Back to the Classics 2017

hosted by Karen @ Books and Chocolate. 

There are 12 categories, but you don't have to do them all. You can select which ones appeal to you and still qualify for the draw.

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

Here are the books I will read for each category.

1. A 19th century classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2.  A 20th century classic - any book published between 1900 and 1967. Just like last year, 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, such as posthumous publications - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 

3.  A classic by a woman author - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

4.  A classic in translation.  Any book originally written published in a language other than your native language. Feel free to read the book in your language or the original language. (You can also read books in translation for any of the other categories) - Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

5.  A classic published before 1800. Plays and epic poems are acceptable in this category - Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare 

6.  A romance classic. I'm pretty flexible here about the definition of romance. It can have a happy ending or a sad ending, as long as there is a strong romantic element to the plot - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

7.  A Gothic or horror classic. For a good definition of what makes a book Gothic, and an excellent list of possible reads, please see this list on Goodreads - The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

8.  A classic with a number in the title. Examples include A Tale of Two Cities, Three Men in a Boat, The Nine Tailors, Henry V, Fahrenheit 451, etc. An actual number is required -- for example, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None would not qualify, but The Seven Dials Mystery would - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

9.  A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title.  It can be an actual animal or a metaphor, or just the name in the title. Examples include To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, The Metamorphosis, White Fang, etc. If the animal is not obvious, please clarify it in your post - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

10. A classic set in a place you'd like to visit. It can be real or imaginary: The Wizard of Oz, Down and Out in Paris and London, Death on the Nile, etc - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (I'd love to visit Paris and England)

11. An award-winning classic. It could be the Newbery award, the Prix Goncourt, the Pulitzer Prize, the James Tait Award, etc. Any award, just mention in your blog post what award your choice received - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurie (1938 National Book Award for Fiction)

12. A Russian classic. 2017 will be the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, so read a classic by any Russian author - The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky