romance funny lighthearted slow-paced
The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Cider House Rules

John Irving

24 hours, 7 minutes • first pub 1985 (editions) user-added

fiction classics historical literary dark reflective slow-paced
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby #1

Ira Levin

6 hours, 9 minutes • first pub 1967 (editions)

fiction classics horror thriller dark mysterious tense medium-paced