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trace_by_echo) wrote2024-12-01 12:05 pm
trace_by_echo) wrote2024-12-01 12:05 pm
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Challenge Post! Catching up on Classic Literature
This would be the *other* literary challenge I've assigned myself. I don't know if there's a similar existing challenge out there; I know there are plenty that list specific classics to read, but I would rather come up with a list of classics that I am already interested in, as I think I will be more successful. In general, as I prefer adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, and other related genres, I will lean in those directions. I also have specific authors who I have already read and liked, so I may expand on their works or look for ones that I've heard are similar. I'm going to start with very low stakes (12 classics in 2025) and if it goes well, I'll add more!
I'm not tethering myself to months on this one, but I do think a dozen is a good starting number.
EDIT: I found an actual challenge to tether this to, which has a theme for each month. So the below list has changed to include at least one book that fits the challenge each month! Any additional books completed will be added as "others this month" beneath the challenge book.
JANUARY: "Found in a used bookstore"
-Dream of the Red Chamber [Complete 1/21]
Others this month:
-A Raisin in the Sun
-The Glass Menagerie
-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
-King John (Shakespeare)
FEBRUARY: "Russian Novel or Short Story"
-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich [Complete 2/7]
Others this month:
-The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare again)
-Richard II (ditto)
-The 39 Steps
MARCH: "About Immigrants or Pioneers"
-My Antonia [Complete 3/6]
Others this month:
-Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
-Antony and Cleopatra (ditto)
APRIL: "A Local/Regional Classic"
-Little Women (note: I have heard that this is often two of Alcott's books slammed together into one volume, and each one is over 90K in length, so my intention is purely to read the original, single volume Little Women) [Book 1 Complete 4/24]
Others this month:
-The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare)
-Measure for Measure (ditto)
MAY: "Should've Read in School"
-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Complete 5/27]
Others this month:
-Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare)
-Cymbeline (ditto)
-Old Herbaceous
JUNE: "Nonfiction About Nature"
-Walden [Complete 6/30]
Others this month:
-Henry VI Parts 1-3 (Shakespeare)
JULY: "Science Fiction Novel or Short Story"
-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Others this month:
-Richard III (Shakespeare)
-Coriolanus (ditto)
AUGUST: "World War I or II"
-Mrs. Dalloway
Others this month:
-Pericles (Shakespeare)
SEPTEMBER: "An Author I've Only Read Once"
-Anne Bronte
Others this month:
-Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare)
-Timon of Athens (ditto)
OCTOBER: "Jane Austen"
-Persuasion
Others this month:
-Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare)
-Henry VIII (ditto)
-All's Well That Ends Well (ditto)
NOVEMBER: "Collection of a Romantic Poet"
-Coleridge
Others this month:
-The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare)
-Love's Labour's Lost (ditto)
DECEMBER: "Medieval or Renaissance"
-Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Others this month:
-A Winter's Tale (Shakespeare)
Others I want to try out sooner than later:
-Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
-A Month in the Country, J.L. Carr
-A Room With A View, E.M. Forster
-Aesop's Fables
-1001 Nights
-Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
-The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
-Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne
I'm not tethering myself to months on this one, but I do think a dozen is a good starting number.
EDIT: I found an actual challenge to tether this to, which has a theme for each month. So the below list has changed to include at least one book that fits the challenge each month! Any additional books completed will be added as "others this month" beneath the challenge book.
JANUARY: "Found in a used bookstore"
-Dream of the Red Chamber [Complete 1/21]
Others this month:
-A Raisin in the Sun
-The Glass Menagerie
-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
-King John (Shakespeare)
FEBRUARY: "Russian Novel or Short Story"
-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich [Complete 2/7]
Others this month:
-The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare again)
-Richard II (ditto)
-The 39 Steps
MARCH: "About Immigrants or Pioneers"
-My Antonia [Complete 3/6]
Others this month:
-Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
-Antony and Cleopatra (ditto)
APRIL: "A Local/Regional Classic"
-Little Women (note: I have heard that this is often two of Alcott's books slammed together into one volume, and each one is over 90K in length, so my intention is purely to read the original, single volume Little Women) [Book 1 Complete 4/24]
Others this month:
-The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare)
-Measure for Measure (ditto)
MAY: "Should've Read in School"
-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Complete 5/27]
Others this month:
-Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare)
-Cymbeline (ditto)
-Old Herbaceous
JUNE: "Nonfiction About Nature"
-Walden [Complete 6/30]
Others this month:
-Henry VI Parts 1-3 (Shakespeare)
JULY: "Science Fiction Novel or Short Story"
-20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Others this month:
-Richard III (Shakespeare)
-Coriolanus (ditto)
AUGUST: "World War I or II"
-Mrs. Dalloway
Others this month:
-Pericles (Shakespeare)
SEPTEMBER: "An Author I've Only Read Once"
-Anne Bronte
Others this month:
-Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare)
-Timon of Athens (ditto)
OCTOBER: "Jane Austen"
-Persuasion
Others this month:
-Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare)
-Henry VIII (ditto)
-All's Well That Ends Well (ditto)
NOVEMBER: "Collection of a Romantic Poet"
-Coleridge
Others this month:
-The Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare)
-Love's Labour's Lost (ditto)
DECEMBER: "Medieval or Renaissance"
-Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Others this month:
-A Winter's Tale (Shakespeare)
Others I want to try out sooner than later:
-Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
-A Month in the Country, J.L. Carr
-A Room With A View, E.M. Forster
-Aesop's Fables
-1001 Nights
-Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
-The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
-Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne