Classics

[close] We strongly believe that life means happiness and happiness means books. And what's more, we have room for everyone here! Slow reader, quick reader, young reader or old, you are more than welcome:) Join us if you love a good book, love to step out of your comfort zone once in a while, love reading challenges, reading with buddies, putting your points forward and random chat discussions!

[close] There is a book called The Well-Educated Mind (TWEM) by Susan Wise Bauer, which is a wonderful guide to “The Great Books.” TWEM presents 6 genres–each with a respective reading list (fiction, autobiography, history, drama, poetry, and science)–and explains how to go about reading them in the classical method: the Trivium (Grammar, Logic, & Rhetoric). **Bauer recommends reading chronologically genre-by-genre, but I’m afraid I’d get bored staying within the lines of one genre for such a long time. So in this group we will read chronologically across all genres and, in this way, read through history.** “Writers build on the work of those who have gone before them, and chronological reading provides you with a continuous story…You’ll find yourself following a story that has to do with the development of civilization itself…When you read through the poetry list, for example…[t]he structure of the poetry will change as each poet moves beyond what former writers have done. But beyond these technical differences, the concerns of the poets shift and change as the world itself hurtles toward modernity…When you’ve finished this particular list, you’ve done more than read poetry. You have learned something about the spiritual evolution of the West.” ~Susan Wise Bauer

[close] Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature and exploring the world through books, you have come to the right place! It all started as a challenge on TNBBC in 2009, and now we have our own group! Anyone can join and participate in the challenges at any time. Challenge participation is not a requirement of joining. Anyone who loves reading books from around the world is welcome here. The main purpose of this group is to travel the world through books, experiencing new authors and cultures along the way. Want to read about the world? We have over 21,000 books cataloged by setting and more are added each month. "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” - Dr. Suess “There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough.” ― Irwin Shaw

[close] You don’t have to be an English or Literature Major to enjoy great books! We want people to read for the fun of it and not worry about feeling they need to be "smart." We will be reading both traditional, and more modern classic novels. Please feel free to openly discuss any aspects of the books that we read in the forums, and remember that we're reading these books for FUN! So pour yourself a yummy beverage and let's discuss these books like we're sitting with a bunch of friends! We all vote on what book to read next and we read in a three month rotation (Pre-1910, 1910-1959, 1960-2004), so please visit our polls to help us select our next book https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/78394-classics-without-all-the-class?type=group (we pick a book two months ahead in case there is a monster read, people can get started on it early if they desire [Anna Karenina comes to mind....] Our Facebook can be found at the link below. https://www.facebook.com/ClassicsWithoutAllTheClass Our Twitter account is @CWATC_bookclub. If you would like to see what book we have already read, or what might be coming up or if you just need some ideas on what classics to read, visit our bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf/78394-classics-without-all-the-class We don't have our podcast anymore, but if you want to go back and listen to our previous episodes, you can do so via itunes you can do so here: itpc://classicswithoutclass.libsyn.com/rss Old Blog http://cwatc-bookclub.blogspot.com/