2013 Challenges Wrap-up

It's that time of year...challenge wrap-up time!

Back to the Classics Challenge 2013

I managed to complete all the required categories:

1. A 19th-century Classic: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
2. A 20th-century Classic: A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
3. A Pre-18th or 18th-century Classic: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
4. A Classic that relates to the African-American experience: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (it doesn't deal directly with the African-American experience, but it's about the American South and has a few very key African-American characters, so I'm counting it...)
5. A Classic Adventure: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
6. A Classic that prominently features an animal: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

I wanted to do the optional categories, but I had way too much school stuff on my plate! I'm still really happy I completed all the required categories, though. 

2014 I Love Library Books Reading Challenge

I'm obsessed with the library, so this is naturally the perfect challenge for me.

2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

I did this challenge this year and I have almost made my goal! This coming year, I want to read even more--but, since it'll probably be a really busy year, I'll keep my goals minimal. 

Back to the Classics Challenge 2014

The Back to the Classics challenge is back! (Thanks to Karen for hosting it this time!) I had to sign up just to support, so hopefully I will be able to complete all the required categories this coming year (which I anticipate will be very busy)...

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

I've been working on this post for quite some time now (erm, two months). I keep hesitating to actually post it because I have never heard a single person criticize Where the Red Fern Grows. And I'm about to. Hold onto your hats.

Where the Red Fern Grows is a classic American story--but I hope you won't throw stones at me when I say I hope it's not considered classic American writing.

It's pretty obvious that Wilson Rawls didn't have tons of formal training when it came to fiction writing. That doesn't necessarily mean his book is bad. It's fun, sweet, and emotionally provoking (how many of us have cried at the end?). It explores the timeless theme of humanity's relationship with nature and animals. It's a perfect read-aloud and it's easily relatable.

That said, there were some annoying and even laughable flaws in the writing. I believe that a true classic has both the elements of a good story and a beautiful way of telling it. In that way, this book was more of a fun story than a classic for me (emphasis on for me).

15-Day Book Blogger Challenge, Day 14: Deal Breakers

Click on the picture to check out the challenge and participate!

I have been a serious slacker on this challenge. Whoops. But I will finish! Almost there!

Today's prompt is: Tell us your deal breakers. 

1. Eroticism, excessive language, or anything that I find too immoral to read. I don't mean to be snobby, and I hardly ever put down a book for this reason--I can handle some language and some sexual content, but if it's just meant to be shocking, then I have better things to waste my time on.

2. Bad writing. Sometimes I can push through it, but if the writing is so bad that it gets in the way of my ability to focus on the story itself, then I'm more likely to put the book down.

3. Boring characters. I need characters that are more complicated and not cliche. I'm more than happy with cliches in movies, but when I'm reading, I want the characters to have some substance to them.

4. Post-Twilight vampires. Just no.

What are your deal breakers? 

Evelina by Fanny Burney

"If you like Jane Austen, you'll like Evelina," my 18th-century Brit lit professor promised us before we began reading this book. I'd never heard of it, but I do like Austen, so I was interested to see if my professor was right. 

So, was he? Am I going to send all you Janeites running out to the bookstore to buy Evelina?

In a way, it was a lot like Jane Austen. Like I said, it's a story about a young woman coming out into society. Plus, it has other Austen-esque features, such as: romance, class issues (and sometimes, class issues IN romance--that's a bonus), marriage, annoying people who won't shut up, gender issues, propriety problems, and probably lots more.

But believe it or not, with all those similarities, this book really didn't feel much like Austen to me. It was somewhat darker. Unlike with Austen novels, the characters didn't spend all their time in the drawing-rooms of the gentry. The "improper" people weren't just snooty Catherine de Bourghs inviting young ladies to play their pianofortes; they were often genuinely cruel, rude, creepy, or just downright gross (or all of the above). Just a few of the events that would never show up in an Austen novel: