Monday, 3 January 2011

Reading The Classics in 2011

Having signed up for oh-so-many reading challenges this year, I've decided to add my very own to the list. For Christmas, my mom gave me some beautifully bound Penguin Classics, each with an individual cover design. Here's some of them (EDIT: I changed the picture to one of all of them from the Penguin website, because they're so pretty):

Penguin Clothbound Classics, designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith

So I've decided to make something of it, and start a challenge....how many classics can I read (or re-read) this year? 

Challenge Details: 
  • The challenge runs 1st Jan 2011 to Dec 31st 2011. 
  • Read either SIX (Student level),TWELVE (Scholar level) or TWENTY-FOUR (Professor level) classic novels.
  • Add them to your list as you read or make a list beforehand - it's up to you.
  • Join any time before Dec 31st 2011
  • Write a post on your blog about joining the challenge, then sign up on the linky list below with the link to that SPECIFIC post, or the link to the PAGE you use to keep track of your progress.
  • You don't have to do reviews, but if you do please remember to link them somehow to the page you signed up with so people can find them.
  • If you want to chat about this on twitter, use #readtheclassics2011



Grab my button (if it works - fingers crossed):










If you have trouble signing up, let me know. 





Here's a provisional list of what I want to read:


  1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  3. Treasure Island by Robert Luis Stephenson
  4. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
  5. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carol
  6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  8. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  9. Emma by Jane Austen
  10. The Odyssey by Homer
  11. Lady Chatterly's Lover by DH Lawrence
  12. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
If you need inspiration for what books are "classic", just type "Penguin Classics" into amazon's search box. That'll give you a long list of classic books. 

16 comments:

Golden Eagle said...

It looks like you've got some interesting reading ahead of you! :)

Tony Noland said...

Sounds like an interesting challenge. Does it count if you've already read them?

Note: check the spelling of Odyssey in your list.

Anonymous said...

What a fun idea! I wonder which will be your favourite. I prefer Tennant of Wildfell Hall to the classic M&B of all time Wuthering Heights Enjoy ;O)

Mia Hayson said...

This is lovely and your boooks are super too! I have the Wuthering Heights one with that blue cover, what I would give to have a set like that!

Hmmm. I will think on it! I must decide what to read first. Hmmm.

Great idea though!

:D

Unknown said...

@ Tony: GAH! I'm going to murder predictive spelling one of these days. And if you re-read them, no problem! I've read most of those on my list at some point. I'll be re-reading them.

@ Mia: Do join!!!

@ Madeleine: Come on, join in!

Stephanie Lorée said...

All right Tessa, I challenge you to a duel! And by that I mean since we've both signed up for a crazy amount of reading, I decided to go ahead and sign up for the rest of the challenges you've got going on that I was previously missing.

That's right. A reading duel, MUUUHAHAHAHA!

Something tells me I'm going to lose, but I think it will be fun to try. Here's my list, en garde!

Unknown said...

@ Stephanie: YOU'RE ON! Shall we institute monthly check-ups?

Stephanie Lorée said...

Tessa: Sounds great! I read your blog regularly, so I can drop in and leave a comment as to my progress. Will that work?

Wendy Lu said...

Needless to say, you are one avid reader! :) This is a really neat challenge, though I don't think I will have enough time to chug through so many books. I do indeed hope to read through the classics that I have always promised myself I would read, but I have a feeling this year isn't it.

Great challenge you have made, though! Best of luck to all participants. This was a good idea Tessa.

~TRA

http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com

Dawn Embers said...

Good luck. I've only read one of the books on your list but have read a few other classics as well. And we did a play version of Treasure Island, which was fun.

Enjoy your reading.

Unknown said...

I try to read a bunch of classics that passed me by each year but I never get to very many. Great idea for a challenge.

The Words Crafter said...

What beautiful covers!

I'm trying to squeeze in a book a month, while editing my nano novel...but I like this. I'm going to make my own list and do a post.

When I do the post, I'll linky up!

Some brain food....sweet!

Denise Covey said...

Oh what a lovely mother to give such valued books and so beautifully bound for Christmas! You will have a ball reading or re-reading them. I'll think about joining the challenge when I think about my year carefully...Happy New Writing Year!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

Just found your blog. Am considering doing the challenge.

Was wondering where you got the pic of the books at the top of the page, as those are the books that are tiled on my blog, but smaller.

Thanks,
Angela

soapboxinmymind at yahoo dot com

http://soapboxinmymind.blogspot.com

kah said...

Oh those spines are so pretty! I just read a few of Jane's stories last year. Wonder if I could cheat and sneak them into this year's list? Nah, that would just be wrong. *sigh*

Unknown said...

@ Soapbox: Like I said in the post, I got a whole stack of these for Christmas. I looked at your blog, they look really nice tiled like that, almost like a library in the background.

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