Tea and Ink Society 2024 Classics Reading Challenge

I really love all of the wonderful offerings from the Tea and Ink Society, and I am excited to be participating in their 2024 Classics Reading Challenge.  I'm taking a break from Saturday spring cleaning this afternoon to plan out some of my reads for the challenge. (Today's tea: Bengal Spice with milk and honey.)  Here are the categories:

January: A classic you’ve read before
February: A Nordic or Scandinavian classic
March: A novel with a place or house name in the title
April: An epistolary novel
May: An L. M. Montgomery novel or short story collection
June: A novel or short story collection from the American South
July: A utopian or dystopian novel
August: A children’s classic
September: A pastoral novel
October: A spooky classic or short story collection
November: A classic recommended by a friend
December: A Shakespeare play

And here's what I have so far:

January: Silas Marner by George Eliot

February: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

March: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

April: Evelina by Frances Burney

May: Anne of Windy Willows by L.M. Montgomery

June: The Awakening by Kate Chopin

July: News from Nowhere - William Morris

August:

September:

October: The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre - John Polidori

November: 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne

December:

Two of these I finished before I started this blog, and I will try to blog about them in due time.  Silas Marner was my re-read, and I chose The Summer Book by Tove Jansson for my Scandinavian classic.  I'm currently in the middle of Picnic at Hanging Rock, and I can't wait to talk about that one.

I was a bit daunted when I saw "epistolary novel" for April, because this is not a format I typically enjoy, with the exception of Dracula.  I have settled on Evelina by Frances Burney, because it was a favorite of Jane Austen.  If Jane loved it, it must be good, right?   I might have chosen Austen's own Lady Susan, were it not for the fact that I read it in 2022.

There is a lot of love for L.M. Montgomery over at Tea and Ink Society, which I find very sweet as she was my favorite author when I was a girl.  For the L.M. Montgomery selection in May, I'm going to read Anne of Windy Willows, the UK unabridged version of Anne of Windy Poplars, which is the version I'm familiar with.

June's category will stretch me a bit, because I don't often read Southern fiction.  I'm going to take this opportunity to read The Awakening by Kate Chopin, which has been on my reading list for a long time.

Utopian or Dystopian novel in July is quite a fun category.  I felt that I had read several of literature's great dystopias, so I went for something different and chose William Morris' utopian tale News from Nowhere.

August is the month for a children's classic. I am still undecided on this one, but I know I want it to be something by E. Nesbit that I haven't read yet.

A pastoral novel is a lovely choice for September.  I'm still mulling that one over, but I'm picturing myself with a mug of cider leaning against a hay rick reading Adam Bede by George Eliot in between weaving corn dollies.

One of the best things about this challenge is that we are quite rightly told to read a spooky classic or short story collection in October.  There is nothing better for October than eerie ghost stories or Gothic tales of terror.  I've chosen The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre by John Polidori.  I've read "The Vampyre" a couple of times, but the other tales of the macabre will be new to me.

November's classic is a book recommended by a friend.  My daughter Fiona has told me I should read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne for years now, so in November I take my chances with Captain Nemo.  Something about that Nemo fellow makes me nervous.

And we round off the year with Shakespeare for midwinter!  I love Shakespeare and have read all of his plays at least once, some multiple times.  I'm honestly just going to see which one I'm in the mood for when the time comes.  Perhaps a re-read of Cymbeline or Pericles?