We've cast our votes for the plays and novels we'll be reading in Book Club, but I will keep this list of classic novels on the website in case anyone wants to refer to it for additional reading.
PLAYS:
The Crucible, Arthur Miller - 1953 - American author - New World Salem Witch Trial setting (1692)
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde - 1895 - British author - British setting of about the same time period
Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw - 1913 - British author - British setting of about the same time period; basically the story of "My Fair Lady"
Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare - 1597 - British author - Italian setting (though Shakespeare always feels overtly British to me); you've seen the movie, but have you read the play?
BOOKS:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain – 1884 – American author – U.S. (pre-abolishment of slavery) southern setting
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll – 1865 – British author – Fantasy setting; not the story you thought you knew from the Disney movie
Anne of Green Gables, L.M Montgomery – 1908 – Canadian author – Canadian setting of about the same time period
Arabian Nights – Scholars suggest this collection of stories came together around 800 A.D.; if we read these stories, I suggest everyone getting the same translation—maybe the Barnes and Noble classic (2007) version, just because it’s readily accessible
The Call of the Wild, Jack London - 1903 - American author - Yukon gold rush late 1800s setting
Emma, Jane Austen – 1815 – British author – British setting of about the same time period
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley – 1818 – British author – European and Arctic settings; this book is not the story you thought you knew
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck – 1939 – American author – U.S. Depression Era setting
Heidi, Johanna Spyri – 1880 – Swiss author – Swiss and German setting of about the same time period
Ivanhoe, Walter Scott – 1819 – British (Scottish) author – 12th century English setting; historical fiction (with many make-believe characters)
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte – 1847 – British author – British setting of about the same time period
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, from “The Chronicles of Narnia,” C.S. Lewis – 1950 - British author – British WWII and fantasy world setting
Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder – 1935 – American author – U.S. late 1800s Midwestern setting based on the author's life
My Antonia, Willa Cather – 1918 – American author – U.S. Midwestern pioneer setting
Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi – 1883 – Italian author – Italian fantasy setting (talking animals, talking puppet)
Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter – 1913 – American author – U.S. (Vermont) setting of about the same time period
Ponder Heart, Eudora Welty – 1954 – American author – U.S. southern setting of about the same time period
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier – 1938 – British author – British setting of about the same time period; some consider this novel to be very similar to Jane Eyre
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe – 1719 – British author – takes place in the latter half of the 1600s on a tropical island near Venezuela; this novel is considered by some to be the first novel in English
Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett – 1909 – Author is British by birth, but wrote the story after immigrating to the U.S. – Indian and British setting of about the same time period
Silas Marner, George Eliot – 1861 – British author – British setting (fictional location)
Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Rudolf Wyss – 1812 – tropical island (East Indies) setting
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe – 1958 – African author – African setting
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee – 1960 – U.S. deep south Depression Era setting
The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas – 1844 – French author – French 1600s setting
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson – 1883 – British (Scottish) author – British, maritime, and tropical mid-1700s setting
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith – 1943 – American author – U.S. (Brooklyn) pre-WWI setting
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe – 1853 – American author – U.S. (pre-abolishment of slavery) southern setting
Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne – 1926 - British author – British fantasy setting (talking animals); witty, charming writing—much cleverer than Disney adaptations; if we choose this book, we ought to read others in the series, as they are so short
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum – 1900 – American author – U.S. (Kansas—1889) and fantasy setting
