Sigh! I usually get excited about the Classics Club Spin but this time, between my failures to finish my last spins and the load of books I already have on my plate, my enthusiasm is severely compromised. I should pass …..
…….. however, if I can finish up some of my reads, I don’t have much planned after them, AND I’m always trying to concentrate on my Classics Club List. So with these excuses in mind, I’m going to give it a whirl …..
The Rules for the spin are:
- Go to your blog.
- Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club list.
- Post that list, numbered 1 – 20, on your blog by next Monday.
- Monday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1 – 20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
- The challenge is to read that book by December 1st.
I used the random list organizer here to choose the 20 books from my master list. Then I tweaked them, so my list ended up looking like this:
- We (1921) – Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Address to Young Men (363) – Saint Basil
- The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860) – Jacob Burckhardt
- The History of Napoleon Buonoparte (1829) – John Gibson Lockhart
- The Well at the World’s End (1896) – William Morris
- The City of God (426) – Augustine
- Ivanhoe (1820) – Sir Walter Scott
- Wives and Daughters (1864/66) – Elizabeth Gaskell
- Dead Souls (1842) – Nikolai Gogol
- If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller (1979) – Italo Calvino
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and a Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides (1775) – Johnson & Boswell
- Tartuffe (1669) РMoli̬re
- Twenty Years After (1845) – Alexandre Dumas
- Framley Parsonage (1860-61) – Anthony Trollope
- On the Social Contract (1762) – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) – Ann Radcliffe
- The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) – Sigmund Freud
- The Merchant of Venice (1596 – 1598) – William Shakespeare
- The Histories (450 – 420 B.C.) – Herodotus
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) – Jules Verne
Oh, Lord help me. I left some BIGGIES on the list without changing them out. I just hope the spin goes in my favour and misses them. I’m sure I’ll be tense until Monday. 🙂
Best of luck everyone with your spin!
I guess I do not understand the Classics Club spin concept; it all seems intriguing, but I remain confused, so tell me more. Perhaps I ought to participate.
You can go to the following link for enlightenment: https://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/29/the-classics-spin-14/
You could get lucky..
Wives and Daughters (1864/66) – Elizabeth Gaskell
but you could get stuk behind the 'eight ball'…
The Histories (450 – 420 B.C.) – Herodotus
Keep your fingers crossed and some throw some salt over your shoulder!
The Histories are coming up for me anyway, so I wouldn't be unhappy if it was the spin choice. But City of God! That would be appalling and I really hope to avoid The Mysteries of Udolpho. Thanks for the wishes …… I'm going to get the salt ….. 😉
…for extra luck, throw some pepper too!
Udolpho was a lot of fun… i like anything by ms. Radcliffe… she had a wry sense of humor, sort of…
I loved Wives & Daughters, and Framley Parsonage is also wonderful. I'm also intrigued by Dead Souls, I've heard it's quite funny. Good luck with the spin!
A lot of biggies here! But sometimes they're the best – nice to get properly immersed in. My pick would be one of the sci-fis, I think – We or Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Hope you get one you enjoy!
I think I will do a "Cleo" this time and not read for the Spin (I have way tooooo much) and instead join you for a Read Along, if you get #3, #4, #6, #8,#10, #17, #18, #19 or #20. Basically I am duplicating your list and the law of probabilities is not required to deduce that I WILL most likely read along something with you on this Spin! 😀
Thanks for the endorsement. I was feeling very much like, "oh no, why did I put it on my list?!" but I feel much better now.
Thanks, Karen. I'm part way through Framley Parsonage and getting it for the spin would give me the push to finish it.
Oh, I would be so excited to get We! I've wanted to read it for years but somehow never get to it. Journey to the Centre of the Earth would be an easy read so that would be fun too.
Another buddy read together! How unusual! 😉 I'm so happy with your picks because many of them are reads I've been dreading and it will be so nice to have support. I know I can always count on you! 🙂
Whoa, the City of God…you like to live dangerously, I see. We is awesome and really weird, and so is "If on a winter's night…" So I hope you get one of those!
I'm up for a Herodotus team read, btw. I need help with that one!
The only one here I've read is Framley Parsonage and I loved it… just like every other Trollope I've read 😉 Wives and Daughters is on my spin list and I'd be very happy to read it this time around. Good luck on Monday!
I saw all these big chunksters come up and was going to change them out, but I decided I have to get to them at some point.
I've been trying to get to Herodotus for ages, but I think I might be ready in November. I'll let you know.
What?! You don't have Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams on your Classics Club List?!! 😉 Just kidding! I don't know why on earth I chose to add it to mine. A moment of insanity, I think. 😀
Wives and Daughters would be a nice read. I'd be happy to get that one.
Thanks for the wishes!
I adored Herodotus, but I'm a history geek from way back! Gaskell would be lovely though & hopefully a great way to get your spin mojo back 🙂
I'm excited to start The Histories and to find another Greek literature lover among bloggers! 🙂
OMG, so many good ones! good luck
Yes, so many good ones and so many BIG ones! Thanks for the wishes! 🙂
is #4 the same guy who wrote the bio of walter scott? if so it ought to be a good read; he's a pretty good writer… i must say you've certainly acquired an eclectic mix, there…
Heh – I see Herodotus for 19: I was going to say if you get that I will definitely read along with you, but MY 19 is Finnegans Wake! Basically I hope 19 doesn't come up 🙂
If City of God comes up I'll be tempted to join you on that. I don't actually own it but I'll try and get it 🙂
Good luck!
Good luck on this spin. Looks like you have some challenging ones on you list. I have not done a spin in ages but will try to get my list posted on time.
I'm not sure but it must be so with a name in common like that! It's getting more eclectic the shorter my list shrinks.
I haven't even made it through Ulysses yet so FW is not even on my radar. I simply must get to Herodotus soon! Oh my goodness …. to have a reading buddy for City of God would be beyond my wildest dreams! That would be awesome!
I'm so happy to hear from you, Carol; you've certainly been often in my thoughts and prayers lately. Even if you don't post a list on time, you could always go back and do one. I always have a sense of accomplishment when I check off a book I've read from a spin. All the best!