UPDATE: Reading Post: 2020 Classics Challenge WRAP-UP

Rather than write a new post, I'm going to use my original post as my wrap-up post as well. 

I read books in all 12 categories, so I believe I have earned three entries in the drawing.

And here are the books I read. I did not read them in the order you presented the categories, I read them in (almost) chronological order. If it is too confusing to have them in that order, I can rearrange the list. But this list makes the most sense to me.

This was a pretty amazing reading experience. Thank you for hosting/organizing/running the Classics Challenge 2020, Karen.

9. Classic with Nature in the Title: The Pathfinder, or, The Inland Sea by James Fenimore Cooper, 1840.
4. Classic in Translation: Georges by Alexandre Dumas, 1843.
1. 19th Century Classic: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852.
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title: Clotel, or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States by William Wells Brown, 1853.
5. Classic by a Person of Color: Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black by Harriet E. Wilson, 1859.
12. Classic Adaptation (adapted as a movie): Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868.
10. Classic About a Family: Iola Leroy by Frances E. W. Harper, 1892.
8. Classic with a Place in the Title: Home to Harlem by Claude McKay, 1928.
6. A Genre Classic: The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher, 1932.
3. Classic by a Woman Author: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937.
11. Abandoned Classic: Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, 1936.
2. 20th Century Classic: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952.

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ORIGINAL POST:

Since I don't think anybody reads my blog to find out about what I read, I'm going to try to remember to title posts about reading as "Reading Posts." OK? And then you all can just ignore them.

OK, so as I've mentioned before, I've decided to do the Back to the Classics Challenge 2020 officially (after doing the 2019 version unofficially and enjoying it very much), which means I need an introductory post. And this is it. Here are my current plans for the challenge (some of these choices may change). The only rule here is that the books have to be at least 50 years old -- otherwise I get to decide what "classic" means to me.

1. 19th Century Classic: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852.
2. 20th Century Classic: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952.
3. Classic by a Woman Author: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937.
4. Classic in Translation: Georges by Alexandre Dumas, 1843.
5. Classic by a Person of Color: Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black by Harriet E. Wilson, 1859.
6. A Genre Classic: The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher, 1932 (mystery: this is a change from my original plan).
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title: Clotel, or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States by William Wells Brown, 1853.
8. Classic with a Place in the Title: Home to Harlem by Claude McKay, 1928.
9. Classic with Nature in the Title: The Pathfinder, or, The Inland Sea by James Fenimore Cooper, 1840 (had a hard time coming up with something for this category -- in retrospect I should have chosen Cane by Jean Toomer or Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset, but I didn't know about them yet when I was planning this).
10. Classic About a Family: Iola Leroy by Frances E. W. Harper, 1892.
11. Abandoned Classic (give it another try): Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, 1936.
12. Classic Adaptation (adapted as a movie): Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868 (yes, I've read it, but not since I was a kid -- very interested to revisit it and watch the new movie).

That's the official list, but I plan to read them in the order they were written. So the list I'm really working with looks like this:

1800s
The Pathfinder, or, The Inland Sea by James Fenimore Cooper, 1840.
Georges by Alexandre Dumas, 1843. 
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852.
Clotel, or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States by William Wells Brown, 1853.
Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black by Harriet E. Wilson, 1859.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 1868.
Iola Leroy by Frances E. W. Harper, 1892.

1900s 

Home to Harlem by Claude McKay, 1928.

The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher, 1932.

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, 1936.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952.

My theme is the American Civil War and its aftermath, so we have some pre-war books (Lincoln said he thought Uncle Tom's Cabin actually CAUSED the Civil War), and then post-war books that are either about the Civil War, about its effects, and/or written by African-Americans. Seven of my authors are African-American, plus Dumas who was part Afro-Caribbean. Also, without making any special effort, I've ended up with five female authors, which pleases me. If anyone has any suggestions for what I might read instead, please let me know. I've already read both Gone with the Wind and The Red Badge of Courage, which would otherwise be on the list.

And while I'm reading these I'm also going to try to read biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant. Of course, this is in addition to all the stuff I choose to read for fun throughout the year, plus whatever my book group decides to read. It's always nice to make some ambitious plans during the cold winter months. 😉

I feel as though I have created the reading list for a course! My own personal course on the literature of the Civil War and its aftermath. I have a feeling it's going to be a good background for the tumultuous year ahead (politically speaking). As the inscription on the western face of CU's Norlin Library says, "Who knows only his own generation remains always a child." I feel strongly that you can't understand the U.S. today without understanding the Civil War and what led to it and what came from it. I hope that by reading these books (and perhaps others), I will understand it better.