It's time for another Classics Spin! If you're not familiar, it's a periodic mini-challenge created by The Classics Club. Participants pick 20 books from their Classics Club reading list, and next Monday, April 22, we'll be assigned a random number from one to twenty that will determine our next read from the list.
I haven't done one of these for awhile, so I'm looking forward to it. It was pretty easy to make up my list -- I posted a second list last March, and I've read nearly half, so there were plenty of choices.
Here's what I came up with -- heavy on the mid-century British women authors this time around, since I'm trying really hard to read more books off my own shelves (I think half of the books on this list are Virago Modern Classics!)
- The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim
- One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- My American by Stella Gibbons
- Westwood by Stella Gibbons
- Living/Loving/Party Going by Henry Green
- The Hireling by L. P. Hartley
- The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
- Mandoa, Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby
- A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
- Troy Chimneys by Margaret Kennedy
- Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamund Lehmann
- The Little Ottleys by Ada Leverson
- The World My Wilderness by Rose Macauley
- The Misunderstanding by Irene Nemirovsky
- A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
- Frost in May by Antonia White
- Jenny Wren by E. H. Young
- The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young
- Beware of Pity by Stephan Zweig
The books I'm most hoping for are The Caravaners, One Pair of Feet, and A Few Green Leaves (the very last Barbara Pym I have left to read).
Books I'm hoping not to get this time around: Crime and Punishment, Beware of Pity, and Living/Loving/Party Going. But odds are in my favor, I hope!
Are there any others I should dread or hope for? Which are the hidden gems? And are any of these on your spin list?
Update: The Classics Spin number is 19, so I'll be reading The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young. I'm looking forward to it!
Update: The Classics Spin number is 19, so I'll be reading The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young. I'm looking forward to it!
I just recently re-read The Masqueraders, which is a joy. If you haven't read it, you are in for a treat with the Old Gentleman.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a fun read for May! I recently read Heyer's biography by Jennifer Kloester which I really enjoyed.
DeleteCrime and Punishment has been haunting me since I started it and just lost steam. I'll revisit one day. And love all the Viragos! Have a great spin, Karen!
ReplyDeleteI really did hesitate whether to put it on the list, but I can count it for the Back to the Classics challenge also. And inevitably it will be my pick because it's the scariest book!
DeleteI'm simply entranced by your list. Authors I recognize but have not read, authors I adore (Pym), and authors I know well but am unfamiliar with the title. So much for me to note.
ReplyDeleteI loved Crime and Punishment--I was just 17, a rebellious 17--I poured over it, underlined it, and wrote madly about it for my World Literature Class, but you know, I think I'd have reservations about attacking it now. That world view of 1970 has shifted and so have I. Best wishes with the spin!
I got C&P on the last Spin, and it turned out good. Get the Oliver Ready translation though. The only other one on that list I've read is Beware of Pity, which is good too. Though I think I liked Zweig's short stories better.
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of the books in your list except C&P and that too when the earth was young! But I absolutely love it and feel like I should trade my list for yours! lol! Here's wishing a great spin read! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteCrime and Punishment is really good I think. Of the Henry Green trilogy, I've only read Loving but I thought it was great. It reminded me of the movie Gosford Park.
ReplyDeleteBut secretly I hope you get A Few Green Leaves and become a Pym completionist! I've not read it yet myself.
Crime & Punishment is great, but you do kind of have to be in the right space for it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the Rose Macaulay. I've been wanting to read something of hers other than Towers of Trebizond, which I loved.
I hope you'll get no. 16, as I have been curious about Barbara Pym. Good luck, Karen! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great selection! From my recommendations, I hope you get A Pin To See The Peepshow. For my own sake, I hope you get My American, because I want to hear how it is :)
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a great list. I loved The Masqueraders and Troy Chimneys and enjoyed Crime and Punishment, although I struggled to get into it at first. I have a Pym on my list too (Jane and Prudence). Good luck on Monday!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your list! I hope you get one of the ones you're most excited about!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I really know almost nothing about mid-century British authors--I've not heard of most of the titles on the list! (Although I know some of the authors.) And one of these days, I really do need to try out Heyer. Good luck with the spin!
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