January 1, 2012 – December 31,2012
Essentially, the Classic Double Challenge will encourage you to read one older book (classic) and a newer book that relates to the older one in some way. This is best understood by examples, which I'll post below. I've also compiled an anything-but-complete list of some examples for further perusal. You do NOT have to pick something from the list. I'm leaving the choices to your discretion - if you think there is some sort of connection between the books, go for it!
Examples:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. The first is kind of a "classic" and in the second, the main character loves A Wrinkle in Time and it plays a part in the plot.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel.
More obvious, since This Dark Endeavour is a prequel of sorts to Frankenstein.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Jane by April Lindner.
Jane is a retelling of Jane Eyre, set in modern times.
What I'd really love is for each person to write a review (or whatever you want to call it) of the two books (preferably together) and post it somewhere (blog, tumblr, goodreads, my comments, wherever) so that participants can check them out and we can discuss! (I'd like to start a goodreads book group around this idea, but don't have the energy for that...yet!)
And, of course, there are levels of participation, so you can choose how much or how little you'd like to commit to:
Small: You read 2 related books.
Medium: You read 4 books (2 sets of related books).
Large: You read 6 books (3 sets of related books).
Super Size: You read 8 books (4 sets of related books).
So, decide your size of participation and post about it wherever (or if you don't have a blog, you can leave your committment in the comments) and then link back below. You don't have to decide what you're planning to read right away, but listing some possibilities is always fun. Sign up any time from now until the end of 2012.
I'd love it if you'd spread the word about this challenge, if you so desire. And, feel free to snag one of the buttons below and display it on your blog or wherever else you'd like. I believe I'll have some prizes maybe each month next year for those who read and somehow post reviews (even if it's in the comments of my blog :) I'm still pretty new at this, so we'll see! Thanks everyone and I hope this is a fun challenge for you.
Some info on the list of book possibilities:
-I've included fairy tale retellings. Essentially, you'd read the retelling and find some form of an original tale - as original as you can find it: Grimm, Andrew Lang, whatever.
-The same goes for the myths/legends/stories that are included (though I obviously didn't spend much time working on that part of the list). Try to find an older, original telling of the story.
-Also, I didn't include some of your suggestions for pairing newer dystopian books with 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, simply because there were too many permutations that could take. You are, however, welcome to pair them any way you like, and be sure to let us know the similarities, etc, in your review. I'll try to add any other suggestions you have for additions.
List of Classic Double Books
For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.
