This year I set a goal of reading 60 books but I failed to reach that goal. Fine. I'll try something else. This challenge is the Back to the Classics Challenge. I understand it has been going on for a while now. I read a few posts by other bloggers of the books they'd read for the challenge. It sounds interesting- and doable.
This one looks really fun. There will be so many books I have never read. Well, possibly 12. And 12 is definitely a doable number of books to read. Read the categories below, but see all the 'rules' at Books and Chocolate.
1. A 19th Century Classic
2. A 20th Century Classic
3. A classic by a woman author
4. A classic in translation
5. A classic by a non-white author
6. An adventure classic
7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic
8. A classic detective novel
9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title
10. A classic which has been banned or censored
11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college)
12. A volume of classic short stories
And yes, I will be looking at others' lists to help me out. What are friends for?
Here's my list.
1. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (1878) I don't even know what to say about this one- it's a classic and I've not read it. I'll be reading an e-book from Project Gutenberg.
2. Fahrenheit 451. (1953) I at first wanted {so badly!} to put A Tree Grows in Brooklyn but I read it somewhat recently. This is a challenge to read other books, right? But I might change this if I intend to keep 1984 in the queue.
3. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. (1811) There were so many to choose from but in the end, this is the one. I started it years ago but the timing wasn't right.
4. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas or Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (1844/1808) I'm leaning more toward Dumas because it appears to be a book that will hold my attention. But I will just have to wait and see.
5. Black Boy by Richard Wright. (1945) This has been on my shelf for awhile and I'd intended to read it anyway. Love this challenge for getting me to read more!
6. The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. (1911) To be honest, I don't know if this counts as adventure since I've not read it. But it's Twain, and he's writing about traveling. How could it not be adventure? I might have to change this one :)
7. 1984 by George Orwell. (1949) This might change but that's the plan at the moment. ***I may change this to Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667) because it is being discussed on the AO forum. The 'problem' for me is that it will take 3 months to get through the book with the group.
8.
9. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. (1853) Picked this up this year at CMI :) The only problem with the book I have is that it has a bunch of added commentaries and such. And so much writing in the book -gah!
10.
11. Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. (1876) I actually read this in middle school- and then with my son while I was in college and he was in middle school :)
12. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. (1902) The book I have does not include the last story, "The Tabu Tale."
Thanks for signing up! And Bleak House is WONDERFUL -- my favorite book by Dickens by far, and one of my favorite classics of all time. It IS long, though! (You could also count this as detective fiction since it has one of the first detectives in British literature!). There's also a brilliant BBC adaptation from 2005 starring Gillian Anderson. It's amazing so I highly recommend it even if you don't get around to reading the book. (But after watching it, you'll probably want to read it.)
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen- thanks for stopping by. I loved Tale of Two Cities once I 'got it', which was about 3/4 through it. Regardless of how it compares (I was going to ask), I will tackle Bleak House. Thanks so much for this great challenge! I might look into the adaptation; haven't watched anything good in quite awhile.
DeleteEverytime I see someone else's list I start doubting my own list!! Haha...too many good books! I can always read more ;) I've read 1984 a couple of months ago. It's a good book, but it has some parts in there that I wish he would have omitted.
ReplyDeleteYes- I know what you mean about self-doubt! All of the books I've listed here are ones I've not read, and some I wouldn't have considered if not for others' lists :D I started 1984 but didn't get far because of being overly sensitive. I'm determined to plug through this time. Hopefully I'm better for it.
DeleteI am also reading The Scarlet Letter in the same category. I have been meaning to read it for years, and when I read The House with Seven Gables by the same author earlier this year I just have to see if he can write better because the Seven Gables was a snooze-fest.
ReplyDeleteSense and Sensibility is a great read, the same with Bleak House. I'm reading Agatha Christie for the short story-category, and I have read a lot of Christie before. "Murder on the Orient Express", "4.50 from Paddington", "The Body in the Library" and "Appointment with Death" are all great Christie-novels.
Hate to tell you, but the Scarlett Letter is another snooze fest. I think Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales and his other mythology book for children are really his best. But hopefully you will feel differently than I did. =)
DeleteLOL "snooze-fest"! I don't mind those so much as at the end I feel there was something worthwhile.
DeleteI'm thinking I will go for Murder on the Orient Express for my Christie book, simply because it's the one most recommended thus far. Although I hear And Then There Were None (title?) is a good one as well. Ack. Perhaps I have *not* decided!
I remember reading The Scarlet Letter in high school and really enjoying it. So maybe it won't be a snooze fest lol. Now that there's two different opinions I'll be interested in hearing your take on it. :)
DeleteI did not know you had a blog, Blossom. I see you on IG and the AO boards though. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about doing this challenge, so I'm visiting everyone's lists to help me decide. Any Austen is always a good bet. Adventures w Tom Sawyer is good, as well as Just so Stories. Looks like you have a good mix of quite enjoyable to challenging. Catch 22, that will be interesting to see what you think. I did not realize it was considered a classic or that it was a banned book. It always surprises me what "they" ban and what "they" consider to be great literature.
Yes- I've had a blog for about 5 years :) It's always fun when people stumble across it. I don't really 'advertise' it much anymore.
DeleteI was going to go with Emma for the Austen title because it is my daughter's favorite *but* I really want to get through S&S. Have you read Catch-22? I looked it up on the banned/censored books list and found it banned in Strongsville, OH, just a little ways from where I am now. The ban was rescinded, but hey it *was* banned!
This looks like a good reading challenge, and I've been on the lookout for one I can do in 2016. :-) I like The Scarlet Letter a lot, but it is tough slogging. My son read it a little bit ago for AmLit and he said it was horribly boring. LOL Sense & Sensibility is one of my favorites. I read 1984 when I was in high school (that was my grad year!) and keep meaning to re-read. I think Murder on the Orient Express is an excellent Christie choice!
ReplyDeleteHappy Reading!
So many excellent choices! 1984 is one of my all-time favorites, oddly as that sounds. I love Tom Sawyer!!! I have been seeing a lot of Agatha Christie on this challenge, but that is one I have never read.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great list! I look forward to reading your reviews through the year, as most of your books I have yet to read!
ReplyDeleteI feel better now. I'm not the only one who writes a list & then goes through & changes half of it! The great thing is that there are so many choices. I loved Bleak House; Fahrenheit was an easy but interesting read. Haven't heard of Black Boy before - I'm not that happy with my choices for this category & will probably try something else.
ReplyDelete