My Classics Club Spin book for winter/spring 2026 will be…

Earlier in the 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 CCSpin #43, and for me personally, #15!)

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 #43, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Published 1948

Synopsis:

I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle’s walls and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has “captured the castle”– and the heart of the reader– in one of literature’s most enchanting entertainments.

And here’s the synopsis from the hardcover deluxe edition released in 2017 from Wednesday Books:

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her family may live in a ramshackle old English castle, but that’s about as romantic as her life gets. While her beautiful older sister, Rose, longs to live in a Jane Austen novel, Cassandra knows that meeting an eligible man to marry isn’t in either of their futures when their home is crumbling and they have to sell their furniture for food. So Cassandra instead strives to hone her writing skills in her journals. Until one day when their new landlords move in, which include two (very handsome) sons, and the lives of the Mortmain sisters change forever.

Finally! I’ve had I Capture the Castle on my to-read list for ages, and it’s been on my spin lists since the very first time I participated. I own a battered old paperback edition, and a few years ago I also picked up the hardcover deluxe edition:

Why has it taken me so long to read this book? No idea… except once I started including it on my spin lists, I’ve just been waiting for its turn to come around. And now it has!

I’m very happy with this spin! I’m looking forward to starting I Capture the Castle — probably a bit later this month. The deadline to finish this spin book is March 29th, which gives me plenty of time. I’ll be back with my reaction before then.

What do you think of my spin result this time around?

There’s a movie adaptation of I Capture the Castle from 2003 — so assuming I can find it to stream, I’ll plan to watch it before the end of March as well!

PS – Did you know… I Capture the Castle was Dodie Smith’s first novel, but she’s perhaps best known as the author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians!

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #43:

  1. The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier
  2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
  3. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
  4. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
  5. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  6. White Fang by Jack London
  7. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  8. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
  9. Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
  10. Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
  11. Peony by Pearl Buck
  12. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
  13. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
  14. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
  15. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
  16. Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham
  17. Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholem Aleichem
  18. Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson
  19. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
  20. Under the Rainbow by Susan Scarlett

My previous Classics Club Spin books:

CCSpin29: The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
CCSpin30: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
CCSpin31: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
CCSpin32: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
CCSpin33: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
CCSpin34: Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
CCSpin35: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
CCSpin36: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
CCSpin37: Howards End by E. M. Forster
CCSpin38: The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
CCSpin39: An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
CCSpin40: Dracula by Bram Stoker
CCSpin41: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
CCSpin42: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

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

20th Century Decades Challenge — completed!


Three cheers! Huzzah! Ring the bells!

I’ve completed a challenge!

Last year, I decided it would be fun to challenge myself to read one book published during each decade of the 20th century… and although I had to give myself a couple of extra months to do it, I finally finished!

Here’s a look at the books I read:

 1900 – 1909

Title: My Brilliant Career
Author: Miles Franklin
Publication year: 1901
My review

1910 – 1919

Title: A Damsel in Distress
Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Publication year: 1919
My review

1920 – 1929

Title: The Lark
Author: E. Nesbit
Publication year: 1922
My review

1930 – 1939

Title: The Hobbit
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Publication year: 1937

1940 – 1949

Title: My Theodosia
Author: Anya Seton
Publication year: 1941
My review

1950 – 1959

Title: The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Publication year: 1954

1960 – 1969

Title: The Ivy Tree
Author: Mary Stewart
Publication year: 1961
My review

1970 – 1979

Title: The Auctioneer
Author: Joan Samson
Publication year: 1976
My review

1980 – 1989

Title: Wyrd Sisters (Discworld, #6)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Publication year: 1988
My review

1990 – 1999

Title: Green Rider
Author: Kristen Britain
Publication year: 1998
My review

All in all, I’m really pleased with this challenge! I’m not planning to do it again in 2026, at least not in such a structured, “official” way — but I still have plenty of 20th century fiction choices that were on my list of possibilities for the various decades of this challenge, and there are at least a handful that I’m quite eager to read.

I’m a little regretful that I have two Tolkien books included in this challenge… not that I didn’t enjoy them, but I wished I’d branched out a little bit, since I was going to read these books during 2025 even without the challenge (thanks to a read-along with my book group). So — goal for 2026: Make a point of reading at least one more book from the 1930s and 1950s!

Of the ten books for this challenge, my favorites were A Damsel in Distress and The Lark, which just goes to show how much I enjoy a good light-hearted romp. Close behind would be The Ivy Tree, Wyrd Sisters, and The Auctioneer.

I did enjoy My Brilliant Career and I’m glad I read it, but it’s not a book that I think I’d ever return to or go out of my way to recommend. I liked Green Rider quite a bit, but don’t feel compelled to continue the series; at least, not any time in the foreseeable future. And I’d say that My Theodosia would be my least favorite of the bunch — problematic in several ways, and just not an enjoyable read.

All in all, I had lots of fun with my 20th Century Decades Challenge. It prompted me to pick up several books that I might not have discovered otherwise, and introduced (or reintroduced) me to authors — Wodehouse, Stewart, Nesbit — whose works I’d like to explore further.

As I wrap up this post, I’m actually starting to reconsider my decision not to repeat this challenge. I wouldn’t want to commit to doing ten decades again right away… but maybe a mini or modified version. Hmmm…. food for thought!

Book Review: A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse

Title: A Damsel in Distress
Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Publisher: Various (public domain)
Publication date: 1919
Length: 216 pages
Genre: Classic fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

When Maud Marsh flings herself into George Bevan’s cab in Piccadilly, he starts believing in damsels in distress. George traces his mysterious traveling companion to Belpher Castle, home of Lord Marshmoreton, where things become severely muddled. Maud’s aunt, Lady Caroline Byng, wants Maud to marry Reggie, her stepson. Maud, meanwhile, is known to be in love with an unknown American she met in Wales. So when George turns up speaking American, a nasty case of mistaken identity breaks out. In fact, the scene is set for the perfect Wodehouse comedy of errors.

What a silly, happy book this is!

I’ve read a couple of the author’s Jeeves books — delightfully funny — and when I stumbled across A Damsel in Distress, I simply couldn’t resist picking it up… especially since it fits neatly into a reading challenge I’m trying to complete.

In A Damsel in Distress, American composer George Bevan is basically minding his own business after a production of his latest musical theater show when a woman barges into his cab in the middle of London, begging him to hide her. When a stout man catches up and demands that he reveal the woman in his cab — which he refuses to do — a chain of events is started that ends with George falling in love, the woman making her own clever escape, and her pursuer in the custody of police. And that’s only the beginning of the chaos that follows!

We follow several threads related to mismatched love interests, upstairs/downstairs shenanigans and schemes, and mistaken identity. Comedic set-pieces galore offer silly escapades and plenty of embarrassment for certain character, while the various entangled love stories go off in unexpected directions.

As always, Wodehouse’s writing is deliciously funny — as when George can either climb up a rope made of knotted bedsheets or be caught in a socially awkward position:

From above came Albert’s hoarse whisper. “Look alive!” This was precisely what George wanted to do for at least another fifty years or so; and it seemed to him as he stood there in the starlight, gingerly fingering this flimsy linen thing, that if he were to suspend his hundred and eighty pounds of bone and sinew at the end of it over the black gulf outside the balcony he would look alive for about five seconds, and after that goodness only knew how he would look.

There are too many wonderful quotes to choose from — here are a couple more:

Maud was of the class whose education consists mainly of a training in the delicate ignoring of delicate situations.

I don’t know what your experience has been, but mine is that proposing’s a thing that simply isn’t within the scope of a man who isn’t moderately woozled.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Damsel in Distress. The aristocratic snobbery, silly slang, and goofy hijinks all add up to a very entertaining read. Highly recommended for when you’re in the mood for a light, funny read.

After finishing the book, I was curious to see if it had ever been adapted as a movie… and what do you know? There’s a 1937 black-and-white movie musical version starring Fred Astaire and Joan Fontaine, and featuring George Burns and Gracie Allen! I’m definitely going to need to find where to stream this. Has anyone seen it?

Interested in the book?

Purchase linksAmazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.orgLibro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

My Classics Club Spin book for fall 2025 will be…

Earlier in the 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 CCSpin #42, and for me personally, #14!)

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 #42, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
Published 1901

Synopsis:

The fierce, irreverent novel of aspiration and rebellion that is both a cornerstone of Australian literature and a feminist classic

Miles Franklin began the candid, passionate, and contrary My Brilliant Career when she was only sixteen, intending it to be the Australian answer to Jane Eyre . But the book she produced-a thinly veiled autobiographical novel about a young girl hungering for life and love in the outback-so scandalized her country upon its appearance in 1901 that she insisted it not be published again until ten years after her death.

And from another edition:

Trapped on her parents’ farm in the hardscrabble Australian outback, sixteen-year-old Sybylla Melvyn loves the bush but not the toil it brings. She longs for refinement, and most of all she longs to achieve great things.

Suddenly she falls under the gaze of wealthy, handsome Harry Beecham and finds herself choosing between the conventional path of marriage and her plans for a ‘brilliant career’.

My Brilliant Career has been on my to-read list for a few years now. I don’t recall exactly how I first came across this book, but I believe it’s thanks to stumbling across it on someone else’s blog! I’m always up for exploring more Australian fiction, and this early 20th century classic sounds like a book that’s right up my alley

For my 2025 spins, I’ve been focusing on 20th century literature — inspired by a reading challenge to read (at least) one book from each decade of the century. My Brilliant Career was originally published in 1901, and helps me check off one of my remaining decades!

I’m excited to start My Brilliant Career — probably in a few weeks, after I finish up a few more ARCs for upcoming new releases. The deadline to finish this spin book is December 21st, which gives me plenty of time. I’ll be back with my reaction before then.

What do you think of my spin result this time around?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #42:

  1. The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier
  2. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
  3. A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
  4. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
  5. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
  6. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  7. White Fang by Jack London
  8. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  10. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  11. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
  12. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
  13. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
  14. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
  15. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
  16. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
  17. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
  18. A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
  19. The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier
  20. 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?

My Classics Club Spin book for summer 2025 will be…

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 CCSpin #41, and for me personally, #13!)

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 #41, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
(The Corfu Trilogy, Book #1) 
Published 1956

Synopsis:

‘What we all need,’ said Larry, ‘is sunshine…a country where we can grow.

‘Yes, dear, that would be nice,’ agreed Mother, not really listening.

‘I had a letter from George this morning – he says Corfu’s wonderful. Why don’t we pack up and go to Greece?’

‘Very well, dear, if you like,’ said Mother unguardedly.

Escaping the ills of the British climate, the Durrell family – acne-ridden Margo, gun-toting Leslie, bookworm Lawrence and budding naturalist Gerry, along with their long suffering mother and Roger the dog – take off for the island of Corfu.

But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of local fauna – among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies.

What fun! I’ve been tempted to read this book ever since seeing promos for the Masterpiece series (The Durrells in Corfu), which aired 2016 – 2019. I held off on watching the series so I could read the book first, and then never got around to that either! So, I’m very happy with this spin result, and if I love the book, maybe I’ll finally get around to the TV version as well.

For my 2025 spins, I’ve been focusing on 20th century literature — inspired by a reading challenge to read (at least) one book from each decade of the century. Once I finish My Family and Other Animals, I’ll be able to check off the 1950s!

At just under 300 pages (Kindle edition), this book shouldn’t take a tremendous amount of time, so I may hold off on starting it for a bit… mainly because I’m swamped with other books from my TBR at the moment.

Overall, I’m really looking forward to reading My Family and Other Animals. The deadline to finish this spin is August 24th. I’ll be back with my reaction before then.

What do you think of my spin result this time around?

Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #41:

  1. Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne DuMaurier
  2. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
  3. A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
  4. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
  5. Peony by Pearl Buck
  6. White Fang by Jack London
  7. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  8. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
  9. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  10. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
  11. My Family and Other Animals by  Gerald Durrell
  12. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  13. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
  14. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
  15. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
  16. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
  17. Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
  18. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
  19. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
  20. 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?

Shelf Control #319: The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

Shelves final

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: The House on the Strand
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Published: 1969
Length: 352 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Dick Young is lent a house in Cornwall by his friend Professor Magnus Lane. During his stay he agrees to serve as a guinea pig for a new drug that Magnus has discovered in his scientific research.

When Dick samples Magnus’s potion, he finds himself doing the impossible: traveling through time while staying in place, thrown all the way back into Medieval Cornwall. The concoction wear off after several hours, but its effects are intoxicating and Dick cannot resist his newfound powers. As his journeys increase, Dick begins to resent the days he must spend in the modern world, longing ever more fervently to get back into his world of centuries before, and the home of the beautiful Lady Isolda…

How and when I got it:

I bought the e-book edition several years ago.

Why I want to read it:

I’ve been seeing several bloggers sharing posts for Daphne du Maurier Reading Week (hosted by Heavenali) — and while I wasn’t thinking about this in time to participate, seeing the posts reminded me that I have a bunch of Daphne du Maurier books that I need to read! In fact, the only boos of her that I’ve read is the one that pretty much everyone has read, Rebecca. But I know there’s so much more to explore, and I do want to make a point of reading more of her books.

The House on the Strand caught my attention as soon as I first came across it. I mean… hello? Time travel fan here!

I’d guess time travel was a much less written-about fiction device at the time when this book was published. It was one of the author’s later books (published 30 years after Rebecca) — I’m so curious about how she portrayed the time travel elements, as well as what the overall reaction to the book was at the time of publication. (I know I could look up this piece, but would rather wait until after I’ve actually read the book).

I believe I have 4 or 5 of the author’s books sitting unread on my physical or virtual bookshelves. The House on the Strand seems like a great place for me to start.

What do you think? Have you read this book? Do you have a favorite Daphne du Maurier book to recommend?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

  • Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
  • Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
  • Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

Shelf Control #312: Howards End by E. M. Forster

Shelves final

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Howards End
Author: E. M. Forster
Published: 1910
Length: 302 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

A chance acquaintance brings together the preposterous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs Wilcox, the impetuous Helen brings into their midst a young bank clerk named Leonard Bast, who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. When Mrs Wilcox dies, her family discovers that she wants to leave her country home, Howards End, to Margaret. Thus as Forster sets in motion a chain of events that will entangle three different families, he brilliantly portrays their aspirations to personal and social harmony.

How and when I got it:

I’ve had a dusty old paperback edition on my shelves for over a decade!

Why I want to read it:

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years now. I own it because it’s part of the two-in-one edition that includes Room With A View, which I actually have read. When I decided, earlier this week, to participate in the current round of the Classics Club Spin, Howards End seemed like a great choice to include… and although I won’t be reading it for this round, I was reminded (yet again) that I do intend to read this book eventually.

My interest in Howards End was renewed when the BBC adaptation (starring Hailey Atwell and Matthew Macfadyen) aired in 2018. I enjoyed it so much that I was determined to read the book ASAP… but oh well, the best of intentions and all that.

If I don’t get to Howards End sooner, then it’ll be on my list again for the next Classics Club Spin!

Have you read Howards End? If so, did you enjoy it?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

  • Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
  • Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
  • Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

Shelf Control #149: The Bone People by Keri Hulme

Shelves final

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

cropped-flourish-31609_1280-e1421474289435.png

Title: The Bone People
Author: Keri Hulme
Published: 1984
Length: 450 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

In a tower on the New Zealand sea lives Kerewin Holmes, part Maori, part European, an artist estranged from her art, a woman in exile from her family. One night her solitude is disrupted by a visitor—a speechless, mercurial boy named Simon, who tries to steal from her and then repays her with his most precious possession. As Kerewin succumbs to Simon’s feral charm, she also falls under the spell of his Maori foster father Joe, who rescued the boy from a shipwreck and now treats him with an unsettling mixture of tenderness and brutality. Out of this unorthodox trinity Keri Hulme has created what is at once a mystery, a love story, and an ambitious exploration of the zone where Maori and European New Zealand meet, clash, and sometimes merge. Winner of both a Booker Prize and Pegasus Prize for Literature, The Bone People is a work of unfettered wordplay and mesmerizing emotional complexity.

How and when I got it:

I bought it years ago, probably at a library sale (like so many of the books on my shelves!).

Why I want to read it:

I’ve been hearing about The Bone People for years, and have been told repeatedly that it’s a must-read. I haven’t read much fiction set in New Zealand, and I’m fascinated by the sound of the story!

Have you read any books set in New Zealand? Any you’d recommend? Please let me know!

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

  • Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
  • Add your link in the comments!
  • If you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
  • Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

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