I took this photo the other morning as the sun began peaking over the horizon in our backyard. I don’t know why it took a blueish tint, but I kind of like it.
I’m not doing New Year’s Resolution this year. I have some ideas of what I’d like to do. They are closer to goals than resolutions, but more in the germination stage of seedlings.
I went for a walk the other morning with a neighbor. She said she and her husband are focusing on health for 2025. I told her that’s something my husband and I are doing, too. I’m sure it’s a reflection of what I wrote in What Would You Do? last Monday. (If you missed this post, please take a look.)
Another idea I thought of the other night, after waking up every two hours for some unknown reason, was putting together a list of classics. When I can’t sleep, I turn on podcasts. (I have headphones that rest around my neck. Connecting them to my laptop via bluetooth, I don’t wake up my husband.)
I thought it would be better for me to listen to classic literature, rather than current podcasts. I’m not giving up podcasts, just when I’m trying to sleep. The podcasts obviously aren’t working.
I looked online for lists of classics and discovered that I have read a lot of them through school and life. Ones like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “East of Eden,” “Secret Garden,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “The Great Gatsby.” Also, “Jane Eyre,” “Brave New World,” “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “The Iliad.” And the list goes on.
I discovered two that sparked my interest that I have never read. Well, more than two, but I decided to start with:
“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote.
I’ve always wanted to read this because Dill in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is based on Capote.
The other book I chose is John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley in Search of America.”
Here’s the description from Amazon: “With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.”
Who wouldn’t want to join Steinbeck and Charley on a road trip across America?
What are your favorite classic books?
What classics would you like to read that you haven’t yet?
My New Years resolution is to be here in 365 days making a 2026 New Years resolution.
I do not so much have a favorite book as favorite authors. I guess if we are talking classics, I was always big on ‘Lord of the Flies’, ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and, believe it or not, “Wind in the Willows’. I read this one when I was around 10, and it stuck with me. What classic would I LIKE to read but have not yet? Maybe ‘Fahrenheit 451” and “Slaughterhouse-Five’. I always like Vonnegut.
Schools today just do not require this type of reading, and that is sad.
Another year is a good New Year’s resolution. All the books you mentioned are great. My parents gave me “Wind in the Willows” for Christmas around the same age you read it. They were Vonnegut fans and had all his books. I read them in high school. You should read “Fahrenheit 451” because so much of the book is true today like censorship, earbuds in everyone’s ears so they don’t have time to think, huge screens taking up their walls. Ray Bradbury was a prophet.
I always wanted to agree with you on schools today not teaching the classics. Our son is 31 and he had the classics in high school. Our daughter is 28 and they changed the curriculum by the time she was in high school. It had to do with a grant by Gates, I believe. The new curriculum had a list of non-fiction for her to choose from and no fiction, no classics. The idea was in today’s world, non fiction is useful, classic literature is not.
Yeah, fiction allows for creativity and thinking. Non-fiction can be used to cram an ideology down your throat.
I would laugh but it’s not funny. We can learn so much from fiction. It was shocking to me to see how the curriculum changed with my kids only three years apart.
You can’t go wrong with the classics. And that gorgeous blue sky!
❤️
Right? I figure my insomnia is a good time to listen to classic literature. Thanks for enjoying the photo.
I can’t think of any that I would still want to read that I already haven’t. I took Lit classes way back in high school that sort of pushed the classics and I was hooked, even though I’d been choosing to read all the really famous ones since realizing the library was packed as a pre-teen. I had a phase a few years back. Was going to re-read many of my favorites. I found myself not as thrilled as I thought I would be 😉
I read a lot of classics in high school, too. We probably had similar curriculum since we were in the same area and are a year or two apart in age. My favorites I re-read from my teens to my twenties. I’m interested in finding some classics to read that I missed. Going through the lists online, there are many that don’t appeal to me. My son and DIL were Lit majors in college, so they’re a good reference.
Well if you want one to occupy a long span of time and keep you reading forever there’s always War & Peace by Tolstoy! I actually did read that, I think my senior year of high school 🙂 Around that same time I read A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. Loved doing the analysis of the opening juxtapositions. Given that I remember that still, the book itself must have been an assignment from dear Mrs. Quinn 🙂
Sorry- I hit send too soon. I was going to toss in (since Russian literature came up) that Anna Karenina is also an option 🙂
I read the Russian novels including Anna Karenina due to a college course. They were tough for me.
Totally agree!
Whew. I’m glad I’m not alone!
I haven’t read War and Peace and think I’ll pass 😅 I was assigned A Tale of Two Cities in high school. I remember having to write a paper about it.
You’re doing very well with your focus on important things for this year. I also want to re-read many favorites that I read when in school.
Thank you! It’s nice idea to revisit or find new classical literature to add to our year ahead.
Very right. I hope I do that too.
👍🏼
In Cold Blood was always something that my Journ School professors suggested reading, but the psych side of it scared the BeJesus out of me. Ha, ha. I really should give it another shot. Good luck in your quest.
Thanks! I realized the podcasts I was listening to were keeping me awake! The classics put me to sleep, even “In Cold Blood.” There’s so much descriptive language that it’s like hitting the snooze button. In the daytime, I’ll have to go back and re-listen 😅
Oh…”Travels With Charley…”…I’d heard of it but never read it! Thanks, Elizabeth! 🥰
I’m listening to “In Cold Blood” first. But “Travels with Charley” sounds really good!
🥰
One of my favorite classics is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It’s one of the few classics that I’ve read multiple times and want to read again.
I enjoyed reading it in high school. I haven’t read it since. I may take another look after I finish the two I downloaded.
Any classic by Somerset Maughn, Truman Capote, is good. I have read them but know there are a few out there I need to read.
Thanks. I’m enjoying Truman Capote’s writing.
“The Outsiders” is now read in Middle School and a favorite. I did not like it but moved forward as told by district.
I loved that book. I read it in middle school or high school. I can’t remember which, but I cried so hard at the end.
It is good for teenagers. You are right. It was just so long since I have been one! LOL.
Me too!
Some great seedlings, Elizabeth! Happy New Year!
Thank you! Happy New Year to you and your crew!
I’m also working my way through classics—bought a few at the Friends of the Library store today, in fact. Loved “Travels with Charley”! I’ve realized recently that a lot of articles and short reads just don’t stick. Books matter more—they make me think and make an impact.
I agree that articles and short reads don’t have the impact of books. I thought about reading classics when I was disappointed with a couple new books I ordered on Amazon. I find good ones, too, but why not take the opportunity to read literature that has passed the test of time? I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed “Travels with Charley.” I joined our library this year and they have a sale section as well as books to check out.