Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Victorian Challenge 2012.

OKAY! One more challenge! Then I am cut off! I swear!

Actually, I have been looking for a Victorian Challenge to join for a couple of weeks, so here I am, signing up for yet another challenge. This challenge is hosted by Laura at Laura's Reviews (link will take you to sign-up post).

My 2011 Victorian Challenge was actually a huge success. I happen to be quite fond of the Victorians, and I have a lot of their work on my project list (probably more than any other era).

It should be easy to get through this by the end of the year, since I gravitate toward their work.

Here are the details:

1. The Victorian Challenge 2012 will run from January 1st to December 31st, 2012. You can post a review before this date if you wish.

2. You can read a book, watch a movie, or listen to an audiobook, anything Victorian related that you would like. Reading, watching, or listening to a favorite Victorian related item again for the second, third, or more time is also allowed. You can also share items with other challenges.

3. The goal will be to read, watch, listen, to 2 to 6 (or beyond) anything Victorian items.

4. Please sign-up by posting your blog entry on the number of items and what items you would like to do for this challenge below in Mr. Linky (Don't just post your blog's URL). Don't worry, you can do different things than you have listed. I myself am not always good at sticking to lists!


I read 10 Victorian works in 2011, so I am going to shoot for the same number in 2012. I know that some of these authors aren't necessarily true Victorians (as in, being from England and the dates of publication), but many were writing in that same time period, or were heavily influenced by those British authors. I have listed the titles I have left on my main project list, and I will choose from these to finish this challenge. Anything marked with an asterisk* is a book on another challenge list for 2012-meaning it will get read for sure (I hope).
  • Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
  • Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
  • Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
  • Middlemarch by George Eliot
  • Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackerary*
  • Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad*
  • Kim by Rudyard Kipling*
  • The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins*
  • David Copperfield by Charles Dickens*
  • Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens*
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe*
  • Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I may also read the following, which are not on my project list:
  • The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
  • The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
There are 19 titles up there, and my intentions are to read 10. I think it is a good plan, especially since there is a lot of crossover to other challenges!

9 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm glad you're joining! (I have to stop with the challenges too. I've gone mad.) :P

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  2. Dude, what is this, your billionth challenge?! I cut myself off at 3, but now I feel like I should be doing more... hmm... Good luck with yours!

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  3. Oh I loved Uncle Tom's Cabin. I had to read it for an English Lit class I took - I had never read it before but really enjoyed it.

    Good luck with the challenge! :)

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  4. I am so excited about this challenge. I'm dying to read everyone's reviews. Looking forward to Victorian lit other than Dickens. *ugh* This year is the year that I realized, five or six Dickens later, I'm done with him.

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  5. That is one awesome list of books!

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  6. I did the Victorian Challenge this year and I loved it. I read so many great books that fit in that category.

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  7. If I weren't steadfastly trying to avoid challenges, I would be very tempted by this one. It's been so long since I've read very many Victorians, and I do enjoy their novels.

    Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

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  8. I couldn't resist, I signed up for this one as well. However, my goals are much less lofty as I am signed up for three other challenges! I'm really trying to select books from my TBR shelf which should be easy with the Victorians.

    Of your selections, I'd highly recommend Middlemarch, Wives and Daughters, North and South, and Barchester Towers. W&D, N&S and Barchester are all pretty fast reads. Middlemarch took a bit longer to get into but it was really worth it. I've read all of those Dickens and I think Copperfield and ToTC are about tied, with Nickelby slightly behind.

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  9. what great reading lists! I love the Victorians. I read Middlemarch and Wives and Daughters at about the same time and I really enjoyed comparing/contrasting the scenarios and the writer's styles. Happy reading!

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