2019 Back to the Classics Challenge

Here it goes! I am going to try the Back to the Classics Challenge for 2019. All books I read must be at least 50 years old. Then I also have to fulfill a category requirement.
The hard part for me will be reading these in addition to my other reading commitments. On the up side, then I will be more familiar with some of the AP reading list books. Wish me luck! If you'd like to join in, here is the link for the categories:

Back to the Classics 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird (Award Winning)

I have seen the movie several times, but I finally read this Pulitzer Prize winning classic!
This story recounts a bit of Scout Finch's life growing up in Maycomb, Alabama. The story is set around the year 1939. Scout tells of adventures she has with her brother and a friend Dill.
Then a crime happens and her father, a lawyer, agrees to defend the accused. But the accused is an African American man, and the author uses that to illustrate the racial attitudes and prejudices of the time.

Persuasion (Classic by a woman author)

Jane Austen's Persuasion's main  protagonist is 28 year old Anne Elliot. She had been engaged to Frederick Wentworth, but broke off the engagement. But when Anne and Frederick cross paths again eight years later, will their romance be rekindled or have they moved on?

When I read Persuasion, I couldn't help but see characteristics of my sisters and I in the interactions between the sisters. I like the humor in the book - for example Anne's role as mediator between her younger sister Mary and Mary's husband.  It gives us a glimpse into attitudes and customs of the day.  Though set in the early 1800s in England, this book is so timeless because of the characteristics of the people are still present today.

Ivanhoe - 19th Century Classic

Ivanhoe was written by Sir Walter Scott and published in 1819 or 1820. I really enjoyed Ivanhoe. It is a great adventure story. I know it is billed a romance, but it is not a romance in the modern sense of the romance genre. The characters were stereotypes, but that was part of what made it a fun read. That and the band of outlaws lead by Robin Hood. Oh, and the jester Wamba, who was much more wise than the fool he played. While the story was entertaining, it was not all fluff. For example, the authors use of the stereotypes to make his point, or the criticism of the early church (Drunk friars, unchaste warrior monks).
The only part that was a little disappointing was how one of the characters died. The character shall remain nameless so as not to spoil it for those who have not read the book. But dying because of conflicting inner passions??
I also liked the glimpse it gave into the long-ago era, though I am not sure that the novel is entirely historically accurate. But that just means I am now inspired to learn more about a time I have somewhat ignored.

2017 Reading Challenge

Here is the 2017 Reading Challenge I will be doing.

Feel free to join in!

HS Book Club

The next two High School Book Club books. Any high school student that reads the book can come to the meeting.  Bring your lunch, and I will provide dessert and door prizes.

Here I am with Matt de la Pena, author of "The Living". The living is a High School Sequoyah award nominee for 2016.

In this book,  Shy has taken a job on a cruise ship for his summer job. Then a enormous earthquake hits. The ship is badly damaged and the passengers must leave in the lifeboats. Will they survive? What will they face if they make it back home?   Check this book out to find out!