"Oldies but Goodies" Mini-Challenge Winners.

Ummm....wow you guys. I am impressed by the number of entries (155!) and the fact that you all seemed to love talking about these old books that I hold so dear to my heart. It has been an absolute blast reading through your comments and I have added a LARGE number of titles to that massive TBR list I have. It also made for good reading while sitting in the doctor's office this morning. :)

It is great to see that at some point, these books we call "classics" have impacted everyone. I suppose that is why we call them classics, hmm?

Reading through all of your entries and your cries of, "How can I pick just one?" had me thinking about which books I would label my favorites. It came down to 1 story out of a million that I wanted to share.

When I was coming up with the premise for my blog and developing my book list, challenge requirements, and naming my blog, I took a good long look at what I was trying to accomplish. I wanted a name to speak to what I was going to do and years long project it was going to be. That is when my eyes glanced over Homer's The Odyssey on my list. It had been a couple years since I read the story, but I was drawn to the name. I loved the struggle of Telemachus finding himself and his role in society, I loved the drama of Odysseus finding his way home. No matter what obstacles were in their way, both men met those challenges and conquered them.

The name of my blog was born and The Odyssey was the first book I read and discussed on my blog. And whenever I get low or frustrated, I can look at that blog name and remember.

Cheesy? Probably.

Anyway, I know why you're all here and that is for the names of the WINNERS.

I chose two winners randomly through random.org. They are:

#41: Savs (having a hard time finding your blog!)

and

#125: Simplerpastimes

And since there were so many entries....I randomly picked one more winner (again, from random.org):

#20: Amanda

Congrats to all the winners! You have until the end of the read-a-thon to contact me through my blog e-mail (you can find it on my profile page).


But wait....


My husband was so impressed with your response and shocked by the outpouring of your responses that he wants to pick one more commenter. I let him read through the comments and he selected one more person to win based on this comment:

"You rock, Allie Cat.

My favorite classic? Gone With the Wind, Gone With the Wind, Gone With the Wind!!

Because it is about a woman's struggle through war, and societal expectation, and an insane sort of upbringing.

Because it was my first classic. (I was sixteen the first time I read it.)

Because I share a love of the book with my mother. She doesn't adore much literature, but it was she who kept nudging me to read Mitchell; when I finally did, I fell in love, with reading, with history, with Atlanta, with the story of the American Civil War.

Because my grandmother was from Atlanta, GA, and I hope to move back there, some day. I'm pulled to my history in Atlanta. My people were in Georgia for generations.

Because all of my love, for everything above, is rooted in Gone With the Wind.

And Margaret Mitchell? She is my literary best friend."

Congrats Jillian! Now my husband is calling me Allie Cat. :)

Thank you all for entering. Winners, contact me by the end of the readathon so I can be in touch with you about picking which title you want (that way I can order you your lovely and get it on the way)!