The recent Classics Club spin games have been huge successes. I sat out round 3, but now it's time for round 4. The rules are the same, only the dates have been changed.
Here's how it works:
- 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. (11/18)
- 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 January 1.
I'm still sticking with a slightly modified version of my original list, but have taken away the especially long, dense choices that I know I will not finish during the holiday season.
Pick Me, Pick Me (books I want to read now)
1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
3. Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
4. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
5. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Quickies
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
8. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
9. Gigi by Colette
10. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey
Favorite Authors
11. The Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton
12. Cranford by Eizabeth Gaskell
13. They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
14. The Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck (reread)
15. The Pearl by John Steinbeck (reread)
Some Random Choices
16. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
17. A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
18. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
19. Sula by Toni Morrison
20. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Here is a link to The Classics Club's announcement post. Let's Spin!
Added 11/19/13:
The spin number is 10. I'll be reading Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey.
Great list -- I wish I'd been smarter and not put any long heavy books on my list -- with my luck I'll get Moby-Dick or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. You have some of my favorites on your list -- Joy Luck Club is wonderful, also The Pursuit of Love. Cranford is charming, and also Cheerful Weather for the Wedding. I hope you get something you love!
ReplyDeleteKaren K. - I hope I'm not cheating too much by not including those long books. Really looking forward to Villette, C&P, Middlemarch, etc. but know they won't happen this year. Maybe for the next spin I'll include extra heavies ;-)
DeleteI also have Cranford and The Winter of Our Discontent on the list this time. I want to re-read The Joy Luck Club and The Sun Also Rises because I remember these were pleasant books, but I don't really remember anything about them :) Good luck with the spin number!
ReplyDeleteRiv - That's how I feel about The Winter of Our Discontent. It's been zoo long, I don;t really remember much other than that I liked it. Can't wait for Monday!
DeleteLoooove your picks! I'm participating, too, and hoping I do better than the last spin. :)
ReplyDeleteAndi - Can't wait to check out your list! Good luck :)
DeleteAnd I have to add...I'm SOOOO enjoying The Joy Luck Club right now. I hope that one gets picked! ;)
DeleteAndi - I'd be so happy if that number came up!!
DeleteThe Sun Also Rises is one of my favorites. Every time I think I should try something new by Hemingway I end up just re-reading that. So I put For Whom the Bell Tolls on my Classics Club List. This looks like a great list.
ReplyDeleterangercookie - I got a copy of The Sun Also Rises for Christmas last year and am looking forward to finally reading it. A Moveable Feast and The Old Man and the Sea are very good, too. Good luck Monday :)
DeleteSo many great choices! I ended up loving Cranford, such a quiet book and The Remains of the Day is one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - I'd be really happy if either one of those two are chosen!
DeleteI'm rooting for Cranford!
DeleteWhat a lovely list! Of those I've read, I especially enjoyed Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Joy Luck Club.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your spin pick!
readthegamut - Can't wait until Monday… it'll be fun to see which book everyone gets!
DeleteYou're right, your list is very different from mine this time!
ReplyDeleteI hope you spin The Bell Jar, it's such a good book.
Sam - I would be very happy if The Bell Jar's number is selected. It's been near the top of my tar pile for ages!
DeleteYou've got some great choices in all your categories. I also really want to read The Bell Jar, but haven't put it on a challenge list yet. Plath absolutely fascinates me.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read a Rabbit/Updike book once but couldn't make it past the first couple of pages. I trust you'll do better than me. :)
JaneGS - I've had mixed reactions to Updike's novels.. hated Villages and one other that I can't remember the name, neutral about The Witches of Eastwick, and really liked In the Beauty of the Lilies. I'm not sure Rabbit will be my cup of tea, but I've been meaning to find out for years.
DeleteLove that you included Delta Wedding in your Pick Me Pick Me! category. I've read that book three times - I love the atmosphere, the writing, and how she is able to capture the way it feels when a bunch of relatives gather together for a big event.
ReplyDeleteagoodstoppingpoint - I loved The Optimist's Daughter and many of Welty's stories… would be thrilled if Delta Wedding was selected!
DeleteYou've got a great list, lots of variety. I'll have my fingers crossed for Nancy Mitford or Angela Thirkell :) I'm looking forward to Monday & seeing what everyone gets.
ReplyDeleteLisa - I'm hoping to read Wild Strawberries in December anyway (thanks again!), so that would be a lucky pick for me :)
DeleteI hope you get Nancy Mitford!!!
ReplyDeleteBeth F - I've never read Nancy Mitford and just know I'll love her novels!
DeleteWe have very different lists this spin Joann, so we won't be sharing any books this time around.
ReplyDeleteDid you realise your numbering system has gone a little skew-if?
:-)
Brona - LOL, thank you!! Finally returned home tonight and was able to fix it.
DeleteHemingway and Ishiguro - done and done! I hope you get one of the books you're looking forward to reading the most! Many wonderful options on your list.
ReplyDeletelostgenerationreader - I'll be happy with just about anything this time around… can;t wait to see which number comes up!
DeleteI read The Bell Jar earlier this year and adored it. Plath was a very skilled prose writer and so darkly funny. I almost added A Lost Lady to my list, but went with One of Ours at the last minute. I always hope to draw Cather during the spins - maybe this time I'll be lucky!
ReplyDeleteAnbolyn - It's been a few years since I read one of Cather's novels, so I would be thrilled to get A Lost Lady tomorrow… we'll see.
DeleteDare I try? I'm tempted, but the minute I'm "told" to read something is the minute it becomes onerous.
ReplyDeleteLoved Cheerful Weather for A Wedding, which it decidedly was not. xo
Bellezza -The spin number is 10. I'm so happy that I'll get a chance to read it now!
DeleteThat is hilarious! What a coincidence. It's a short read, I mean compared to something by Dickens, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts. For me, the irony of the title was priceless.
DeleteBellezza - I almost feel like I cheated this time by omitting all really long, heavy works that I know I would never be able to complete or appreciate during the busy holiday season. Looking forward to this "quickie".
DeleteEvery time I see these Classic Spins I so want to be a part of it. Life has gotten on the way of too many reading commitments but maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteStacy - I know what you mean… there was very little reading here when the girls were Gage's age.
Delete