Classics Circuit Hiatus: Classics Reading Challenges
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Classic Events, General Information on December 1, 2011
Hello all! I hope you are busy enjoying your last months of 2011.
Although I had intended to post about the next tour in November (to be held in January), I’ve decided it’s time for a hiatus from The Classics Circuit. For those of you who follow my personal blog, you’ll know that I’m currently pregnant with my second child. Baby is due at the end of February, and in order to make life a little less stressful, I’m ready to take a break from The Classics Circuit now (as evidenced by the fact that I never got the next tour information up!).
I still really enjoy running The Classics Circuit. Assuming all goes well and I adjust to a newborn in a timely fashion, I do hope to pull together another tour by next summer or fall, but given how I’ve not yet experienced life with TWO children, we’ll have to see how things go.
I, of course, still love the classics, and I hope you decide to continue reading them on your own. If you are interested in community projects similar to The Classics Circuit, here are some that may appeal to you. You can also browse A Novel Challenge for more reading projects, challenges, and readalongs. If you are hosting a reading challenge (classic-focused or otherwise), fill out a form on that site to be included on the listings.
In the meantime, I hope you keep reading the greats of literature!
- The Beauty of Eclectisicm is hosting a 2012 Medieval Reading Challenge. She encourages you to read 4, 8 or 12 works written between 400 and 1550 B.C.E. during the year 2012. She provides reading list ideas on her site.
- Sarah Reads Too Much is hosting a 2012 Back to the Classics Challenge. She encourages you to read 9 different classic works in 9 different categories during the year 2012. There is a prize drawing for those who complete the challenge before the end of the year.
- Howling Frog Books is hosting a 2012 Greek Classics Challenge. She has four different reading levels you can sign up at, from 1 Greek classic to 11+. She encourages you to post a sign-up post on your blog and to post on your blog when you’ve finished a work for the challenge.
- Fig and Thistle is hosting a January 2012 Charles Dickens Month in honor of his 200th birthday. She encourages you to post about something related to Charles Dickens on each Tuesday in January (there are five). Those who post on Tuesdays will be entered into a drawing and mentioned on the round-up post on February 7 (Dickens’ actual birthday).
I found these challenges and projects on the A Novel Challenge blog.
Are you also hosting a classics-themed yearly or mothly project?
I know there are more out there. Let me know below, with a link to your post about the challenge, and I’ll add it to this site.
Happy reading in 2012!
Gothic Lit Tour in Retrospect
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Tour in Retrospect, Tours on November 1, 2011
Although Halloween is over, you still have a lot of Gothic literature blog posts you can read about. If you missed any of the stops on the tour, here is the list of permalinks to participants posts! I personally had a hard time keeping up this tour, but I look forward to visiting each blog this week and seeing just what you had to say about the Gothic classics!
Full list of tour stops after the jump.
Gothic Literature Tour: Touring Now!
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Schedules and Updates, Tours on October 2, 2011
It’s officially October, which means our Gothic Literature Classics Circuit tour will be coming very soon, beginning in just two weeks. Below (after the jump), you will find the schedule for this very full tour!
I hope you enjoy following the tour as it comes. It’s bound to bring us into the proper mood for this Halloween season.
As always, if you note a mistake on this schedule or if you change your mind about the book you’d like to post on, please send me an email at rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com.
When you do post feel free to send a link to @classicscirc on twitter and I’ll retweet it for others to find!
Introduction and Sign Up: Gothic Literature
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Intro and Sign Up, Tours on September 8, 2011
The end-of-October tour will be celebrating the “original” gothic novels, those written during the Romantic era.
I’m defining the era as pre-1840. The following information may give you an idea where to begin as you search for what work you’d like to read for the tour. You may also want to read the LitGothic page for some additional ideas. Some people may also be interested in the gothic novels that Catherine Moreland references in Austen’s Northanger Abbey. You can find some information about those novels here.
Keep in mind that although the literary gothic extends to present day, we’re only counting books or stories written before 1840 for this current tour.
Other than the year written guideline, I don’t want to be too picky: if the work you want to read is not on this list but if you think it fits the gothic tradition, then go ahead and select it!
The button for this tour is an image I took in September 2005. It is a gargoyle on the side of Notre Dame. Feel free to use it to promote the tour on your blog.
How the tour works: If you are new to the Classics Circuit, please read this paragraph so you may have a better understanding of how the tour operates. First, make sure you sign up via the form, not in the comments. You must have a blog to be a tour participant. On the sign up form, please indicate either which days you want to post, or which days you are unable to post on your blog. Someone from the Classics Circuit will email you your assigned date. We will post a schedule on this blog linking to all the participating blogs. On your assigned day in your time zone, please post about your selected work. If this is not clear, feel free to email rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com. Thanks for your interest in joining the Circuit! If you do not have a blog, I still encourage you to follow the tour once it begins in October.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert or student of gothic literature at all. I am simply a reader of classics (like the rest of you) that decided to compile a list of what I’ve found classified as gothic literature, pre-1840s. If you are a gothic literature expert, please share what I’ve missed in the comments for those that come along in the future.
Sign up is closed.
Read the rest of this entry »
Coming Soon: Gothic Lit
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Coming Soon, Tours on August 31, 2011
As you plan your reading for the coming months, please take note that the last two weeks of October (tentatively planned for October 17-28) will feature a tour of Pre-Victorian Gothic Literature (published before about 1840)
Pre-Victorian Gothic literature includes
- The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole’s
- The Mysteries of Udolpho or The Romance of the Forest by Anne Radcliffe
- The Monk by Matthew Lewis
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- And much more.
We’ll be preparing an introductory form with more reading ideas, book summaries, and links to online reviews. Sign up will begin (probably) at the end of next week. Stay tuned!
If you want to help pull together book lists, write book summaries, and/or find quotes from bloggers or reviewers online, please send me an email at rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com.
John Steinbeck in Retrospect
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Tour in Retrospect, Tours on August 29, 2011
Have you missed any of the stops on the John Steinbeck tour? Check out the permalinks below and enjoy reviewing all the books that have been discussed during the tour.
Thanks to all who participated! Stay tuned for more information about an upcoming tour.
Monday, August 15
Bibliographing The Acts of King Arthur (permalink)
Becky’s Book Reviews The Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
2606 Books and Counting Travels with Charley (permalink)
Tuesday, August 16
Ardent Reader Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
things mean a lot Of Mice and Men (permalink)
Wednesday, August 17
Caribousmom John Steinbeck’s Letters (permalink)
A Literary Odyssey The Winter of Our Discontent (permalink)
Seagreen Reader Cannery Row (permalink)
Thursday, August 18
Book Clutterer Pastures of Heaven (permalink)
I read. Do you? Travels with Charley (permalink)
The Reading Life The Pearl (permalink)
The Book Project The Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
Friday, August 19
Kristi Loves Books Cannery Row (permalink)
The Avid Reader’s Musing Sweet Thursday (permalink)
Shelf Love Travels with Charley (permalink)
Saturday, August 20
Six Great Books Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
Pining for the West Travels with Charley (permalink)
Sunday, August 21
Stiletto Storytime The Pearl (permalink)
Read the Book Of Mice and Men (permalink)
Monday, August 22
The Story Girl The Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
Words And Peace Of Mice and Men (permalink)
Tuesday, August 23
fictional100 The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (permalink)
Reading Thru The Night East of Eden (permalink)
Meditations of a Teenage Philosopher East of Eden, Tortilla Flat, The Winter of Our Discontent (permalink)
Wednesday, August 24
An Armchair by the Sea East of Eden (permalink)
Laura’s Reviews Short Story: “Flight” (permalink)
Connie at The Blue Bookcase Travels with Charley (permalink)
Thursday, August 25
Reading, Writing, Working, Playing Cannery Row, Sweet Tuesday (permalink)
Rebecca Reads The Grapes of Wrath (permalink)
Christina at the Blue Bookcase Of Mice and Men (permalink)
Friday, August 26
Joyfully Retired The Long Valley (permalink)
Books and Chocolate A Russian Journal and/or some other work (permalink)
Steinbeck Classics Circuit
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Schedules and Updates on August 13, 2011
On Monday, we begin our Steinbeck Classics Circuit Tour. The following sites are where John Steinbeck will be visiting on each day. Check back each morning to click over to the reviews. Thanks for following the tour, and enjoy!
Monday, August 15
Bibliographing The Acts of King Arthur
Becky’s Book Reviews The Grapes of Wrath
2606 Books and Counting Travels with Charley
Tuesday, August 16
Ardent Reader East of Eden or Wayward Bus or Grapes of Wrath
things mean a lot Of Mice and Men
Wednesday, August 17
Caribousmom John Steinbeck’s Letters
A Literary Odyssey The Grapes of Wrath or The Winter of Our Discontent
Seagreen Reader Cannery Row
Thursday, August 18
Book Clutterer Cannery Row, Pastures of Heaven, or Tortilla Flat
I read. Do you? Travels with Charley
The Reading Life The Pearl
The Book Project The Grapes of Wrath
Friday, August 19
Kristi Loves Books Cannery Row
The Avid Reader’s Musing Sweet Thursday
Shelf Love Travels with Charley
Saturday, August 20
Six Great Books Grapes of Wrath
Pining for the West Travels with Charley
Sunday, August 21
Stiletto Storytime The Pearl
Read the Book Of Mice and Men
Monday, August 22
The Things We Read The Winter of Our Discontent or The Russian Journal
The Story Girl The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men
Words And Peace Of Mice and Men
Tuesday, August 23
fictional100 The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
Reading Thru The Night East of Eden
Meditations of a Teenage Philosopher East of Eden, Tortilla Flat, The Winter of Our Discontent
Wednesday, August 24
An Armchair by the Sea East of Eden
Laura’s Reviews Short Story: “Flight”
Connie at The Blue Bookcase The Pearl and/or Travels with Charley
Thursday, August 25
Reading, Writing, Working, Playing Cannery Row, Sweet Tuesday
Rebecca Reads The Grapes of Wrath
Christina at the Blue Bookcase Of Mice and Men
Friday, August 26
Breathing Space The Grapes of Wrath
Joyfully Retired The Long Valley
Books and Chocolate A Russian Journal and/or some other work
Introduction and Sign Up: A Celebration of Steinbeck
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Intro and Sign Up, Tours on June 26, 2011
It’s time for another tour! This time, we’re celebrating the writings of John Steinbeck.
John Steinbeck lived from 1902 to 1968, writing more than two dozen books, including fiction, nonfiction, and stories. Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath, and in 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, an award given to an author with the best body of work.
I’d like to thank Karen from Books and Chocolate for her help in compiling this information.
The button is a government image of an Okie family packing up their car to travel out of the dust bowl during the Great Depression. Since this is the subject Steinbeck’s Pultizer Prize-winning novel (The Grapes of Wrath), it seemed a significant image to use to promote our own tour around the blogosphere. Feel free to download the button for your own use.
Although the tour dates are not determined yet, the tour will probably run beginning August 15 and going until about August 26, depending on how many people have signed up. We will email an assigned day. You are to post on your blog on your assigned day.
Sign up is now closed.
If you are coming to this late and would really like to participate, send an email to rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com with your blog url, the book you’d like to write about, and your available days. Please contact me before the tour begins.
Coming Soon….John Steinbeck
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Coming Soon on June 10, 2011
John Steinbeck
Coming soon is a tour celebrating the writings of John Steinbeck! Sign up will be in the coming week or two, and the tour will run the last weeks of July or early August.
If you’d like to help pull together the introductory document about John Steinbeck, send me an email at rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com. Help is needed mostly this coming week.
Jane Austen vs Charles Dickens Round Up!
Posted by Nicole Bonia in Tour in Retrospect, Tours on June 6, 2011
Happy June everyone!
Blog titles below link to bloggers’ post for the Jane Austen vs Charles Dickens Circuit. I hope you enjoy looking over all the posts, and a big thanks to all who participated! This was a very close call and I ‘m not sure how close we are to declaring a winner. We have to put it up for a vote! So please take the time to think about your experiences with these authors and watch out for our tie breaking poll at the end of the week. And of course stay tuned for the next Classics Circuit tour.
Sunday, May 8
Sasha & The Silverfish – Persuasion by Jane Austen
First Impressions – Henry and Eliza by Jane Austen
Six Great Books – Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Monday, May 9
Adventures of An Intrepid Reader – Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Story Girl – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles and Dickens
The Blue Bookcase – Persuasion by Jane Austen
Tuesday, May 10
Reviews by Lola – Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Wednesday, May 11
Armchair by the Sea – Emma by Jane Austen
Bloomer – The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Fleur Fisher - The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Thursday, May 12
The Reading Life – Sketches by Boz by Charles and Dickens
Your Move, Dickens – Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Peetswea – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles and Dickens
Friday, May 13
Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog – Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen & The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
fictional 100 - Ghosts of Scrooges Past: Revisiting ”A Christmas Carol”
Saturday, May 14
Lifetime Reading Plan – Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Stiletto Storytime – A Tale of Two Orphans a comparison of the main characters of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
She Reads Novels – Persuasion by Jane Austen & The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles and Dickens
Sunday, May 15
A Fair Substitute For Heaven - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Ardent Reader - Emma by Jane Austen
Monday, May 16
The Time of Your Life – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles and Dickens
Fairy Revel – Emma by Jane Austen
seagreen reader – Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Bibliophiliac – Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Tuesday, May 17
A Literary Odyssey – Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Becky’s Book Reviews – Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen & The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Wednesday, May 18
Chrisbookarama – Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Notes from the North - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Bread Crumb Reads – Persuasion by Jane Austen & A Tale of Two Cities by Charles and Dickens
Thursday, May 19
Reading Writing Working, Playing – Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Reading Thru The Night – Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Dolce Belleza – Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Friday, May 20
Rebecca Reads – The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Things Mean A Lot – Hard Times by Charles Dickens
JA Film Club – Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen & Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Lizzy’s Literary Life - The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi by Charles Dickesn
Saturday, May 21
Books and Chocolate – Dombey & Son by Charles Dickens
A Room of One’s Own – Persuasion by Jane Austen & Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Reading Rambo – The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Currently Touring: Gothic Lit
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