Back to the Classics Challenge 2014

I am so looking forward to this challenge, again!  I do love to read the classics, but I tend to get stuck in Victorian tomes, so this challenge requires me to broaden my reading within a genre I already love.

Karen at Books and Chocolate is the host this year, and she has some terrific categories as well as some new rules to make sure we all get the most out of challenging ourselves.  I struggled a bit with the rule that a classic must be published before 1964--that put The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969) and Crossing to Safety (1987) out of the running, but Crossing to Safety is already  on my TBR Pile Challenge so it will get read in 2014.

Here's what I'm thinking of reading this year...and the cool thing is that except for East of Eden, I already own all of these books.

Required:

1. A 20th Century Classic - The Sybil, by Pär Lagerkvist
2. A 19th Century Classic - Dr. Thorne, by Anthony Trollope 
3. A Classic by a Woman Author - Jane of Lantern Hill, by L.M. Montgomery
4. A Classic in Translation - Germinal, by Emile Zola
5. A Classic About War  - The 39 Steps, by John Buchan
6. A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You - The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath and Miss Marjoribanks, by Margaret Oliphant

Optional Categories:

1. An American Classic - The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
2. A Classic Mystery, Suspense or Thriller - Mystery Mile, by Margery Allingham
3. A Historical Fiction Classic - Waverly, by Sir Walter Scott
4. A Classic That's Been Adapted Into a Movie or TV Series - East of Eden, John Steinbeck
5. Extra Fun Category:  Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4 - can't wait!!!