On Sunday June 12th, 2022, the Classics Club will post a number from 1 through 20. The goal is to read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by August 7th, 2022. (And ideally, I would review it by then.)
Here is my list of 20 books for the spin.
- Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe [209 pages]
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith
- The Sign of Four (1890) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Quiet American (1958) by Graham Greene [180 pages]
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by Carson McCullers
- The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame
- A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle
- The Thirteen Clocks (1950) by James Thurber
- Anna Karenina (1878) by Leo Tolstoy [over 800 pages]
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl
- My Ántonia (1918) by Willa Cather
- Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood
- Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker [420 pages]
- Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury
- Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë [453 pages]
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) by James Cain
- Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen [411 pages]
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) by Shirley Jackson
28 comments:
Lots of fun books here! I recently gave a copy of The Thirteen Clocks to the son of a friend. A Wrinkle in Time is a favorite.
I'm in a bit of a Jane Austen mood at the moment having rewatched the 1990s Pride and Prejudice and loved it all over again. So I'm hoping you get Sense and Sensibility.
A great list. You can't go wrong. Have never heard of THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS though.
Constance, I read The Thirteen Clocks about five years ago, and could not come up with a review for it. So I put it on my "official" classics list in hopes I can do that this time. I would be happy with that one or A Wrinkle in Time.
Cath, my favorite Pride and Prejudice adaptation is the one from 1980 with David Rintoul as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet. I should try the one from the 1990s sometime.
I do want to read Sense and Sensibility this year, so it would be a good result for this spin.
Patti, the first time I read The Thirteen Clocks, I had not heard of it previously either. Another blogger sent me her copy after reading it. I will be reading it sometime this year, I hope. My copy is about 120 pages long with illustrations.
You are right, any book on this list would be a good result.
There are so many good books on your list! I've read quite a few and enjoyed them all. Happy reading whatever you spin! :D
Great list -- I think any of them will be good reads. Anna Karenina is long--it's good, but long.
Lark, There are three on this list that I have already read. The Thirteen Clocks, mentioned before. And also The Wind in the Willows and Fahrenheit 451. Those are all ones I want to reread for various reasons.
I think I will be happy with any book on the list. Even the ones I have been putting off reading.
Goodness, so many excellent books on your list I'd find it hard to pick one! Maybe We Have Always Lived in the Castle, because it's so different and really spine-tingling. But I don't think you can go far wrong whichever number the Spin Gods pick - good luck!
Mary, Anna Karenina is on my 20 Books of Summer list, so I will be fine with it if that number is chosen. I always put off longer books, but mostly I enjoy them once I get started. Actually I think I read that one too long ago, but possibly not, and I know nothing about it other than the basic premise.
FictionFan, I don't usually like spine tingling, but I have only read The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and I really need to read some of her writing. So We Have Always Lived in the Castle would be a fine result.
No non-fiction?
Some really excellent books awaiting you here - Sense and Sensibility, Things Fall Apart, Anna Karenina to mention just a few. We Have Always Lived in the Castle has an unforgettable narrator and is a quick read.
anonymous, I don't think I have any non-fiction on my classics list.
Bookertalk, I don't know much about Things Fall Apart, but the other three I am looking forward to reading. Anna Karenina is long but I want to read it.
You've chosen some great books, Tracy. I remember how much Fahrenheit 451 impacted me the first time I read it. I wonder what you'll think of you get that one. And Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley character is such an interesting psychological study. She builds an effective atmosphere, too. There are others, here, too, that I've enjoyed. Whichever way the wheel spins, I hope you like the book you get!
Margot, I think I will be happy with any book on this list. Two of them are on my 20 books of Summer list: Anna Karenina and the Sherlock Holmes short stories, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I have been putting off reading that first Tom Ripley book, so that would be a good one too.
Hi Tracy, Great List of books. The two that jump out at me are Jane Eyre which I read a few years ago and really enjoyed and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It's wonderfully written but also disturbing. Reminds me I have a biography of Shirley Jackson by Ruth Franklin A Rather Haunted Life. Must give it a read.
Kathy, Jane Eyre has been on my Classics list a long time, but I just added it this time to the Spin list. I recently read Rebecca and I had heard that there were similarities between Rebecca and Jane Eyre, and I thought this would be a good time to read it.
As far as We Have Always Lived in the Castle goes, the disturbing aspect is why I keep putting off reading it. But I am sure it will be a good read when I get to it.
Hi Tracy,
I love your Classics List! So many of my favorite books and authors there. Jane Eyre is my absolute favorite novel. I know it's long, but I feel fairly sure you would love it. And you have a number of books I've been longing to read, like We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I don't think you can go wrong with whatever number comes up!
This is a good list for me, Judith. I think this is the first time that there are no books on the list that I would really rather avoid for now. I am pretty much in the mood for any of these. Jane Eyre would be an especially good one, though. I have owned the book for five years now, I should read it soon.
i haven't read a word since tues and don't know when if I will. Ive cancelled all book ordrs and holds. can't watch tv no concntrton. good atstarng out window. prob last comment here. thanks for all your kindnesses.
Rick, it is good to hear from you, I just wish things were better for you now. It is you who has been kind and generous to me, so many books you have sent me, recommendations of authors and books you have shared.
Tracy, I read the odd Classics books every now and then, but not as much as I ought to every year. Yours is a great list and I'm making a mental note of a few.
Tracy, what a fabulous list. I have read nine of these. Looking forward to see which wins.
Prashant, I do read more classics now than in the past, but I am still not reading enough to finish my classics list in 5 years. But that is OK.
Neeru, the number picked was 5, which means I will be reading The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. I am pleased with that one. I will probably read it in July.
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