Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The Classics Club: Spin the Wheel and See What We Shall Read

It's time for another Classics Club Spin!



But wait. What, you might ask, is the Classics Club?

From the blog:

  • Choose 50+ classics you would like to read.
  • List them at your blog.
  • Choose a reading completion goal date up to five years in the future and note that date on your classics list of 50+ titles.
  • E-mail the moderators of this blog (theclassicsclubblog@gmail.com) with your list link and information and it will be posted on the Members Page.
  • Write about each title on your list as you finish reading it, and link it to your main list.
  • When you’ve written about every single title, let the Club know, and your name will be posted on the Wall of Honor.
If you haven't done this, do this first. Then you can get going with your reading by joining in for our Classics Club Spin.



What is the Classics Club Spin? Again, from the blog:

  • 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 before next Sunday 22nd December.
  • We’ll announce a number from 1-20. 
  • Read that book by 31st January 2020.
Here is my complete list:


All Passion SpentSackville-West, Vita1931Fiction174 pages
Around the World in 80 DaysVerne, Jules1873Science fiction256 pages
Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-BurglarLeblanc, Maurice 1905Children's304 pages
Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, TheStein, Gertrude1933Biography238 pages
Bell Jar, ThePlath, Sylvia1963Fiction190 pages
Bleak HouseDickens, Charles1853Fiction800 pages
Cloven Viscount, TheCalvino, Italo1959Fiction128 pages
CranfordGaskell, Elizabeth1853Fiction192 pages
Decameron, TheBoccaccio, Giovanni1353Short stories554 pages
Emperor of Ice Cream and Other PoemsStevens, Wallace1954Poetry96 pages
End of the AffairGreene, Graham1951Fiction237 pages
Essential Rumi, TheRumi1240Poetry340 pages
Family from One End Street, TheGarnett, Eve1937Children's212 pages
Four Loves, TheLewis, C. S.1958Spirituality180 pages
Friday's TunnelVerney, John1959Children's263 pages
FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Latin American PoetryStavans, Ilan, ed.2011Poetry726 pages
Good Man is Hard to Find, AO'Connor, Flannery1955Short stories256 pages
Haiku in English: The First Hundred YearsKacian, Jim, ed.2013Poetry424 pages
Heat of the Day, TheBowen, Elizabeth1948Fiction372 pages
In Search of Lost Time: Swann's WayProust, Marcel1927Fiction285 pages
Japanese Fairy TalesOzaki1903Folk tales256 pages
Jungle Book, TheKipling, Rudyard1894Children's433 pages
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round TableGreen, Roger1953Folk tales330 pages
MaigretSimenon, Georges1934Mystery144 pages
Main StreetLewis, Sinclair1920Fiction368 pages
Man and SupermanShaw, George Bernard1903Play208 pages
Moby DickMelville1852Fiction463 pages
My Friend Mr. LeakeyHaldane, J.B.S. 1937Children's149 pages
My Sweet Orange TreeMauro de Vasconcelos, Jose1968Children's262 pages
Mystery of the Yellow RoomLeroux, Gaston1907Mystery236 pages
No ExitSartre, Jean-Paul1944Play60 pages
OrthodoxyChesterton, G. K.1908Philosophy100 pages
Pursuit of Love, TheMitford, Nancy1945Fiction247 pages
Razor's Edge, TheMaugham, W. Somerset1944Fiction314 pages
Right Ho, JeevesWodehouse, P. G.1934Fiction248 pages
Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, ANewby, Eric1958Travel306 pages
StoriesChekhov, Anton1903Short stories384 pages
Tale of Two Cities, ADickens, Charles1859Fiction307 pages
Tales of Snugglepot and CuddlepieGibbs, May1940Children's224 pages
Tom Brown's SchooldaysHughes, Thomas1857Children's420 pages
Travels in Asia and AfricaBattuta, Ibn1340Travel270 pages
Vicar of WakefieldGoldsmith, Oliver1766Fiction170 pages
Washington SquareJames, Henry1881Fiction248 pages
WeZamyatin, Yevgeni1924Science fiction224 pages
Where Angels Fear to TreadForster, E. M.1905Fiction128 pages
Wilderness EssaysMuir, John1920Nature296 pages
Winter Book, AJansson, Tove1996Short stories208 pages
Winter’s Tale, TheShakespeare, William1611Play160 pages
Wives and DaughtersGaskell, Elizabeth1864Fiction583 pages
Yellow WallpaperGilman, Charlotte Perkins1892Short stories29 pages


Here are my twenty books for the spin:

1. A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
2. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
3. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
4. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
5. Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
6. My Sweet Orange Tree by Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos
7. The Family from One-End Street by Eve Garnett
8. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
9. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
10. A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
12. My Sweet Orange Tree by Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos
13. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
14. The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
15. Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
16. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
17. The Family from One-End Street by Eve Garnett
18. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
19. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
20. A Winter Book by Tove Jansson

Rationale: These books are all on a list of books called Mood-Boosting Books. I'm hoping to start 2020 off by reading these. 


And the result? It's #13, and I shall be reading A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. I've found this book on audio, and I've already begun.

12 comments:

  1. I've read Tove's Summer Book, but not yet the Winter, so I wish you that this spin :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am impressed every year that you and others do the Classics Club since that genre just doesn't work for me. But, I love to read about your progress!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder sometimes if I stretch the meaning of the word "classic" to encompass just about anything I want it to encompass.

      Delete
  3. We know you: you'll probably just read every book on your list... ;-)

    I just switched The Razor's Edge on my list so we'll have a spontaneous read-along if #14 comes up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! You are right.

      Wouldn't that be fun if the spin landed on 14!

      Delete
  4. Jeeves is always Mood-Boosting. Good luck! My list is here https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/12/18/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-22/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never read Jeeves, so I'd love to give that series a try.

      Delete
  5. You’re very keen to read some of these since yiu have them in twice. I never thought of doing that to deal w Th th problem that I have only three books remaining to get to my 50

    ReplyDelete

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