Back to the Classics challenge 2017

Back to the classics are hosted by Karen @ Books and Chocolate. I participated with six books in 2016 and almost made it. For 2017 I will be bold and go for 12 classics. Most of them already on my shelves since long, and they are also included in other challenges.

The challenge is the same as last year, 12 classic books, but with slightly different categories. You do not have to read all 12 books to participate in this challenge!

Complete six categories, and you get one entry in the drawing
Complete nine categories, and you get two entries in the drawing
Complete all twelve categories, and you get three entries in the drawing

Here are the books I will read for each category.

1. A 19th century classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899 - George Elliot - The Mill on the Floss (published 1860)

2.  A 20th century classic - any book published between 1900 and 1967. Just like last year, all books MUST have been published at least 50 years ago to qualify. The only exception is books written at least 50 years ago, but published later, such as posthumous publications - Farewell to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood (published 1939)

3.  A classic by a woman author - Kristin Lavransdotter by Sigrid Undset

4.  A classic in translation.  Any book originally written published in a language other than your native language. Feel free to read the book in your language or the original language. (You can also read books in translation for any of the other categories) - Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (from German, reading in Swedish)

5.  A classic published before 1800. Plays and epic poems are acceptable in this category - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (published 1597)

6.  A romance classic. I'm pretty flexible here about the definition of romance. It can have a happy ending or a sad ending, as long as there is a strong romantic element to the plot - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

7.  A Gothic or horror classic. For a good definition of what makes a book Gothic, and an excellent list of possible reads, please see this list on Goodreads - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

8.  A classic with a number in the title. Examples include A Tale of Two Cities, Three Men in a Boat, The Nine Tailors, Henry V, Fahrenheit 451, etc. An actual number is required -- for example, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None would not qualify, but The Seven Dials Mystery would - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez

9.  A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title.  It can be an actual animal or a metaphor, or just the name in the title. Examples include To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, The Metamorphosis, White Fang, etc. If the animal is not obvious, please clarify it in your post - Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux

10. A classic set in a place you'd like to visit. It can be real or imaginary: The Wizard of Oz, Down and Out in Paris and London, Death on the Nile, etc - The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe

11. An award-winning classic. It could be the Newbery award, the Prix Goncourt, the Pulitzer Prize, the James Tait Award, etc. Any award, just mention in your blog post what award your choice received - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Pulitzer Prize)

12. A Russian classic. 2017 will be the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, so read a classic by any Russian author - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoj

Many of them rather thick books, so a little bit of a challenge. But that what challenges are for. Most of them are books I wanted to read for a long time, and it seems that time has now come.