It's spin time at the Classics Club again. This is the Classics Club challenge where we pick twenty unread books from our Classics Club list and wait for the power of the random number generator to tell us which one we're going to read in the near future.
Between the holidays and the fact that I'm going to be in California for half of January I'm not sure how much reading and blogging time I will have, so I'm not putting any of the dangerously long ones on this list. The last chunkster challenge, the spin machine picked the shortest book on my list, but I'm not going to rely on that happening again.
A couple of these would be effectively read-alongs, and two would be the same author as other bloggers (Brona - though not the same book.) Feel free to do further matchups if you like.
1.) Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
2.) The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
3.) The Waves by Virginia Woolf (Same author with Brona)
4.) The American by Henry James
5.) Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw
6.) Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (Faith at Household Diary)
7.) A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
8.) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
9.) The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
10.) Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac
11.) 20000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne
12.) The Black Arrow by R. L. Stevenson (Helen at She Reads Novels)
13.) A Room Of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
14.) The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (DebNance at Readerbuzz)
15.) One of Ours by Willa Cather (Same author with Brona)
16.) Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
17.) The Forsyte Sage by John Galsworthy
18.) Lives by Plutarch
19.) Count Robert of Paris by Sir Walter Scott
20.) Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
Plutarch's Lives would be the challenging one on that list. I'm not really sure which one overall I prefer. Which look good to you?
And the winner is...#13! A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.
You have The Black Arrow! I've never read it and it never occurred to me to put it on my list, but I SHOULD. I'm also quite fond of The Vicar of Wakefield, and I liked 20,000 Leagues too. Hope you get something good -- my list goes up tomorrow morning!
ReplyDeleteNaturally I'm thrilled that we have some shared authors Reese, but I'm really excited to see Jean writing about an upcoming post :-)
DeleteThe fact that this spin has lured Jean back into blogging will definitely be the best thing about it!
DeleteI've got this complete Stevenson set I bought about a zillion years ago & read most of it, but only thought about Black Arrow after I saw it on other Classics Clubbers' lists.
DeleteI'm determined to read 20000 Leagues soon in any case.
I'm always amazed at how many classics I don't know when I go and visit others' lists. My favorite here is #11, which would work well for me too: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/12/18/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-22/
ReplyDeleteThe Jules Verne would be a very good choice & I may choose it even if it isn't chosen for me. ;-)
DeleteIt would be lovely if the spin landed on fourteen. We could do a mini-readalong. You might be in California and I will be in Paris. Funny.
ReplyDeleteParis seems a more appropriate place to read The Razor's Edge, but from wherever it would be fun!
DeleteScott, Stevenson and Verne... i've been curious about Galsworthy, but not enough to actually read him... so far anyway... good luck in Ca. merry xmas
ReplyDeleteOne of the Galsworthy novels in the Forsyte Saga also would count for the #1920Club so I'm likely to try it in the near future in any case. And Merry Christmas to you!
DeleteI'll look forward to comparing thoughts on The Black Arrow if we get that one. I enjoyed both Cousin Bette and A Room of One's Own but I haven't read any of the others on your list. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks! The Black Arrow would make a very fun spin.
DeleteI liked both The Waves and The American. A Room of One's Own is good, too...plus, it's short and easy. :)
ReplyDeleteShort and easy definitely has its charms!
DeleteOh yeah, I was going to ask...California? That's where I am! Whatcha gonna do, and is it up north? :)
ReplyDeleteNorth for CA, that is.
DeleteIt is up north; we fly into San Francisco, then Calistoga, and then Chico. And I think you're in Chico? My brother works at CSU-Chico & we'll stay with him. I should be in Chico for the week beginning MLK day.
DeleteI do live in Chico!! You should visit me!! Drop me a line at jkleek at gmail.
DeleteI’ve read The Way of All Flesh but have virtually no memory of it. I often mix it up with Of Human Bondage so maybe the plots are similar.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get The Bell Jar. I love that book and contrary to many other readers, I don’t find it depressing at all.
That is a surprise. I don't really know anything about the Bell Jar, but I had sort of assumed it would be depressing...good to know otherwise!
DeleteI enjoyed both Baldwin and Richard Wright...so it would be interesting to hear what Baldwin thought of Wright.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Native Son when I read it -- it's a Chicago novel -- and I suspect the Baldwin would be very interesting.
DeleteThe suspense is building! Soon!