2015 Challenges Past & 2016 Challenges Ahead

In 2015 I really, really reduced the number of Reading Challenges I took on. Part of this was because I am doing so much non-blog reading that occupies my time, and part of it was because the challenges I have been doing are huge and lengthy projects.


These are the challenges I participated in during 2015.

Century of Books
Read one book for each year of the 20th century. While I had intended to complete this challenge over two years, it looks as if I will be stretching it to three years!  Continuing on, I have 67 read, so 33 left to go.


RIP X
I enjoyed participating in this yearly challenge once again. This year I only hoped to get one book read -- but I ended up reading three!

Black Feathers / Robert J. Wiersema

Lolly Willowes / Sylvia Townsend Warner

Fairy Tale / Alice Thomas Ellis





Canadian Book Challenge

For this challenge, I've reviewed 7 books so far; I have a lot more waiting to be reviewed, so I'll need to get at least 6 more reviews posted to reach the goal of 13. And then any extras to add to the total!

I missed out on a few short-term challenges and activities that I've enjoyed before, due to time constraints -- the Diversiverse event hosted by Aarti and Dewey's Readathon (since I was once again working that entire weekend -- seems that way nearly every year!) Hope I'll get back to those in 2016.


Challenges for 2016

I'm going to be continuing on with my Century of Books project, and continuing with the Canadian Book Challenge, as always. The only new year-long project I am taking on is this one:

Women's Classic Literature Event
The idea is simply to read classics written by women, at your own pace, for the duration of 2016. Classic is loosely defined as pre-1960 women's writing of all kinds. For this event, I'll read some more of the Century of Books list but also add in a few more outside of the "no rereads, no repeat authors" parameters I've set myself for that particular list.


I may pick up a few of the time-limited and/or seasonal challenges on my way through the year as well, but my year-long projects are the three above, which will all be interconnected and overlapping as well.

How about you? Are you taking on lots of challenges this year? Are you pro/con reading challenges?

Classics Club: Spin

I'm participating in my first ever Classics Club Spin. This is where you make a list of the next 20 classics you want to read, the Classics Club spins & comes up with a lucky number, which you will then read.

This month's Spin turned out to be #19. And this book should be read by Feb. 1, 2016.

I made a list of the first 20 titles on my Century of Books list that are still unread:


1. The Red House / Edith Nesbit
2. The Treasure / Selma Lagerlof
3. House of Mirth / Edith Wharton
4. The Story of Mary Maclane / Mary Maclane
5. Quiet Interior / E.B.C. Jones
6. The Garden Party / Katherine Mansfield
7. The Ladies of Lyndon / Margaret Kennedy
8. The Rector's Daughter / F.M. Mayor
9. Mother's Recompense / Edith Wharton
10. The Love Child / Edith Olivier
11. Year Before Last / Kay Boyle
12. The Friendly Young Ladies / Mary Renault
13. Winter Wheat / Mildred Walker
14. Gigi / Colette
15. The Pursuit of Love / Nancy Mitford
16. A Fine of Two Hundred Francs / Elsa Triolet
17. My Cousin Rachel / Daphne DuMaurier
18. The Echoing Grove / Rosamond Lehmann
19. The Orchid House / Phyllis Shand Allfrey
20. The Straight and Narrow Path / Honor Tracy

So it looks like I'll be reading Phyllis Shand Allfrey's The Orchid House, in my Virago edition.

How do I feel about this? I'm very interested in reading it, but I'm also a little nervous because I'm not sure what to expect or how to talk about it afterward! Guess I'll wait and see what I think as I read. This is quite a fun way to get to that reading on the list!

Classics Club: Women's Classic Literature Event

I've seen the Classics Club chatting on twitter (@ourclassicsclub) and sharing the love of classics in the blog world for quite a while. But I never took the time to really look into what they were actually doing and how they operated. Recently on twitter, someone mentioned the Women's Classic Literature Event that they are hosting for the whole of 2016. And I was hooked!

The Classics Club encourages the reading of classics (duh) but they allow "classic" to be defined by the reader. And they are a lively bunch of book lovers! I'm so glad I've finally joined the Classics Club, and signed up to participate in this great project for next year.

I've been working on the Century of Books challenge for the past two years, and I've read about 75% of my titles. I set my Century of Books challenge to be only women writers, so for this new Event, I am going to continue on with the Century of Books list. Once I finish 100 books by women, no duplicate authors or rereads, I will just keep adding any women's classics I read to that list. For the Women's Classic Literature Event, classics are suggested as pre-1960s books, so I'll also be sticking to that as closely as possible, though exceptions may be made for Canadian lit, since the 70's are considered our classic period.

Anyhow, I'll be starting in on this Event officially as of January 1st, 2016. In preparation, the Classics Club has created an introductory survey. Here are my answers:

1. Introduce yourself. Tell us what you are most looking forward to in this event.
   I am a Canadian librarian and a big reader of both old and new titles. Lately I've been skewing toward newer titles but I have SO many of my own, older books that I want to finally get to. I am really looking forward to the extra push to get back to them and share the gems that have been hiding on my shelves!
2. Have you read many classics by women? Why or why not?
   Yes! I prefer women writers, overall, and find that I read heavily in favour of women's novels/stories/journals each year.
3. Pick a classic female writer you can’t wait to read for the event, & list her date of birth, her place of birth, and the title of one of her most famous works.I really want to finally read some Rose Macaulay. Born in Rugby, Warwickshire in 1881, she published her first novel in 1906. Her best-known, award-winning novel is The Towers of Trebizond, but I'd also like to read Crewe Train, and The World my Wilderness, as well as her collection of anecdotal essays, Personal Pleasures. I own copies of most of these, just have to read them!
4. Think of a female character who was represented in classic literature by a male writer. Does she seem to be a whole or complete woman? Why or why not? Tell us about her. (Without spoilers, please!)
   I really liked Charlotte Grandison, from Sir Charles Grandison. The heroine of the book is a bit too sweet and perfect, but Charlotte is mouthy, funny, and sarcastic. She's not keen on husbands or babies, even when she has both, and she is definitely her own person. I feel like Samuel Richardson really liked women, from my reading of this novel.
5. Favorite classic heroine? (Why? Who wrote her?)
   Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables is one of my favourite Canadian heroines. I met her when I was a young, awkward, literary pre-teen, and she & I just got along so well. I reread AGG regularly & still enjoy the visits. I am a big fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery as an author and as a Canadian individual.
6. We’d love to help clubbers find great titles by classic female authors. Can you recommend any sources for building a list? 
   Searching the lists made by participants in the Century of Books project may give you some ideas. Also, the Victorian Web is a very fun place to visit!
7. Recommend three books by classic female writers to get people started in this event.
   Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (one of my faves)
   North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell
   Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (for a light & enjoyable read)
8. Will you be joining us for this event immediately, or will you wait until the new year starts?
   I'm waiting for a fresh start, as of January 1st.
9. Do you plan to read as inspiration pulls, or will you make out a preset list?
   I'm doing a combination: I have a list from a previous challenge that I'm going to keep working on, but add other titles as I feel drawn to them.
10. Are you pulling to any particular genres? (Letters, journals, biographies, short stories, novels, poems, essays, etc?)
    I'll be focusing on novels, with a secondary interest in journals.
11. Are you pulling to a particular era or location in literature by women?
    By reading many of the books I already own, I'll be leaning toward 19th C./early 20th C. North America & England.
12. Do you hope to host an event or readalong for the group? No worries if you don’t have details. We’re just curious!
    Not thinking of one currently... but you never know!
13. Share a quote you love by a classic female author — even if you haven’t read the book yet.
    I suppose it's like that -- you can never get far enough outside your own life to see it as a story, something that is romantic or tragic or strange. It goes along with you all the time and you don't know the pattern of it any more than you know the sound of your own voice.
    (from One Foolish Heart by June Wilson, 1948)
14. Finally, ask the question you wish this survey had asked, & then answer it.
    My question is: what book from your own country's literature do you think is an underrated classic? 
    My answer: for my own part, in Canadian literature, I think that Vera Lysenko's Yellow Boots is overlooked, but it is a great example of a mid-century struggle with one's ethnic background, a theme that was appearing around that time as writers were trying to understand what "Canadian" meant.  Also, in the mystery genre, anything by Margaret Millar is a classic -- she is a terribly underrated Canadian writer!