It's the Classics Club spin time again! Pick twenty books from your Classics Club list and by the power vested in the mighty random number generator one of them leaps to the top of the TBR pile.
Having gotten off lightly with the chunkster spin, I am not going to put either of the two remaining monsters on this spin list. This will be my fourth spin. The random number generator has been good to me so far, but why tempt fate, amirite?
1.) James Baldwin/Giovanni's Room
2.) Willa Cather/A Lost Lady
3.) Boccaccio/The Decameron (The Decameron slot)
4.) John Galsworthy/The Forsyte Saga
5.) Oliver Goldsmith/The Vicar of Wakefield
6.) Henry James/The American
7.) Malcolm Lowry/Under the Volcano
8.) Virginia Woolf/The Waves (The Virginia Woolf slot 1 2 )
9.) Walter Scott/Count Robert of Paris
10.) Edith Wharton/The Custom of the Country
11.) Bertrand Russell/The History of Western Philosophy
12.) Sylvia Plath/The Bell Jar
13.) James Baldwin/Notes of a Native Son
14.) Willa Cather/One of Ours
15.) Hermann Broch/The Death of Virgil
16.) Plutarch/Lives
17.) Edith Wharton/House of Mirth (The Edith Wharton slot)
18.) George Bernard Shaw/Major Barbara
19.) Richard Brinsley Sheridan/The School For Scandal
20.) Edmund Spenser/The Faerie Queene
May should actually be a pretty good reading month, so one of the longer ones might be nice: Boccaccio, Plutarch, Russell, Spenser. But we'll see...
Following Brona's example I put books that were related in the same slot as other spinners. If anybody else sees any matches, it would be fun to match up.
And the winner is...#19. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School For Scandal
Oh my, so much to say about your list. First of all, I am sooooo glad to see The Decameron in the same position as me. Yay! Terrified of it so it would be wonderful to have a reading buddy! :-) The Vicar of Wakefield is one of my favourites. Like a soap opera but Goldsmith does an exemplary job of keeping it believable and it can be compelling at times. I absolutely LOVE The House of Mirth ... Wharton is a master story-crafter! And I also have Lives and The Faerie Queene on my master list but thankfully they didn't show up on my spin list. Still .... if you get one of them I might be tempted .... ;-) Great list and I hope you have a wonderful spin!
ReplyDeleteA reading buddy for Decameron would be great. I tried once before but didn't make it, though we have a new translation since then (and the Other Reader thinks it's great.)
DeleteI've still got The Faerie Queene near the top of the pile, too, after the Ariosto, but that's probably the toughest, both long and archaic.
So many great books on your list -- House of Mirth is a personal favorite, and I loved The Forsyte Saga (excellent TV miniseries as well). And One of Ours is just wonderful, it won the Pulitzer but it doesn't get nearly enough attention nowadays. Looking forward to reading about your spin pick!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a certain enthusiasm for House of Mirth... ;-) I really need to read more Wharton than I have.
DeleteThe Forsyte Saga + miniseries would be a fun pairing.
Thank you for creating our shared author spots - it makes the reading experience so much more enjoyable :-)
ReplyDeleteI've swapped my Willa Cather to #2 so now we also share that slot.
Loved House of Mirth when I read it 20 yrs ago, I hope to reread it again soon to see if it holds up in my memory.
I've only read Age of Innocence & the American Poets Project volume by Wharton, & loved them both. I can't really explain why I've been so sluggish about reading more.
DeleteA Willa Cather discussion would be fun, too. I don't own the short stories, but I've been feeling left out with Chris Wolak's ongoing project.
Wow, you like to gamble! Putting all of Plutarch's Lives in, or the Faerie Queene, that's brave! I vote for Wharton. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI left off the complete Gibbon & the complete 1001 Nights, so I was feeling a bit like a slacker...
DeleteSome interesting choices here. I always wanted to read Willa Carter since her name seems to pop up everywhere, and I did not know of her before. I have Death Comes to the Archbishop om my list as no. 2. Decamerone will be somewhat heavy to read, but interesting. I read a part of it for a course. Some juicy langaguage considering when it was written. Henry James is a favourite, although I have not read this one. Forsyte saga I have to add to my own list. I grew up with the TV-series and absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeleteThese two are the last Cather novels left for me, and I would definitely expect to like them. I remember Death Come for the Archbishop as one of the best.
DeleteThe American is an early Henry James (and less read, I think) but I would expect it to be good, and by James' standards, almost easy-reading... ;-)
The Decameron is fun, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've dipped in before but never read it through.
DeleteThe Bell Jar was quite the pleasant surprise for me! I hope you get a page turner!
ReplyDeleteThe only one I've read is Under the Volcano (no spoiler). Nice choices, I've got quite a few of them on my own TBR, though they didn't make it onto my spin list.
ReplyDeleteNice list! I've read selections from The Decameron and found it quite fun, though I know the entire book is much longer. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIf you're into Cather, do you know about the reading project for her short stories? Hosted by https://chriswolak.com/2019/04/10/april-reminder-the-willa-cather-short-story-project-3-the-marriage-of-phaedra/ which I learned about thanks to Paula https://bookjotter.com/ (Hope the two links don't bump this into your moderation column!)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your next selection!
I've been following Chris' project half enviously, but while I own the novels, I don't have any of the short stories. The desire to shrink the TBR pile is winning out for now. But as it turns out my spin will be Sheridan anyway.
DeleteI love the idea of trying for a match up with other spinners. I'm almost at the end of my list, so I will have a greater ability to do that next spin.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time I'd tried it, but oh, well. I will try again.
DeleteI do have every confidence that School For Scandal will entertain...