Host: Karen K @ Books and Chocolate
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2019
How the challenge works:
- Complete six categories, and you'll get one entry in the drawing;
- Complete nine categories, and you'll get two entries in the drawing;
- Complete all twelve categories, and you'll get three entries in the drawing
The Categories:
- 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899.
- 20th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1969. All books in this category must have been published at least 50 years ago. The only exceptions are books that were published posthumously but were written at least 50 years ago.
- Classic by a Female Author.
- Classic in Translation. Any classic originally written in a novel other than your native language. You may read the book in your native language, or its original language (or a third language for all you polyglots!) Modern translations are acceptable, as long as the book was originally published at least 50 years ago. Books in translation are acceptable in all other categories as well.
- Classic Comedy. Any comedy or humorous work. Humor is very subjective, so if you think Crime and Punishment is hilarious, go ahead and use it, but if it's a work that's traditionally not considered humorous, please tell us why in your post.
- Classic Tragedy. Tragedies traditionally have a sad ending, but just like the comedies, this is up for the reader to interpret.
- Very Long Classic. Any classic single work 500 pages or longer, not including introductions or end notes. Omnibus editions of multiple works do not count. Since page counts can vary depending on the edition, average the page count of various editions to determine the length.
- Classic Novella. Any work of narrative fiction shorter than 250 pages.
- Classic From the Americas (includes the Caribbean). Includes classic set in either continent or the Caribbean, or by an author originally from one of those countries. Examples include Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (United States); Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Jamaica); or One Hundred Years of Solitude (Columbia/South America).
- Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia). Any classic set in one of those contents or islands, or by an author from these countries. Examples include Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt); The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (Japan); On the Beach by Nevile Shute (Australia); Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria).
- Classic From a Place You've Lived. Read locally! Any classic set in a city, county, state or country in which you've lived. Choices for me include Giant by Edna Ferber (Texas); Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (Chicago); and Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (Germany).
- Classic Play. Any play written or performed at least 50 years ago. Plays are eligible for this category only.
The Rules (quoted from the challenge announcement post):
- All books must be read from January 1 through December 31, 2019. Books started before January 1 do not qualify. All reviews must be linked to this challenge by 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2019.
- Participants must post a wrap-up and link it to the challenge, and it must include links to all the books they've read for this challenge, specifying which books for each category. It is fine to rearrange books for the challenge, since many books can fit multiple categories — just be sure to explain that in the final wrap-up.
- The wrap-up post MUST include contact information so that the winner can be contacted privately.
- If you do NOT have a blog and wish to enter, you need to link to individual reviews on a publicly accessible site like Goodreads. You can specify which categories in the comments section of the link to the Final Wrap-Up Post. Do not simply link to your Goodreads account.
- All books must have been written at least 50 years ago to qualify; therefore, books must have been published no later than 1969 for this challenge. The only exceptions to this rule are books which published posthumously but written before 1969. Recent translations of classic novels are acceptable.
- E-books and audiobooks are acceptable! You may also count books for this challenge that you've read for other challenges.
- Books may NOT cross over within this challenge — that is, you may not count the same book multiple times within this challenge. You MUST read a different book for each category in this challenge, or it doesn't count.
- Multiple books by the same author are acceptable.
- Children's classics are acceptable, but no more than three total for the challenge! And please, no picture books.
- Single short stories and short poetry collections do not count, but you may use full-length narrative poems (like The Odyssey) and short story collections such as The Canterbury Tales, as long as you read the entire book.
- You do NOT have to list all the books you intend to read in your sign-up post, but it's more fun if you do! You may certainly rearrange or change the books for this challenge, and books may be read in any order.
- The deadline to sign up for the challenge is March 1, 2019. After that, the link will be closed and you'll have to wait until 2020 for the next year's challenge. Please include a link to your actual sign-up post, not your blog URL/home page. Make sure you sign up in the Linky on the announcement page, not the comments section. If your name doesn't appear in the sign-ups, you are not eligible. If you've made a mistake with your link, just add a new one and explain in the comments.
- The winner will be announced the first week of January, 2020. All qualifying participants will receive one or more entries, depending upon the number of categories they complete as stated above. One winner will be randomly selected from all qualifying entries. The winner will be contacted privately before the announcement is posted on the blog.
- The winner will receive a gift certificate in the amount of $30 (US) from Amazon.com (US) OR $30 in books from The Book Depository. Winners must live in a country that receives shipment from one of these online retailers.
● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge announcement/sign-up post HERE.
● Link up reviews HERE.
● Link up challenge wrap-ups HERE.
MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews):
- Category 1:
- Category 2:
- Category 3: O Pioneers! Willa Cather (first published 1913)
- Category 4:
- Category 5:
- Category 6:
- Category 7:
- Category 8: Who Goes There? John W. Campbell, Jr. (first published 1938)
- Category 9:
- Category 10:
- Category 11:
- Category 12:
POSSIBLE READS:
This is my list of TBR classics that match up with one or more of the categories in the challenge.
All Passion Spent. Vita Sackville-West (1931)
The Ambassadors. Henry James (1903)
The American. Henry James (1877)
Anna Karenina. Leo Tolstoy (1877)
Appointment in Samarra. John O'Hara (1934)
Barchester Towers (Barsetshire #2). Anthony Trollope (1857)
Barry Lyndon. William Makepeace Thackeray (1844)
The Beckoning Fair One. Oliver Onions (1911)
The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath (1963)
The Bostonians. Henry James (1886)
The Code of the Woosters. P.G. Wodehouse (1938)
Cranford. Elizabeth Gaskell (1853)
Cry, the Beloved Country. Alan Paton (1948)
The Custom of the Country. Edith Wharton (1913)
Delta Wedding. Eudora Welty (1946)
Demian. Hermann Hesse (1919)
The Edwardians. Vita Sackville-West (1930)
Eight Cousins. Louisa May Alcott (1874)
The Enchanted April. Elizabeth von Arnim (1922)
The Europeans. Henry James (1878)
Far from the Madding Crowd. Thomas Hardy (1874)
Fathers and Sons. Ivan Turgenev (1862)
The 42nd Parallel (USA Trilogy #1). John Dos Passos (1930)
Foundation. Isaac Asimov (1951)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Anita Loos (1924)
The Go-Between. L.P. Hartley (1953)
The Golden Bowl. Henry James (1904)
Grand Hotel. Vicki Baum (1929)
The Heart of the Matter. Graham Greene (1948)
High Rising (Barsetshire #1). Angela Thirkell (1933)
Horseman, Pass By. Larry McMurtry (1961)
The House of Mirth. Edith Wharton (1905)
In Chancery (Forsyte Sage #2). John Galsworthy (1920)
The Invention of Morel. Adolfo Bioy Casares (1940)
Invitation to the Waltz. Rosamond Lehmann (1932)
Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë (1847)
King, Queen, Knave. Vladimir Nabokov (1928)
Lady Windermere's Fan. Oscar Wilde (1893)
The Magnificent Ambersons. Booth Tarkington (1918)
The Man in the Queue. Josephine Tey (1929)
The Marble Faun. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1860)
Medea. Euripides (431 BC)
The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka (1915)
Misty of Chincoteague. Marguerite Henry (1947)
The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins (1868)
The Mousetrap. Agatha Christie (1952)
The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1). Agatha Christie (1930)
The Old Wives' Tale. Arnold Bennett (1908)
One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967)
O Pioneers! Willa Cather (1913)
Our Man in Havana. Graham Greene (1959)
Persuasion. Jane Austen (1818)
Pinocchio. Carlo Collodi (1883)
The Ponder Heart. Eudora Welty (1954)
A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry (1959)
Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen (1811)
The Sheltering Sky. Paul Bowles (1949)
She Stoops to Conquer. Oliver Goldsmith (1773)
Sister Carrie. Theodore Dreiser (1900)
Six Characters in Search of an Author. Luigi Pirandello (1921)
Something Fresh (Blandings Castle #1). P.G. Wodehouse (1915)
The Spoils of Poynton. Henry James (1896)
Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe (1958)
Where Angels Fear to Tread. E.M. Forster (1905)
Wide Sargasso Sea. Jean Rhys (1966)
Winesburg, Ohio. Sherwood Anderson (1919)
The Wings of the Dove. Henry James (1902)
A Wreath of Roses. Elizabeth Taylor (1949)
