Now It's Hubris

I've officially reached the level of biting off more than I can chew with my 2012 reading challenges, I'm sure--especially since it's still November 2011!!--but I've found one more I simply MUST have in my life.  When I wrote my Top 10 Tuesday entry this week, I realized just how infrequently I step outside of my own reading comfort zone.  I think it's time to change that in 2012.  So without further ado, I'm signing up for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Challenge, hosted by Hanna of Booking in Heels!

I recently saw a different variation on this challenge, but I opted for this one because I wanted to concentrate solely on the original classics represented here; I'm not that interested in a story that attempts to bring all the main characters from them to life and slam them together into one anachronistic adventure.  However, each of the members of this "League" fascinate me for one reason or another, and it's time for me to include some "darker" fare in my literary horizons.

The only book I've ever read that truly qualifies as Gothic/horror is Frankenstein, and to be honest, I really didn't enjoy that one.  So, I want to take another run at this genre, and I'll certainly get my chance, as you'll see from the list of required reading for this challenge (although there are some tamer books on the list, as well).

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Dracula by Bram Stoker
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

If all goes to plan, links to reviews will appear here as the reviews occur.  Wish me luck!