Classics on My 2017 TBR
Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review.
I recently came across the app Serial Reader, which allows you to “subscribe” to certain classic books and have bite-sized pieces pushed to your phone each day. You read the book for 10-20 minutes per day to keep it manageable. I don’t really like classics too much because I find them hard to read and too dense at times. The idea of reading them in small bursts every day really appeals to me, and I’ve already started one of them. Here are the top classic books I plan on reading through Serial Reader!
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
This is the first book I started on Serial Reader. I wanted to do something a little bit shorter so that I could blaze through it and see what the process was like. I’ve always wanted to read the original story instead of basing all my retelling feels on the movie.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
This book has always been on my TBR but I really never thought I’d get around to it. It’s a little longer and will take 72 issues/days to read. I’m excited to hopefully read it at some point though, thanks to Friends.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
I don’t even know much about this story – or almost any of these classics really – but I know it is a classic. The Bronte sisters have always intrigued me. I don’t remember reading any of them in school.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I couldn’t resist adding this to my “read later” on here because it is a bit shorter, and seems like a book that so many people have read. Time to give it a shot!
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
This is obviously the shortest one on here and I’ve only vaguely heard of it before. The premise and it being an early piece of feminist literature totally speaks to me though. Gimme.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Yep, I’ve never read this! At least I don’t think so lol. I’ve always wanted to give these a try because the movie is so fun, and this is a good place to start. (I also need to see the movie again because it’s been years.)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Yeeeep I’m pretty sure I pretended to read this book in high school, like many others. I loved English class but really dragged my feet on the classics. I have plenty of other Jane Austen books on my TBR too. I barely remember any of them…
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
I added this on a whim because it coined the concept of time travel, which is one of my favorite book topics! It’s a little shorter so we’ll see how it goes. I love reading about time and it’ll be cool to see it from the perspective of someone in the 1800s.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm
I think I’ve read some of these when I was younger but I don’t really remember. There are so many classics in this story, so it’ll be interesting to read all of them – Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, etc.!
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
I read a lot of Shakespeare in high school but don’t remember this one. It’s been involved in a few books I’ve read and loved, so I want to give it a go! I think I’ll try to read all of Shakespeare’s works that are on this app because it’s the perfect opportunity.
I’ve never heard of Serial Reader before, but it’s such a cool idea!! I’ll definitely have to check it out. It sounds really helpful for longer classics that can be intimidating.
I hope you enjoy Jane Eyre– it’s one of my absolute favorites! <3
Yes, I think it’ll really help with those classics I’ve been meaning to read!
Great list! I started using Serial Reader last year and I’ve read four or five so far. But I’ve started with the shorter ones to see how I get on with it. I’m currently reading The Little Mermaid just now. Wuthering Heights is also one of my favourite books ever, the characters are just so awful that I feel so much better about my own crazy family.
Oh, I’m glad you’ve used it! I’ve really enjoyed it so far.
Wow what an awesome app!! I don’t really read classics – for a lot of the reasons you said. I do have Pride & Prejudice on audio I want to try this year though. I will have to check out this app though. Great list!
Right?! I think it’ll be fun!
I LOVE Serial Reader!!! I’m loving Les Miz with it and plan to read many more this way.
Awesome! I hope you’re enjoying it.
I’m often having quite a hard time reading old classics because I end up finding a lot of them rather boring but I definitely enjoyed “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”.
My favorite classics are Jules Verne’s books though which are still really good adventure novels and not boring at all!
Glad to know you liked those ones! I haven’t read any by Jules Verne. Thanks for the rec!
I love the idea of this app! And these are all classics that I’ve really enjoyed. I still need to read The Yellow Wallpaper and The Time Machine but they are both on my TBR pile for this year! I’ve been afraid that they will get pushed back thanks to all the shiny new books coming out so I might need to check out this app. 🙂
CommentLuv wasn’t working for me so here’s my Top Ten Tuesday 🙂
Good to know you enjoyed them! I hope you like it 🙂
Several of these are some of my favorite classics. I think this app sounds great! Although looking at your selections… H.G. Wells is much different than the others. His ideas are excellent, but his writing can be dry. I hope you like it, despite all that!
Thank you! It seems like a short one and I love time travel, so I thought it might be interesting. Not a top priority though!
Pride and Prejudice is one of my most favorite classics ever – I can’t wait to read more novels by Jane Austen this year. The Picture of Dorian Gray was another good one, though I was bored at some parts, but it was overall a great reading experience. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights didn’t exactly work for me, but I’m planning on trying them again, because I was pretty young – 13, I think – when I first read them, which probably wasn’t the best decision haha.
Hope you’ll get around to read all these classics!
Great list!
My TTT
Glad to hear it! Thank you 🙂
Jane Eyre is one that I didn’t think I’d like very much that I really ended up liking! And I feel like the only one, but Pride and Prejudice is actually not my favorite Austen (Emma is!)
Awesome – good to know!
I love Pride and Prejudice 😀 Also, Jane Eyre is one of my favorites, so that F.R.I.E.N.D.S. scene always makes me crack up! Fabulous list 🙂
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
Haha thank you! 🙂
Thanks for sharing that app! I hadn’t heard of it before and it sounds like a good way to get through some classics.
I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try!
I enjoy reading classics every now and then. The Yellow Wallpaper is one of my favorites.
Here’s a link to my TTT post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2017/01/top-ten-tuesday-freebie-top-ten.html
Awesome! Good to know.
This reminds me of a website I used to visit (cannot think of the name for the life of me) where it would email you a snippet daily to read. I’ll have to check this app out.
PS I enjoyed Wuthering Heights!
Oooh interesting! Thanks!
I’m definitely not a classics reader either. The only one I’ve read and enjoyed (somewhat) are Of Mice and Men & The Odyssey. This app is a brilliant idea! I def need to read some Jane Austen soon and possibly The Wizard of Oz. Great list!
I liked The Odyssey too but it’s been a while!!
This app sounds really cool! I need to check it out. I don’t read many classics for the same reasons, but there’s some I feel like I *need* to read. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
My Top Ten
Yes, absolutely! I hope you like it!
Serial sounds so cool! I think that’s a great way to encourage people to read classics. It’s actually quite similar to how I’m reading Les Miserables this year, since I’ve divided the book up and will read it in chunks every month.
Yay for the inclusion of a Shakespeare title! I absolutely loved his work when I read it waaaaay back when. I really need to do a reread at some point.
Yes, exactly! I’ve done that with books in the past, but it’s even easier when they have the app to do the work for you 😉 I believe Les Mis is actually on this app too! If you were interested haha.
I love Shakespeare too and definitely need to reread! I’ve read books with references to Twelfth Night so that’s my priority title for now 🙂
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