It's been another wonderful year for challenges. The Back to the Classics Challenge is one of the most challenging and most rewarding for me. The categories are great guides for steering me towards a variety of truly great literature. Some of these books have been sitting on my shelf for years. Others are books that I've always wanted to read, but never had the proper "deadline" pushing me to read this next rather than something more pressing on my list.
Sarah also adds the incentive of a drawing for a prize for those who complete the challenge. I've read all the required category books and three optional books, so that's 2 entries, I think.
The books I read with links to reviews are:
The Required Categories:
- A 19th Century Classic : Middlemarch by George Elliot
- A 20th Century Classic : The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
- A Pre-18th or 18th Century Classic : The Odyssey by Homer
- A Classic that relates to the African-American Experience : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- A Classic Adventure : The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
- A Classic that prominently features an Animal : The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Optional Categories:
A. Re-read a Classic : Vanity Fair by William Thackeray --didn't get to this one
B. A Russian Classic : Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky -- didn't get to this one
C. A Classic Non-Fiction title : A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
D. A Classic Children's/Young Adult title: My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
E. Classic Short Stories : The Collected Stories of Nikolai Gogol
After hosting this wonderful challenge for years, Sarah is ready to pass the baton. There is possible interest from Karen at Books and Chocolate but I think she wants to be sure that there is enough interest in the blogging community before she commits to hosting. So if you'd like to participate in 2014, let Karen know you're interested!
A big THANK YOU to Sarah for all the work that has gone into making this such a successful challenge for these past few years.
Great job - and THANK YOU to you too - you are part of the reason that the challenge was so successful, and why it was so hard to give up. But Karen is hosting it for 2014! Yay!
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