Classics Challenge Reading List

A month or so ago I mentioned participating in the 2011 Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much.  I wanted this challenge to really force me to read things that have been sitting on my shelves collecting dust.  And while it's been difficult picking and choosing, I think I finally narrowed it down.

Classics Challenge list:

1. A banned book- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

I know!  Can you believe I haven't read this one?  I'm stealing it from J and getting through it.  Must be done.

2. A book with a wartime setting- Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

I started this novel earlier in the year, but set it aside for another title.  This time I vow to finish it.

3. A Pulitzer Prize Winner- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I really enjoyed Ethan Frome and have had numerous conversations about the value of Wharton's work. This one was on the list without a doubt.  And to prove that fact-- I'll admit that this is the only novel on the list that I actually have to purchase.

4. A Children's/Young Adult classic- The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

I remember reading these as a child.  Somehow I don't remember too many details.  I thought the first book in a seven book series might be just the break I need from all the massive commitments I'm making in the literary world.  Plus, if I'm transported to the time when I did nothing but play in the woods surrounding my home with my three brothers, I have six more to really feel like a kid again!

5. 19th century classic- Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Ah, Gogol.  As a lover of Russian literature, I am quite ashamed to admit I've never read any of his work.  Dare I also admit to a literary life devoid of Pushkin, as well? Yes, a true sin.  Bumping George Eliot's Middlemarch off the list, Gogol is a must this year.

6. 20th century classic- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Another book I started and never finished because of other reading commitments.  I have always enjoyed Plath's poetry and knew that I couldn't respect myself until I finished this classic.

7. A book that should be considered a 21st century classic- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I've heard time and again that The Book Thief is a favorite by young and old.  Projected to be a classic in years to come, I threw it on the list because I've heard great things, and because I thought it might be another to calm me down while juggling the book club meetings, the volunteer positions and the maintenance of a social life.

8. Re-read a book from your high school/ college classes- Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I will say, and perhaps you'll never forgive me, but I've never favored Marquez.  I read this, as well as, One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I absolutely detested, in college.  However, I thought I'd pick this novel up and try again.

I feel my list offers diversity, and will be nothing less than entertaining and informative.

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