I completed my reading challenge for the year; I read 12 classics in a variety of categories (which gives me 3 entries into the prize drawing!) and posted reviews of them here on my blog. The categories, the books I read, and links to my reviews follow:
1. A 19th century classic - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (finished 9/11/2016)
2. A 20th century classic - Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (finished 2/1/2016)
3. A classic by a woman author - Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (finished 2/26/2016)
4. A classic in translation - The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (finished 5/24/2016)
5. A classic by a non-white author - Passing by Nella Larsen (finished 6/12/2016)
6. An adventure classic - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (finished 6/8/2016)
7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (finished 4/20/2016)
8. A classic detective novel - The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (finished 6/1/2016)
9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title - Howard's End by E.M. Forster (finished 7/25/2016)
10. A classic which has been banned or censored - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (finished 10/5/2016)
11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high-school or college) - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (finished 1/25/2016)
12. A volume of classic short stories - Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers (finished 7/3/2016)
My favorite books were The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (I can't believe I'd never read it before!) and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I rated both books five out of five. My next two favorites were Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers and Passing by Nella Larsen, both of which I rated a four. Then I had five books that I rated a three: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery, Howard's End by E.M. Forster, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, and Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers. And finally, there were three books I only rated a two: The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.
I had a little harder time completing my challenge this year compared to last year, which may have been due to my choices, so I'm not sure whether I will do the challenge again next year. It partly depends on the categories, and partly how I'm feeling about it at the end of the year when the challenge is announced. Or I may sign up for the challenge but not feel bad if I decide not to complete it. Or I may sign up and only complete some of the categories instead of all 12. We'll see . . .
3 comments:
Congratulations on finishing! I hope you do decide to take part next year. I love poking around and seeing what everyone has read to fill the categories. I already have a small stack set aside, read for when Karen posts the 2017 version on her blog.
I read The Makioka Sisters too! Funny that I never heard of this book before and now it's all over the place. It was slow and took me a long time to read, but it gave me a lot of food for thought. The plot was certainly not exciting but the look into a different world was fascinating. Still, I can understand getting impatient with it -- and I do wonder how it would be in the original language.
Congratulations on finishing. It seems like you chose some challenging reads this year, too.
You've probably noticed by now that I'm catching up on your posts. I'm sorry I've gotten so far behind. A combination of being very busy as well as having a wonky feed reader. Hopefully I won't fall so far behind again!
Post a Comment