With only two weeks to spare, I’ve finally finished the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much!

The challenge was to read nine classics, one in each of the following categories. The definition of a “classic” was kept pretty open, but I tried to limit myself to books that are widely acclaimed, frequently studied, and/or generally accepted as Western classics. Here’s what I read:

19th century classic: Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
20th century classic: Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust
Reread a classic: Jane Austen, Emma
Classic play: Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
Classic mystery/horror/crime: Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
Classic romance: Daphne Du Maurier, Jamaica Inn
Classic in translation: Aristotle, Poetics
Award-winning classic: Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams
Classic set in a country you’ll never visit: Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

My favorite book of the challenge was definitely Emma (is anyone really surprised by that?), but I also really enjoyed Around the World in Eighty Days. My least favorites were The Maltese Falcon (sorry, Dashiell!) and Jamaica Inn. I’m glad I participated in this challenge, since it gave me the motivation I needed finally to pick up some of these books!