Hi everyone!  Today, I’ve got a super exciting post to share with you all.  For 2018, two of my blogging and reading goals were 1) read more classics, and 2) host my own event/reading challenge.  Well, I decided to combine the two, and came up with a 2018 Classics Challenge!  The goal for this challenge is to simply read more classic literature based off the prompts below.  There are eleven prompts, so that’s about 1 classic book a month.

I’m mostly a mood reader, so I’m not going to create a specific TBR.  Today, though, I’m going to explain the prompts a bit more, and give some suggestions for each category!

Please know, though, that I haven’t read all the examples I’m sharing with you all. For the most part, I’m simply going off of recommendations from people I know and Google.

A Classic for your Country

For this prompt, I want you to read a book that is considered a classic for the country where you live, or where you are originally from.  For example, I’m from the US, so I would read a book that is considered an American classic such as…

• The Great Gatsby
• Little Women
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

A Classic for a Country not your Own

For this challenge, read a book that’s considered a classic for a country not your own.  Some examples of this would be:

• Anne of Green Gables is a Canadian classic
• Great Expectations is a British classic
• Picnic at Hanging Rock is an Australian classic
• Things Fall Apart is an African classic
• Journey to the West is a Chinese classic

A Classic Written by an Author Whose Name Starts with the Same Letter as Your Name

It can be either your first or last name or the author’s first or last name, but for this challenge, read a book by an author whose name starts with the same letter as your name, or even better, if you can, share the same name as you!

So, for example, my name is Theresa, so I could read a book by T. S. Elliot, Thomas Hardy, or even JRR Tolkien or Leo Tolstoy.  I could also use my last name, which starts with an M. So I could read a book by Margaret Mitchell, A. A. Milne, or Mark Twain.

18th Century Classic

These next few prompts are pretty self-explanatory.  For this one, read a book from the 18th century.

Some examples:

• Gulliver’s Travels
• Robinson Crusoe
• Clarissa
• The Vicar of Wakefield

19th Century Classic

Read a book from the 19th century, such as:

• Jane Eyre
• Pride and Prejudice
• Tess of the d’Urbervilles
• Frankenstein
• The Picture of Dorian Gray

20th Century Classic

Read a book from the 20th century:

• 1984
• The Catcher in the Rye
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Bell Jar
• The Hobbit
• A Farewell to Arms

Modern Day Classic

For this challenge, you have a little more freedom deciding which book you would consider a modern day classic. To more clearly separate a 20th century classic with a modern day classic, I’ve decided anything from about 1980 and beyond is a modern day classic. You could even include a book that you think will be a classic in the future! Some examples:

• ͏Li͏f͏e of Pi
• The Handmaid’s Tale
• The Color Purple
• Harry Potter
• A Monster Calls

A Classic Under 200 Pages

Read a classic book that’s 200 pages or less.

Some examples are:

• The Outsiders
• Animal Farm
• The Old Man and the Sea
• Mrs. Dalloway
• Northanger Abbey
• The Metamorphosis

A Classic Over 500 Pages

Read a classic book that’s 500 pages or more (I would recommend starting this particular challenge more than a week before the year ends. 😉).

Some examples would be:

• Gone with the Wind
• Les Misérables
• East of Eden
• Moby Dick
• Great Expectations

A Children’s Classic

Read a book that is considered a children’s classic, such as:

• Peter Pan
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Winnie the Pooh
• The Wind in the Willows
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Classic Freebie

For this last prompt, read any classic book you want. The choice is totally up to you and what you feel like reading!

I’d really love it if you all participated with me for this reading challenge! If you do decide to participate, let me know, and I’ll include a link to your blog in this post. For each classic I read, I’ll write a post and share which one I chose, and my thoughts about it.  Also, I’ll be using the hashtag #2018ClassicsChallenge. So, be sure to follow along and use the hashtag as well! 🎉

Thanks so much for reading! I’m looking forward to reading more classics, and I hope you are, too!

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