New Year, New Challenge: Reading Schedule for 2021

 

New year, new hope, new vigour. After some reading (and blogging) slump this year, I intend to make a come back next year. Covid-19 will likely still be part of our lives (looking at how our govt has been acting so far, I’ve prepared for the worse), however, we must make the best of this unfortunate situation, yes? So, I will spare most of my leisure time for reading and blogging.

Personally, 2021 will also mark a new era for me, which I will explain further in another post. Meanwhile here is what my reading schedule looks like throughout 2021:

January

#CCSpin25 #BackToTheClassics2021 #CC3 – Eugene Onegin - DONE
#RougonMacquartProject – The Conquest of Plassans - DONE

February

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – Nicholas Nickleby (with Ruth) - DONE

March

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – 
#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – Things Fall Apart - DONE

April

#Zoladdiction2021 #RougonMacquartProject – The Sin of Abbe Mouret - CURRENTLY READING
#Zoladdiction2021 – Zola’s biography or short stories collections

May

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – My Antonia (with Laurie)
#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – Return of the Native

June

#JazzAgeJune #CC – The Beautiful and Damned
#hunchbackreadalong #CC – The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (7 chapters) – it’s one of Nick's Chapter-a-Day-Read-Along

July

#RougonMacquartProject – His Excellency Eugene Rougon
--The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (31 chapters)

August

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – The Pilgrim’s Progress
--The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (21 chapters)

September

#RougonMacquartProject – L’Assommoir
#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – Watership Down

October

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC #RIP – Lady Audley’s Secret
#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC #RIP – Othello

November

#BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – Cat’s Craddle
#CC – The Custom of the Country or Barchester Tower

December

#ALiteraryChristmas #BackToTheClassics2021 #CC – The Nutcracker
#ALiteraryChristmas – A Merry Christmas (Alcott) or other Christmas stories

 

~~Statistics~~

15 books for #CC or The Classics Club #3 (complete list coming soon!)
12 books for Back to the Classics 2021

4 reading events participation:
- Nick’s Chapter-A-Day-Readalong (The Hunchback of Notre Dame only)
- #CCSpin (January is definite; other months tentative)
- RIP
- A Literary Christmas

2 events hosting:
- #Zoladdiction2021
- #JazzAgeJune (co-hosting with Laurie)

1 personal project:
#RougonMacquartProject

 

~~Beyond the schedule~~

- #AgathaChristiePerpetualReading – will read as many Agatha Christie I can in between books/events
- one or two classics or non-classics when possible
- #MobyDick2ndRead – will continue on this as many as possible


If you feel like reading a book or two along with me, just let me know, the more the merrier! 

Back to the Classics Challenge 2021

I'm glad that Karen @ Books and Chocolate has decided to host another of my most favorite reading challenge next year: Back to the Classics Challenge! And this time I will do all the 12 categories: 

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899 – The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written by 1971 and posthumously published. – My Antonia by Willa Cather

3. A classic by a woman author. – Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elisabeth Braddon

4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer.  – The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author. – Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read. – Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author -- a new book by an author whose works you have already read.  – Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title. The animal can be real or metaphorical. (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird). – Watership Down by Richard Adams

9. A children's classic. – The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann

10. A humorous or satirical classic. – The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse 

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). It can be a travelogue or a classic in which the main character travels or has an adventure. – Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category. – Mrs. Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde


I can't wait to start it already, it will be super fun!

A Literary Christmas 2020

I have been meaning to participate in this yearly Christmas reading challenge for some years, but what with the usual year-end hectic at the office and with my own reading challenges, I have skipped it the last two years. This time I've been looking forward to Christmas comfort reading more than ever, so I've made sure I completed most of my reading challenges beforehand. Now I have a free mouthful ahead of me, so I decided to join A Literary Christmas 2020 hosted by Tarissa of In the Bookcase.

My Christmas Reading List:

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva (currently reading)

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

And, if I can squeeze one more novella between Christmas movies on my Netflix list, I'd love to give A Christmas Carol another reread!

What about you? What's in your Christmas to-read this year?

Classics Club Spin # 25

It's time for another #CCSpin, and I'm as excited as can be, because it will be based on my 3rd The Classics Club List, which I'll be starting on January 2021 (the complete list will be up on December)! Here they are...

01. Watership Down - Richard Adam's

02. I, Robot - Isaac Asimov

03. Eugenie Grandet - Honore de Balzac

04. Lady Audley's Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon

05. The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan

06. My Antonia - Willa Cather

07. The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane

08. Casino Royale - Ian Flemming

09. Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy

10. Their Eyes Were Watchijg God - Zora Neale Hurston

11. The Immitation of the Christ- Thomas A. Kemp is

12. Under the Net - Iris Murdoch

13. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

14. Eugene Onegin - Alexander Pushkin

15. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

16. The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu

17. The Crucible - Arthur Miller

18. Barchester Tower - Anthony Trollope

19. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonegut

20. The Customs of the Country - Edith Wharton

14 out of 20 are new authors for me. I'm a bit nervous, but also pretty exciting here. Have you read any of them? Spotted a favorite or two? :)

Classic Character: Judith Hutter of The Deerslayer

Judith Hutter is the eldest daughter of a frontiersman: Thomas Hutter in The Deerslayer. She's born in the wilderness, and lived all her life away from civilization, without friends or neighbors. Judith is beautiful, intelligent, strong-minded and independent girl. She loves luxury and fine dress, and takes pride of her exceptional beauty. Her only social life is with officers in the garrison.

You can imagine, then, being a very beautiful girl without peers, always being praised by her mother and the young men as beautiful; who's given fine dresses by her mother. She is as intelligent as is beautiful, but 18th century women were regarded only as decorative to men's home, thus nobody ever praised her brains. She was excluded from discussions - if ever her father had discussion with other men - and the officers only saw her face, figure, and dress. How do you think she would grown up into? I say, she would have been the girl Judith Hutter in the earliest part of The Deerslayer is. Famous among the officers, proud of her beauty, loves to be center of attention from the men.

I believe that Judith knows she has qualities. And like other human beings, she is thirst of attention and acknowledgement. But others only see her as beautiful girl, thus she used her femininity to get attention, maybe unintentionally. Proof? After the arrival of Deerslayer, the only man who doesn't regard her as a sweet girl to be made love with, Judith gradually transformed into a new personality.

Deerslayer listens to her ideas (compared to her father, who often reproaches her when she offers her mind, and tells her to not interfere with men's business). Deerslayer is the only man who sees her true qualities: intelligence, independence, and courage. Judith has even transformed to an unselfish sister towards the feeble minded Hetty. I was amazed by how different she was from what Hurry Harry had described her to Deerslayer (earlier in the story).

Maybe, the true Judith Hutter is what we see in the end, and not what the men had described hitherto. Or maybe, she needs a man with high morality, such as Deerslayer, to find her true qualities. Either way, I was amazed by Judith's transformation. Hers might be one of the biggest in literature. I learned a lot from her character, that society's views often shape our personalities and how others regard us.

2020 Reading Challenges Wrap Up (Part I)

It's a rare moment when I have competed some of my reading challenges this early! Usually it finishes near December. It might have been because I'm less competitive this year, or maybe that this Covid-19 pandemic changes my priorities. Either way, I'm proud of myself that I have read AND blogged every book I have intended to read this year, and I still have more time to read whatever I want (mostly Christmas books! (^__^)

Right now I still have 2 books to read and blogged until December, so for now I will wrap up only the first three challenges that I have completed so far. The rest will follow around December.

2020 Victorian Reading Challenge

Host: Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews
Duration: January 2020 - December 2020
Goal: Quarterly Victorian Challenge - min. 4 books

Books read:

1. Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte)
2. The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins)
3. Hard Times (Charles Dickens)
4. Silas Marner (George Eliot)

Back to the Classics Challenge 2020

Hosted by: Karen @ Books and Chocolate
Duration: January 2020 - December 2020
Goal: Nine categories
Twitter: @Fanda

Books read:

1. 19th Century Classic: Hard Times (Charles Dickens)
2. 20th Century Classic: This Side of Paradise (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
3. Classic by a Woman Author: The Song of the Lark (Willa Cather)
4. Classic in Translation: The Fortune of the Rougons (Emile Zola)
5. A Genre Classic: The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins)
6. Classic with Name in the Title: Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte)
7. Classic with a Place in the Title: The Vicar of Wakefield (Oliver Goldsmith)
8.Classic About a Family: One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
9. Classic Adaptation: The The Pearl (John Steinbeck)

 

The 2020 European Reading Challenge

Hosted by: Gilion @ Rose City Reader
Duration: January 2020 - January 2021
Goal: Four Star (Business Traveler) - 3 books

Books read:

1. Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte) - United Kingdom
2. Dubliners (James Joyce) - Ireland
3.  The Fortune of the Rougons (Emile Zola) – France

    

6 Degree of Separation: from The Turn of the Screw to All the Pretty Horses

I've been meaning to post more of 6 Degree of Separation - a monthly meme hosted by Kathy - and only waiting for a book which I have actually read, and is interesting enough. The time has finally come, here it is...

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

In this gothic story, a young woman (a governess) is placed in a country house, where she experiences mysterious and supernatural things which threatens to shatter her sanity. A similar condition is experienced by another young woman in...


The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ratcliffe

Emily St. Aubert, a young heroine of this (another) gothic tale, also experiences mysterious apparitions, and even more than that, while staying in the Castle of Udolpho. These misfortunes befall her after the death of her father that made her an orphan. There is another (more) misfortunate young lady, who is left alone in the world after the death of her father. She is the heroine of...


The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper

Judith Hutter might be stronger and braver than Emily St. Aubert, but she lacks Emily's pure innocence. She is cocquetish and regarded as too liberal at that era (18th century). Notwithstanding her diligent efforts to redeem herself from her follies, the society stamped her fate as fallen woman. This particular aspect of The Deerslayer is too much in common with the main theme of...


The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Lily Bart must have, perhaps, worked harder than any woman of her time to get a husband. Why? Because, after her family's ruin, she belongs to the working class. She hates poverty, so she desperately (though not too diligently) worked to belong to the higher class - the same case as in....


The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Poor Jay Gatsby... For a man to love a girl from a class higher than himself, is almost an impossibility. You're not alone, old sport, in this struggle. Another hero shares your agony in this book:


All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Grady Cole is a ranch worker who has the audacity to fall in love with the rancher's daughter. His fate is very similar to that of Jay Gatsby. This is the sixth book, and at this point I have to stop the chain.

Interestingly, Kathy has set a freebie theme for November, picking the last book on October chain to start next month's. See you then!