Time to Spin with the Classics Club

May 5, 2014 By in Classics Club 17 Comments

The Classics Club Spin is beginning again.

      • Pick twenty unread books from your list.
      • Number them from one to twenty.
      • On Monday a number will be drawn.
      • That’s your book, to read by 7th July.

Should I do it?

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I’ve had a few bad spins, but the last one was a good one and so I’m going to to try again.

There’s not a book on my Classics Club list I don’t want to read, so this time I have veered away from just a few that I know aren’t the right books for right now, but I have included a few that I have reservations about.

So here are my twenty books for the spin:

Five published before Victoria came to the throne:

1. A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe (1790)
2. A Simple Story by Elizabeth Inchbold (1791)
3. The Coquette by Hannah W Foster (1797)
4. The Collegians by Gerard Griffin (1829)
5. Old Goriot by Honore Balzac (1835)

*****

Five reissued as Virago Modern Classics:

6. The Odd Women by George Gissing (1893)
7. The Beth Book by Sarah Grand (1897))
8. Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondeley (1899)
9. Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby (1923)
10. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes (1947)

*****

Five that I could listen to or read:

11. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (1814)
12. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848)
13. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery (1848)
14. Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1854)
15 . Under The Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy (1872)

*****

Five from the 1950s:

16. The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay (1950)
17. A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Tayor (1951)
18. Fenny by Lettice Cooper (1953)
19. The Tortoise & the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins (1954)
20. The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West (1957)

*****

And now I must wait and see which number comes up on Monday …

17 responses

  1. I have had a varied experience of the Spin, but due to work commitments have been somewhat selective with my list so I know I have a manageable read this time, so fingers crossed.

    Reply

  2. I’ve not read any of the books on your list, but I’m really looking forward to Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
    Good luck with the spin! My unluckiest spin so far was Les Miserables, the rest have been quite kind to me…

    Reply

    • You’re much braver than me – I dodged Les Miserables when I was making my list. I’ve loved what I’ve read but it is just so long. I hope the spin is kinder to you in the future.

      Reply

  4. I hope the spin gives you a book you love this time. Vanity Fair is on my list too – it’s only the length that has been putting me off reading it.

    Reply

  5. What wonderful books! Though I can understand your dilemma – because if a book comes up that you really don’t feel you want to read just at this moment, it could be a problem! As an aside, I picked up a copy of A Simple Story by Elizabeth Inchbold recently – it sounds very intriguing.

    Reply

  8. I’m starting Bleak House this month which, embarrassingly, was my spin #4. The Gissing looks interesting and Balzac too, but you have so many on your list which are unfamiliar to me. I must go and do some investigation.

    On another topic, I see that you’re following me on Goodreads, so I’m going to go and “friend” you. It will be fun to be able check out each other’s books and get new ideas.

    Happy spin reading! 🙂

    Reply

  10. OOooh! “One Fine Day,” one fine book that I borrowed from the library and am always on the look out for at library sales. I might have to break down and buy it for more than 50 cents. 😉

    Reply

  14. If no. 17 spins up we share A Game of Hide & Seek. I have a lovely VMC edition of this book and can’t wait to have a chance to get stuck into it.

    Good luck 🙂

    Reply

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