Occasionally I will be influenced to read a certain book at a certain time thanks to a timely readalong or Classics Club Spin, but the rest is left to whimsy and chance.
Unfortunately, it means that a lot of classic books in particular, get left behind in the titanic wake of my current bookish work life.
Working in an Indy bookshop means keeping up with the new releases. Not necessarily a bad problem to have I grant you, but it can be hard to justify the time spent reading a classic book, as I unpack yet another box of new releases that everyone is talking about already!
Adam @Roofbeam Reader has also been grappling with his unwieldy list of classic favourites that he wants to reread....one day.
Adam's List
January: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
February: The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles
March: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
April: Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
May: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
June: The Confidence-Man by Herman Melville
July: Paradise Lost by John Milton
August: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
September: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
October: Angels in America by Tony Kushner
November: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
December: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
I plan to join him for a reread of The House of Mirth, Northanger Abbey and Wuthering Heights.
New-to-me reads will be Tender is the Night and Death Comes for the Archbishop.
However, there are also four books that I have been wanting to reread now for over ten years.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien.
Since working in the bookshop I have collected four beautifully illustrated (by Alan Lee) hardback editions of these books. I really want to dive into them to revisit the story and pore over the pictures.
However I've been waiting for enough time to lapse between movie LOTR and a reread so that some of Jackson's strong imagery could dissipate. When I read and reread the books in my teens and twenties, I fell in love with the Ents. The movie version of the Ents disappointed me sooooo much, and it has been hard to get that out of my minds eye. But I think I'm ready to let that go now and see Middle Earth and all it's characters anew.
Thanks to my work, I have to be realistic about the time frame in which I can read these books.
I really do have to read the new releases to keep up with customer recommendations. This is not a chore, of course, I'm not complaining, really, but it does get in the way of my classics reading and the love I get from rereading my favourites.
Many of you kindly responded to my original post flouting this idea back in September, so I hope you have allowed some time in your 2017 reading schedules for a #HLOTRreadalong2017.
Would anyone else be interested in reading (or rereading as the case may be) The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King with me next year in a very easy and generous time frame?
The Hobbit in February
The Fellowship of the Ring in March - April
The Two Towers in May - June
The Return of the King in July - August
If you'd like to join in, please feel free to write a post heralding your intentions and share in the linky below.
Which edition will be you reading? Is it your first time? Or your hundredth? Have you watched the movies? Can you speak Elvish?
#HLOTRreadalong2017
I love this idea! I will draft a post shortly and come back to link up. BTW, I loved Death Comes for the Archbishop, it may be my favorite of her novels.
ReplyDeleteI've only read My Antonia so far with Cather, but loved it to bits, so I'm very keen to jump into something else by her.
DeleteAnd I'm looking forward to reading your #HLOTRreadalong2017 post :-)
I loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings! I don't usually read fantasy or sci-fi, but there's something about these books that goes beyond all that. I have read them three times - twice myself and once with my son. I read them with my son not too long ago, so probably won't participate in the readalong - but just wanted a chance to say how much I love them. :)
ReplyDeleteThey do seem to have that effect on people Naomi.
DeleteLike you I don't read a lot of fantasy, but when I do, I wonder why that is - there are some wonderful story tellers out there.
Risa at The Next Chapter is doing a readalong of the The Hobbit and LOTR this year. I had to really rack my brain to remember who it was. lol
ReplyDeleteOh, apparently just LOTR - not Hobbit. Sorry.
DeleteThanks for letting me know - we'll be able to have some good book chats and the slower readers can jump onto my schedule since I'll be reading two months after Risa :-)
DeleteI am planning to do the Classic Book a Month too, although I am trying to wrap my mind around reality beforeI write a commitment post. I have your HOLTR challenge up as a 2017 Read-Along. I hope you have a fun and successful year!
ReplyDeleteThank you :-)
DeleteI started writing my 2017 post yesterday...& felt a little freaked out....and tempted to over-committ....so will hold off to give myself some breathing space and reality check as you say!
I'm in! I haven't read the books in years.
ReplyDeleteYay!!
DeleteWow, I completely misunderstood this challenge! I thought that he was inviting people to read the titles he'd picked! :D
ReplyDeleteI think Adam WAS inviting us to read his choice of books with him.
DeleteI'm only planning on reading 5 of them though as I'm not interested in reading the others at this point.
I was then just highlighting what else I planned to do in 2017 instead.
Hope this clarifies it :-)
I am thinking about the Lord of the Rings readalong. I love, love, love the books. My only hesitation is that I just reread them this year! I did not reread The Hobbit this year, though :) So I can definitely start with that and then see if I'm 'inspired' to reread the trilogy!
ReplyDeleteYou drag me through books I never would read...and it is always worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteI read The Hobbit decades ago and was probably too young to understand any of it.
At the time 'it was the book to read'.
Now I will join you in 2017 and see what Tolkein is all about.
I love this idea! I will draft a post shortly...after my tea and chocolate bonbon!
Wahoo!
DeleteHigh fantasy is not for everyone, but there's something about The Hobbit & LOTR that sucks you in. The ultimate road trip/ coming of age story.
Any excuse to re-read Tolkien is good enough for me! I like to read them every so often, and it's been almost exactly five years since I last finished LOTR! Thanks for the incentive!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I didn't see this before, but I am in! I read The Hobbit a few years ago, but have never read the LOTR trilogy. My sister, who loooves these books, will be pleased I am finally going to read them lol
ReplyDeleteHey Brona! I'm new around here, but I hope this is the start of a nice blog-friendship :)
ReplyDeleteExcited to get started!
I'll be blogging about the Hobbit/LOTR at www.anotherbook.blog