Challenge Link-Up Post: Classic Travel or Journey

Please link your reviews for your Classic Travel or Journey Narrative here.  This is only for the Classic Travel or Journey Narrative category. This can be fiction or non-fiction, but the journey itself must be the major plot point -- not just the destination.   If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (Travels with Charley)." 

Challenge Link-Up Post: Classic Crime

Please link your reviews for your Classic crime story (fiction or non-fiction) here.  This is only for the Classic Crime category.  This can be a true crime story, mystery, detective novel, spy novel, etc., as long as a crime is an integral part of the story and it was published at least 50 years ago. 
   
If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (In Cold Blood)." 

Challenge Link-Up Post: Children's Classic

Please link your reviews for your Children's Classic here.  This is only for the Children's Classic  category.  Short stories are fine, but it must be a complete volume. Young adult and picture books don't count!   If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)." 

Challenge Link-Up Post: Classic in Translation

Please link your reviews for your Classic in Translation here.  This is only for the Classic in Translation category.  These should all be classics that were originally written in a language other than your primary language; that is, if you are a native English speaker, it should be a classic written in another language other than English.  If you are not a native English speaker, it could be in English (or any other language, other than your primary language). If you want to read the book in its original language, that's fine too!

If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (Madame Bovary)."

Challenge Link-Up Post: Classic by a Woman Author

Please link your reviews for your Classic by a Woman Author here.  This is only for the Classic by a Woman Author category.  If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section. If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (Jane Eyre)."

Challenge Link-Up Post: 20th Century Classic

Please link your reviews for your 20th Century Classic here.  This is only for the 20th Century Classic category.  All books in this category must have been published between 1900 and 1968 to qualify as classics (except for posthumous publications.  If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (Their Eyes Were Watching God)."

Challenge Link-Up Post: 19th Century Classic

Please link your reviews for your 19th Century Classic here.  This is only for the 19th Century Classic category.  All books in this category must have been published from 1800 to 1899.   If you do not have a blog, or somewhere public on the internet where you post book reviews, please write your mini-review/thoughts in the comments section.  If you like, you can include the name of your blog and/or the title of the book in your link, like this: "Karen K. @ Books and Chocolate (Bleak House)."

And the winner of the Back to the Classics Challenge 2017 prize drawing is . . . .

 LaGraziana @ Edith's Miscellany !!!!

Edith won $30 in books from The Book Depository!!  Congratulations!!!  

And many thanks to all the bloggers who participated in this event! More than 200 people signed up, and 52 people completed the challenge. But don't forget, we're all winners, because we've all crossed some classics books off of our to-read lists!!  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and that you've signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2018. I'm very excited about starting on my own list and reading everyone's new posts.

Later this week I'll start posting the links for your 2018 reviews. Thanks again to everyone for participating! 

Final Reminder: Back to the Classics Challenge Ends in One Week!

Just one more week to submit links for the Back to the Classics Challenge! I'll be traveling for a week the day after Christmas, so this will be your final reminder before the links close just after midnight, December 31. 

Approximately 35 people have posted links (including myself, but don't worry, I'm not included in the prize drawing) out of more than 200 people who signed up originally. Odds are still pretty good -- you only have to link posts to six different book reviews to qualify for the $30 (U.S) gift certificate to Amazon.com OR The Book Depository!

Complete rules are here, and don't forget, you MUST link to a wrap-up post WITH LINKS to your reviews to qualify for the drawing. Links to the individual categories are on the sidebar of this blog. If you don't have a blog and are posting your reviews on Goodreads, just write a short-wrap up with all the links and corresponding categories in the comments section on the Final-Wrap Up Post page. If you do have a blog, post your link to your final wrap-up HERE to be included by midnight, December 31, 2017.

Thanks again to everyone who participated this year! I wish everyone happy and bookish holidays and I look forward to awarding the prize during the first week of January when I return.

Back to the Classics 2017: My Final Wrap-Up

I'm finished! It took me almost the entire year, but I did finish on time. Here's what I read for this challenge, with links to my reviews.

19th Century Classic: Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondely -- great, under-appreciated Victorian novel by woman author.

20th Century Classic: School for Love by Olivia Manning. A young man is stuck living in Jerusalem at the end WWII in a boarding house with quirky characters. 

Classic by a Woman Author:  The Trail of the Serpent by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. A great Victorian sensation novel.

Classic in Translation: The Wine of Solitude by Irene Nemirovsky.

Pre-1800 Classic:  Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. 

Romance Classic: Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer 

Gothic Classic:  A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott. Another Victorian sensation novel -- written by the author of many beloved children's classics! Who knew?

Classic With a Number in the Title: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. 

Classic About an Animal (or Animal in the Title): Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau. 

Classic Set in a Place I'd Like to Visit: The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O'Brien (Ireland). 

Award-Winning Classic: Kristin Lavransdattar, Vol. I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset.

Russian Classic: Journey Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg. A fascinating yet horrifying look at life in a Russian labor camp.

I picked some really good reads for this year's challenge. My favorites were Kristin Lavransdattar, The Trail of the Serpent, and Red Pottage, though Deerbrook was also really good. Least favorites were Journey Into the Whirlwind and The Country Girls, simply because they were rather dark and depressing, though both were very well written. Overall I'm really pleased with all the books I chose, especially because I managed to fulfill the challenge reading a majority of books by women, and six were from my own shelves. Next year I'm going to try to read more of my own books for this challenge as those TBR piles are pretty big.

And well done to everyone who participated! Congratulations and thanks for joining!