I can proudly say that I have not missed one single Classics Club Spin. And I'm thrilled to join in the latest - the club's tenth spin and mine.The idea is to pick 20 unread titles from your Classics Club list and wait until Monday morning (US time) for a random number to be drawn. You then read the book with that number by October 23.
My previous spins have been mostly successful and/or enjoyable. I've also enjoyed reading along with other Classic Clubbers during most of the spins:
#2 Tess of the D'Urbervilles with Lakeside Musings & Several Four Many.
#3 My Cousin Rachel.
#4 The Brothers Karamazov with Bree who also read a Dostoyevsky novel for this spin.
I'm still reading this chunkster...very slowly...and with lots of breaks. A good editor would have been helpful :-)
#5 The Odyssey with Plethora of Books.
This one was a bit of a cheat as I had started it for another readalong, but struggled to finish.
I added it to my list to motivate me to finish it.
When no. 20 spun up it seemed like the gods had decreed it so!
#6 No Name by Wilkie Collins with Melbourne on My Mind.
#7 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson with Booker Talk.
#8 Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh has been my one and only dud Spin read so far.
#9 The Great World by David Malouf
I've only read 50/125 of my Classics Club list.
I am now over halfway through my personal challenge but well under halfway through my list.
Hopefully this spin will get me motivated again.
It's not that I don't enjoy reading classics, but my job in an Indy bookshop requires me to stay abreast of contemporary literature. I know, it's a hard life, but someone has to do it! However, it does impact on my ability to read all the classics I would like. Especially at this time of year with all the interesting shortlists and awards being announced.
My Classics Club #10 spin list inlcudes:
1. Watership Down by Richard Adams (reread) reading with Historia @Classics Club Challenge
2. The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
3. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
4. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
6. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (reread)
7. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath reading with Kaja @Of Dragons and Hearts
9. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte reading with Jessica @The Bookworm Chronicles
10. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell reading with Margaret @Books Please
11. Dubliners by James Joyce
12. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
13. Stoner by John Williams
14. The Berlin Novels by Christopher Isherwood
15. Ninety Three by Victor Hugo
16. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch reading with Joy Isabella
17. Indiana by George Sand
18. Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins
19. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde reading with Donna @Scrambled Books
20. Hare and the Tortoise by Elizabeth Jenkins
Happy Spinning everyone!
*****UPDATE*****
Our lucky spin no. is 5.
Which means I will be reading my gorgeous Virago Modern Classics designer edition of
A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
I have quite a few of the books you mentioned, but I purchased them after I created my classics club list. I don't really want to add more books to my list though, as then I am afraid that I will never finish the other books. I might eventually take some books off my list but haven't decided yet. I have been wanting to read Dubliners, Mary Burton, and the Angle of Reose for quite awhile. Do you have a book that your looking the most forward to reading for this spin?
ReplyDeleteThe secret with this spin list is that all 20 are books I'd love to read next!
DeleteBut I am hoping to rediscover my George Sand love affair. It's been 7 yrs since I read her.
Nice list! I have a Gaskell too (but at #8). An ancient, battered copy of Isherwood's Berlin Stories is on my shelf, passed on by my German-reading brother. I ought to take a look at it sometime...and I read Angle of Repose earlier this year, which was an odd experience for me. Partly because my g-grandmother actually was married to a mining engineer and lived in Grass Valley!
ReplyDeleteI read Crossing to Safety a couple of years ago with much love. Angle has been sitting on my shelf ever since, so it would be nice to get to it soon :-)
DeleteI loved The Picture of Dorian Gray. On the other hand, I've tried to start reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall numerous times, but I never could :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I love Tenant of Wildfell Hall. But to each their own...
DeleteI'm looking forward to both, but Tenant is also on my 20 books of Winter list, so that would be a helpful spin for me.
DeleteI love Jane Eyre but not Wuthering Heights, so I'll be curious to see how I go with this sister.
Great list! I loved The Good Earth (unanimously enjoyed by two different book clubs also), I Capture the Castle, and Angle of Repose. Stoner is also excellent. And I have No Name on my Spin list, I'm really hoping I'll get that one this time around. Good luck on your spin pick!
ReplyDeleteNo Name was wonderful - it was when I realised that Collins was more than a 2 trick pony!!
DeleteI'd like to hear your thoughts on The Tenant. That was my first spin selection ever. I never read Dubliners in its entirety, but what I've read I liked a lot. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteI figure that Dubliners will be more do-able than Ulyssess!!
DeleteGreat list! The Good Earth and The Bell Jar are amazing. I've been thinking about re-reading The Bell Jar, not this Spin though.
ReplyDeleteI read a Buck years and years and years ago and thought I didn't like it. But something about it has stayed with me all this time, do that I have this curiously strong desire to read more!
DeleteI feel that I have been remiss for hitting my late 40's and not reading The Bell Jar. Perhaps this will be time?
Ooh, I hope Revolutionary Road comes up! Brilliant book - right up there wiht Gatsby in terms of American Dream novels...
ReplyDeleteI loved my first Yates (Young Hearts Crying) & hope to read more one day soon.
DeleteI think I'd be happy with most of the books on your list. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOh, you have been a good spinner! If I had to choose..
ReplyDelete1. Dubliners (hands down favorite)
2. Portrait of Dorian Grey ( can't go wrong with Oscar...)
3. Indiana (#BlindDate book + I like the title)
My favourites would be a tie between The Picture of Dorian Gray and I Capture the Castle; two completely different novels! I have a Gaskell on my list, but it's Wives and Daughters. Mary Barton will then be the only one of her major works that I haven't read.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Brona!
You have some lovely books on your list! I've read and enjoyed seven of them. I must add Tender is the Night to my list, If Mary Barton comes up I'll be interested to find out what you think about it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you too :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Good Earth is one I would also like to read. Can't believe I've never read it or any of Pearl Buck's works! :( Should remedy that, I'm sure! Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could remember the name of the Buck story I read as a teen...even a glance through her bibliography hasn't helped my memory! Although I seem to recall it was about the sea somehow.
DeleteThat is one of the few Spark books which I haven't read, so I'm looking forward to your review. I've read seven of the books on your list, I hated Dubliners but loved Picture of Dorian Gray.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is a nice idea, finding someone who has the same books on their list as you do! It's a pity you didn't get matched with this spin's number, but I hope you'll enjoy Spark's novel anyway.
ReplyDeleteI only read The Picture of Dorian Gray from your list (twice) and it remains one of my favourite books of all time. I hope it comes up in one of your next spins or maybe you'll pick it up regardless. I really love Oscar Wilde.