A Classics Club spin is where participants choose 20 books from their classics list, a moderator picks a number between 1-20, and then participants have a deadline in which to read the randomly chosen book.
It’s a nice way to get a little push and some extra reading support. This is the third spin and the second in which I’m participating. Last time I got This Side of Paradise which I did not enjoy. C’est la vie. This time the goddess Fortuna will be kinder to me, yes?
Because I’m in the midst of selling my house and moving and don’t know when everything will happen (but hope its soon!), I’m not selecting any big, chunky classics this time or the ones that I’m slightly dreading, so no Count of Monte Cristo or War and Peace. I don’t have any re-reads on my main list, so there are none below.
I also chose only women writers this time around. It wasn’t intentional at first, but then it was!
Need a push to start:
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| Lady Fortune in a Boccaccio manuscript |
1. Rebecca, Du Maurier
2. Regeneration, Parker
3. Curious Wine, Forrest
4. A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry–THE CHOSEN ONE!
5. Wuthering Heights, Bronte
6. Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf
Feel neutral about:
7. So Big, Ferber
8. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, McCullers
9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Smith
10. To the Lighthouse, Woolf
11. Stone Angel, Laurence
12. The Price of Salt, Highsmith
Really excited to read:
13. We Have Always Lived in a Castle, Jackson
14. And Then There Were None, Christie
15. Sense and Sensibility, Austen
16. Pride and Prejudice, Austen
17. Ship of Fools, Porter
18. Wise Blood, O’Connor
19. Suite Francaise, Nemirovsky
20. Diary of a Young Girl, Frank
If you haven’t heard of the Classics Club check it out here.
Are you participating in this spin? If so please include your link in the comments–I’d love to see what you’ve selected.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter put me off too, but it turned out to be excellent. Not the type of thing I normally like, so it was a nice surprise. And you have some of my other favorites — Jane Austen's always great, and Rebecca is excellent. A lot of people have put Rebecca on their spin lists this time around! I also want to read Suite Francaise, I just read Dimanche and Other stories by Nemirovsky and it was great.
Thanks for the positive recommendations! I started Rebecca several times in the distant past and never got beyond the first few pages. Same thing with Austen…but here's to hoping I'm actually older and wiser, not just older!
I hope Lady Fortuna will be kind to you. Agatha Christie of Shirley Jackson would be perfect for short, quick reads.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is great. I hope you get that one. If not, may it be one that you are excited about. I was not a fan of Rebecca (which makes me unpopular in many circles) and was bored by The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
I am not doing the spin this time around because I have so many things I hope to get done between now and the end of the month. Plus, the one I got last time around was abandoned after about 2 pages.
I'd love more Shirley Jackson–The Haunting of Hill House is one of my all-time favorites!
Yeah, I have serious doubts about Rebecca, but so many people adore that novel that I feel its one I have to try again. I will probably read it this year even if its not chosen this time around.