Jay at Bibliophilica hosts the Deal Me In Challenge every year and it’s one of my favourite challenges. Even considering the fact that I’ve been abysmal with even getting halfway through this challenge the past few years, I’m still going to participate in the Deal Me In Challenge 2021. Why, you ask? Well, I do have a very good reason ….
A Serious Question – Sergey Solomko
~ source Wikiart
The categories I’ve chosen for this challenge …….. Short Stories, Essays, Poetry and Children’s Classics ….. are forms of writing that I wouldn’t normally naturally gravitate to, especially with so many classic novels to read. So The Deal Me In Challenge forces me to read them, and I must say, every Deal Me In choice in the 6 years that I’ve participated, I have thoroughly enjoyed. Even if I only read 5 or 10 choices during the year, I feel that it’s been invaluable. So, once again, I participate.
Here is my 2021 List:
♣️ Clubs – Short Stories:
A♣️ – The Honest Thief – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2♣️ – The Shot – Alexander Pushkin
3♣️ – The Story of A Farm Girl – Guy Maupassant
4♣️ – The Bremen Town Musicians – The Brothers Grimm
5♣️ – Le Chêne et le Roseau (The Oak and the Reed) – Jean de la Fontaine
6♣️ – A Warning to the Curious – M.R. James
7♣️ – The Unpresentable Appearance of Colonel Crane – G.K. Chesterton
8♣️ – The Happy Family – Hans Christian Andersen
9♣️ – Bezhin Lea – Ivan Turgenev
10♣️ – The Maiden Without Hands – The Brothers Grimm
J♣️ – L’Enfant et le Maître d’Ecole (The Boy and The Schoolmaster) – Jean de la Fontaine
Q♣️ – The Pine Tree – Hans Christian Andersen
K♣️ – The Diary of a Madman – Guy Maupassant
♠️ Spades – Essays
A♠️ – A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
2♠️ – Once More To The Lake – E.B. White
3♠️ – Letters from Birmingham Jail – Martin Luther King, Jr.
4♠️ – Of Adversity – Francis Bacon
5♠️ – The Art of Political Lying – Jonathan Swift
6♠️ – Employments of A Housewife in the Country – Samuel Johnson
7♠️ – Of The Feeling of Immortality in Youth – William Hazlitt
8♠️ – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – G.K. Chesterton
9♠️ – The Tyranny of Bad Journalism – G.K. Chesterton
10♠️ – Psycho-analysis and Literary Criticism – C.S. Lewis
J♠️ – Self-Reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Q♠️ – Reflections on Gandhi – George Orwell
K♠️ – Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community – Wendell Berry
The Card Players (1890-92) Paul Cezanne
~ source Wikiart
♦️ Diamonds – Poetry
A♦️ – From Milton [Jerusalem] – William Blake
2♦️ – To A Mouse – Robert Burns
3♦️ – Love Sonnet XIII – Pablo Neruda
4♦️ – Gesang Der Geister Über Den Wassern – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
5♦️ – Ode III – Fray Luis de León
6♦️ – Sonnet 57 – William Shakespeare
7♦️ – A Sea Dirge – Lewis Carroll
8♦️ – I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud – William Wordsworth
9♦️ – The Tiger by William Blake
10♦️ – The Lake Isle of Innisfree – William Butler Yeats
J♦️ – Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost
Q♦️ – Sonnet XXIII – Garcilaso de la Vega
K♦️ – Sonnet 73 – William Shakespeare
♥️ Hearts – Children’s Classics
A♥️ – First Term at Malory Towers – Enid Blyton
2♥️ – Caddie Woodlawn – Carol Ryrie Brink
3♥️ – Three Greek Children – Alfred J. Church
4♥️ – All Sails Set – Armstrong Sperry
5♥️ – Theras and His Town – Caroline Dale Snedecker
6♥️ – A World of Girls: The Story of a School – L.T. Meade
7♥️ – Flip, the Story of an Otter – Joan Wanklyn
8♥️ – The Bronze Bow – Elizabeth George Speare
9♥️ – Girl of the Limberlost – Gene Stratton Porter
10♥️ – The Spartan – Caroline Dale Snedecker
J♥️ – The Little Bookworm – Eleanor Farjeon
Q♥️ – City of the Golden House – Madeleine Polland
K♥️ – A Triumph for Flavius – Caroline Dale Snedecker
There! I’m all set to go! Jay hasn’t posted the new challenge for 2021 but I hope he will so you can keep checking his blog or simply post a list yourself and get reading!
Previous Deal Me In Challenges:
I keep meaning to do this, but I never have. Especially short stories because I need a real motivator to read them. This looks like a really good list. I’ve some of your poems and some of your essays, but nothing else.
You should do it! The only reason I don’t get through more of it is because I always post about what I’ve read. If I didn’t post, it would be easy. But I must say, many of my most viewed blog posts are essays from this challenge. Funny, that!
Hmm….I don’t know that I should even admit this, but the database tells me that I own 153 volumes of short stories that I haven’t read.
Me thinks your database is trying to tell you something …. 😁
Chesterton, Berry, Wordsworth – wonderful list <3 I remember doing part of this challenge in its early years, glad to see it's still going strong!
Yes! I’m getting excited about getting started on it. I think you’re on another bent with your reading but I do hope you try it again one day!
wow! that’s about the equivalent of a BA in English! i hope you can do all that, i know i couldn’t, i’m too erratic… i might express a bit of caution re Swift; he can be pretty graphic… best of luck!
Ha, ha! If only! I won’t get through even half of it, but if I can make it through 1/4, I’ll be happy. Thanks for the heads-up about Swift …. I will approach him with a censored mind 😉. Thanks for the wishes!
Remember, if you don’t complete the challenges you will be threatened with…. Absolutely NOTHING. The only drawback is you might postpone the experience of a particularly good book. I like challenges because as you wrote, they make me read stuff. And sometimes I need that (self-imposed) guiding force. Also, I don’t post about everything I read which takes a lot of the pressure off.
Anyway, you have a fabulous, if ambitious list of material. I read some of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books as a kid but never the Mallory Tower books. I really want to give them a try. Also, one of the joys of reading books for kids is that they read pretty fast. Good luck! 😀
Lol! You’re right! Thanks for the sensible reminder, Ruthiella. 😂 My struggle is that I remember back to years when reading 52 books during the year was a breeze and now reading 24 is tough. But I wasn’t blogging then so I have to remember that. As long as I’m reading regularly, and I’m managing to do that so far this year, so I’m happy. 😁
I had suspected that you don’t post about everything you read. I admire that because you’re then able to move through books more quickly. I’ve tried that but then looking back I wish I’d posted when I’d read books like To The Lighthouse, To Kill A Mockingbird, etc. So I’m somewhat conflicted about it, but I might try it if my reading begins to slow down.
Thanks for the wishes! Kids books are a great escape too. I’m looking forward to the hearts section!
What a great list! And even if you only read part of it, you will have read some great works. It wasn’t that long ago that I read The Bronze Bow and thought is was great. Chesterton essays and M. R. James stories – I want to read more of these!
Thanks, Dale! I’ve had many people laud The Bronze Bow. Chesterton requires lots of brain power but his stuff is always worth it. Best of luck to you with this challenge this year. I always enjoy reading your posts!
I know I will not get through to much, but I am going to try and read all the essays you have listed ! I think the list is very well chosen and these are important ideas that need to be read! All the Best!
Wow! That’s awesome, sis! And you can fill me in on the ones I don’t get to, lol! Hope you’re doing well! Hugs from afar! 🤗
Nice way of challenging yourself, enjoy!
Thanks, Emma! I’ll do my best!
Cleo!
Hello, stranger! Hope all is well. I’ve been away from blogging pretty much since the pandemic hit but I was very happy to read this post and know that some are still doing the challenge this year in spite of the fact that I kind of abandoned it to “autopilot.” That said, I did create a list of my own back in December and have read (but not posted) about half a dozen so far, so even without posting I’m behind! The good news is I’m retiring from my job next month and part of the time that that will free up will, I hope, be devoted to returning to blogging. If I do, I will post a list of my stories as well. 🙂
I like that you’ve included essays again. I have a category for myself this year of short non-fiction. I’ve only read maybe 5 or 6 from your deck, many during my own previous iterations of the challenge.
-Jay
Jay! So good to hear from you! I was wondering where you were. Yes, I am carrying on the challenge. It’s a wonderful way for me to be “forced” to read in areas that I normally wouldn’t. And of my reviews, many of my Deal Me In posts are the most viewed. So it’s nice to introduce other people to these works and authors if only in a review. Hopefully your retirement will free up more time for blogging, but definitely for reading! All the best to you and I hope you have everything wonderful in the new phase of your life!