Classics Challenge 2009 Guidelines

Trish is hosting the Classics Challenge 2009. She has posted a list of classic books including some possible future classics. (Future classics - is that a paradox or what?) in this site.

Choose Your Level
1. Classics Snack - Read FOUR classics

2. Classics Entree - Read FIVE classics

3. Classics Feast - Read SIX classics

Guidelines
1. Cross-posting with other challenges is allowed (and encouraged!)

2. Audiobooks are fine

3. Re-reads are acceptable, BUT books must be finished after April 1st to count for the challenge

4. Lists don't have to be set in stone; you can change your selections at any time.

5. Have fun!!

6. You do NOT need a blog to participate.

To sign up and for more information, go here. The challenge runs from April to October, 2009. Come join the fun!

My Choices for the Classics Challenge

I've decided to do the Classics Feast.

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

5. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

6. Sherlock Holmes: Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Bonus: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Classics Challenge 2009: Overview

This year was my first time to join The Classics Challenge as well as my first year to being a book blogger. When I first heard about The Classics Challenge, I was really excited to join. I don't really read a lot of classics. Sure, I read some as a reading requirement for school like Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights and The Grapes of Wrath. Other classics were read by choice like the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, Dracula, The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, Pride and Prejudice, and Of Mice and Men.

I decided to broaden and challenge my reading experience. Since I aimed to become a better writer, I knew that I had to study and read a variety of books. I knew that the Classic Challenge would reach my expectations, and it did.

My reading experience did expand, and I met some some of the most interesting yet flawed characters like Amir of The Kite Runner and Esther from The Bell Jar; courageous souls like Sydney Carton of A Tale of Two Cities and Corrie and the Ten Boom family from A Hiding Place; persistent and strong characters like the Old Man from the Old Man and the Sea and Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; and the unforgettable team of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Although my progress as writer had yet to be seen, I did learn just by reading these books what momentum the story had, what worked, and what didn't work in the plot.

One thing's for certain. I appreciated the classics more, and I'm grateful that I learned about this challenge. I even intend to read more classics. So expect me to discuss some Crime and Punishment and introduce you to Oliver Twist in the near future. I might even be inclined to talk about War and Peace. Yes, it's ambitious, but I'm excited to read them.

I'm finished with this challenge but I'm definitely not finished reading the classics yet. If there's going to be a Classics Challenge next year (and I hope there is), you can bet that I will be there and ready to read and to be challenged.
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