Back to the Classics Challenge 2016 Wrap-Up

The Back to the Classics Challenge 2016 was one of the two challenges I took part in this year. The goal was to read classics from twelve categories. There’s a draw associated with how many you read, but I mainly take part because I love lists.

When I first joined in on this, back in 2012, it really gave me a push to incorporate more classic fiction into my reading. This and The Classics Club actually changed how I read for the better over the years, so I’m a big fan of taking part in these reading prompts.

Here’s my 2016 list:

1. A 19th Century Classic: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
2. A 20th Century Classic: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
3. A classic by a woman author: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4. A classic in translation: Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov
5. A classic by a non-white author: Incomplete
6. An adventure classic: She by H. Rider Haggard
7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
8. A classic detective novel: Incomplete
9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title: Incomplete
10. A classic which has been banned or censored: Animal Farm by George Orwell
11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college): Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
12. A volume of classic short stories: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I read nine of the twelve categories (two entries). Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) and The Grapes of Wrath were my favourites. I feel bad about skipping the non-white author category, as I do want to make an effort to diversify my reading, so I’ll have to make a point to rectify that in the new year.

I’ll be signing up for the 2017 challenge as well, but we’re going on holiday soon, so I don’t know how much I’ll get done before I leave. I probably won’t be posting any new challenges or year wrap-ups until January (when everyone will be nice and sick of reading those).