Reading Challenges - February List

  This year I have decided to join two reading challenges:

  As always my trusty D12 with one face for each month of the year, will play a prominent role.
  I'll let it roll it on the first (or close to) of every month, letting it decide which book to bring with me on train rides and elsewhere in the month to come.
  January's roll gave me a 7: Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. For the Back to the Classics Challenge.
  I chose The Dragon and the George from my Christmas gift of old, second hand Science Fiction and Fantasy books.
  This book also counts for the United Kingdoms category of European Reading Challenge.

February 1st ... and I got a 12. Time to dust off Dr. Zhivago, book and movie. Also counting for Russia in the European Reading Challenge. I just have to find an edition without those posh transcriptions of Russian names. When for instance the name Afanasyev is written Afanas'ev and Olga written Ol'ga, I stumble over those small thingies - every time. I might have to find an English translation.

 The categories and my ideas 
          - to be extended, supplemented, updated and re-posted from time to time:

1. 19th Century Classic.  Through the Looking Glass A long time want to read
2. 20th Century Classic. Glasperlenspiel (Glass Bead Game).
3. Classic by a Woman Author. Pilgrimage: The Book of The People
4. Classic in Translation. Almost any books I read in Danish or German ;)
5. Classic by a Person of Color. Katitzi og Swing (Name in English?) by Katitzi Taikon - I hope a Roma count as non-white (they are, according to me) and I have long had this childrens' auto-fiction on my to read-list..
6. A Genre Classic. Time to peruse my Christmas gift.
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title: The Dragon and the George. ✔️
8. Classic with a Place in the Title. The Clocks of Iraz, 
9. Classic with Nature in the Title. The Wind in the Willows, also a long time want to read.
10. Classic About a Family. Brideshead Revisited? Nope it sure belongs to 12. Off to the library and second hand stores, when I get a 10.
11. Abandoned Classic. Dr. Zivago, or maybe Marts 1970 - I tried both too many times. 
12. Classic Adaptation. Brideshead Revisited fits here for sure, but on a second thought so does Dr. Zivago. I loved the film, when I saw it. I dreamed of living in Russia, even going to the extreme of teaching myself Cyrillic letters and handwriting - I can't read my diary from way back then any more ;)  

-- 🗺 --

  For the European Reaiding Challenge, I aim high. I signed up for the FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
  But I fully intend to at least try to win the JET SETTER PRIZE for the participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books (more than five).

Countries to 'visit': 

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

 So many books ... so little time

Back to the Classisc - My tentative list -- January

  As always my trusty D12 with one face for each month of the year, will play a prominent role.
  I'll let it roll it on the first (or close to) of every month, letting it decide which book to bring with me on train rides and elsewhere in the month to come.
  January's roll gave me a 7: Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. I'll choose The Dragon and the George from my Christmas gift of old, second hand Science Fiction and Fantasy books.

 The categories and my ideas 
          - to be extended, supplemented, updated and re-posted from time to time:

1. 19th Century Classic.  Through the Looking Glass A long time want to read
2. 20th Century Classic. Glasperlenspiel (Glass Bead Game).
3. Classic by a Woman Author. Pilgrimage: The Book of The People
4. Classic in Translation. Almost any books I read in Danish or German ;)
5. Classic by a Person of Color. Katitzi og Swing (Name in English?) by Katitzi Taikon - I hope a Roma count as non-white (they are, according to me) and I have long had this childrens' auto-fiction on my to read-list..
6. A Genre Classic. Time to peruse my Christmas gift.
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. Pippi Longstocking, Moreta, The Dragon and the George, Screwtape Letters, Surprised by Joy ... Too many ideas, I hope this category will be repeated for years to come,
8.  Classic with a Place in the Title. The Clocks of Iraz, 
9. Classic with Nature in the Title. The Wind in the Willows, also a long time want to read.
10. Classic About a Family. Brideshead Revisited? Nope it sure belongs to 12. Off to the library and second hand stores, when I get a 10.
11. Abandoned Classic. Dr. Zivago, or maybe Marts 1970 - I tried both too many times. 
12. Classic Adaptation. Brideshead Revisited fits here for sure, but on a second thought so does Dr. Zivago. I loved the film, when I saw it. I dreamed of living in Russia, even going to the extreme of teaching myself Cyrillic letters and handwriting - I can't read my diary from way back then any more ;)  

 So many books ... so little time

Back to the Classics 2020

Yay! Books and Chocolate did it again. She has put up the the Back to the Classics list for 2020. Thanks!!
   I already have some ideas, and some aversions.
  Ideas: Brideshead Revisited most certainly is going to make it to the list this year (family, adaptation, place ...).  Pippi Longstocking as the name in the title one, maybe. My family and other Animals, not that book , but one of the others he wrote, and that I have not read (nature, family, genre ...), Glasperlenspiel either in the unfinished or the according to writing year-category.
  One of my Christmas presents was a big package of old, second hand Science fiction and fantasy books. I'm sure that some of them fits one or more of these cartegoies. Examples include: Moreta, for a name or genre, The Clocks of Iraz, for a place-name (fictional), or maybe a translation as I read it in French.

  Aversions: I'm not going to search for books by female or non-white authors - numbers 3 and  5 on the list. For two reasons:
1. That kind of thinking goes against what literature as an art - a thing of merit, beaty and pleasure - stands for in my head. I want to read a book because it is good, talks to me or shows me something new, not because it was written by Mrs. or Mr. So-and-so.
2. And most improtant to me: It is not possible to see what gender or colour the author has, by looking at the book. For a longish time I thougth Evelyn Waugh was a woman and Enid Blyton a man ;) P.G. something is even worse. I buy many books second hand, where the dust cover - the normal place for photos and info about the author  - is often not there. I'd have to write down title and author, go home and read up on the author's bio, taking the risk of it being grasped by someone else in the meantime. 
  In short. Things pertaining to the book is a fun game, finding out whether the author belongs to the rigth group is not.


And as always the D12 with one face for each month of the year, will play a prominent role.
  I'll roll it on the first (or as close to) of every month, letting it decide which book to bring with me on train rides and elsewhere in the month to come.

-- 📚 -- BOOK LIST -- 📚 --

Some of the General rules:
  Classics are defined as books written more than 50 years ago (also books that were published posthumously but were written at least 50 years ago) That means until the end of December 1970.
  Furthermore they should be still read and somewhat known.
- Books in translation are acceptable in all categories.
- One book can not count for 2 categories.
- Childrens' books are fine, but not more than 3.


 The categories:

1. 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899. ...
2.  20th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1970.
3. Classic by a Woman Author.
4. Classic in Translation. Any classic originally written in a novel other than your native language. You may read the book in your native language, or its original language (or a third language for all you polyglots).
5. Classic by a Person of Color. Any classic novel by a non-white author.
6. A Genre Classic. Any classic novel that falls into a genre category -- fantasy, science fiction, Western, romance, crime, horror, etc.
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. First name, last name or both. Examples include Ethan Frome; Emma; Madam Bovary; Anna Karenina; Daniel Deronda; David Copperfield, etc.
8. Classic with a Place in the Title. Any classic with the proper name of a place (real or ficitonal) - a country, region, city, town, village, street, building, etc. Examples include Notre Dame de Paris; Mansfield Park; East of Eden; The Canterbury Tales; Death on the Nile; etc.
9. Classic with Nature in the Title. A classic with any element of nature in the title (not including animals). Examples include The Magic Mountain; The Grapes of Wrath; The Jungle; A High Wind in Jamaica; Gone With the Wind; Under the Volcano; etc.
10. Classic About a Family. This classic should have multiple members of the same family as principal characters, either from the same generation or multiple different generations. Examples include Sense and Sensibility; Wives and Daughters; The Brothers Karamazov; Fathers and Sons; The Good Earth; Howards End; and The Makioka Sisters.
11. Abandoned Classic. Choose a classic that you started and just never got around to finishing, whether you didn't like it at or just didn't get around to it. Now is the time to give it another try.
12. Classic Adaptation. Any classic that's been adapted as a movie or TV series. If you like, you can watch the adaptation and include your thoughts in your book review. It's not required but it's always fun to compare.