I just realized it's been nearly a month since I posted, I'm in a bit of of reading/blogging slump. I've been so distracted lately I can hardly read anything, much less blog about it. But hopefully another Classics Spin will get me out of my reading rut. Only 18 books left on my Classics Club list! I thought I could finish the list by the end of the year but seriously, who am I kidding?
So. The idea is that after I post a list of 20 possible reads from my Classics Club list, a random number will be selected on November 22. I then have until January 30 to read and post about the book. Since I have only 18 books unread on the list, I've repeated two books to get an even 20.
- The Bright Side of Life by Emile Zola
- Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
- Westwood by Stella Gibbons
- Jenny Wren by E. H. Young
- A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
- A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
- The Little Ottleys by Ada Leverson
- The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim
- Hudson River Bracketed by Edith Wharton
- Ralph the Heir by Anthony Trollope
- The World My Wilderness by Rose Macauley
- A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
- La Debacle by Emile Zola
- The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
- Beware of Pity by Stephan Zweig
- My American by Stella Gibbons
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Mandoa, Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby
- Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal
- The Bright Side of Life by Emile Zola
I'm hoping to read A Few Green Leaves, Jenny Wren, or The Caravaners. I'm sort of dreading Crime and Punishment, The Portable Dorothy Parker, and Hudson River Bracketed -- I've read most of Edith Wharton now and my last one was pretty dire.
Bloggers, which ones should I hope for? Which should I be dreading? And what's on your spin list?
UPDATED: The Spin has assigned me #14, The Portable Dorothy Parker. It's 600 pages long, yikes! I'm pretty sure I won't be finishing it until January 30, but I'll probably also count it for one of my Back to the Classics reads -- that's right, Back to the Classics is returning in 2021!
You have a lot that I haven't read on your list. I think the Barbara Pym will definitely be best for you in your reading slump although it's years since I read it. I also enjoyed The Caravaners, Invitation to the Waltz and read Crime and Punishment years ago, I remember I did like it but it probably isn't ideal reading for the moment.
ReplyDeleteI would love Barbara Pym, I think I've been putting it off because it's the last one of hers I haven't read! I'll be a little sad when they're done (though I do have a book of her letters called A Very Private Eye). The Caravaners would also be great.
DeleteI have Westwood on my shelf to read so if you get that, I might read it along with you. I'd probably pick Crime and Punishment though. Not an uplifting book but I feel like reading a Dostoyevsky. Have fun with the spin!
ReplyDeleteI think I started reading it a year or so ago, but got distracted and never got very far. I keep buying all Stella Gibbons' reprints so I need to start reading them!
DeleteI have read Crime and Punishment and it's certainly not an easy read, but I liked it more than I'd expected to. I haven't read any of the other books on your list but I hope the spin gives you something you enjoy!
ReplyDeleteCrime and Punishment might be a real downer right now. 2020 has just been really tough all around so if I don't read Dostoevsky I might just accept it and move on.
DeleteI loved the Portable Dorothy Parker. She was a real risk-taker, and her stories were definitely not of women who played by the rules. I also enjoyed Crime and Punishment, as I read it as a read along online with a group of other readers and that took it slow, but really looked at it. Good luck on whatever you end up with.
ReplyDeleteI read Crime and Punishment this year, it was a commitment but easier than I was expecting, Barbara Pym is always a lovely read isn't she? Good Luck
ReplyDeleteI wish you #13, Zola! Which would be Inspector French's Greatest Case for me:
ReplyDeletehttps://wordsandpeace.com/2020/11/20/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-25/
I've been avoiding that one because it's a long war novel. But maybe I'll get #1 or #20 which are also Zola!
DeleteI need to add Crime and Punishment and Dorothy Parker to my list.
ReplyDeleteCrime and Punishment is great, but it is long and it is intense. I did like it when I read it, though. The Portable Dorothy Parker definitely has some great stuff in it, but maybe could have been a little shorter? It's fun, though. And I liked the Lehman.
ReplyDeleteBut everything else on your list would be new to me, so I want you to get one of those!
Karen, I haven't read any of these, so I don't know which ones you should be hoping for or dreading! But I do hope the Spin will help get you out of your reading and blogging rut. Good luck! 🤞😃
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of those, yet read others by some of the authors here, so it will be good to discover more :)
ReplyDeleteI think it would be less than ideal to read The Portable Dorothy Parker through - it's got a bunch of short stories and they would be better read, now and again, on different days, over the course of weeks. As for "Mandoa, Mandoa," it's really good as a novel of intercultural interaction and how disconcerting it is when you realize the other person is coming from a totally different way of thinking. I read MM in the summer of 1992, so maybe it's time I re-read it.
ReplyDeleteI've always appreciated Dorothy Parker's role in American literary circles but haven't actually read anything by her. I remember Rory in Gilmore Girls carrying around a Portable Dorothy Parker in a few episodes.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be daunting to try to read in one fell swoop, but then I like to read books like this slowly over time.
Good luck and hope you enjoy it.
Ralph the Heir is a great book!
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