Back to the Classics 2021 Reading List
- It’s back…for the eighth year!
- Back to the Classics 2021 reading challenge.
- Sign-up and challenge information
- …is available Karen @BooksAndChocolate
Here is my reading list:
1. 19th C Classic: Iola Leroy (Penguin Classics) by Frances E.W. Harper (1892)
2. 20th C Classic: The Ways of White Folks: Stories (Vintage Classics) by Langston Hughes (1934)
3. Classic by a woman: Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
4. Classic in translation: Palace Walk: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 1 by Naguib Mahfouz (1956)
5. Classic BIPOC Author: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)
6. Classic by new-to-me Author: Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946)
7. Classic not read favorite Author: Nobody Knows My Name by J.Baldwin (1961)
8. Classic with animal in title: La maison de chat qui pelote by H. Balzac (1830)
9. Children’s Classic: The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton (1968)
10. Humorous/Satire Classic: Pour une nuit d’amour by E. Zola (1880)
11. Travel Classic: Voyage au centre de la terre by J. Verne (1864)
12. Classic Play: Le bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière (1670)
Lockdown reading
NancyElin.blog 
A very nice list! I’ll be especially curious about the Lonely Londoners and Lola Ieroy.
I really liked the whole Cairo Trilogy. I read The River Between. I thought it was very good, but the subject matter was challenging.
Iloa Leroy story is smth that should be a film script! It just captured my attention. I
really had to think about a journey/adventure for a voice of color that was NOT about the Great Migration. So I thought of the Windrush Generation that moved from the Caribbean to UK…in the 1950s-1960s.I know nothing about their story. Thanks so much for your comment, Reese!
Good luck! A couple of these are on my Classics Club list, though I didn’t pick them for this challenge.
Thanks for you comment!
I can’t wait to get started with 2021 reading challenges!
I am going to join in on this again in 2021. Don’t know when I will do a sign up post though. All of your choices sound good, and I like the New Yorker cover.
Glad to hear you’ll be joining the challenge.
You can read at different levels…..I choose to read 12
over the course of 12 months. That should be do-able!
Tracy, I think the New Yorker Covers sometimes works of art….
and social commentary. I save all my issues!
Great list Nancy.
I could combine some of the books on my schedule to fit this too –
Chn’s – The Tailor of Gloucester
Woman – My Love Must Wait
20th C – The Pea Pickers
Translation – The Sin of Father Hunchback of Notre Dame
19th C – David Copperfield
Fav Author – The Sin of Father Mouret
Love the New Yorker cartoon, but where are the rest of the stacks? Only one on each side!?
:-D
It’s all a question of planning and putting the pieces of
the “reading challenge’ puzzle together.
I’m trying to find enough authors of asian/color/indigenous to fill in
both #AWW2021 and #AusReadinMonth2021!
NYorker Cover….2 stack b/c I have a lot of e-books!
🤣
Their Eyes Were Watching God is on my personal canon. Love this one. The film was pretty good, too.
I’m reading The Bluest Eye, also, for POC category, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for Animal category, too.
Good luck!
Ruth, thanks for your comment!
We’re reading 2 of the same books…great minds think alike!
I must stop by your blog…it has been ages since I had a look.
Lots of “newer” classics on your list. I’ve been intending to read The House of Dies Drear for ages and I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the Cairo Trilogy book. Again, I’ve been interested in that one but not sure if it’s worth the time.
All the best with your list, Nancy!
Again, it is an extra dimension choosing books by
authors of color, minority…but I find the most interesting
things to read! Langston Hughes has been on my radar for years…just never got
around to reading him.
I loved I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, especially experiencing it on audiobook, which is narrated by Maya Angelou. Her voice is the most comforting and beautiful voice, so it was such a delight. Letter to My Daughters and My Mom & Me and Mom were also amazing books by her.