Classics I Want to Read

Some years ago I started doing a "Read a Classic Every Month" challenge which I continued successfully for quite a while. But last year I ended up butchering it and I know this year would go similarly if I didn't do something differently. Hence this post.

So I've made a list of classics I'd like to get to, possibly even this year.
(I won't be checking these off of the list like I do my TBR and early challenge)


Austen: Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Lady Susan
Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations
Collections: Aesop's Fables, Hans Christian Andersen
Shakespeare: Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream

Other:
of Mice and Men
Animal Farm
Great Gatsby

Robin Hood
Around the World in 80 Days
Treasure Island

Most Sold Books

Thoughts - Read, will or won't?

(Wikipedia, Jamesclear, The Guardian)

I made this to just map out a) what are actually the very best selling books and b) to see how much I'd read of them  and c) if anything grabs my attention and makes me want to read it.
You'll probably enjoy a and c

List of best-selling single-volume books

More than 100 million copies

Book	Author(s)
Don Quixote	Miguel de Cervantes
A Tale of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
O Alquimista (The Alchemist)	Paulo Coelho
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit	J. R. R. Tolkien
And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie
紅樓夢/红楼梦 (Dream of the Red Chamber)	Cao Xueqin
Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll

List of best-selling book series

More than 100 million copies

Book series	Author
Harry Potter	J.K. Rowling
Goosebumps	R. L. Stine
Perry Mason	Erle Stanley Gardner
Berenstain Bears	Stan and Jan Berenstain
Choose Your Own Adventure	various authors
Sweet Valley High	Francine Pascal and ghostwriters
Noddy	Enid Blyton
Nancy Drew	various authors as Carolyn Keene
The Railway Series	Rev. W. Awdry, Christopher Awdry
San-Antonio	Frédéric Dard
Robert Langdon	Dan Brown
The Baby-sitters Club	Ann Martin
Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney
Star Wars	various authors
The Lord of the Rings	J. R. R. Tolkien
Little Critter	Mercer Mayer
Peter Rabbit	Beatrix Potter
American Girl	various authors
Chicken Soup for the Soul	Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
Geronimo Stilton	Elisabetta Dami
Frank Merriwell	Gilbert Patten
Fifty Shades of Grey	E. L. James
Dirk Pitt	Clive Cussler
宮本武蔵 (Musashi)	Eiji Yoshikawa
The Chronicles of Narnia	C. S. Lewis
Mr. Men	Roger Hargreaves, Adam Hargreaves
Twilight	Stephenie Meyer
Clifford the Big Red Dog	Norman Bridwell
James Bond	Ian Fleming
Martine	Gilbert Delahaye, Marcel Marlier

25 Best-Selling Books of All-Time

#1 – Don Quixote (500 million copies sold)

by Miguel de Cervantes

#2 – A Tale of Two Cities (200 million copies sold)

by Charles Dickens

#3 – The Lord of the Rings (150 million copies sold)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

#4 – The Little Prince (142 million copies sold)

by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

#5 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (107 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#6 – And Then There Were None (100 million copies sold)

by Agatha Christie

#7 – The Dream of the Red Chamber (100 million copies sold)

by Cao Xueqin

#8 – The Hobbit (100 million copies sold)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

#9 – She: A History of Adventure (100 million copies sold)

by H. Rider Haggard

#10 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (85 million copies sold)

by C.S. Lewis

#11 – The Da Vinci Code (80 million copies sold)

by Dan Brown

#12 – Think and Grow Rich (70 million copies sold)

by Napoleon Hill

#13 – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (65 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#14 – The Catcher in the Rye (65 million copies sold)

by J.D. Salinger

#15 – The Alchemist (65 million copies sold)

by Paulo Coelho

#16 – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (60 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#17 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#18 – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#19 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#20 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (50 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#21 – One Hundred Years of Solitude (50 million copies sold)

by Gabriel García Marquez

#22 – Lolita (50 million copies sold)

by Vladimir Nabokov

#23 – Anne of Green Gables (50 million copies sold)

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

#24 – Charlotte’s Web (50 million copies sold)

by E.B. White

#25 – Black Beauty (50 million copies sold)

Read on lovelies,

S

Favorite Opening Lines of Books

Pennyroyal Academy - If I'm still in this forest by nightfall, I'll never leave it again.


The Raven Boys - Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love.


All Fall Down - When I was twelve I broke my leg jumping off the wall between Canada and Germany.


Cinder and Ella - The problem with fairy tales is that most of them begin with tragedy. I understand the reasoning behind it. No one likes a pampered heroine. A great character neeeds trials to overcome - experiences to give them depth, to make them vulnerable, relatable, and likable. Good characters need hardships to make them strong. The idea makes sense, but it still sucks if you're the heroine.


The Shadow Society - knowing what I know now, I'd say my fostermother had her reasons for throwing a kitchen knife at me.


Ella Enchanted - That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me.


Assassins Curse - I ain't never been one to trust beautiful people, and Tarrin of the Hariri was the most beautiful man I ever saw.


My Lady Jane (prologue) - You may think you know the story. It goes like this: once upon a time, there was a sixteen-year-old girl named Jane Grey, who was forced to marry a complete stranger (Lord Guildford or Gilford or Gifford-something-or-other), and shortly thereafter found herself ruler of a country. She was queen for nine days. Then she quite literally lost her head.

Yes, it’s a tragedy, if you consider the disengagement of one’s head from one’s body tragic. (We are merely narrators, and would hate to make assumptions as to what the reader would find tragic.)

We have a different tale to tell.

CLASSICS:

Pride &Prejudice - It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

1984- It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen


Peter Pan - All children, except one, grow up


Metamorphosis - As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach in his bed


Catcher in the Rye -
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

Read on lovelies,

S

Buying Classics

editions guide

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I have made a decision to only buy a classic after I've read them and if I enjoyed it (see myself reading it again). I have made ecxeptions with volumes and collections!
*For me classics are easily found from the library to read and access quickly.*
So when I do I tend to want a nice copy of it, whereas before I would buy cheap copies before I read it.
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So here are my takes on different editions of classic book and why I gravitate towards some.

>> I'll only be writing about the editions I own & ones I really like (blue) <<

1. Affordable
Collins Classics
   - my favourites because they look really nice with multiple next to each other
Wordsworth Editions
   - the blue ones aren't really to my liking, but they also have other editions like my The Little Prince
Dover Thrift Editions
   - the cheapest and they also have poem collections and other smaller volumes
Tor Classics

   - A basic mass market paperback
Signet Classics (Penguin)
Barnes & Noble paperbacks
Oxford World Classics


2. Paperbacks & 3. Special paperbacks
Penguin Classics
   - they have a good variety of everything and I have a post about some link
Word Cloud Classics
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Deluxe edition

2. (L to R) Penguin play, Classic Penguin Books, Penguin Book Editions & Pocket Penguins

2. (L to R) Penguin play, Classic Penguin Books,
Penguin Book Editions & Pocket Penguins

()

4. Hardbacks & volumes
Sterling Classics
Fall River
   - Illustrated collections that aren't too expensive. They are very beautiful but the size can be an issue when reading it (like the Shakespeare collection) but my other copies don't have that problem.
   - (Same hight as the Barnes & Noble leather bound books)
Bounty Books
   - Illustrated collections and novel volumes. I love how they go well together, but the thing I love is that the size is not uncomfortable to hold and to read, and the text size is not compromized when doing so

4.1 Fall River classics

4.2 Bounty Books

5. Special
Penguin cloth bound
   - They are more expensive and I don't hink I'll be buying more of them but they are really pretty
Barnes & Noble leatherbound
   - These are also more expensive but they have such gorgeous illustrations and the edges are metallic
Penguin Drop Caps

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On the spines of my volumes the small yellow stars mark novels that are unread and the bigger red stars mean that the volume has unread short stories/poems (the number of them isn't of significance).
The post-its on the top of the books mark unread novels or short stories (and every 50 pages of poems). When I've read one I take the post-it out or if I really liked it I move it to the long side of the book.
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6. Misc./occasional
(I might fall in love with a certain cover and buy it even though it won't match others)
RandomHouseTeen
   - The Boy in the Striped Pajama the 10th anniversary edition
Simon & Schuster

Bloomsbury

   - The Princess Bride the 25th anniversary edition (I always get questions when I feature it in a picture!)

   Penguin Perigee
   - It is quite narrow but tall
   Penguin Puffin Books
   - I really like these, the size is quite small with deckled edges
   - (Same hight as the Collins Classics)
Teos
Tammi

6.3 Teos & Tammi

Read on lovelies,

S

Giveaway

End

First of all thanks to those who entered, and congrats to Shannon R. the winner!

I made it available to only a handful of countries in Europe, but even so more than a thousand of you entered! And had I expanded it to the USA and Canada, I know that thousand more would've entered - and for that I am so grateful.
Also since there were some problems with the entering, so if some of you weren't able to enter, maybe next time.

Thank you to Penguin for sponsoring the giveaway books.
(link to the giveaway post here)

And also make sure to check out their Penguin Pocket Classics and the Little Black Classics
(review of them here)

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Giveaway!

Penguin Classics

! ! ! THE PROBLEMS SHOULD BE SORTED OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AFTER WHICH YOU'LL BE ABLE TO ENTER ! ! !

As I told you yesterday, I've got some exciting news, and as you can tell from the title it's a giveaway! Beware this post will be filled with exclamation points...

So Penguin kindly provided me with some Penguin Pocket Classics to send to one lucky winner! And let me tell you, I'm ecstatic!

For the prize, one of you will be winning these:

  A Little Black Classic: Three Tang Dynasty Poets
                       This has loads of poems by these three chinese poets, and I really enjoyed it!

  A pocket book: n.27 Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Most of us have read The Little Prince, which I adore, and this one is a non-fiction book:

The aviator and author of The Little Prince describes vast,

otherworldly landscapes, crash landings and magical encounters

in his transcendent account of flying over the Sahara and the Andes.

  Another pocket book: n.10 The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan
I chose this for some variety and I hope the winner will get lots from this book:

Set in a crubling Spanish mansion, this gloriously comic and

gothic novel follows the fortunes of an innocent young priest as he

enters a world of moral decadence, sexual intrigue and corruption.

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At this point you're all wondering how to enter the greatness, and I decided to do it on Goodreads, since that is the place I go for all things books: catalogs, lists, new releases & other people.

So the link is on the top right side of this page!

-> you just follow the link and press the button to enter the giveaway, no commenting or following needed for entry :D
You've got til the end of the month + a week & all the countries eligable will be listed there as well.

Read on lovelies & good luck to you all,

Sally

Penguin Classics : Metamorphosis

Pocket books, little black classics & review

A new series of thirty distinctive, unforgettable Penguin Classics in a beautiful new design and pocket-sized format, with coloured jackets echoing Penguin's original covers.

www.pocketpenguins.com

From the classic orange paperbacks to the clothbound covers, the Penguin that we all recognize has lots to offer. Penguin launched a new set of classics in the classic design, with the covers coloured to show the original language.

Among this new set of pocket classics, they launched a set of 126 short books - the Little Black Classics. Like every girl needing a little black dress, these tiny books are a fantastic way for diving into the world of literature. I've only read a couple, but I am officially in love with them! Poems, short stories and other stuff (though some only have a chapter or few from a whole book and I don't know what to think of that, maybe as a sample to see if you like the style?)... You can chuck one in your bag for wherever you go and read them in a moment. That is also the beauty with the sizes of the pocket book series.

www.littleblackclassics.com

I live in the faraway country of Finland and wasn't sure if these new books could be found. So I went to Helsinki and strolled around through multiple bookstores - and there they were, in Akateeminen kirjakauppa. A table of pocket books adorned with a penguin. The pricing is also very affordable - considering the quality - and the thing that sold them for me is the floppiness! Yup, you heard me, unlike most mass market paperbacks, and small paperbacks in general, these are not the stiff ones that are hard to read and inept to keeping a clean spine. And for that I give it an A+.

Then to the review of Metamorphosis:

*book kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!*

  This pocket book: n.8 Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Featuring an ordinary man who wakes up to find himself turned

into a giant cockroach, Kafka's masterpiece of unease and black

humour, Metamorphosis, is brought together here with the best of his short stories.

I'd heard lots of things about this particular novel and had been wanting to read it for quite some time now. And at the same time it was worth the wait, but on the other hand, why didn't I pick this up sooner? So, yes I really liked the book and do recommend it. Also the fact that between the covers, this edition has lots of other goods to offer.

Goodreads' link & text:

From Meditation, a collection of his earlier studies; The Judgement, written in a single night of frenzied creativity; The Stoker, the first chapter of a novel set in America and a fascinating occasional peace, and The Aeroplanes at Brescia, Kafka's eyewitness account of an air display in 1909.

       Metamorphosis brought change, and alienation to a whole new level. As a cockroach one does not exaclty continue on like before. Then again a good way to impact people is to magnify and highlight the problems.

       The main character Gregor has to work through alienation and the disgust toward him from his family, not to mention trying to roll out of bed when your stuck on your shell.

    Kafka's imaginative ideas really brought to life the unforgettable struggles and thoughts that are enclosed in this book, and I think by reading it, one can learn quite a bit.

'I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.'

And for some exciting news come back tomorrow!!

Read on lovelies & good luck to you all,

Sally