I signed up for The Classics Club what feels like a really long time ago, and I've done really badly with my list so far. Last time I participated in the spin, I got Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and it was great to actually be able to cross something off of the list! I made the list because I wanted to read all of the books, but I constantly find myself bypassing them in favour of exciting sparkly things which come my way, so this is what I need to give me a kick up the bum!
The idea of the spin is this:
You make a list of 20 books from your list (5 that you're dreading, 5 you're dying to read, 5 you're neutral about and 5 and post them on your blog, numbered 1-20. Next Monday 10th February the Classics Club will post a number and you have to read the book which corresponds to that number on your list during February & March.
My list is as follows:
Five I'm dreading:
1. The Aeneid - Virgil
2. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
3. The Water Babies - Charles Kingsley
4. The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens
5. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Five I'm Excited About:
6. A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
7. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
8. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. The Hours - Michael Cunningham
10. Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Five I'm Neutral About:
11. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
12. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
13. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
14. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
15. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Five Free Choice (ReReads):
16. Charlotte's Web - E.B White
17. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
18. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
19. Let the Circle Be Unbroken - Mildred D. Taylor
20. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Whatever number the spin turns up it will be great to be able to cross another book off of the list! :-)
I love Gone with the Wind. One of my all time favorite books. I want to reread it as well.
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoyed The Aeneid when I read it in school, but I can say nothing good about Daniel Defoe. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have Robinson Crusoe on my list too. I listed it under the 5 books that I feel neutral about reading. The Pickwick Papers is one of Dickens' earliest work. You will need a lot of patience to read it, and you must be OK with a novel that is really a bunch of small stories loosely strung together. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWow, you have some excellent books on your list! I really enjoyed The Aeneid and Robinson Crusoe is a wonderful read, so do not fear! ;-) Les Mis is one of my favourites but loooong! I think Swallows and Amazons is my favourite children's book (or at least in the top 5). The Master and Margarita is weird but interesting. I got Steinbeck's East of Eden on my spin.
ReplyDeleteHave you every seen Cold Comfort Farm, the movie? It is hilarious!
I hope you get the spin book you wish for!
Jeez - you included Les Miserables? Are you crazy?! I know it's in the "dreading" section but still! Although to be fair, I have The Hunchback of Notre Dame in my list so I suppose that's equally as crazy...
ReplyDeleteIf it helps, Ellie is a big Robinson Crusoe fan so it may not be quite the terrible experience that you think? We actually have some similar books on our overall lists it seems, just not for this particular spin.
AND (because this comment wasn't already long enough!) we can kick each other into doing it because we're both signed up. Bonus!
I loved Charlotte's Web as a kid, though it is pretty sad. I really like Cold Comfort Farm (and feel a bit meh about Gatsby, which makes me feel like I'm missing something every time people gush).
ReplyDeleteI spun Les Miserables last time, I hope you have more luck than me, because that book is a beast!
ReplyDeleteThe Scarlet Letter is actually really good, I was neutral about reading it too but it was much more sarcastic than I was expecting, and that made it really enjoyable.
What a wonderful idea! The Great Gatsby's lovely - hopefully you land on that number!
ReplyDeleteI have such fond memories of Swallows and Amazons! So many amazing choices on here (except, maybe, Les Mes. Eeek!). I hope the spin is good to you :D
ReplyDeleteLes Mis is awesome, and I really loved Virgil. And from what I remember The Water Babies is quite sweet. And short. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for Pickwick Papers.... yeah, you're right to dread it!