Back to the Classics Challenge 2016: Reading List

Levi and I have a goal of listening to twelve classics on audio book this year. I'm combining our goal with this challenge over at Books and Chocolate, which I think gives us a nice variety of genres.


Here's our tentative list for 2016:

1. A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899 - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. A 20th Century Classic - any book published between 1900 and 1966. - A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway

3. A classic by a woman author - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

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 - Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

5. A classic by a non-white author. Can be African-American, Asian, Latino, Native American, etc - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

6. An adventure classic - can be fiction or non-fiction - The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic - 1984 by George Orwell

8. A classic detective novel. It must include a detective, amateur or professional. This list of books from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction is a great starting point if you're looking for ideas - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

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 include Bleak House, Main Street, The Belly of Paris, or The Vicar of Wakefield - Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

10. A classic which has been banned or censored. If possible, please mention why this book was banned or censored in your review - Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college). If it's a book you loved, does it stand the test of time? If it's a book you disliked, is it any better a second time around? - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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 only - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (re-read for me).