Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Back to the Classics Challenge 2016



My first challenge of the year and the first in a long time!! The Back to the Classics Challenge 2016 is hosted by Karen from Books and Chocolate.  Here are my picks:


1.  A 19th Century Classic - Our Mutual Friend  by Charles Dickens or Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.  Two fat books that I've wanted to tackle for a long time. 


2.  A 20th Century Classic -  A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh. I have the cutest little hardcover of this one.  It has been collecting a handful of dust on the bookshelf.


3.  A classic by a woman author. Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot.  One of the last of hers that I haven't read.  Not sure what to expect. 


4.  A classic in translation.   The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek.  This one sounds so intriguing to me.  It's quite long, so I hope it's good.

5.  A classic by a non-white author.  Twelve Years a Slave by Simon Northup.  Just on my radar with the movie out fairly recently.


6.  An adventure classic -  Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Just for pure fun, I hope.

7.  A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.  I started this before deciding to do the challenge, but luckily started on January 1, so it's in keeping with the rules.


8.  A classic detective novel.  The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler.  This will be the second I've read by Chandler.

9.  A classic which includes the name of a place in the title. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson or The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith.

10. A classic which has been banned or censored. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.  I've tried this one once before and was lost.  A friend from a book club was talking about how much she loved it so I'm inspired to give it another try.  Hopefully the second time is a charm. 


11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college).  Undecided.  First I need to remember that far back. 


12. A volume of classic short stories. Roman Fever and Other Stories by Edith Wharton.  I love Wharton and have heard good things about this collection.

(The formatting is coming out weird on this post and I can't figure out how to fix it.  Clearly I don't know what I'm doing anymore!)




2 comments:

  1. I keep saying I need to get back to classics but, that never happens. I want to read some Austen and Dickens.

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  2. I haven't done an official challenge in some time, but I do set personal reading goals. I read a lot of classics, but there is always room for more. I love the goal of rereading classics that you read in high school. I did that a few times over the past couple years and got an entirely different take. The Color Purple was one such book. Best of luck with all of your goals.

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