2023 Classics Reading Challenge

Who here loves a good classic read?

I do!

It has been only about four years or so since I first started reading and loving classic literature. I recall watching various BookTubers discuss their favourites, and I really wanted to be able to know what they were talking about!

It was Lucy the Reader’s video on Easy Classics For Beginners that really got the ball rolling for me. A few of her recommendations included Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. I picked them up and loved them both, especially Agnes Grey. I had to read more classics, so I watched more videos, and soon my shelves were overflowing!

Of course, while I have a load of classics on my shelves, that doesn’t mean I’ve read them all, so now I like to find ways to challenge and motivate myself.

I had just recently signed up for two other reading challenges – the 2023 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge and the 2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge – and was thinking about what other one I could sign up for. I heavily considered nonfiction, but that’s not the kind of book I gravitate towards consistently.

My classics, however, are books that I am always finding myself wanting to read.

I looked up online what to sign up for and came across the 2023 Classics Reading Challenge hosted by Elsie at Tea and Ink Society. This is only the second year it has been hosted, and it sounded like a lot of fun.

The only real stipulation that affected me was the year of the classic. Elsie said that anything published before 1970 would be considered.

The other really neat thing about this challenge is that it’s based on monthly prompts. I’m signing up in February, so I missed January’s prompt of “a classic detective novel,” but I do get to use February’s, which is “a book with a character’s name in the title.” I’m sure I’ve got plenty of those! (I also plan to make up the January prompt – maybe with a good Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle?)

At any rate, this is my sign-up post for the challenge, and I’ll track my reading here. I will also link this challenge to the blog banner under “2023 Reading Challenges.” I’m hoping as the months go by, I’ll get better at sharing my monthly plans when it comes to reading and what I plan to read for various challenges.