Back to Classics 2012 Challenge
Oh. My. Goodness. Am I excited for this challenge or what? The lovely Sarah from Sarah Reads Too Much is responsible for this gem of a challenge. Not only do I think it’ll be a huge help towards that bigger goal of my Armchair MA project, but I’m really feeling a pull towards the classics lately, so I think this challenge is right up my alley! I also really like having three different ‘types’ of challenges going on for 2012: one that’s more a read-a-long style, one that works within a specific set of categories, and one that pulls from a list of works and authors! I think that’s really going to help me figure out what works best for me – always a good discovery to make! Here’s the breakdown of how the challenge works:
- Challenge runs from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. Books started before January 1st do not count, and all links/reviews/comments for each category must be posted in the correct place by December 31st. Feel free to join in at any time, but the end date is December 31.
- Please feel free to use books in this Challenge toward any other Challenge you may be participating in. However, you must read a different book for each category of this challenge. Audio and e-books are allowed.
- Please sign up for the Challenge using the linky list (or comment section if you do not have a blog/website). If you would be so kind, please spread the word about this challenge by creating a post on your blog/website and link back to this sign up page.
- Once the Challenge has begun, you will see a new bar on the left hand side of this blog. This will list the places for you to link/comment your reviews of the book you have read for each category as well as a “wrap up” page. I will not be doing monthly check-in posts this year. I will probably do a “Half Way” post in June. These will be important because….
- THERE IS A PRIZE THIS YEAR! People who complete the challenge (and I will check that all categories are completed!) will be entered into a random drawing for $30 worth of books (Book Depository will be used for an International Winner). I may have other prizes as well. Make sure you are following me via GFC, Email, Twitter, or Facebook/Networked Blogs so you are in the know!
So, here are the categories to work in, and the titles I’m thinking about using (brief refresher: these are the books I have in mind now. This in no way guarantees that these will be the books I actually read!):
- Any 19th Century Classic: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Any 20th Century Classic: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- Reread a classic of your choice: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- A Classic Play: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
- Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction: Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
- Classic Romance: Tristan and Isolde, Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
- Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your language: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
- Classic Award Winner: American Pastoral by Philip Roth (Pulitzer), The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (Pulitzer), Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (Booker)
- Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Japan), Out of Africa by Isak Dinesan (Kenya), Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally (Germany/Poland)
Well, there you have it – back up options and all! And, as always, PLEASE feel free to hop on board this wonderful challenge and pick up a classic for yourself!
