Are you excited? I am!! I have had a lot of fun running the Back To The Classics Challenge 2011 - but I will admit that a learning curve was involved. This is the second year of the Challenge, and I hope that this year's categories interest and excite you. There are some repeats, which I think you'd expect, but I've had a lot of fun choosing new categories.
Here are the nitty gritty details:
Challenge runs from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. Books started before January 1st do not count, and all links/reviews/comments for each category must be posted in the correct place by December 31st. Feel free to join in at any time, but the end date is December 31.
Please feel free to use books in this Challenge toward any other Challenge you may be participating in. However, you must read a different book for each category of this challenge. Audio and e-books are allowed.
Please sign up for the Challenge using the linky list (or comment section if you do not have a blog/website). If you would be so kind, please spread the word about this challenge by creating a post on your blog/website and link back to this sign up page.
Once the Challenge has begun, you will see a new bar on the left hand side of this blog. This will list the places for you to link/comment your reviews of the book you have read for each category as well as a "wrap up" page. I will not be doing monthly check-in posts this year. I will probably do a "Half Way" post in June. These will be important because....
THERE IS A PRIZE THIS YEAR! People who complete the challenge (and I will check that all categories are completed!) will be entered into a random drawing for $30 worth of books (Book Depository will be used for an International Winner). I may have other prizes as well. Make sure you are following me via GFC, Email, Twitter, or Facebook/Networked Blogs so you are in the know!

Let me know if you have any questions, or if I need to make any clarifications.

Now that is all out of the way, want to see the categories? Sure you do! Here they are:

Any 19th Century Classic
Any 20th Century Classic
Reread a classic of your choice
A Classic Play
Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction
Classic Romance
Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your languange - To clarify, if your native language is NOT English, you may read any classic originally written in English that has been translated into your native language.
Classic Award Winner - To clarify, the book should be a classic which has won any established literary award.
Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime - To Clarify, this does not have to be a country that you hope to visit either. Countries that no longer exist or have never existed count.

Well, what do you think? I'm hoping that something really appeals to everyone, and that maybe one of the categories will make you a little uncomfortable. There are nine categories for twelve months. Hopefully you will have enough time to finish without stress, or shying away from a longer/more difficult book because of time constraints. You do not need to specify which books you plan on reading ahead of time, unless you'd like to.So, go ahead and sign up with the Linky below or in the comments! Please spread the word and share the fun..... Good Luck to Everyone!!

My TBR List

19th Century -- TBD
20th Century -- This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1920)
Reread Classic -- Jane Austen
Classic Play -- TBD
Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime -- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)
Classic Romance -- Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes (late 12th century)
Translated Classic -- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1857)
Classic Award Winner -- TBD
International Classic -- TBD