I have a passion for the Classics. Classic movies. Classic Cars. Classic Rock. Pretty much anything old school totally rocks my boat. So of course I am a fan of Classic books. I think more readers should be too. But time and again I run into The Three Classic Excuses. Too much work. Too boring. Too long. Baloney. Not all Classics fit these stereotypes. I try to dispel these myths through my posts here on Quirky Girls Read on a regular basis. Many kind visitors leave comments stating that they will add a Classic to their To Be Read pile. But you and I both know all that means is that it will be used to prop up the pile rather than being picked up and actually read any time soon. So out of desperation I am resorting to bribery to show readers that Classics can be fun, entertaining and even accomplished in a short period of time! Take a gander at the challenge and giveaway below. Then fit a Classic into your summer reading and have a chance to go shopping for whatever book you like to get you ready for the Fall.
Summer Reading Classics Challenge & Giveaway:
- Read at least 1 Classic over the summer – between June 1st and the end of Labor Day Weekend, September 5th
- You can have begun the Classic prior to June 1st, but it needs to have been completed between the challenge dates above
- Post a review on your blog of each Classic that you read during the challenge period and reference a link to this The Classic Bribe challenge page
- Link to each of your reviews separately by clicking on Mr. Linky below
- Each linked review counts as 1 entry – no entry limit per blogger – read and review as many as you like
- Each entry builds up $1 toward an Amazon gift card – the more entries the higher the balance can grow – capped at $35
- Random winner selected Labor Day weekend from all entries- no restrictions on region
- Winner receives the full Amazon gift card balance accumulated based on entries received
Classics are found in all genres. If you need help finding one to match your style preferences, ask your librarian or leave a comment below – I’m happy to make suggestions!
~Molly
**CLICK THE MR. LINKY BUTTON ABOVE TO LINK TO YOUR REVIEW POST AND BE ENTERED INTO THE GIVEAWAY**
a thinker
cloverautrey
izzybella
jehara
Margot
thebumbles
quirkygirlsread.wordpress.com 
I am all over this! I’m a few chapters into A Room with a View (loving it) and I’ve
read 2 chapters of Emma.
I’m curious how Room With A View goes for you – I have that here and for some reason I keep bypassing it for other selections.
Not sure if I’m joining, but definitely read Room with a View. Much better than I thought it would be, and it’s quick.
Great idea! I love the classics, can I still take part even though you don’t need to bribe me to read them? 😉
But of course! Reading for pleasure and having a bonus opportunity is just icing on the cake for you :0)
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Okay, Miss Molly, I will just have to do this! I’ve got a pretty full lineup for the summer, but I think I can squeeze at least one in. Which one I will end up reading will be a surprise (for you and for me). I’ll let myself be inspired.
Why am I not surprised your summer lineup is already set and it is packed? Thank you for fitting a Classic in your mix. I look forward to being surprised by your choice…
Count me in! I sometimes shy away from the daunting classics, but most of the time I am very pleasantly surprised at how much I love them.
I am the same – I put off the book snobby Classics for fear that I will not “get” them – but then I read them and find out they aren’t all that hard to “get” after all – not to mention they become some of my favorite stories.
You’ve got me too! I’ve been wanting to reread Persuasion this summer and read Middlemarch and The Portrait of Dorian Grey….so this will be a good excuse to get some of these done. I’ll link up either later today or tomorrow! So fun; I’m very excited!
Ooohhh, I loved Dorian Grey!!! So creepy and scary which can be fun sometimes.
What a fun mix of Classics to attack. You can link up as you write each review!
I’m in. I’m reading TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD this summer for a mystery group read in September. I truly can’t believe that I’ve never read it before. Shame on me.
Well Kay – I hope you love the experience as much as I did. That is tied for my favorite book ever. I am jealous you will get to read it for the first time – all re-reads pale in comparison.
Ok, ok — I give. I won beautiful copies of Pride & Prejudice, and Sense & Sensibility during Dewey’s Readathon a couple years ago and they’re are still sitting in the shelf just looking pretty and impressive. I will read at least one of them – and maybe a classic mystery or two.
Time for you to see how pretty the writing is inside those shiny books ;0)
What a cool challenge!! Methinks I must make a TBR classics pile..that includes two of my all time favorites Wuthering Heights and Anne of Green Gables on and the Secret Garden, too! And Jane Austen’s books, George Elliot…okay, I am pretty sure I am in, lol!
Read them all! I haven’t read The Secret Garden since I was a young girl. That would be fun to revisit…
This fits in perfectly with my personal challenge to read all of the “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die”.
Oh – there are so many goodies to choose from on that list. I’m glad you can kill two birds with one stone having one book work towards both challenges. Looking forward to your review of your selection(s)!
I’m in. I love classics and still have a ton more to read. I’ll be posting about this challenge tomorrow morning with a list of books I’m planning on reading.
Glad to have you join in! Support from a fellow Classic lover is always welcome :0)
Count me in! I love classics.
The wonderful bonus for me about this challenge is getting to meet other fellow Classics lovers!
I love classics (most of my favorite books are considered classics) and will probably read more than one this summer anyway, so I’m in. I’m currently reading Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence and I have Pilgrim’s Progress on tap for next month. (Did I mention that the book club I’m in bases our selections on the Barnes & Noble Classics list?)
I look forward to your review on Pilgrim’s Progress. I have heard so much of it via reference in other literary works.
I’m in 🙂
You should be – your War & Peace journey will definitely count.
This sounds fun. I’m some way into Kidnapped at the moment, which will qualify. And I have a few other classics lined up over the next few months- winter reading for those of us in Australia of course, sadly not summer reads. I do most of my reading from 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. Many classics in there of course.
So true – classic children’s books are so much fun to revisit. I keep trying to remind folks that Classics come in all genres. Glad you will be joining in – I like to hibernate with Classics in the winter too ;0)
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I’m joining in! I love reading classics!
Welcome! To Classic lovers and Classic newbies alike :0)
This is a challenge that’s callin’ to me! I have several classics piled up in my personal library; I love them, I really do, but I need a push to get them read. They’re too good to be collecting dust like that. Thanks for the challenge!
My pleasure – I will be as pushy as you need to get one of those Classics off your shelf and into your hands :0)
I’m definitely in! Found you through Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews and can’t wait to start.
Here’s my sing-up post: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/06/classic-bribe-challenge.html
That should be “sign”–no singing, although I was humming happily as I composed my list. 🙂
If this challenge results in happy humming, I’ve done well! Welcome and enjoy catching up with the Classics :0)
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I’ve posted my first review, A Room With a View. Pick up your copy and read it!
I’m joining! I found East of Eden by Steinbeck in my stash and it’s one of those books I always wanted to read. I have some other things I need to read first, but I will read this over the summer. Promise!
And I enjoy most classics, btw 🙂 I just put pff reading books I own for some reason.
I think I have a copy of that here too! I’m pretty good about reading my own books – there aren’t that many I have in hard copy to begin with – but I keep a stash to fill in those moments when I finish a library book and can’t immediately go get another one checked out. Happy reading and looking forward to your review!
I could fit in one classic. I’ve been wanting to read Love in The Time of Cholera or I could reread Old Man And The Sea. How do I make up my mind????
I’m going to start with The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It’s time I read it. So embarrassed.
Never be embarrassed – there are lots of books out there that I haven’t had time to get to – including The Color Purple. I did see the movie though so that’s got to count towards something ;0)
Found out about this on Gabriel Reads and I’m definitely in. What a great idea.
I’ve already read both Sense and Sensibility and Little Women.
Sounds like you are on a roll with some truly classic Classics! Looking forward to what you decide to read next…
I’ll certainly join in – I love classics and some of them rank among my favourites of all time. 🙂
Would it count if I read books off of Entertainment Weekly’s New Classics list? (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207349,00.html)
Well that is an interesting list. Modern Classics deserve recognition too. I have a post on how I struggle with defining Classics here – I think that some of the titles on EW’s list are a bit presumptuous however. They do need to be more than just a few years old to know whether they stand the test of time. But something that crosses generations would apply in my book.
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Thank you for all the comments. I really appreciated the extra insight into Alcott’s publishing experience. Now that I’ve learned something new for the day,I can be ignorant for the rest of the day . Yay!
Added another book to the list: Julian of Norwich’s Showings.
I’ll be reading Rilla of Ingleside and Pride and Prejudice next.
Oh, I loved Rilla of Ingleside! It’s very poignant, with plenty of humour to help things along.
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Got my first one done. This is taking much more time than I thought it would. So many other books distracting me again. 😛 This one wasn’t even on my original ‘classics to read’ list…
I just posted my second review in the linky (The Hound of the Baskervilles)- and I still haven’t finished Kidnapped, which I thought would be my first classic bribe! Some classics make you work for them I guess.
Fortunately, you don’t have to bribe me to read classics. I run a blog reviewing and commentating on traditional and ‘modern’ classics. 🙂 I think it’d be a little redundant for me to participate but I’m definitely going to check out the posts!
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I don’t have to be bribed to read classics, either! Though I will link up my reviews to win a gift card…
I’ve added my review of The Turn of the Screw to the linky.
Just finished up my review for Persuasion! I’m working on Dracula right now. We’ll see if I can finish in time!
Just found this challenge and I’m in even though it started 2 1/2 months ago!
Added my review of Island by Aldous Huxley to the linky. It’s more recent (i.e., from the 1960s) than most books that I consider classics, but I think it can be considered a modern classic.
I would like to join the challenge. I’ve read “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. I’m almost finished Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor.
I posted my review for Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Sorry I came late to this challenge. I’m thinking about reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker next. Always room for change.
Sorry for the changes. Think I will stick with blogspot. I have two entries on Mr. Linky. Sorry for the confusion.
My review of Further Chronicles of Avonlea. I forgot to leave the title in the Mr. Linky–just the blog name. But it is for a review 🙂
I’ve added my review for Miss Ravenel’s Conversion from Secession to Loyalty.
Just posted my last link! Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert – I enjoyed way more than I expected. 🙂
Entered two books…
What a great inspiration! I won’t enter, as it would rather be cheating. 😉 (I’m already reading the classics.) But best of luck to all participants, and great idea. 😀