Back to the Classics Challenge Wrap Up

Karen at Books and Chocolate hosted the Back to the Classics Challenge this year (and she's hosting again in 2015!) and as usual it was my favorite challenge of the year.  I'm a big fan of classics and had a great year completing the required categories and challenging myself with the optional categories.  I read in all the required categories, and three out of the five optional ones.

A 20th Century Classic - The Sybil, by Pär Lagerkvist - this was a reread for me, and I remember liking it better as a college student than I did on the reread but still a very interesting book.

A 19th Century Classic - Dr. Thorne, by Anthony Trollope - book three in Trollope's Barset novels and my favorite so far.  The more I read Trollope, the more I like him.

A Classic by a Woman Author - Jane of Lantern Hill, by L.M. Montgomery - a sweet, interesting story that charmed me and made me wish I had read it as young teen.

A Classic in Translation - Germinal, by Emile Zola - one of the best books of 2014 for me; amazing in so many ways.

A Classic About War  - The 39 Steps, by John Buchan - a bit of a sleeper but I ended up enjoying it and wanting to read more by Buchan.

A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You - Miss Marjoribanks, by Margaret Oliphant - what a fun book.  Miss Majoribanks is unlike every other Victorian heroine you might have met.

Optional Categories:

1. An American Classic - The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton - I loved this sad, beautifully written story.
2. A Classic Mystery, Suspense or Thriller - Mystery Mile, by Margery Allingham - finally read this classic mystery; wonderful country home setting, definitely Golden Era style.
3. A Historical Fiction Classic - Waverly, by Sir Walter Scott - my nemesis; I can't seem to get my act together to get this one read.  Another year where it sat on the shelf.
4. A Classic That's Been Adapted Into a Movie or TV Series - East of Eden, John Steinbeck - I liked it so much I read it twice this year--once in the summer and once in the fall.  
5. Extra Fun Category:  Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4 - still haven't watched either the James Dean version or the Jane Seymour version but hope to soon.

Other classics read in 2014 include the following:

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath 

South Riding, by Winifred Holt

Howards End, by E.M. Forster

Highland River, by Neil M. Gunn

The Watsons, by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen

A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare

The Merry Wives of Windsor, by William Shakespeare

The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens

And, I'm almost done with A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster.

I'm looking forward to signing up for Back to the Classics Challenge for 2015...just need to work on my list!