• Current Challenges

    Back to the Classics Challenge 2013

    I’m also joining the Back to the Classics Challenge again this year, as I really enjoyed the 2012 challenge. There are six required categories and five optional categories. My list may change, but here are my tentative choices. Required: A 19th Century Classic – Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson A 20th Century Classic – The End of the Affair by Graham Greene A Pre-18th or 18th Century Classic – Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare A Classic that relates to the African-American Experience – Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston A Classic Adventure – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain A Classic that…

  • Current Challenges

    The 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

    The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues was my last book for the 2012 TBR Pile Challenge. I got through 12 books that had been on my shelf since at least 2010, so thanks to Roof Beam Reader for the push. I finished just in time to start the 2013 challenge! The challenge is to read 12 books (allowing two alternatives) that you’ve had in your possession since before January 1st, 2012. I actually didn’t have as many from back then as I thought I had, almost not enough for this list, so I guess I’m making progress. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett Between the Bridge and the…

  • Literature

    Back To The Classics Challenge – Complete!

    I finished! Here’s what I ended up reading: Any 19th Century Classic – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Any 20th Century Classic – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Reread a classic of your choice – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A Classic Play – The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction – The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Classic Romance – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your language – Solaris by Stanisław Lem (translated from Polish). Classic Award Winner – As I Lay Dying…

  • Current Challenges,  Literature

    The Classics Club

    I’ve decided to join The Classics Club. I’ve been reading more classics lately, and I’d like to continue that trend. And I can’t resist a good list. The goal is to read 50+ classic novels in five years. Will I be blogging in five years? Will I be alive in five years? Will society as we know it still exist in five years? I can answer none of these questions for you, but this will be fun up until any of that happens. This is really just my current classic literature wishlist. If I read a classic that’s not on the list, I’ll swap one out. I haven’t really read…

  • Current Challenges

    The TBR Double Dare

    Since I have an embarrassing 70 books in my to-read list, and will likely have more after Christmas is over, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to take part in C.B. James’ TBR Double Dare. The goal is to read only books from your to-read list for the first three months of next year. I could probably read from mine for the entirety of 2012 and be quite happy, so I don’t foresee any issues there. I might stray from this challenge for audio-books, as I don’t have a to-listen list, but I’ll stick to it for the dead-tree books. I may even pick up the audio version for a couple…