19 Oct 2018

Mini-Challenge: Modern Classics

Hello, fellow readers!!! Hope you're doing well and enjoying the thrill of the readathon - making a solitary activity social :-D

My challenge for you today is this:
Which books, published in the 21st century will likely be classics 100 years from now?

Personally, I think it's hard to guess in advance what will stand the test of time, but it's always fun to try anyway! So here are some the books I think will become classics.

A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles Whatever a modern classic is, this is it! A modern day Robinson Crusoe and a comfort book unlike any other I've ever read. It definitely has that undefinable something to make it pass the test of time.

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi I know it's non-fiction, but I'm going to count it anyway. It's a brilliant and personal account of a time and place in history few of us know (enough) about.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows This has become an instant favourite with everybody I've spoken to who's read it, and like 84 Charing Cross Road before it, I have a feeling this too will be read as a different account of World War 2 for years to come.


How about you? Leave your answer or a direct link to your post with the answer in the comments, or post a photo of the books on instagram, tagging it with #deweysmodernclassics


Monday after the readathon I will use random.org to select a person to win a book from bookdepository.com of up to DKK100kr / US$15 / £10 / €13. I will notify the winner directly, but PLEASE make sure you leave me a way to get in touch with you! Otherwise I'll have to draw another winner.

Update: The winner was @readersbeadvised on Instagram who - like many others - suggested "Between Shades of Gray". I haven't read that one yet, but will definitely have to now. Congratulations @readersbeadvised, and thank you to everybody who participated!

63 comments:

Lara said...

I enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and 84 Charing Cross Road. I’ve watched the movie adaptation of both, too. Was a bit disappointed with the Guersey movie in so far as it left out one of my favourite characters and scenes. And some of the laughs and strife. But the book is almost always better, more complex, as readers know.

Rebecca S said...

The Power by Naomi Alderman - This book, when looking on slightly deeply, really focuses on the fear of women in charge, as well as the fear of minorities (like the few men with skeins) in charge. The Power really digs into the political and social aspects of our current culture, and for examining how power corrupts. Really good book!

Dana said...

I'm hoping for Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, personally. This is an important book and really reflective of our time period, so I hope it ends up a classic.

Unknown said...

I believe Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi will be a classic.It really is great original storytelling that tells an important story in a new way & from the most important perspective. It is a book all should read.

The Relentless Reader said...

I have a huge love for Circe by Madeline Miller and I hope that people are still reading it generations from now. Another one I'd love to see people figuring out for years is Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. One that I'm certain *will* be a classic (and deservedly so) is Citizen by Claudia Rankine. EVERYONE should read that book.

Thanks for a fun mini-challenge!

Unknown said...

I’d second both Circe and Homegoing but add either of Jesmyn Ward’s novels: Salvage the Bones and/or Sing,Unburied, Sing. Her writing is so beautiful and the struggles of her characters, while highly specific to a time and a place, are also truly universal.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

I love the books you listed. For me The Book Thief and The Night Circus are both classics to me. Not everyone loves them (which is true for any classic), but they both have huge followings. They tell rich stories and the characters are wonderful.

avidreader25 [at] gmail.com

Unknown said...

I agree with Melissa - The Book Thief will for sure become a classic.

Tizzalicious said...

Pfff, this is a hard one! There are some which I HOPE will be classics, like The Night Circus, and then of course which will obviously be classics, like Harry Potter. But that isn’t a very original answer, isn’t it? Maybe some Murakamis like Norwegian Wood? And The Handmaid,# Tale, or is that already a classic?

Rachel Noel said...

I really think that "Who Fears Death" by Nnedi Okorafor is a dead ringer for a classic.

GothicVamperstein said...

A couple of titles that I think might become classics in the future are The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

Sam @ Spines in a Line said...

I'd agree with Harry Potter! I was also reminded recently of some Canadian literature ones I read several years ago that are really powerful books - The Truth About Stories by Thomas King and Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway

Steph said...

I think Harry Potter will certainly remain a classic children’s lit selection.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, too.

Sylwiia said...

So I really thought about this. I went through all of the books I've read that were published after 2001. I thought about how popular and well-received they were. I thought about the timeless messages they contain. This is my list of books I think could be called Classics one day.

Uglies
The Glass Castle
The Hunger Games
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Wing of Fire
March
Everything I Never Told You
Simons Versus
George
All-American Boys
Juliet Takes a Breath
Every Heart a Doorway
If I Was Your Girl
Homegoing
The Female of the Species
Born a Crime
The Hate U Give
Eliza and Her Monsters

Book Binge blog said...

How to be Alone - Sara Maitland. Individualist millennials' legacy.

Unknown said...

I’m going to be real. I haven’t read either of these books but the hype that these books get makes me think that The Hate U Give and Children of Blood and Bone will be classics. I haven’t had time to read the but they are for sure on my radar.

Delmy said...

This may not be some people's choice but I think "Crazy Rich Asians" is bound to be a modern classic. It's a unique view, from characters we don't get to see very often. It would be great to see more books like this.

Elyse L said...

I think The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is such a powerful and important read that will stand the test of time. And hopefully when it becomes a classic, teenagers will be confused as to why there was so much divide between races and police and black people.

Liz said...

The Hate U Give, for sure!

Alex said...

I really hope The Hate U Give and Two Boys Kissing become modern classics. I think they should be required reading in high school at the very least.
The Great Alone could be another one.

Jazmin Jade Reviews said...

Here is a link to my answers :) Its interesting to see what books everyone thinks should make the list/
My TTT https://wp.me/p3ftwe-ZI

Sammantha said...

I say The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and Miss Peregrines School for Peculiar Children.

jennifer said...

I have a many books I would like to see become classics at some point in time. I'll just narrow it down to three.

Monster by Patrick Ness
The Shamer's Daugther by Lene Kaaberbøl (DK: Skammerens Datter)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Find me here: https://www.instagram.com/jennifervenia/

Sarah @ Reviews and Readathons said...

I posted on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/reviewsandRaTs/status/1053716007016108033. I also agree with The Hate U Give becoming a modern classic. Such an important book!

Claudia said...

Probably Harry Potter, to be honest. The Book Thief as well.
And then, this is merely wishful thinking of me, but Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (alternatively Tweak by Nic Sheff).

Wendy said...

Ooh, these are some good suggestions. I'm thinking of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, There There, and the picture books I Want My Hat Back and We Don't Eat Our Classmates.
@WendyGassaway

Claudia said...

I agree with Persepolis. I also think The Fifth Season will go down as a classic sci-fi novel. It's simply astounding!

Aileen said...

The Harry Potter book and perhaps the Percy Jackson ones. I would love for the Caraval trilogy to be in that category, as well as anything by Sarah J. Maas

Alix said...

This is super hard. There are just so many books being published and life is so short and moves so fast... And what lasts isn't necessarily what's best.

I can see The Book Thief and The Hate U Give still being taught in 30 years, but I'm not sure about 100.

Harry Potter almost certainly will be hanging in there (ala Wizard of Oz, Alice, Narnia), though that started last century. Maybe Hunger Games since terrifying dystopias tend to stay with you (Bradbury, Orwell, Huxley).

There are some late 20th century ones I can definitely see people still reading. Beloved almost certainly. And The Poisonwood Bible has a chance. The Hours and The Shipping News as well.

Lotte Eskildsen said...

I have to agree with some of the others: The Book Thief will be a classic. But Harry Potter could also be on series that children years from now will devour

Unknown said...

The Book Thief, The Hate U Give- may be taught as like the English classics are now, a picture of life when..., Harry Potter for sure. Gone Girl probably although I thought it was terrible.

Iluzija O. Istini said...

I don't know... I know some books I would love to see stand the test of time.

If I had to pick one, I would say, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - C. North (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22288702-the-first-fifteen-lives-of-harry-august)

Marci Rae Johnson said...

I have lots of ideas! And I love making lists like this!
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, Kathleen Rooney
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
On Beauty, Zadie Smith
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
Incarnadine (poems), Mary Szybist
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Nix, Nathan Hill
The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer
Fates & Furies, Lauren Groff
The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
The Sparrow and Children of God, Mary Doria Russell
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell
Life Among Giants, Bill Roorbach
Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter
The Marriage Plot and Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
Book of My Nights (poetry), Li-Young Lee

Dodibus said...

I believe that Kafka on the shore, by Murakami, will be a classic. And I think the same of every book of the Harry Potter'series published in the 21st century!

Isi said...

I choose The goldfinch as a modern classic.
Here is my post: https://twitter.com/IsiOrejas/status/1053776724071198720

(email for contact: fromisi.orejas @ gmail.com

Denise said...

This is difficult. So many books... The Book Thief, Homegoing, Kindred, Middlesex, The Poisonwood Bible.

Amy M. said...

The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak. It is already required reading in some school curricula.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, as a representative of BLM.

And, Harry Potter, obviously, if it hasn't already been labeled a classic.

jangoodell said...

It's got to be A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Elizabeth said...

A few that I loved and hope will stand the test of time...

Harry Potter (series)
March (trilogy)
Night Circus
Ahab's Wife, or The Star Gazer
The Book Thief
The Forgotten Garden

Kathryn said...

This is a great question and something that I think about a lot! There are several I think will someday be considered classics.

*The Harry Potter series
*The Hunger Game series
*The Kite Runner

It is really hard to tell, but I honestly think those three will some day be classics. There are others that I want to be classics, but I'm not sure if they will be. I think that the Mistborn series and the Stormlight Archive have the potential to be fantasy classics. I think that the Outlander books could be like Jane Austen classics in the future. But I don't know and they're not firm guesses. Same with Game of Thrones. Possibly the Percy Jackson books.

Really excellent question and something to think about

Kai said...

I think NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro will be a classic book ! ITs so amazing!

Alicia said...

I shared on my IG @readersbeadvised that Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray will be a modern classic (and when it becomes a movie- that I'm hotly anticipated) you kind of know there's something special about it too.

menenia said...

Well, Harry Potter is a sure thing. Other than that I don't really know.

Unknown said...

Harry Potter Series
The Hate You Give
Between the World and Me
Simon and the Homosapien Agenda

Fortified By Books said...

I feel like it's already a classic, but I think The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is definitely a modern classic

Keely said...

Possession by A.S Byatt. Or, at least, I hope it will be defined as a classic!

Jules Q. @phreneticmind said...

No doubt that A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW was an instant classic. It's on my list, too! I think these should be included too:

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern
LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safran Foer
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon

Hmm... these are books in my personal Top Ten. Ha!

Meliane said...

I think that The Hate U Give will become a classic because of how well it represented its situation in time and space.

Kait Plus Books said...

Hi! I answered these on my blog post here: https://wp.me/pagmwu-gv :)

Sam Brunke said...

The Harry Potter series for sure. And I haven't read it yet, but based on everything I've heard and seen surrounding it, A Little Life is definitely a contender!

Unknown said...

The first books that come to mind are The Book Thief, Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale.

Melissa said...

I think The Hate U Give and The Book Thief are definitely going to become classics!

Tara Nichols said...

For sure Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. And I just finished Bel Canto and I think that could be a contender too.

Charvi said...

Definitely The Hate U Give and the Harry Potter series! THUG is such an important and acclaimed book and well HP is loved by all :)

Susy said...

Harry Potter of course!!! And The Book Thief!

Unknown said...

Joe Abercrombie's First law trilogy and anything by Sir TerryPratchett, Night Watch and Monstrous Regiment being two of my 21st century favorites.

Sselep said...

Mark z. Danielewski "house of leaves" - it's so different from anything else you could have ever read that it must become a classic you study at school, I think

Unknown said...

I'm just gonna say that the Harry Potter Series has stood the test of a few generations now and I think will remain one a childhood to adulthood classics :) At least that is my hope!

Lara said...

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante felt like an instant classic upon reading it and I totally get the whole Ferrante fever thing. That Neapolitan novel series is great.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Here is my list:

Sure Things

The Good Earth
Lord of the Rings
Kafka's The Metamorphosis
The Things They Carried
George Orwell's Animal Farm
Grapes of Wrath
Great Gatsby
Dubliners


Have An Outside Shot

The Little Prince
True Grit
Gone With the Wind
Harry Potter

Take care,
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com



Trisa @ Absolute Bookishness said...

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. And Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Grey and Salt to the Sea.

Dannii Elle (danniib90@googlemail.com) said...

Sleep No More was my first completed readathon title and fully deserving of becoming a #deweysmodernclassics. It's rare for an anthology to appeal so absolutely, but I was enamoured with every one of the six tales collected here.

My photo can be found: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpMVVwdHwsU/?taken-by=dannii.elle.reads

Dannii (danniib90@googlemail.com)

Alix said...

Congrats @readersbeadvised!