Back to the Classics Challenge 2021

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

Host: Karen K @ Books and Chocolate

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2021

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:

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899.
2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written by 1971 and posthumously published.
3. A classic by a woman author.
4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer. 
5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author.
6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read.
7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author — a new book by an author whose works you have already read. 
8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title. The animal can be real or metaphorical. (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird).
9. A children's classic. 
10. A humorous or satirical classic.
11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). It can be a travelogue or a classic in which the main character travels or has an adventure. 
12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category.

The Rules (quoted from the challenge announcement post):

• All books must have been written at least 50 years ago to qualify; therefore, books must have been published no later than 1971 for this challenge. The only exceptions to this rule are books which were published posthumously but written before 1971. Recent translations of classic novels are acceptable. 
• All books must be read from January 1 through December 31, 2021. Books started before January 1 do not qualify. All reviews must be linked to this challenge by 11:59 p.m. on January 1, 2022. Links for each category will be posted during the first week of January, and will be featured on a sidebar of the host blog for convenience through the entire year. (The link for the final wrap-up will be posted towards the end of the year, to avoid confusion). 
• The deadline to sign up for the challenge is March 31, 2021. After that, the link will be closed and you'll have to wait until next year's challenge. 
• 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. 
• 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 challenge. . . . It is fine to rearrange books for the challenge, since many books can fit multiple categories.
• The wrap-up post MUST include contact information so the winner can be contacted privately before being announced on the blog. If your blog doesn't have a link, or if you have a Goodreads account, indicate that in the comments of wrap-up post.
• The winner will be announced on the blog the first week of January, 2021. 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. Winner will be contacted privately before being announced 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 the challenge announcement page for more details and FAQs. 

I'll probably be trying for six categories, at least to start. But I would love to read something for all twelve.

● 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: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë (pub. 1846) 
• Category 2:
• Category 3: Summer, by Edith Wharton (pub. 1917) 
• Category 4:
• Category 5:
• Category 6:
• Category 7: 
• Category 8: 
• Category 9:
• Category 10: 1066 And All That: A Memorable History of England, by W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman, illus. by John Reynolds (pub. 1931)
• 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.

The 101 Dalmatians. Dodie Smith (1956) 
All Passion Spent. Vita Sackville-West  (1931)
The Ambassadors. Henry James  (1903)
The American. Henry James  (1877)
Animal Farm. George Orwell  (1945) 
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 Old Wives' Tale. Arnold Bennett (1908)
One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967)
Our Man in Havana. Graham Greene (1959)
Persuasion. Jane Austen (1818)
Pinocchio. Carlo Collodi (1883)
The Ponder Heart. Eudora Welty (1954)
Rabbit, Run. John Updike (1960) 
A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry (1959) 

The Red Pony. John Steinbeck (1937) 
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) 

Stuart Little. E.B. White (1945) 
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) 

The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame (1908) 
Winesburg, Ohio. Sherwood Anderson (1919)
The Wings of the Dove. Henry James (1902)
A Wreath of Roses. Elizabeth Taylor (1949)

Back to the Classics Challenge 2019

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:

1. 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899.
2. 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. 
3. Classic by a Female Author.
4. 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.
5. 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. 
6. Classic Tragedy. Tragedies traditionally have a sad ending, but just like the comedies, this is up for the reader to interpret. 
7. 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.
8. Classic Novella. Any work of narrative fiction shorter than 250 pages. 
9. 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). 
10. 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). 
11. 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). 
12. 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)

Back to the Classics Challenge 2016

Link to challenge announcement post

***See my wrap-up post***

Host: Karen K @ Books and Chocolate
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2016

Guidelines - to successfully complete the challenge and qualify for the final prize:

• Read classic books, from 12 categories (but you don't have to read twelve books to participate in the challenge).
• All books must be read in 2016. Books started before January 1, 2016 do not qualify.
• There will be links for posting reviews for each category. All reviews must be linked up by December 31, 2016. You must also post a wrap-up review and link it to the challenge no later than December 31, 2016.
• All books must have been written at least 50 years ago; therefore, books must have been written by 1966 to qualify for this challenge. The ONLY exceptions are books published posthumously.
• E-books and audiobooks are eligible.
• Books can crossover with other challenges.
• Books may NOT crossover within this challenge. You must read a different book for EACH category, or it doesn't count.
• Updated: Children's classics are acceptable, but please, no more than 3 total for the challenge.
• A blog isn't necessary, you can link to reviews on Goodreads or any other publicly accessible online site.
• The deadline to sign up for the challenge is March 1, 2016.
• You don't have to make a list of books in advance; but if you do, your list can be changed at any time.
• Books may be read in any order.

Categories:

1. A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899.
2. A 20th Century Classic - any book published between 1900 and 1966. Just like last year, all books MUST have been published at least 50 years ago to qualify. The only exception is books written at least 50 years ago, but published later.
3. A classic by a woman author.
4. A classic in translation. Any book originally written published in a language other than your native language. Feel free to read the book in your language or the original language.
5. A classic by a non-white author. Can be African-American, Asian, Latino, Native American, etc.
6. An adventure classic - can be fiction or non-fiction. Children's classics like Treasure Island are acceptable in this category.
7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic. Dystopian could include classics like 1984, and children's classics like The Hobbit are acceptable in this category also.
8. A classic detective novel. It must include a detective, amateur or professional. This list of books from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction is a great starting point if you're looking for ideas.
9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title. It can be the name of a house, a town, a street, etc. Examples include Bleak House, Main Street, The Belly of Paris, or The Vicar of Wakefield.
10. A classic which has been banned or censored. If possible, please mention why this book was banned or censored in your review.
11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college). If it's a book you loved, does it stand the test of time? If it's a book you disliked, is it any better a second time around?
12. A volume of classic short stories. This must be one complete volume, at least 8 short stories. It can be an anthology of stories by different authors, or all the stories can be by a single author. Children's stories are acceptable in this category also. 

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See my wrap-up post 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: Daisy Miller. Henry James (first published 1878)  [linked to review page 7/14/2016]
• Category 2:
• Category 3:
• Category 4:
• Category 5:
• Category 6:
• Category 7: 
• Category 8:
• Category 9:
• Category 10: To Have and Have Not. Ernest Hemingway (first published 1937)  [linked to review page 7/14/2016] 
• Category 11:
• Category 12:

Possible Reads:

Category 1 (19th century classic):

• Cranford. Elizabeth Gaskell (1851)
• Daisy Miller. Henry James (1878)  
• The Europeans. Henry James (1878)
• Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë (1847) 
• Persuasion. Jane Austen (1818)

Category 2 (20th century classic):

• Appointment in Samarra. John O'Hara (1934) 
• England Made Me. Graham Greene (1935) 
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Anita Loos (1924) 
• The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1). Agatha Christie (1930)
• Our Man in Havana. Graham Greene (1959)
• The Sheltering Sky. Paul Bowles (1949)

Category 3 (classic by a woman):

• All Passion Spent. Vita Sackville-West (1931)
• The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath (1963)
• The Enchanted April. Elizabeth von Arnim (1922)
• Murder at the Vicarage. Agatha Christie (1930) 
• A Wreath of Roses. Elizabeth Taylor (1949)

Category 4 (classic in translation):

• Demian. Hermann Hesse (1919) 
• Fathers and Sons. Ivan Turgenev (1862)
• King, Queen, Knave. Vladimir Nabokov (1928)

Category 5 (classic by a non-white author):

• Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe (1958)
• The Woman in the Dunes. Kobo Abe (1962)

Category 6 (adventure classic):

• Casino Royale (James Bond #1). Ian Fleming (1953) 
• A Coffin for Dimitrios. Eric Ambler (1939; aka The Mask of Dimitrios) 
• The Prisoner of Zenda. Anthony Hope (1894) 
• The Road to Oxiana. Robert Byron (1937; nonfiction)
• Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe (1719)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel. Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1905) 
• To Have and Have Not. Ernest Hemingway (1937)
• West With the Night. Beryl Markham (1942; nonfiction) 

Category 7 (fantasy, sci-fi, or dystopian classic):

• Bedknob and Broomstick. Mary Norton (1943; fantasy) 
• A Canticle for Leibowitz. Walter M. Miller Jr. (1959; Hugo Winner Best Novel 1961; sci-fi) 
• The Caves of Steel. Isaac Asimov (1953; sci-fi) 
• The Enchanted Castle. E. Nesbit (1907; fantasy) 
• The Five Children and It. E. Nesbit (1902; fantasy)
• James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl (1961; fantasy) 
• Miss Hickory. Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1946; Newbery Medal, 1947; fantasy) 
• The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster (1961; fantasy)
• Stuart Little. E.B. White (1945; fantasy) 
• Way Station. Clifford D. Simak (Hugo Award winner, 1964; sci-fi) 
• The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame (1908; fantasy) 

Category 8 (classic detective novel):

• The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe #1). Raymond Chandler (1939) 

Category 9 (name of a place in title):

• England Made Me. Graham Greene (1935) 
• Goodbye to Berlin. Christopher Isherwood (1939) 
• Our Man in Havana. Graham Greene (1959) 

Category 10 (banned or censored):

• Butterfield 8. John O'Hara (1935)
• Rabbit, Run. John Updike (1960) 

Category 11 (re-read a classic read in high school or college):

• Franny and Zooey. J.D. Salinger (1961) 
• A Handful of Dust. Evelyn Waugh (1934) 
• The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson (1959)
• The House of the Seven Gables. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1851) 
• Lucky Jim. Kingsley Amis (1953) 
• Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen (1813)
• Rebecca. Daphne DuMaurier (1938) 
• The Thurber Carnival. James Thurber (1945)

Category 12 (volume of classic short stories):

• Blandings and Elsewhere. P.G. Wodehouse (1935) 
• Carry On, Jeeves. P.G. Wodehouse (1925) 
• The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. Algernon Blackwood (1906)
• Goodbye to Berlin. Christopher Isherwood (1939)
• Tales of Men and Ghosts. Edith Wharton (1910)