The story of this blog’s beginning was a moment of madness that, through a combination of a love of reading and sheer stubbornness has brought me to explain what this blog is about.

Many, many books are great.  A few, for lots of (good) reasons, have been recognized for their greatness and given awards, or appear on acclaimed lists. These lists make up what many people regard as ‘classics’ – as the place to start if you want to read something ‘worthwhile’.

I choose to trust that these books ARE valuable … and I choose to believe that some have been chosen for different reasons, and will appeal to different people.

So, here, I am setting out to personally read as many acclaimed books as I can.  And, in reviewing them do a few things:

1. Try to get my head around what makes them ‘great’. (And, honestly, if I agree if they are)
2. Create a guide for other people to choose where to start, should they want to journey into the world of acclaimed literature.
3. Prove I can do it.  And I intend on thoroughly enjoying myself along the way.