It's a Classical Life

  Paula Vince, over at Vince Review has come up with a reading challenge for 2025 that I would love to join, so I thought that I would share with you how I get on throughout the year. I currently don't have any reading goals for 2025 so this little challenge should be fun and easy to commit to. In fact, I already have a few titles in mind to fit each of the categories, but there are some that I am going to do have to do some research for.  If you would like to see Paula's original post, you can see it here . Basically, she is inspired to read more Australian literature and has stipulated that each novel must have an Australian setting and not simply an Australian author. I think it's really important to support Australian authors and literature, and as I tend to gravitate towards European or American classics, I am keen for the challenge. Australian literature really does have a flavour all of its own and I have read embarrassingly little of it. This is something that I wo...

  Hello Friends and thanks so much for stopping by here today. Amongst the the lists that I like to make and the goals I like to plan, there is one that I haven't shared here before. That is, a reading goals list for the coming year. There are a few books that I would like to read in 2024. Some of these have been on my shelf (or on my Kindle) waiting patiently for my attention. Others I will need to order from the library but am inspired to read. Others still are rereads that I want to revisit and fall in love with all over again. So, without further ado, here is my list of Reading Goals for 2024.  Evil Under the Sun - Agatha Christie Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell Othello - William Shakespeare Hamlet (reread) - William Shakespeare The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde Nineteen Eighty-Four (reread) - George Orwell The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Villette - Charlotte  Bront ë   The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (Kindle Download) Agnes Gre...

Welcome back to It's a Classical Life! Recently I read Jane Austen's  Northanger Abbey  and loved it. I was surprised, however, to see how low it rated on many other classic-lit lovers Jane Austen lists, often trailing behind the widely popular  Pride and Prejudice  or  Emma . The reason I loved the book so much was mostly because of the main character, Catherine Morland, a heroine in her own eyes (and in mine too!) I felt that Catherine really held her own against some of the other more dominating characters, and her love of reading was definitely a bonus for me! Northanger Abbey  has also been referred to as Austen's own tribute to books and reading, and I think the beautiful character of Catherine Morland reflects this. She is the perfect character to bring the books that she reads to life - in turn bringing  Northanger Abbey  to life for us. Her imagination is wondrous, and her young life allows her to experience everything through the lens...

  It's been more than a year that I did a round up of some of the best free classic downloads available from Amazon. Sometimes it is hard to find the classics that we want to read, and my library in particular is not very good at stocking copies of true classic literature. I'm not sure if they made a "relevant, contemporary" cull of all their classic books or if they just don't have a need to have multiple (or any) copies of certain older books. Ideally, I always look in the library first because I love paper books. I've been to the library a couple of times this week because I'm doing some research on Australian during the world wars and during the Great Depression, and although there's plenty of books on Australian history, the classic novels I was looking for weren't there. This week I was looking for Villette by Charlotte Bront ë and found the complete collection of  Bront ë's novels (including the unfinished Emma) on Amazon for free. Sadly...

  How do you feel about non-fiction books? I love them. Covering a wide range of topics, in many different formats and lengths, I believe there is a non-fiction book for everyone. Generally, I prefer history or philosophy books, but can also be taken by art books, travel, spirituality, or anything really that grabs my interest! Sometimes a book will grab my interest and I'll read the whole thing, cover to cover. Other times a chapter here or an excerpt there is enough to This week I thought I would share with you the non-fiction books that are on my desk. These have all come from the library and have developed from a prior interest of mine.  The Top Five Regrets of the Dying ~ Bronnie Wa re I didn't get too far into this book before I started crying. Bronnie Ware is such a genuine, warm-hearted person and in this book she reflects on the time spent with people at the end of their lives in her role as a palliative carer. Even though she originally began with no f...

  We recently passed the winter solstice and it has been quite wintery around here lately. Cold winds, foggy mornings and weak (but welcome) sun have characterised our days. Winter is the perfect time to read more, and I thought it would be fun to share some of my favourite Agatha Christie stories, set in a wintery setting, just to get us in the mood. For those of you in the northern hemisphere, you may want to bookmark this page to read in December! Otherwise, grab a hot drink (or a cold one!) and let's snuggle in for some wonderful winter mysteries from the great dame herself. The 4:50 to Paddington   " 'It's very simple, really," said Miss Marple. 'Unusual but simple. I want you to find a body.' " I love the cosy, Christmas setting of this book. It is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels featuring Miss Marple. As the experienced and calm friend of Miss Gillicuddy, the woman who witnessed the murder, we get lots of little insights into Miss Ma...

Simple living is one of my favourite topics to discuss here on the blog. There is so much inspiration to be found on this topic in the classics, and for me living well  is much easier when I'm living simply . This is in part due to the fact that when the classics that we discuss here were written, life was in many ways simpler. I don't necessarily mean easier, but certainly simpler, less hurried, less distractions, less of always chasing more. The proponents of simple living are different for everybody, so I've just chosen some of the easiest and most enjoyable ways I know to embrace simple living.  In this article I thought it would be fun (and helpful) to refer you to certain books for certain aspects of simple living. That way, you can use the book as a sort of guide to direct you to certain aspects of simple living, whilst offering a entertaining and in some cases, a rollicking good read (I love that old-time expression!) Where possible, I also add a link to other art...

  We've been chatting a bit lately about how life is becoming more expensive, and last week I shared 9 ways to live well when money is tight . One of these tips was to join the public library and to use it for free entertainment. In continuing with this theme I noticed that there are a lot of classic books available for free online. Many of these are available for download at Gutenberg, but Vicki at V ickie's Kitchen and Garden often shares free digital Kindle downloads, and I thought I would do the same. The ones I want to share today are from Amazon and work well with the free Kindle App that can be downloaded on both Apple and Android phones. I have a second-hand iPhone 8 and it works perfectly with these digital downloads. As a side note, I would definitely advocate reading books in paper where possible, but if that isn't possible and you're ready to jump on the classics bandwagon, here are some the books I saw for free on Amazon this week (please check the price b...

First of all, let me begin by saying thank you to all the readers who take time out of their day to stop by this blog to read the articles on how to live well, inspired by the classics. This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart and I love reading a range of classics that will excite and inspire to share with you all. I know sometimes my posting can be patchy, but my aim is to have a good bank of articles that can be read in any order whenever you need inspiration or want to reflect on the many wonderful teachings that the classics - whether they be books, music, movies, art or past-times - can bring to our modern lives.  You all mean so much to me, and I wish you a wonderful 2022!  I like to keep a record of the books that I read through out the year, and this year I read over 30 books. I'm always pleased to read at least 26 books a year - which equates to a book a fortnight. Not great, but pretty good for a part-time teacher, full-time mother and wife who lo...