Top Ten Tuesday

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday, graciously hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, has the potential to be really really embarrassing for me because some of the books on my list? I've basically had for as long as I can remember (which isn't all that long admittedly, but still. LONG.) But I will admit to mine if you'll admit to yours, and then we can have a big online book party where we read all ten of them and feel immense pride about it, yes? Good.

Top Ten Books That Have Been On My Shelf the Longest That I've Never Read


1. Bushwhacked: Life in George W Bush's America by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose- I don't know when I bought this (hopefully not too early in the Bush era...) but the problem I now have is that it's not relevant anymore, and it hasn't been for 3 years. Nonetheless, I've hung onto it, and one day I will read it... it'll just be a history book by the time I do!

2. Watership Down by Richard Adams- I think I bought this when my friend was reading it for her A level class and said it was really good... either that or when I saw Donnie Darko, so hopefully the former because that was only 5 (oh my...) years ago. Go me!

3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray- I've had this for so long that I can't even visualise where or when or why I got it. It may well have been a birth present for all I know. It did nearly get read this year, but then I punked out of a readalong, and back to the shelf it went! Whoops?

4. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks- I think this must be another book I bought in college, and it's quite possible that I bought it because we read an extract from it in my English Lit class. What can I say, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

5. Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris-  I'd like to think I bought this after I read Chocolat (which is very good, by the way), but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that I bought it before reading Chocolat, because I had a feeling Chocolat would be good, and so this would be too. I am twisted and wrong.

6. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli- I know I bought this because it was either mentioned in my history or philosophy (or possibly both) class at college, and yet, for some strange reason, I haven't read it. Strange that.

7. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell- I am actually genuinely sad that I haven't read this yet, because it's supposed to be really good! So that's a definite one to go on the 'READ SOON' pile. As opposed to the 'read someday. Maybe.' pile...

8. Diary by Chuck Palahniuk- I have an actual reason for not having read this yet! It's because I love Fight Club SO much, and I can't read anything else by Palahniuk in case it's not as good (and yet how could it be?) and I get all disillusioned. So there.

9. Restoration by Rose Tremain- So, I bought this for the nerdiest reason ever- I had to do this exam where they gave us an extract to study beforehand, and the extract was from Restoration. I don't know if I bought the book because I thought I should read it to get some extra knowledge or what, but I haven't read it and the exam was 4 and a half years ago. Damn.

10. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf- I bought this because I had to, and then my seminar leader guy was all 'oh, let's not read To the Lighthouse, let's read High Fidelity instead.' Which was fair enough, and I love that book AND film, but I was pissed off because I'd bought the book! As a punishment, I missed his last two seminars, and didn't read To the Lighthouse. I win?

So yeah. I bought most of these books around college time, and that's because there were like 6 charity shops down one road that my college was also on, and what else is one to do with one's free periods other than go to the charity shops and buy books? And I kind of haven't stopped since... Damn.

Since I clearly have a problem, I've decided to take part in Bookish Ardour's Off the Shelf Challenge for next year (Shout out to Alice for alerting me to it!) and I think I'm actually going to try and read 50 books off my own shelves for the year, which is ambitious but not impossible, and quite frankly needs to be done. I'm considering enforcing a slightly lenient book buying ban (as in, I can buy Stephen King books and anything by favourite authors that's cheap- so not really a ban at all) until I've read all 50, but I might not be able to... we'll see! But yes, it's all very exciting! Bring on the 2012 challenges!

Devouring Books: The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I can't even think of anything sensible to say about this trilogy other than READ IT READ IT READ IT because, seriously, so much excitement and action and unstoppable readingness, as well as sadness and a love triangle (everyone knows about that right) and death and destruction, and do you really need to hear any more?

Basically, yeah, I loved them. I'm kind of thinking I need to deal with each book separately, because I've been trying to write about all three together whilst also not giving anything away which is sort of impossible, so I'm going to write about them and give stuff away so STOP READING if you haven't read them yet because, seriously, you don't want to know what happens. You just don't. You won't get the full joy of these books unless you don't know what fucked up thing is about to happen, so yeah, go away and buy them and read them, and then I'll let you read this!

Before I start though, some universal things: I'm not going to pretend these books are the best written things ever, because they're not. But, they are SO readable, and really just hook you in so you can't really not read them, even if you sort of want to. Also, I'm not really going to do the whole Peeta vs Gale thing, except to say that I made my decision in the middle of Mockingjay when I realised that I was really upset that Peeta wasn't quite... himself, shall we say. AND, if Gale loved Katniss that much, surely he would have taken Peeta's place in the Hunger Games to protect her. And does he? No he does not. He is smoking hot though... (for a more complex discussion of Peeta vs Gale, I recommend Forever YA, especially this, wherein the writer very cruelly compares Peeta to Riley from Buffy. I mean, no one deserves that kind of treatment...) But anyway, I'll say very little else about it other than when it's unavoidable, because, like Katniss, I am more involved in her continuing to live than in wondering who she's going to do that possible living with. Because, shockingly, some things are more important than boys.

One last thing before I get started- I was SO conflicted upon first buying this book, because it had a ringing endorsement from Stephen King (who also, according to Wikipedia, compared The Hunger Games to his own books, The Running Man and The Long walk, which sounds a tiny bit self centred to me, but also totally accurate, especially in the case of The Running Man, which actually seems like a more difficult Hunger Games) BUT it was also recommended by Stephanie Meyer, and what does she know about a good book? (Ooh, contraversial. Especially since I haven't read Twilight. But still). On the whole though, Stephen King saying that things are good pretty much drowns out all other opinions for me, so I bought it. THANK GOODNESS! Now, onto the reviews...

The Hunger Games

So, as I think we've all guessed if we've got any kind of knowledge about what goes on in these books at all, they take place in Panem (some futuristic, dystopian and HORRIBLE North America), where, if you live in the Capitol you're fine, but if you live in one of the 12 districts you're basically living in poverty and once a year your children are subjected to the 'reaping', where one boy and one girl are chosen from each district to fight in the Hunger Games, which is a fight to the death, staged for the amusement of the Capitol and as a punishment for the Districts once having the nerve to rebel against the injustices they face. Man that was a long sentence!

In this world, in District 12, the smallest and poorest of all the districts lives Katniss Everdeen, a strong and plucky girl who you'd pretty much want to have on your side in any fight, except she probably wouldn't want to be on yours because she's not exactly a people person. It would be pretty easy to dislike her because of her growliness (something which other characters fully choose to do) but since we're inside her head it's hard to, especially because she's so honest about her own faults that it's difficult to reprimand her for them. Also, girl's awesome with a bow and arrow, which is lucky because when her sister (basically the only person she loves in the world) is 'reaped' for the Hunger Games, Katniss takes her place without hesitation and, as readers, we're all in love. The boy chosen is Peeta Mellark, who Katniss hates a bit for having saved her life once (not because she's suicidal, but because she hates having to 'owe' people), but, fortunately for her, Peeta has a huge crush on her because she's sort of awesome.

So, they go to the Capitol, are paraded around like cattle and Katniss describes her clothes a lot. To be fair, they are awesome clothes, and her personal fashion designer is completely awesome, but here's my issue- why are they so placid and accepting of all of this? Why isn't someone saying 'This is WRONG', because I know that, if picked for The Hunger Games, I wouldn't be able to just sit around and be dressed and made up and then accept my certain death (I would definitely die in The Hunger Games, I'm not even going to pretend I wouldn't). But I guess that, any open refusal or embarrassment to the Capitol would end up in my death anyway, so really there's no choice at all. And that's why they call it a dystopia, guys!

As for the Games themselves- in a way, there's not all that much tension because, since you know it's a trilogy before you start reading, you're pretty confident that Katniss, and almost definitely Peeta, are going to survive, even if you're not exactly sure how that can happen. Interestingly though, this doesn't distract from the action and drama and trauma at all, and this was, I felt, the most compelling part of the book, which makes me feel a bit sick because I'm exploiting all these fictional people as much as the Games organisers and supporters are. But at least I feel bad about it, right?

So basically, my main feelings about The Hunger Games- poor Rue! Bad Capitol! I love you more than Peeta or Gale, Katniss, even though you're kind of moody! Mind generally blown all round! And, finally, how soon can I get the next book?! (The answer to that was about 3 days later...)

Catching Fire

I'm pretty sure the rejected title for this one was 'Katniss gets fucked over and I hate everyone'. I mean, it definitely wasn't, but really?! Another Hunger Games? For those poor people who have already been put through basically torture and have to face the nightmares of what happened to them every night? President Snow has a lot to answer for, and he's a creepy fucker to boot!

Unfortunately, because I read the back of Mockingjay before I read Catching Fire, I pretty much knew that was going to happen, so it wasn't as much of a shock as it should of been. But it was still HORRIBLE. I definitely couldn't cope with the prospect of a second games, even though everyone was trying to help Katniss and Peeta, saving their lives instead of killing them and so on, but it was still so awful. And yet, could I stop reading? Of course I couldn't, because these books are really really good. Like really.

I think probably most upsetting in Catching Fire was that moment when Katniss was about to enter the arena, and Cinna was all beaten up in front of her. I mean, it was all I could do to keep from screeching 'CINNAAAAA!!! NOOOOO!' and, you know, I'm outside of the fictional universe the story exists in and hence I know it is fictional. But that doesn't make it ok, because Cinna is basically amazing. Just wah. Also, I think that the clock arena? Kind of super-impressive, albeit evil. And definitely better than the arena in the first book, if by better, you also mean more evil and twisted (but just also cleverer and interesting).

And that end was so... unexpected and exciting, and I was traumatised for Peeta and I just couldn't even process what had just happened, and oh MAN was I glad that I'd bought Mockingjay along with Catching Fire, because boy did I need to read it right away!

Mockingjay

Mockingjay was mainly like being kicked in the guts repeatedly. There are times when you think Katniss might be ok, that the things that have been done to her haven't caused her irreparable damage, and then something else happens to set her back and you just sort of want to DIE all over again. So basically, Katniss is all sedated and wandering around reliving her Hunger Games experiences over and over again, worrying about Peeta and what might be being done to him, and resenting the fact that she's being used as a symbol for a cause she doesn't really want to be head of, and really just wanting to go home, even though, since District 12 was destroyed at the end of Catching Fire, that's impossible.

If I'm completely honest, this book made me really miserable. It's bleak, I'm not going to lie to you- it seems like nothing will ever be achieved and nothing will ever really change, and the majority of people are going to be unhappy forever. Take Peeta for example- Katniss misses him and wants him around again and just to know that he's safe, and then when he finally does get back, he's been turned into a weapon to be used against her! I was just like, Collins, what are you doing to me woman?!

It was just before this point that I realised that I really really missed Peeta, and hence decided that he was my favourite. I think this is mainly because we get to know more about him than Gale, so I sort of automatically gravitated towards him, but more than that, I think only he and Katniss could be together after the Hunger Games because it's basically the most significant thing that's ever happened to both of them, and no one else (other than, say, Haymitch) could understand what it was like. So, because of that, I think they kind of needed each other- rather than Katniss making a choice, she almost couldn't not be with Peeta, because Gale would never quite understand what she needed like Peeta does, because Peeta needs the same things.

Anyway- I did really like, in Mockingjay, the times when Katniss got to kick some ass (limited, because she's a total symbol who can't be put in any real danger) but when they got back into the capitol, things started to piss me off. Namely, really great characters being killed off (including Finnick, which I can't even... It's just not... ARGH) and this whole wild goose chase going on and then Katniss sort of kind of missing all the action (as in she doesn't storm President Snow's house all by herself and sneak up on him and assassinate him which would have been AWESOME) except that what she does see is her sister, for whom she entered the Hunger Games to begin with being blown apart and WHY COLLINS, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! You know? I mean, I could have coped with practically anything else, but not that. It was cruel.

Another thing I couldn't cope with was the part where the new President (I've completely forgotten all names now because I finished these books weeks ago...) suggests that they need one last Hunger Games, and I was clearly like NOOOO, as any sane human would be, and when Katniss says yes ('for Prim'- FOR PRIM? REALLY? Because I thought the point was that Prim is the opposite of everything the Hunger Games stood for...) I just about wanted to throttle her, regardless of her grief. BUT, after copious research on the subject, ie reading basically everything about The Hunger Games on Forever YA, it's been drawn to my attention that Katniss only says this as a distraction technique so she can kill the new President (Coin! That's her name!) but I was still in shock and horror at the whole thing.

And here's the thing about the ending- Gale goes away to District 2 (I think...) to be a big army guy or something, and Katniss's mother has gone off to be a medic or whatever (which is really nice of her when her [least favourite] daughter is grieving her ass off) and Katniss is kind of left alone, until Peeta shows up in the remains of District 12, where a kind of naturally sedated Katniss is living. And it's kind of like 'aww, I wanted them to get together, yay!', but it also annoys me that Katniss is all like 'oh, I didn't need someone like Gale, I needed someone gentler like Peeta', when actually, she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter, since everyone else left her. I, of course, think she should have ended up with Peeta, but Collins maybe doesn't make it extremely clear why she should, other than, he's the only one left.

There are so many more things to say, (I haven't even mentioned the Orwellian things I found!) and I'm sure even more things I missed since I really blasted through the books, but to be honest, if you've made it this far you're a total trooper and should probably get a prize. So I'm going to let you go now, and, you know, thanks for letting me rant incoherently about The Hunger Games. I'll meet you back here when the first movie comes out...

Why the Internet Makes Me Sad

Don't get me wrong I love the internet- how else could you spend hours and hours in the same position, seemingly doing very little but actually giving your brain a total workout? Ok, sure, reading, I guess. But tell me this- where else could you meet people from your very favourite place in the world that you don't live at all near (i.e. America), and who one day might invite you to stay with them and then you'll actually be able to afford to go there again? Exactly. Nowhere.

But, amongst all the undeniable good of the internet (this blog being, of course, the shiniest of all shiny points!) there is one thing about it that makes me sad. And that is this. When you have, more or less all the information in the world and about the world, at your fingertips and quicker than you can say google or wikipedia, you've lost a lot of the joy of discovering rare and wonderful things. There is of course, always the chance of finding an amazing blog, or someone so exactly on your wavelength that you mourn the fact that you don't live near them, but the challenge of being obsessed with something has long gone, to be replaced with basically more information than you can handle.

Here's what I'm getting at. When I was 14 (nearly 15) I had recently gotten satellite TV, and had music channels for the first time. Correlating with this was the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, and the combination of the two meant that, for the first time in my life, I was introduced to music that reached right through my ears into my soul, and it was fucking amazing. So, from this time I was obsessed with Nirvana- I wanted to watch, read, consume anything I could about the band, about Kurt, about the whole of the 90s grunge scene- basically everything short of building a time machine and going back there. But, in a pre-youtube time, I had to be extremely well organised and tactical about this. This meant, checking TV schedules to find out when there would be programmes about Nirvana on, setting up the video to record shows on too late, watching music channels for hours just hoping they'd play Smells Like Teen Spirit one more time. It was all consuming, and it was amazing.

If this had happened just a few years later, I know exactly how it would have gone down, because it's been a curb of obsessions ever since for me. I'd have gone onto youtube, watched a few videos, read the wikipedia entry for Nirvana, and Kurt, google-imaged the band, and then pretty much have lost interest. And, while that's probably a much healthier way to enjoy something, it's so not the same as having an all consuming obsession, and I have to ask if anything is as good this way around. I'm kind of reminded by something that Kurt himself said- that, having money made him happy to begin with, but in the end it feels kind of hollow, and for him, going to a thrift store and finding something really good for very little money was a lot more exciting, because he didn't know that he was going to have it, whereas with money, he knew he could have anything, and so wanted it less. Isn't that true of the internet as well- before, when MTV2 randomly did a Nirvana night, it was the most exciting thing in the world because I didn't know it was going to happen. Now, I know that I can go onto youtube and watch pretty much every recorded thing that Nirvana ever did, and that's great, but it's not the same.

I guess that, in order to have something as wonderful as the internet (and the internet truly is wonderful, don't get me wrong) we have to make some sacrifices as to having the excitement of something that isn't always available to you. As for me, I still remember the heady obsessions of my teenage years, so I'm fine, but I just feel sad for discoveries of old bands by new teenagers- sure, they'll be able to find all recorded mention of them with the click of a mouse, but somehow, because they can have it all, it's a bit hollow. The benefits of the internet far outweigh the negatives, but this all still makes me sad- there's no replacement for the high of an unexpected Nirvana night on BBC4, and even though we've now got everything at our fingertips, sometimes, I'd like to have a little less.

Devouring: Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

Christmas is coming nearer and nearer, and my absolute favourite thing about the festive season? The amount of gingerbread things I can make and eat. Last year, I kid you not, I made gingerbread men, gingerbread biscotti, ginger nuts, and these, my absolute favourite gingerbread product of all. These gingerbread cupcakes are SO GOOD, and it's honestly worth buying Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for this recipe alone (I'm so not posting the recipe here because, 1) I kind of think it's stealing, and 2) Don't you massively want to make cruelty free cupcakes that taste disturbingly good?!) But I will tell you that the reason I think it's so good is because it's basically made up of liquid sugars (molasses and maple syrup) so the texture is AMAZING. So, I'm just going to stop going on about them right now and show you one instead!

First of all, can I just get some appreciation for my pretty bowl? It's a flower, I like it a lot and want to eat all foods out of it. And, moving on from that, why yes, those are teeny gingerbread men sprinkles! Amazing, I know. And just look at it when you've taken a bite:

I literally did take a bite out of that cake so sorry if that grosses you out, but, believe me, you wouldn't have been able to resist either! I'm not even sure this picture does it justice- it's sort of sticky in a perfect way that means its neither too dry or too moist- it's perfect, and basically impossible to screw up. Seriously. I also have to strongly recommend the lemon frosting on top because what's gingerbread without lemon frosting? I had some Starbucks ginger loaf the other day (Starbucks cakes are never really recommended because there's always something wrong with them) and it just had vanilla frosting on top, and I was not at all impressed. It's just not right! To make this frosting I genuinely didn't measure anything out- I just used pretty much equal amounts of cream cheese and unsalted butter (I had cream cheese and butter left over, otherwise I would have made vegan frosting too) then kept adding icing sugar until it tasted sweet enough, and added lemon zest until it was zesty enough. Simple.

To be honest, if you don't make these cupcakes over Christmas, I'll be personally let down. Unless you don't like ginger, and then I just feel sorry for you. Either way, buy Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World! It will serve you well in the long run, and Oh! The cupcakes you'll make!

Devouring Books: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

After I've written this review, I don't want to talk about this book ever again, because the more I think about it, the more annoyed I am about its shortcomings. It should probably be illegal for books to have such great titles and to not deliver on the content. The punishment should probably be a life sentence if that great title involves the word cake, because HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RESIST IT?! Oh, the cruelty of the world!

Moving on... This book is supposed to be about this girl who, just before her ninth birthday, discovers she has an odd kind of synesthesia, where, when she tastes food, she feels the emotions that whoever has made the dish was feeling at the time. I thought this was an interesting enough concept, but here's the thing- Bender literally does nothing with it. I was waiting and waiting for something to arise out of Rose's 'special talent', but all I got was repetitive descriptions of factories foods came from, the fact that the school dinner lady was sad and whatnot, and I was pretty much like 'okayyy... but where's the story?'

More interesting than Rose's yawny skill was her creepy older brother who keeps disappearing and, whilst at this point I literally didn't care where he was disappearing to, it did freak me out because I was reading this at about half two in the morning, and, you know, things are scarier at night. Suffice to say, what was happening wasn't in the slightest bit scary, and was, in fact, ridiculous. Honestly. I mean, I kind of want to tell you all what happens, because, obviously I am your god(dess) and you want to do everything I say, but I'll restrain myself. Just, believe me, it's really really stupid, not at all explained, and a bigger part of the story than Rose's thing; but much more obscure. At this point, I was just going ARGH in my brain and trying not to die at the patheticness of it all.

Ahem. So I'm sure there were other things in it apart from these two ridiculousities, but I was in a severe sleep deprived state when I was reading it and so can't really remember much else about it. That is, except for this really really crappy failed romance thing between Rose and her brother's (only) friend (don't you enjoy that I can't be bothered to look up anyone's name) which basically consisted of her going 'omg, I've got this weird condition and I don't think I can have a boyfriend' and him going 'ok', not coming back and marrying some other woman. And there was literally no point to any of this at all! I couldn't cope with trailing off storylines and just general badness and oh my god what was the point of any of it?!

I'm going to slightly ruin the end for you now, but in the end Rose decides that the right thing for her to do is to work with food. Now, I don't know about you, but if I had this incredibly upsetting condition where eating food meant feeling the emotions of others, I'd pretty much avoid food as much as I could, and basically be an optician or something. There's no proper explanation for this decision, or pretty much anything in the book, and I'm now dubious of choosing books for their titles. Thanks a lot Bender. Thanks. A. Lot.

Revisiting Films: The Kids Are All Right

The first time I watched The Kids Are All Right, I didn't really like it. I thought about it in the same way that some (incredibly nasty small minded) people think about American Beauty- that not very much happens and it was really slow and annoying, and not even that dramatic. I love Mark Ruffalo and Annette Bening, and I'm not adverse to Julianne Moore, so I was really disappointed that I didn't like it more. In the words of Mia Wasikowska "I thought you'd be... better."

I don't really know why I watched it again, other than, because it was on Sky Movies, and I have quite the crush on Ruffalo, but this time I was much more pleased with it (it's possible that when I watched it before, it was poor quality and on a computer screen, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it!) I just felt like I 'got' it a lot more, and understood really, fundamentally, what the writer/director Lisa Cholodenko was trying to say. Although, I have to say, I still don't understand why Annette Bening got to be nominated for Best Leading Actress for it, since, seriously, I think Moore was in it more than her. I'm not going to bitch about it though because, 1) I love her, and 2) she sings Joni Mitchell? With the Ruffalo? Amazing!

Anyway, the fundamental thing I think I missed about The Kids Are All Right the first time around is the role Ruffalo plays in all of this. As the sperm donor dad of the kids of two lesbians, when I first watched this, I kind of thought it was unfair that they expected anything from him, and basically just thought of him as a guy who was trying to do his best. I was SO wrong. The thing about Ruffalo's character is, that he's continually just playing at being part of this family- the decisions he makes have no real impact on his life, and so he is able to make them without regret or even thinking at all about how they might affect other people. He's intrinsically selfish, but he thinks that he's trying out a role, seeing if he could be any good at being an effective father. This is why his presence pisses off Annette Bening so much (because she sees him as trying to usurp her role in the family, which he quite literally is) and, to be honest, upon a second viewing, he pissed me off too. There's this look that he continually gets on his face, like the situations he finds himself in are amusing, rather than the serious things that they obviously mean to the family. He attempts to work his way into the family, but the truth is, he doesn't even know how to be part of one.

I don't know if all of this means I should feel sorry for Ruffalo (I actually can't be bothered to look up his character name at all. But it might be Paul. And it might not be...) but I really don't because I think that, after this whole experience is over, he will go back to how his life was before, and it won't really have affected him that much, whereas his actions almost ripped that lovely little family apart. Hence the not really feeling sorry for him. What I do feel right now though, is grateful for my Ruffalo-love because, without it, I wouldn't have gotten a whole new perspective on this film and its beautiful subtleties. This isn't the first time thinking with my pants has given me unexpected results (see also: naked Patrick Wilson in Little Children) and hopefully it won't be the last!

Challenges Are Very Challenging...

Since everyone's signing up for challenges and stuff and I don't like to be left behind with things, I'll tell you all about the challenge I'm going to be doing next year, which is the Back to the Classics 2012 Challenge. I'm taking part in it essentially because everyone I love and respect in a blogging way is doing it, and I thought I'd try being a sheep for once in my life (also because I want to read more classics, and I can obviously only do that if being forced to, but it's mainly the sheep thing). Soooo, the Challenge has nine categories, and they are (with the tentative books I'm going to read for each of them):

Any Nineteenth Century classic- The Awakening by Kate Chopin OR Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery

Any Twentieth Century classic- The Plumed Serpent by D H Lawrence

Re-read a Classic of your choice- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A Classic Play- Othello by William Shakespeare

Classic mystery/horror/crime fiction- Armadale by Wilkie Collins

Classic romance- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Read a classic that has been translated from its official language to your language- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky OR Dangerous Liasons by Choderlos de Laclos

Classic Award Winner- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (I might have to change this because I'm not sure The Grapes of Wrath did win any awards, and I might be thinking of Steinbeck's Nobel Prize... But I would like to read a Steinbeck, so if anyone knows of any that did win awards, let me know, yeah?)

Classic set in a country you realistically won't visit in your lifetime- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria- although it's fictional Nigeria, so if I find myself in Nigeria at some point in my life, I won't be a liar!)

I am excited, because these are all books that I've had for far too long, and which inevitably get pushed aside for books that are easier because, you know, they're not classics! So yay for self improvement in 2012! Plus, if the world ends, I'll at least be able to say I've read Othello...

I'm sure I'll sign up for more challenges when I see some I like (if you're hosting something awesome, tell me about it in the comments and I'll check it out and have a think about it) but to end out this year, I'm taking part in the Advent with Austen event (not so much a challenge as an opportunity to read me some Austen) which I highly recommend signing up for because, who doesn't love Jane?! At the moment, I'm thinking I'm going to join in the readalong of Sense and Sensibility (because I always forget the plot of it which disturbs me), read Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sandition, because I have it and I haven't read it, blog about my visit to Jane Austen's house/Chawton (where I got to touch rare books, and enjoy one of those rare perks about living in England) AND I might watch Clueless as well because it clearly counts as being related to Austen, and, you know, I wanna. By my calculations, this will give me a score that makes me Mr Bingley, about which I am extremely meh. Although- if I count the three short books separately, that will make me Captain Wentworth, which is a much more pleasing result if you ask me! So, we'll see. But go sign up and we can be Austen buddies! Go on!