Thursday, December 31, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Yes there is a lot of hype out there for this movie. I am old enough to have seen them all at the movie theater but you will not see me dressed up in a red or gold shirt or waiting in long lines for any movie. That said, it is a great movie not to be missed.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Back to Classics Challenge 2016


Thinking back I can't remember reading a single classic except some British murder mysteries since I left college. So I am really looking forward to this challenge. My choices aren't all locked down yet and I may end up switching some around. But here goes:

1.  A 19th Century Classic - The Chimes (1844) by Charles Dickens, this is his 2nd in the series of 5 Christmas stories. Although it isn't technically a Christmas story. It is a goblin story of some bells that rang an old year out and a new year in. So I thought it would be a perfect way to start 2016 and my classics challenge off. Besides Audible is offer this one for free. It might not be considered long enough so please let me know if it doesn't qualify but I will still read/listen to it.

2.  A 20th Century Classic - TBA


3.  A classic by a woman author - 
Murder on the Orient Express. I have read this one before, in fact, I have read everything Agatha Christie has ever written. Earlier this year I was looking for a copy of this book in hardcover. The only ones I could find were very expensive then on Amazon I discover a version that had just come out. It a reproduction of the 1934 British edition. So I have to read this one.

4.  A classic in translation - 20,ooo Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in French.


5.  A classic by a non-white author -The Art of War. I haven't ever read this one but it comes up in conversations often. Plus my son has read it so this will give me something to talk with him about.


6.  An adventure classic The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas


7.  A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury


8.  A classic detective novel - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins


9.  A classic which includes the name of a place in the title - Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

10. A classic which has been banned or censored - To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. Like who isn't reading this one or reading it this year? It would be fun if everyone who was 
reading it in this group did so at the same time. That way we could discuss it together.

11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college) -  The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Read this one in high school and remember being very angry with the man and crying. Of course, I was a teenager with emotions all over the board.


12. 
A volume of classic short stories - The Gift of the Magi and Other New York Stories by Henry James.