Tuesday 16 April 2019

Classics Club Spin #20

It's time for another CC Spin over @The Classics Club.

I have participated in ALL 19 spins. Let's make it 20!

Photo by Lysander Yuen on Unsplash

The rules are easy: compile your list of 20 books by Monday - the 22nd April.

On that day a number will be randomly selected.
That's the book you read.

You have until the 31st May 2019 to finish your book and review it.
Yes, you read that date correctly!

Join in the fun by visiting the other players and commenting on their lists.
It's a great way to meet like-minded bloggers and explode your TBR classics wishlist!

CC Spin #20.

If you spot a match with your list, please let me know before the magic number is selected on Monday, I can then tweek my list to suit.

  1. Night and Day by Virginia Woolf                   shared read with Jessie @Dwell in Possibility
  2. Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather                    shared author with Reese @TypingsLisbeth @The Content Reader & Relevant Obscurity
  3. A Dance to the Music of Time: Spring by Anthony Powell    
  4. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens                    shared author with Jean @Howling Frog
  5. Coonaroo by Katharine Susannah Prichard
  6. Red Sky at Sunrise by Laurie Lee  
  7. The Wonder Child: An Australian Story by Ethel Turner
  8. Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee                shared author with Emma@Words and PeaceReese @Typings & Jessie @Dwell in Possibility
  9. 1788 by Watkin Tench
  10. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
  11. Petersburg by Andrei Bely
  12. Letters on Life by Rainer Maria Rilke
  13. Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius
  14. Basil by Wilkie Collins                       shared author with Book Tapestry
  15. Elizabeth Gaskell by Jenny Uglow              shared author with Emma@Words and Peace
  16. Hiroshima by John Hersey                shared read with Anne @My Head is Full of Books
  17. Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee              shared author with Reese @Typings & Lisbeth @The Content Reader
  18. The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura                 
  19. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
  20. The Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd  

My Previous #CC Spins:

Most of my spins have been successful and/or enjoyable. 
I've also made my own fun by trying to read my books with other Classic Clubbers during many of the spins.
So far I have read:


CC Spin #1 (2013 #14) The Magnificent Ambersons with Cat @Tell Me A Story.

CC Spin #2 (2013 #6) Tess of the D'Urbervilles with JoAnn @Lakeside Musings & Several Four Many.

CC Spin #3 (2013 #4) My Cousin Rachel - hope to watch the movie soon.

CC Spin #4 (2014 #10) The Brothers Karamazov - I was flounderng about halfway through this chunkster, when I lost it during a move...serendipity, I say!

CC Spin #5 (2014 #20) The Odyssey with Plethora of Books - This one was a bit of a cheat as I had started it for another readalong, but was struggling to finish it. I added it to my cc list to motivate me. When no. 20 spun up it seemed like the gods had decreed it so!


CC Spin #6 (2014 #1) No Name by Wilkie Collins with Melbourne on My Mind.

CC Spin #7 (2014 #17) Silent Spring by Rachel Carson with Karen @Booker Talk - my first classic non-fiction spin.

CC Spin #8 (2015 #13) Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh - my one and only dud Spin read so far. Satire is not my thing.

CC Spin #9 (2015 #2) The Great World by David Malouf - my first Australian classic spin.

CC Spin #10 (2015 #5) A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark.


CC Spin #11 (2016 #19) So Big by Edna Ferber with Christy - we both experienced the joy of rediscovering a forgotten award winning classic.

CC Spin #12 (2016 #8) Dubliners by James Joyce - too depressing and hopeless for my state of mind at the time.

CC Spin #13 (2016 #15) The Catherine Wheel by Catherine Harrower - my second Aussie #ccspin classic.

CC Spin #14 (2016 #1) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet

CC Spin #15 (2017 #12) Out of Africa by Karen Blixen - a disappointment in the end. The movie was better.

CC Spin #16 (2017 #4) The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield - a book that grew better with reflection & the passing of time.

CC Spin #17 (2018 #3) Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy reading with Tasheena @Dear Reader

CC Spin #18 (2018 #9) The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch - a curious choice with many, many layers and themes to explore.

CC Spin #19 (2019 #1) Eden's Outcast by John Matteson - a long journey, that I was ultimately glad that I had taken.

CC Spin #20 (2019 #19) Jamaica Inn

Happy Spinning!

26 comments:

  1. Why does Ethel Turner sounds so familiar? Willa Cather or Wilkie Collins would be just about my pace now, but you know me ..... overall I'd probably wish for Suetonius. He was supposed to be a great gossip so at least it would be interesting. Have a great spin, Brona!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cleo.
      Ethel Turner wrote Seven Little Australians a classic children's book that I may have raved about a few times in the past :-)
      Thanks to Project Gutenberg I've recently discovered some of her backlist.

      Delete
  2. I also have Hiroshima on my list. I have a lot of catching up to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've tweeked my numbers to put Hiroshima in the same spot as yours now :-)

      Delete
  3. apart from our common authors, there are so many books on your list I haven't even heard of!! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My cc list #2 is far more diverse and international than my first list ever was. I'm finding it harder to match books with out spinners as a result, so I was delighted to find we share a couple of authors at least this time around.

      Delete
  4. Little Dorrit was the last Dickens title I read! In which I discovered that Dorrit is her last name, not her first. Otherwise I've only read the Makioka Sisters, which was interesting in its way. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'interesting in its way'!
      OUCH!
      Feeling a little nervous about spinning no. 10 now!

      Delete
    2. No, it was interesting! I liked it. I was fascinated by how slow everything was -- they took days to think out a letter and hours to sit down and write it. And there's all kinds of stuff going on in the background.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for clarifying Jean. Karen (below) said she loved it, so I was felling like it was one I would just have to read for myself to decide :-)

      Delete
  5. Matching up is a great idea: I put books in 8 & 17 to match. And I really liked Little Dorrit. But I'd be happy to see what you thought of any of those--so many fun-looking books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't read a Dickens for several years now, so would love to have a reason to read another one soon.

      Delete
  6. No matches with my Spin list, but I do have the Edith Wharton bio on my TBR pile challenge list, so if you get that one I will try and read along! Regarding the rest of your list, I loved The Makioka Sisters and Little Dorrit (also a great BBC adaptation from about 10 years ago). Alexander's Bridge was pretty good, but not my favorite Cather. I haven't read Hiroshima but I've read A Bell for Adano by John Hersey which I absolutely loved. Good luck with your spin pick!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The BBC adaptations are wonderful aren't they - nice to know I have one to look forward to if LD comes up.

      I've only read My Antonia from Cather so far, but loved it so much, I wanted to go back and read her backlist in chronological order - hence Alexander's Bridge.

      Delete
  7. Brona...hats off to you my friend! Not only have you managed to participate in all 20, you have it all organized and linked in! I am snowed!! Petersburg has been on my TBR again for ages...if you get that one, I may be tempted to give you company, but do not hold me to it!! At any rate I hope you get to read, what you really want to read and have a great spin!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I do love the cc spins :-)
      Many. many spins ago I started tracking what I had read for each one - now I just have to copy and paste the last spin and add in the most recent book and I'm ready to go again!

      Delete
  8. You said you'll pick up short books for this spin, and yet, Little Dorrit made her way to this list... šŸ˜…

    I hope you'll get no. 3 or 6 - I haven't read both, and am interested to know what you think of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't have 20 slim volumes left Fanda! So that and the 2 author bio's are on the list with a great deal of trepidation.!

      Delete
  9. I'm impressed that you've done all 20 spins! I've taken part in most of them but I know I've missed at least one or two. Jamaica Inn and Basil are the only books on your list that I've read and I enjoyed both. Good luck on Monday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've enjoyed books by Collins and du Maurier previously, so looking forward to both those books and hoping to get to them sooner rather than later.

      Delete
  10. Nope no matches...and even more surprising, I've only read one of these...A Dance to the Music of Time. I'm not gonna wish for that one for you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, you have done all the CC Spins...amazing. Sorry that we don't match any, but I wish you well come Monday in another successful Spin!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is quite the list you've put together. I remember reading a large chunk of Hermione Lee's Virginia Woolf biography and loving it when I was maybe 17. I don't think I have my copy anymore though... Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lots of interesting titles. I loved Jamaica Inn. Must read more by Ethel Turner; I've only read Seven Little Australians. I'm impressed that this will be your 20th spin. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, I can't believe you've done all 19 spins! Impressive! I haven't read any of the books on your current list but I do love Wilkie Collins. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my! You should receive a spin award! Let me think what it should be...a boomerang? a Frisbee? a 45 record?

    ReplyDelete

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