In spite of my silence on my blog, I’m still reading! I managed to read 54 books for 2023 so I’m really happy with that considering previous years hovered around 35 or less. That said, I don’t have the reviews that really go in depth, so there’s a trade-off.
- 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 Sunday.
- Sunday morning, the Classics Club will announce a number from 1 – 20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted and select the book that corresponds to the number they announce.
- The challenge is to read the book by Marchr 3, 2024
I used the random list organizer here to choose the 20 books from my master list. Here is my spin list:
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) – Victor Hugo
- The Faerie Queene (1590-1596) – Edmund Spenser
- The City of God (426) – Augustine
- The Stranger (1942) – Albert Camus
- Bleak House (1852/53) – Charles Dickens
- Lives (75) – Plutarch
- Meditations (170-180) – Marcus Aurelius
- Wives and Daughters (1864/66) – Elizabeth Gaskell
- Tartuffe (1669) – Molière
- Great Expectations (1860/61) – Charles Dickens
- The Praise of Folly (1509) – Eramus
- The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) – John Bunyan
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607-1608) – William Shakespeare
- The Grapes of Wrath (1939) – John Steinbeck
- Crime and Punishment (1866) – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Consolation of Philosophy (524) – Boethius
- The Republic (380 B.C.) – Plato
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1775) – Samuel Johnson
- Kidnapped (1886) – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Moll Flanders (1722) – Daniel Defoe
As with previous Spins, instead of producing a new post, I’m going to simply announce the winner below and, to make it easier to complete at least one book, I’m going to choose a book from my Guardians List, my Shakespeare Project and my Children’s Classics Project, with no deadline date, just a dedication to read.
And the winning number was 20 ! Which means I get to read Moll Flanders! I’ve read a couple of Defoe novels before so hopefully it will be enjoyable. See my other options below:
Classics Club Winner: Moll Flanders
Guardians Book List Winner: Foundation
Shakespeare Winner: The Two Nobel Kinsman
Children’s List Winner: Power and the Glory
Other Spins:
Photo #1 courtesy of Anncapictures on Pixabay
Photo #2 courtesy of Lisa870 on Pixabay
Photo #3 courtesy of MrTozzo on Pixabay
Hi Cleo! I have missed your longer reviews, but totally understand. I only posted a couple of times myself, last year, but like you I’m still reading! I do hope you enjoy Moll Flanders, which I’ve yet to read.
Hi Janakay, I wish I had more time. I wonder if I’m just out of practice writing reviews and feel that they take too long or I’m simply slowing down, lol! I’ve definitely been mentally over-loaded with life-stuff so that’s part of it as well. So nice of you to pop in and I’m thrilled to hear from you. Hope all is well with you and I’m glad to hear that you’re still reading!
I’m similarly struggling to keep up with review posts. It should get easier with practice but in reality as the years have passed it take me longer and longer to write each one…..
I’m so glad you shared that with me because writing reviews used to be easier but now they seem like a slog and I want to keep up my reading pace. So perhaps it’s good to take a break. Great to hear from you!
I hope you enjoy it. I read Moll Flanders ages ago, and have forgotten all about it. Maybe time to revisit?
I’m totally thrilled with the result of the spin:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/01/22/the-classics-club-what-i-got-for-the-classics-spin-36/
I hope that your forgetfulness doesn’t mean that it wasn’t memorable. I guess I’ll soon find out.
I went to your blog to comment on your choice but was unable to save my comment. So I said that I haven’t heard of the book you got but I’m very interested in what your thoughts are when you finish. Happy reading!
Hi, Cleo! We’ve both taken a hiatus from blogging for awhile, but I’m so glad to see you’re still here. Hope all is well!
I don’t know anything about Moll Flanders, but may it be an enjoyable one for you. I’m curious, on your list above, are any of those re-reads, or are they all new TBRs?
Hi Ruth, I do need to PM you … I’ve been meaning to do it but life has been full!
I’ve read about 1/2 of City of God, about 1/3 of Crime and Punishment and about 1/4 of The Republic but otherwise they are all brand new. Oh, and I’m still in the middle of Bleak House which I should finish in a week or two. I think Moll Flanders will be a reasonably easy read. I hope …..
Yes, PM when you can.
Thanks for answering my question. I had a feeling you had read or were in the process of reading some of these. I bailed on BH, it was not a good time for me to read it. I still have to read Hunchback. I do hope you get to read Pilgrim’s Progress someday. It was truly edifying. I hope to read it again someday.
I think you have to read at least half of Bleak House before it just begins to get interesting. I could never see the intersection between Wilkie Collins and Dickens but with this novel, I can see a similarity in their writing.
I’ve read the Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor so I’m eager to read the real thing. And Hunchback is one I’ve been meaning to read but just haven’t yet.
Hi Cleo! Good to see you. I too am slowing down, even though I don’t want to…anyway, Moll Flanders is really interesting. The psychological novel hasn’t quite been developed yet, so Defoe is writing an inner life — sort of — but in a sort of proto way. And, keep track of how many children she produces!
Great to hear from you too! Slowing down in what way? Physically? Mentally? Blogging? Reading? Or all of them, lol! 😂
Thanks so much for the tips! Now you’ve intrigued me and I can’t wait to start reading …. but I need to finish up Bleak House first!
Ha, probably all of them, but definitely in the blogging area! I’m actually trying to get stronger for a long hike in the summer. 🙂 And everything in the world is slowing down my reading!
Glad to see your post! Hope all’s well. I thought Moll Flanders was a lot of fun. Like Jean says, I don’t know that the psychology is especially deep, but a lot of things happen, making it a pretty good story.
I thought The Power and the Glory was awfully good, too, though, assuming that’s the Graham Greene one.
I’m glad to hear that it’s good. I want to read Robinson Crusoe again too but first I need to finish Bleak House and Ivanhoe.
Yes, the Graham Greene one. I have a folio edition of some of his lesser-known works so I’ll have to dig up The Power and the Glory somewhere else. My library doesn’t even have it. Sigh!