26 Classics to Read in One Year - Creativity Boost and Mental Detox

I take on a personal challenge every year. I seek to learn something about myself and my perception of the world, challenge my belief system, and nurture my spirit. This year I am challenging myself to read 26 classic novels and award-winning fiction books in one year; I seek both a healthy mental break and get inspired to continue reinventing myself by working at the intersection of data, technology, and positive impact.

From escaping a Dictatorship to Cancer, Arts, Gratitude, Chess, and More

In 2019 I wrote this article with details about my annual challenges: Learning music and photography, publishing a children's book, fighting skin cancer, escaping from a dictatorship, testing lifestyle changes, the power of gratitude, and learning from 57 non-fiction books.

In 2020 my goal was to build my empathy and fight my introverted nature with 100 in-person random acts of kindness. I started great, but quarantine killed the challenge by April, and I abandoned it, so you can argue I failed.

In 2021, I wanted to learn to play chess, get a rating above 1,000 in Bullet Chess and play at least 3,650 games - mission accomplished. I learned to focus on the moment, keep calm under attack, and evaluate tradeoffs when pursuing a goal.

All challenges are difficult to some degree because our days are packed, and finding the time to do something new means trading off something else.

Reading 26 Classics in One Year

In 2022, I continue to navigate my life as a Serial Social Entrepreneur and as a caregiver helping with my Dad's Alzheimer's and taking care of my mom and several family members that are refugees in Europe and South America after escaping the dictatorship in Venezuela. I started my yearly challenge in June:?To read 26 classic novels and award-winning fiction books in one year.

The rules:

• Only fiction books. I am making 2-3 exceptions to accommodate non-fiction based on powerful storytelling when exploring inequities and social justice.
• I am allowing myself to repeat 2-3 of my all-time favorite novels as I will learn something new by reading them 20 years later.
• A Balanced mix from ~1350 to today and different cultural viewpoints.

My List of 26 classics to read between June 2022 and June 2023:

I provide a link to the English version of these classics below, but I always prefer the Spanish version when the original book was written in that language.

I am ahead of plan, so I welcome suggestions!

1. ??The Old Man and the Sea?- Ernest Hemingway
2. ??Hamlet?- William Shakespeare - I chose a deluxe version with illustrations, which was quite a pleasant surprise.
3. ??Les Miserables?- Victor Hugo
4. ??Don Quixote?- Miguel de Cervantes - I read this for the 4th time! Now, 40 years after reading it for the first time, I realize I have battled quite a few Windmills in my life, and I expect to continue doing so,
5. ??The Portrait of Dorian Gray?- Oscar Wilde - The copy I chose donates part of the income to Stonewall, Britain's leading LGBTQ charity.
6. ? 100 years of solitude?(100 A?os de Soledad)?- Gabriel Garcia Marques - My all-time favorite book. Pure Magic Realism. I met Garcia Marques the year after he won the Nobel Prize when he gave a guest lecture at my university; his insights on how to tell stories are a lasting life lesson.
7. ??The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez??(La Resurreción de Fulgencio Ramirez)- Rudy Ruiz
8. ??Fictions?(Ficciones)- Jorge Luis Borges - Read for the 2nd time
9. ??The Count of Monte Cristo?- Alexandre Dumas
10. ??Crime and Punishment?- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
11. ??Anna Karenina?- Leo Tolstoy
12. ??Pedro Paramo?- Juan Rulfo
13. ??1984?- George Orwell
14. ? ?The House of the Spirits?(La Casa de Los Espiritus) - Isabel Allende
15. ??The Water Margin?(水浒传) - Shi Nai'an
16. ??The Name of the Rose?- Umberto Eco
17. ? I am a Cat?(吾輩は猫である)?- Soseki Natsume
18. ? Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?- Mark Twain
19. ? The Decameron?- Giovanni Boccaccio
20. ? The Warmth of Other Suns?- Isabel Wilkerson
21. ? The Color Purple?- Alice Walker
22. (Reading Now) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
23. July's People?- Nadine Gordimer
24. The Bluest Eye?- Toni Morrison
25. The Trial?- Franz Kafka
26. Their Eyes Were Watching God?- Zora Neale Hurston