My Classics Club Spin book for spring 2024 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Earlier in the week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and a few days ago, this spin’s number was announced. (For those keeping track, it’s CC Spin #37, and for me personally, #9!)

Hosted by The Classics Club blog, the Classics Club Spin is a reading adventure where participants come up with a list of classics they’d like to read, number them 1 to 20, and then read the book that corresponds to the “spin” number that comes up.

For CCSpin #37, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

Howards End by E. M. Forster (published 1910)

Synopsis:

‘Only connect…’

Considered by many to be E. M. Forster’s greatest novel, Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic, leading lives of “telegrams and anger.” When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers she has left their country home—Howards End—to one of the Schlegel sisters, a crisis between the two families is precipitated that takes years to resolve. Written in 1910, Howards End is a symbolic exploration of the social, economic, and intellectual forces at work in England in the years preceding World War I, a time when vast social changes were occurring. In the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, Forster perfectly embodies the competing idealism and materialism of the upper classes, while the conflict over the ownership of Howards End represents the struggle for possession of the country’s future. As critic Lionel Trilling once noted, the novel asks, “Who shall inherit England?”

Forster refuses to take sides in this conflict. Instead he poses one of the book’s central questions: In a changing modern society, what should be the relation between the inner and outer life, between the world of the intellect and the world of business? Can they ever, as Forster urges, “only connect”?

I think I was hoping for one of the lighter books on my list, but I’m still pleased with this spin result. Howards End has been on my to-read list for a very long time — in fact, I have a paperback 2-in-1 edition bundled with A Room with a View (which I’ve read), and I think I must have picked it up over 20 years ago!

I also really enjoyed the TV mini-series (2017) with Hayley Atwell and Matthew Macfadyen, and that heightened my interest in eventually reading the book. Well, the time has come! I have a copy in my Kindle library (approx. 300 pages), and the book is also available via Serial Reader (40 issues), so either way, I shouldn’t have a problem finishing by the spin end date, June 2nd.

What do you think of my newest spin result?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #37:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
White Fang by Jack London
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?

17Apr2024

Getting ready for the Spring 2024 Classics Club Spin!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!

Here are the dates and guidelines from the host blog:

On Sunday 21st April 2024 we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by the 2nd June, 2024.

We’ll check in here on Sunday the 2nd June to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

What’s Next?

Go to your blog.

Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.

Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before 21st April 2024.

We’ll announce a number from 1-20.

Read that book by 2nd June.

Even though my to-read pile for the next few months is on the overwhelming side, I do love these spins and don’t want to miss out. I took the two longest books off my spin list last time around (David Copperfield and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall), and although I’m tempted to add them back, the timing just isn’t right quite yet. So, I’m sticking with the same list as from spin #36, just adding in one new book to replace the one I read.

Here we go!

Here’s my list of 20 classics for the next Classics Club Spin:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
White Fang by Jack London
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Wish me luck! I’ll be back on April 21st to reveal my spin result!

My previous Classics Club spins:

Spring 2022 (CCSpin29): The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
Summer 2022 (CCSpin30): Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Fall 2022 (CCSpin31): A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
Winter 2022/2023 (CCSpin32): O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Spring 2023 (CCSpin33): Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Summer 2023 (CCSpin34): Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Fall 2023 (CCSpin35): Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Winter 2024 (CCSpin36): A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

21Jan2024

My Classics Club Spin book for winter 2024 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

For CCSpin #36, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (published 1955)

Synopsis:

Lord’s classic bestseller, and the definitive account of the unsinkable ship’s fateful last hours

At first, no one but the lookout recognized the sound. Passengers described it as the impact of a heavy wave, a scraping noise, or the tearing of a long calico strip. In fact, it was the sound of the world’s most famous ocean liner striking an iceberg, and it served as the death knell for 1,500 souls.

In the next two hours and forty minutes, the maiden voyage of the Titanic became one of history’s worst maritime accidents. As the ship’s deck slipped closer to the icy waterline, women pleaded with their husbands to join them on lifeboats. Men changed into their evening clothes to meet death with dignity. And in steerage, hundreds fought bitterly against certain death. At 2:15 a.m. the ship’s band played “Autumn.” Five minutes later, the Titanic was gone.

Based on interviews with sixty-three survivors, Lord’s moment-by-moment account is among the finest books written about one of the twentieth century’s bleakest nights.

I am delighted with this spin result! I’ve read my share of Titanic-related fiction over the years, but somehow never got around to this non-fiction book, which is considered (as the synopsis says) the definitive account of the events of that fateful night. As a plus, A Night to Remember is one of my shorter picks this time around — 182 pages for the Kindle edition — so finishing by March 3rd should not be a problem.

What do you think of my newest spin result?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #36:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
White Fang by Jack London
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?

18Jan2024

Getting ready for the Winter 2024 Classics Club Spin!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!

Here are the dates and guidelines from the host blog:

On Sunday 21st January 2024 we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by the 3rd March, 2024..

We’ll check in here on Sunday the 3rd March to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

What’s Next?

Go to your blog.

Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.

Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before 21st January 2024.

We’ll announce a number from 1-20.

Read that book by 3rd March.

I considered not participating this time around, because I already have a pretty stuffed calendar when it comes to reading commitments between now and March. In fact, I’m still a bit on the fence… but I always enjoy these spins, so I don’t really want to sit out.

To keep myself sane, I’m swapping out the two longest books remaining (David Copperfield and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). Yes, I do still want to read them, but I’ll add them back to my spin list later in the year when the possibility of landing on them won’t stress me out as much! For now, I’m limiting my list to books under 400 pages (and actually loading it up with even shorter books) — I just can’t see being happy with the results otherwise.

Okay, that’s it for preamble! Now for the good stuff…

Here’s my list of 20 classics for the next Classics Club Spin:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
White Fang by Jack London
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Wish me luck! I’ll be back on January 21st to reveal my spin result!

My previous Classics Club spins:

19Oct2023

My Classics Club Spin book for fall 2023 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Last week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and a few days ago, this spin’s number was announced. (For those keeping track, it’s CC Spin #35, and for me personally, #7!)

For CCSpin #35, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (published 1853)

Synopsis:

The women of an English country village star in this Victorian classic that inspired a BBC series, from the author of North and South.

Welcome to Cranford, where everyone knows one another and a cow wears pajamas. It’s a community built on friendship and kindness, where women hold court and most of the houses—and men—are rarely seen. Two colorful spinster sisters at the heart of Cranford, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah Jenkyns, are daughters of the former rector, and when they’re not playing cards or drinking tea, they’re feeding an endless appetite for scandal and weathering commotions to their peaceful lives, from financial troubles to thieves to an unexpected face from the past.

First published in installments in Household Words, a magazine edited by Charles Dickens, Cranford was a hit of its time and today offers modern readers a glimpse into a small English town during the mid-nineteenth century.

In case you’re wondering — yes, I’m happy with this spin! I’d been holding my breath thinking that I’d end up with a really long book this time around, and I’m perfectly content not to feel that kind of pressure. At 145 pages, Cranford should be very doable… and we have until December 3rd to finish our spin books this time around.

What do you think of my newest spin result?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #35:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?

10Oct2023

Getting ready for the Fall 2023 Classics Club Spin!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!

Here are the dates and guidelines from the host blog:

On Sunday 15th, October, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by the 3rd December, 2023.

We’ll check in here on Sunday the 3rd December to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

What’s Next?

Go to your blog.

Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.

Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Sunday, 15th October.

We’ll announce a number from 1-20.

Read that book by 3rd December.

I’m a little nervous this time around, because my reading schedule already feels overstuffed with a couple of big books related to group reads. I’m tempted to drop the longer books from my list… and yet, with a month and a half to get it done, even something on the lengthier side might be possible. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

Okay, sticking with the list I already had going, and just adding in the replacements for books I’ve already read…

Here’s my list of 20 classics for the next Classics Club Spin:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholom Aleichem
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Wish me luck! I’ll be away on October 15th and for the week following, but I’ll share my spin result once I’m back online.

My previous Classics Club spins:

18Jun2023

My Classics Club Spin book for summer 2023 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Earlier this week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and today, this spin’s number was announced. (For those keeping track, it’s CC Spin #34, and for me personally, #6!)

For CCSpin #34, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (published 1915)

Synopsis:

A prominent turn-of-the-century social critic and lecturer, Charlotte Perkins Gilman is perhaps best known for her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a chilling study of a woman’s descent into insanity, and Women and Economics, a classic of feminist theory that analyzes the destructive effects of women’s economic reliance on men.

In Herland, a vision of a feminist utopia, Gilman employs humor to engaging effect in a story about three male explorers who stumble upon an all-female society isolated somewhere in South America. Noting the advanced state of the civilization they’ve encountered, the visitors set out to find some males, assuming that since the country is so civilized, “there must be men.” A delightful fantasy, the story enables Gilman to articulate her then-unconventional views of male-female roles and capabilities, motherhood, individuality, privacy, the sense of community, sexuality, and many other topics.

Decades ahead of her time in evolving a humanistic, feminist perspective, Gilman has been rediscovered and warmly embraced by contemporary feminists. An articulate voice for both women and men oppressed by the social order of the day, she adeptly made her points with a wittiness often missing from polemical writings.

This wasn’t necessarily the book I was most hoping for this time around, but I’m happy with the spin results regardless! I do think I may have read an excerpt from Herland for a women’s studies class way back in my college years — but I’m not 100% sure, so this will be a good chance to find out. This is a relatively short book (under 150 pages, in the edition I checked out from the library), and I look forward to diving in!

What do you think of my newest spin book?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #34:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?

14Jun2023

Getting ready for the Summer 2023 Classics Club Spin!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!

Here are the dates and guidelines from the host blog:

On Sunday 18th, June, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by the 6th August, 2023.

We’ll check in here on Sunday the 6th August to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

What’s Next?

Go to your blog.

Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.

Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Sunday, 18th June.

We’ll announce a number from 1-20.

Read that book by 6th August.

I love doing these spins! I rarely do reading challenges, but I’m happy to make an exception for the Classics Club Spin. It’s such a great way to get me to read classics that I’ve always meant to get to, and the randomness of it all makes it feel extra fun. Once again, I’m mostly sticking with the same list as before, minus the books I’ve already read, but also swapping out a couple I’m less interested in for other classics on my master list.

And now for the good stuff…

Here’s my list of 20 classics for the next Classics Club Spin:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Wish me luck! I’ll post again on Sunday once the spin results are announced!

My previous Classics Club spins:

19Mar2023

My Classics Club Spin book for spring 2023 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

For CCSpin #33, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (published 1967)

Synopsis:

It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. . . .

Mysterious and subtly erotic, Picnic at Hanging Rock inspired the iconic 1975 film of the same name by Peter Weir. A beguiling landmark of Australian literature, it stands with Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, and Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides as a masterpiece of intrigue.

I’m so happy with this spin result! I haven’t read many Australian classics, and this is one that I’ve heard so much about over the years. And on a practical note, I was afraid that we’d land on one of my longer options this time — but this book is 204 pages (according to the edition in my Kindle library), and feels really doable!

What do you think of my newest spin book?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #33:

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Peony by Pearl Buck
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Howards End by E. M. Forster
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?

15Mar2023

Getting ready for the Spring 2023 Classics Club Spin!

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!

Here are the dates and guidelines from the host blog:

On Sunday 19th, March, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by the 30th April, 2023.

We’ll check in here on Sunday the 30th April to see who made it the whole way and finished their spin book!

What’s Next?

Go to your blog.

Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.

Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Sunday, 19th March.

We’ll announce a number from 1-20.

Read that book by 30th April.

These Classics Club Spins are so much fun, and such great motivation for breaking out of my normal reading routines — so of course I’m going to do it again! I’m mostly preserving my list from last time, swapping out the book I just read and one other that I’m a bit less interested in right now. As for the rest of the books on my list, I’d be happy to read any of them!

And now for the good stuff…