I read a couple of classics last year and really enjoyed them, so I’m back for more! This challenge, hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much, has six required categories of classics (“classic” defined however you choose) and five optional categories, which I’ve quoted from her site below:
The Required Categories:
- A 19th Century Classic
- A 20th Century Classic
- A Pre-18th or 18th Century Classic
- A Classic that relates to the African-American Experience -Â This can be an African-American author, or a book relating to slavery, civil rights, or African-American culture.
- A Classic Adventure
- A Classic that prominently features an Animal - This can feature animal characters or animals in the title (real or imagined)
Optional Categories:  A.  Re-read a Classic  B.  A Russian Classic  C.  A Classic Non-Fiction title  D.  A Classic Children’s/Young Adult title  E.  Classic Short Stories - collection must include at least 3 short stories by the same author, or at least 3 stories collected together by genre, time period, etc.
The optional categories can be added/attempted at any point, and sign-ups close September 1st. I’m hoping to tackle at least a couple of the optional ones, so I’ll just plan to fill out the whole list for now and see how it goes.
My list so far:
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
- Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782)
- Native Son by Richard Wright
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Check my progress all year on the sidebar or on my 2013 Challenge Index.
I feel like we dropped the ball on the Seester Book Club reading of Wuthering Heights. Maybe we can still do that?
Yes please! I still very much want to read it.
Good luck with this one. I always admire those who can read classics. I have a difficult time getting into them. On your list I proudly say I’ve at least read two: Watership Down (which I loved) and The Hobbit (which is a fun one too.). Best of luck!
I’ve read most of Watership Down, but never finished it. And I’ve resisted The Hobbit ever since I was a kid, so this should be interesting!
You’re going to read Les Liasons Dangereuses in the original French, right? With our dismal high school French, it should be a good read.
Did you have to read Candide in French class? We did. It’d be pretty funny to try and read this one though, after so many years out of practice. “And then he did what now? Le…some weird noun…some sketchy verb…um…halp.”
Thanks for joining! I hope you continue to enjoy the Classics – even attempting more than what is required! Good Luck!
Thanks so much, and again thanks for hosting!