2021 Back to the Classics Wrap-Up

Here are the 12 books I completed for the Classics Challenge this year: 

Choose a 19th Century Classic - Middlemarch by George Elliot

Choose a 20th Century Classic - Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammet

Choose a Classic by a Woman Author - So Big by Edna Ferber

Choose a Classic by an Author New to You  - Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway

Choose a Travel or Adventure Classic - Here in New York by E. B. White

Choose a Classic about an Animal - Call of The Wild by Jack London

Choose a Children's Classic - Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Choose a Humor or Satiric Classic - The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Choose a Classic Play - Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde

Choose a BIPOC Classic - House Made of Dawn by N Scott Monaday

Choose a Classic in Translation - City Folk & Country Folk by Sofia Khvoshchinskaya

Choose a Classic by a Favorite Author - 7 Best Short Stories by George Gissing

It must have been a long year because I look at some of the books I read  at the start of 2021, Here in New York by E. B. White and Red Harvest by Dashiel Hammet and it feels like I read them more than a year ago but it was actually this year.  

Two books stand out for me on the above list, Middlemarch by George Elliot and Call of The Wild by Jack London.  They are two very different writers with very different stories to tell and I loved both books.  

Middlemarch by George Elliot of course needs no introduction.  It is a masterpiece, a classic among classics but also a very readable Victorian novel and what made the novel special for me was Dr. Tertius Lydgate.  I finished the book infatuated with him and wanting a sequel.  

Call of The Wild by Jack London was my second favorite book. And for people who might be hesitant to pick up Middlemarch (it is over 800 pages), the Call of The Wild which is less than 70 pages might be a better fit and boy does Jack London pack some brilliant writing into those 70 pages!

Thanks as always to Karen K for hosting the 2021 Back to the Classics Challenge and if there is a 2022 Classics Challenge I will be sure to sign up.

Have A Happy and Healthy New Year!