2016 Back to the Classics Reading Challenge

Back to the Classics Challenge 2016

Hosted by: Karen K @ Books and Chocolate

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2016

This is a very popular reading challenge, but this will be my first time to participate. At first glance, I thought it looked a little too restrictive, and I don't usually do too well with those challenges. And twelve books is quite a lot of books to commit to, for me. But when I realized I won't have to read that many books to join in, I took another look and was hooked. Especially since I believe it's really going to help with my effort to read more of the books I already own -- or books that have been on my TBR list for eons.

The idea of the challenge is to read 12 "classic" books, from 12 different categories. (However, you do not have to read 12 books to participate in this challenge.)

• Complete six categories, and you get one entry in the prize drawing
• Complete nine categories, and you get two entries in the drawing
• Complete all twelve categories, and you get three entries in the drawing

Participants choose books from these categories:

1. A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899.
2. A 20th Century Classic - any book published between 1900 and 1966. All books MUST have been published at least 50 years ago to qualify. The only exception is books written at least 50 years ago, but published later.
3. A classic by a woman author.
4. A classic in translation. Any book originally written published in a language other than your native language. You can read the book in your language or the original language.
5. A classic by a non-white author. Can be African-American, Asian, Latino, Native American, etc.
6. An adventure classic - can be fiction or non-fiction. Children's classics like Treasure Island are acceptable in this category.
7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic. Dystopian could include classics like 1984; children's classics (like The Hobbit) are acceptable in this category also.
8. A classic detective novel. Must include a detective, amateur or professional. 
9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title. It can be the name of a house, a town, a street, etc. Examples: Bleak House, Main Street, or The Vicar of Wakefield.
10. A classic which has been banned or censored. If possible, please mention why this book was banned or censored in your review.
11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college). 
12. A volume of classic short stories. This must be one complete volume, at least 8 short stories. It can be an anthology of stories by different authors, or all the stories can be by a single author. Children's stories are acceptable in this category also.

For the rest of the rules and info, see the challenge announcement/sign-up page (HERE).

I'll probably be reading six books -- might not be able to handle more than that. I'm not sure which categories I'll be choosing, so I don't have a set list for the challenge yet; but I've got a bunch of ideas. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (HERE).