luvtoread

Hype or Like Friday is a Goodreads group hosted by Jill at Rant and Rave About Books, Larkin at Wonderfilled Reads, and Britt at Geronimo Reads.

This week’s Hype or Like Friday post is supposed to be the Worst Reads of 2016, but I kind of did that last week in my Top Over-Hyped Books Read in 2016 post, which you can see here. If you don’t want to click the link, my worst read was The Winner’s Trilogy, specifically the last book in that trilogy, The Winner’s Kiss.

So this means that this week I’m doing something slightly different with the Hype or Like Friday format! Since next Friday you’ll get my Favorite Contemporary Reads of 2016, this week I’ll give you My Favorite Classic Reads of 2016. It’s really not fair to pit Contemporary books against the Classics so I’m splitting the lists up!

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Here are my picks for the Top Classics that I read this past year, starting with my tenth favorite!

 Click on the book’s title to go to my review.

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10. Moby Dick by Herman Melville – This was a classic I’ve always been intimidated by, and it was one that my husband chose as a joke for me to read this year (I really wasn’t happy with him when he selected it!). But I’m very glad that I read this book, as its universal themes of vengeance and nature are meaningful today. With a lot of information about whales, really too much whale information, the book is hard to read, but I did enjoy it.

9. The Iliad by Homer – I never thought I’d willingly pick up Homer, but I was really pleasantly surprised by this epic poem. Violent and unflinching, it tells a tale of warriors and gods, the mortal and the immortal.

8. The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie – This is the first book in the famous Christie series starring Hercule Poirot, and I really love his character! These are classic mysteries that every mystery lover should read.

7. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe – I read three books by Nigerian authors this year, and this was my favorite of the three. I’ve really fallen in love with the rhythm and the writing of African literature. Things Fall Apart is fairly short, and has an easy rhythm to it. It packs a powerful ending.

6. 1984 by George Orwell – This book freaked the heck out of me. There is an eerie possibility with this world, and it is quite disturbing. While this was a very good and very startling read, it’s not necessarily one that I would willingly choose to re-read. It was that intense!

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And now for my Top Five Classics that I read in 2016. These five were really difficult for me to rank, as I truly loved each and every one of these books!

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5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath – I read this one fairly recently, and my review is set to post next week, so no link yet! This book sucked the air out of me, but I absolutely adored it. Powerful and it’s a book I believe that everyone should read.

4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Oh, Pip. You broke my heart with your unwavering devotion to the mean Estella. Dickens can certainly tell a story, and he has a wonderful way of weaving everything and everyone together so it all fits.

3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – Read this book! Read it now! If you enjoy mystery and the gothic, you will love the atmosphere of this novel. Truly beautiful and very suspenseful! Ooh Mrs Danvers… I can’t remember the last time I disliked a character so much!

2. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – Is it possible to underline every single line in a book? Because that’s what I felt I did while reading Dorian Gray. I adored the creepy haunting vibe of this book. This one definitely isn’t an easy read, but it is really worth it!

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 And now drum roll please … my favorite classic that I read this year (and it is so totally different from the gothic deliciousness of my last selections)!

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1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – Be still my heart! I sobbed, I smiled, I was astounded at the beautiful writing by L.M. Montgomery. I’ve just read the first four books of the Anne series, and I’ve loved each one so far. So beautiful and transporting to a different world where people were much kinder to each other. And we could all use a bit more kindness in our lives.

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So there you are! Do you like my choices? Hate my choices? How on earth could I possibly choose between my top five?? Which classics should I try to read next year? I’m still working my way through War and Peace, which is not going so well.

And stay tuned for next Friday when I count down my Top Ten Contemporary Reads of the Year. What will the top choice be ??? Any guesses ??