Two Neurotics Try to Join the Classics Club and What They Found There

Posted by on
It's time to know something about us: we're more than a little neurotic. We obsess endlessly over the tiniest details. The latest manifestation of this? A couple of days ago, we thought it would be a cool idea to join the Classics Club, hosted by the awesome Jillian of A Room of One's Own. Easier said than done, because once we discovered the Classics Club, we wanted to see what everyone was reading. And once we started visiting all of the blogs, we sort of started to count the books we were seeing. And then came a spreadsheet... you see where this is going, don't you? 

Long story short, we made an infographic of the most popular authors and books from Classics Club's lists. These were the authors and books that came up again and again on every blog we visited. It was very interesting to actually weigh them against each other and see the results. So if you're curious about what other people are reading, check out the picture after the jump. (Feel free to grab it if you find it useful/entertaining.)


Interesting tidbits: 
  • the authors with more books had an advantage on our list due to the way we counted (by number of books rather than by number of persons who mentioned the author)
  • the Top Ten Authors is very British. As far as we can tell, Tolstoy is the only non-British author close to reaching Top Ten (with 119 mentions and the most popular book on the list).
  • Charlotte wins over her sisters. 
  • Rochester wins over any other romantic hero.
Oh yes, and after sifting through 130 lists, we still don't have our own list for the Classics Club. We're working on it though.

ETA: We now have a list and it's here.

Labels: ,

36 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 11:29 AM

    I love this - and admire your determination to create it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CatMay 15, 2012 at 1:40 PM

    I love it too!! Most interesting - look forward to seeing your final list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. *ೃ༄ JillianMay 16, 2012 at 5:32 PM

    WOW!!! This is awesome! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AllieMay 16, 2012 at 5:34 PM

    This was awesome! Thank you for sharing! And good luck coming up with your list. I have two lists on my blog-the original set of 250 classics I am currently working through, and another 340 for The Classics Club. So many great books left to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClaudiaMay 17, 2012 at 12:28 AM

      Your lists are making us feel better about ours. We ended up with 200 books and right now that looks like such a daunting number.

      Delete
    2. AllieMay 17, 2012 at 1:19 PM

      I've been working on my list of 250 for about 2 1/2 years now. For awhile, ALL I was reading were books off my list and I made good progress. Now that I'm taking all kinds of breaks to read other things, I've slowed down. But don't let a big list scare you-it just means you have more options. :)

      Delete
  5. JoAnnMay 16, 2012 at 5:41 PM

    Love this!! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 5:44 PM

    This is amazing! Good luck for making your list, I'm sure you are going to have trouble narrowing it down after all of your research! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. *ೃ༄ JillianMay 16, 2012 at 5:51 PM

    I wanted you to know I reblogged this here:

    http://jillianreadsbooks2.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/reblog-two-neurotics-try-to-join-the-classics-club-and-what-they-found-there/

    ("Reblog" is Wordpress lingo for posting the opening excerpt of a post to share the link. Cheers!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClaudiaMay 16, 2012 at 11:59 PM

      Oh wow, thanks! We're very, very happy you like it!

      Delete
  8. christinaMay 16, 2012 at 5:55 PM

    You neurotic girls are amazing! Totally enjoyed this. ;-)

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. IngridLolaMay 16, 2012 at 5:57 PM

    This is AWESOME!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 6:24 PM

    This is awesome! I am really impressed and enjoyed reading this post! I was shocked that Persuasion was the #1 Austen book....I thought P & P would be #1 for sure!! I was also surprised to see Othello in the top three Shakespeare plays. Othello is my fav followed closely by Hamlet...I thought Romeo and Juliet would take #1 slot on that one. Anyway, this was a fantastic and fun post! Thanks for doing this! I am totally sharing over at my blog!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ClaudiaMay 17, 2012 at 12:06 AM

      Yes, we had the same ideas when we started counting, at least about Austen (I guessed Hamlet would probably be first for Shakespeare). I think that what made the difference is that Persuasion is slightly less well known, so it featured on the lists on people who didn't really include rereads, while P&P, being so popular, was more likely to be a reread.

      Oh, and thanks for commenting. We're glad you liked it :-)

      Delete
  11. Sarah Reads Too MuchMay 16, 2012 at 6:29 PM

    This is amazing! Thank you for taking the time to figure this out and share it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. JeanMay 16, 2012 at 8:12 PM

    Holy moley! ...and yes, Anna Karenina is on my list! I love YOUR list btw.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    Info-brilliance.
    Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Melissa WiebeMay 16, 2012 at 10:32 PM

    That is very fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ClaudiaMay 17, 2012 at 12:12 AM

    Hey everyone, just wanted to say thank you for all of your comments. They made my morning and they are going to make Alexis' morning too when she wakes up :D We're very happy you liked this and, if you're in the Classics Club, good luck with your lists! (If you're not, do join so we can snoop on you.)

    ReplyDelete
  16. EllenMay 17, 2012 at 12:51 AM

    So cool! I had seen a lot of overlap between my list and others', but am way too lazy to explore it further than thinking, "huh, we ALL want to read middlemarch" while drinking a beer (and not reading any of the classics on my list). I guess we have all had the importance of reading "the canon" drilled into us pretty well!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Adriana@ClassicalQuestMay 17, 2012 at 3:23 AM

    Thank you for putting this together. Now I REALLY can't wait to read Anna Karenina!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alex in LeedsMay 17, 2012 at 3:27 AM

    You had me at spreadsheet, this is truly fabulous. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. The Book WhispererMay 17, 2012 at 4:08 AM

    Brilliant! I love lists - and bookish lists make me drool.

    ReplyDelete
  20. S.May 17, 2012 at 6:01 AM

    Wow -- fantastic! I don't have a Classics Club list either but I love looking at everyone else's picks. I think I need a Classics Club: Mystery Edition to really get me motivated. Did anyone else notice that there is no mystery/horror in the Top Ten? (Fwiw, I do not consider Bleak House a mystery. Sorry Inspector Bucket.) Hmmm.... I really should get started on that list.

    ReplyDelete
  21. LauraMay 17, 2012 at 6:36 AM

    This is so excellent! Also, it's good to know how un-unique my own choices were... Great Expectations, Middlemarch, Vanity Fair... plus the top three authors are all on my list. Not sure whether to feel non-special, or just, you know, included :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. TBMMay 17, 2012 at 10:33 AM

    Got a kick out of this. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  23. KristiMay 17, 2012 at 1:54 PM

    Very cool! Dickens does have quite the advantage based on the sheer number of titles. It's nice to see so many people intending to read Anna Karenina. It's a good one!

    ReplyDelete
  24. oMay 17, 2012 at 4:44 PM

    Marvelous, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. AlexisMay 17, 2012 at 6:29 PM

    Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your awesome comments. They've made our week. We're excited you liked the list, and we can't wait to get going with the Classics Club. Happy reading to you all!

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousMay 17, 2012 at 11:02 PM

    I loved that you went to all of the trouble to make this. Very interesting to read all of the results, god luck with the project! :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jeremy @ BeltwayliteratureMay 18, 2012 at 7:42 AM

    I echo the thoughts of how great this post is! Of course, most of the books you've listed here are on my list! Good luck with your list!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Roof Beam ReaderMay 18, 2012 at 9:23 AM

    Yikes! I don't seem to be very "in" with the popular crowd, based on this data. But, hey, that's nothing new! Lol

    ReplyDelete
  29. Melissa (Avid Reader)May 18, 2012 at 12:33 PM

    This is awesome! The Classics Club is such a great idea and I love seeing what everyone else is reading.

    ReplyDelete
  30. melainebooksMay 19, 2012 at 6:17 AM

    I think your genius ! Well done :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. oSeptember 11, 2012 at 10:32 AM

    I've been reminded of this today by Allie - am re-reading it! You're awesome :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. maria helenaNovember 24, 2013 at 8:39 PM

    This is awesome!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)