Victorian Literature Challenge 2011

Yes, I know. I have a Book Challenge Addiction. But really...how was I supposed to resist this one? After all, I consider myself a Victorianist. Signing up for just one more...(until the next one comes along). I'll be thinking about the books I want to read (and how many can count for the other bazillion challenges I can't resist) and picking my level soon. In the meantime, here's the scoop for my fellow challenge junkies:

Victorian Literature Challenge 2011

Sponsored by Bethany at words, words, words

What you need to know: This challenge will run from 01 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011. Participants can sign up at any time throughout the year. Read your Victorian literature. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901. If your book wasn't published during those particular years, but is by an author considered 'Victorian' then go for it. We're here for reading, not historical facts! Also, this can include works by authors from other countries, so long as they are from this period. Literature comes in many forms. There are so many Victorian reads out there, including novels, short stories, and poetry. One poem doesn't count as a 'book': pick up an anthology instead!

Choose your books. List your books before you begin, or pick up titles along the way. It's up to you! You can review them if you choose to, but it's not necessary. If you don't have a blog, that's fine! Link to a Facebook, or a page somewhere where you can list what you've been reading. If you can't link up, no problem - feel free to just comment and enjoy.

Spread the love.

Post the reading challenge on your blog - make your own post(s), or stick the button on the side of your page. The more the merrier, after all. Let's build a big community of Victorian literature lovers!

Choose from one of the four levels:
Sense and Sensibility: 1-4 books.
Great Expectations: 5-9 books.
Hard Times: 10-14 books.
Desperate Remedies: 15+ books.

Go to her site. Sign up, and enjoy!

Added 11/26/10: I've decided on my level...Great Expectations: 5-9 books.

Here's my tentative list:
The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson [8/17/11]
Three Victorian Detective Novels by E. F. Bleiler (ed.) [8/20/22]
The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katherine Green [2/8/11]
Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (8/21/11)
Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes [5/13/11]
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope [2/1/11]The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [3/29/11]
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (I know he didn't actually write until the 1900s, but he was a Victorian, and he wanted to write earlier, but his father forbade him.) [4/11/11]
Victorian Tales of Mystery & Detection by Michael Cox (ed) [4/26/11]
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope [4/29/11]Middlemarch by Georg Eliot [9/27/11]
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon [8/24/11]
Hide & Seek by Wilkie Collins

If I can squeeze in a few more, I may up my challenge to Hard Times: 10-14 books.


***Addendum 3/29/11: I am now ready to do the Hard Times level.

Challenge Complete (Hard Times level) with 10 books [8/21/11]. Will most like complete the three others listed...and perhaps more...by the end of the year.