It's time for another Classics Club Spin! Readers select and number twenty books from their lists, and then a number is posted on the website, on Monday 18th November. You have to read the book that corresponds to that number over the next couple of months. Usually I pick categories such as 'books I'm excited about' and 'books I'm dreading', but this time I have chosen pure randomness. I used random.org to select twenty unread books on my list, not including rereads.
Here's what came out:
1. The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham
2. The Awakening - Kate Chopin
3. Persuasion - Jane Austen
4. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck
5. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
6. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein
7. Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood
8. Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan
9. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
10. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
11. The Good Earth - Pearl Buck
12. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte
13. Orlando - Virginia Woolf
14. Anthony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare
15. Hard Times - Charles Dickens
16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
17. Kim - Rudyard Kipling
18. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
19. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
20. Othello - William Shakespeare
Overall, I'm happy with how that turned out. My list is awesome up until book 13, as all of the books before then are ones that I am so keen to read, including Les Mis. After that it gets a little bit intimidating with Virginia Woolf, whose books scare me. I have to admit that I'm not really in a Dickens mood at the moment, and I won't be happy if Moby Dick is selected, although I will have to read it at some point. Random.org really wanted me to read Their Eyes Were Watching God as it's number came up about four times during the selection process. I'm secretly hoping for The Awakening or the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Are you taking part in the spin? I'd love to see your list if you are.
We have a few of the same picks on our lists! I admittedly chose shorter books this time around since I already have some reading commitments through December, plus holidays. I love your list!
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with shorter picks, I hope you spin a title that you're excited to read.
DeleteLike Andi, we share some books! Goodbye to Berlin is one I would never have picked up if a friend didn't recommend it to me, and it is a wonderful novel! One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes a while to get into, but is a very thought-provoking book, and the ending is SO sad....
ReplyDeleteWe both have Persuasion and Les Mis on our lists, Les Mis is one I also want to read! I've read 70% of it, then life got in the way and I unfortunately never finished it...
Good luck with your spin pick! I hope it's not past 13!
I'm excited for Goodbye to Berlin, my sister read it at uni and loved it.
DeleteCongrats on getting 70% of the way through Les Mis, that is a beast of a book.
I read Cannery Row earlier this year, and I just loved it. I wasn't expecting it to be so engaging.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck! I hope you love your spin pick!
I'm excited to try it as I read East of Eden last month and just loved it.
DeleteI hope the spin gives you a book you enjoy! I loved Les Miserables, Persuasion and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I've also read Orlando and found it easier to read than I'd expected. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to take part in the spin this time or not.
ReplyDeleteThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall is probably the book I most want to read as I just love the Brontes and it's one of the few titles of theirs I haven't read. Hopefully if I spin Orlando my experience will be similar to yours!
DeleteOo, Tenant of Wildfell Hall is great, I hope you get it! Here's my list: http://howlingfrog.blogspot.com/2013/11/classics-club-spin-4.html
ReplyDeleteI hope I get it too :)
DeleteI also have Les Mis and The Good Earth on my spin list. I really enjoyed Cranford and Kim was better than I was expecting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Cranford as it's one I'm not keen to pick up. In my head I imagine it as being very boring but I own a copy of it, which is why it is on my list. I'm sure I will be proved wrong when I finally get to it.
DeleteI also have The Tenant of Wildfell Hall on my spin list, but somehow I can't get excited about that book. Good luck with your pick. I hope you'll enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited about Tenant of Wildfell Hall as I loved Agnes Grey and think the themes of Tenant sound more interesting. Hope you enjoy it if you spin it!
DeleteI decided to participate also. I'll post my list Wednesday morning.The only book we share is The Good Earth. I read Virginia Woolf for the last spin and really loved Mrs. Dalloway. Her prose is not as intimidating as I thought it would be and is very beautiful. Nothing to fear!
ReplyDeleteI just need to bite the bullet, read some Woolf and conquer my fear!
DeleteI already picked my list of books too yesterday (using random.org) but I'll put up post later in the week. From your list I've read Persuasion, The Hobbit and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and two latter ones in particular are excellent reads in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your list! I love the film of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I've also seen an excellent stage version, so I'm pretty sure I will love the book.
DeleteA very mixed list! Persuasion, The Painted Veil and Bonjour Tristesse are all brill. Good luck, I hope the spin is good to you :) I need to do my list, maybe random.org will be good for me to.
ReplyDeleteI like the look of Bonjour Tristesse, mainly because it is so short!
DeleteI enjoyed The Awakening, and I also love The Hobbit and Their Eyes Were Watching God. :) I agree, your list after #13 is scary!! I love Kipling though. :) Good luck, here is hoping you get the one you most want!
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about Kipling. I liked The Jungle Book but I started Kim a couple of months ago and couldn't get into it. Hopefully I will have more luck this time round if it is picked for me!
DeleteThis is my first time participating in the Classics Club Spin. I've read quite a few on your list which I find brilliantly eclectic! You should enjoy The Awakening, their Eyes Were Waching God, The Hobbit, and especially Les Miserables, which eventually I would like to reread in English. The first time it took me a long time because I read it in French. I could probably read it faster in French today but I'm curious to see how the translation is. We also have some titles in common like Orlando, Moby Dick, Persuasion, and Bonjour Tristesse. I'm in the process of reading David Copperfield so another Dickens might be just a little too much however I'd like to read A Tale of Two Cities. Until Monday for the number…..
ReplyDeleteTheir Eyes Were Watching God is one I've been meaning to try for a long time, so I'm hoping it will be picked.
DeleteA Tale of Two Cities is my favourite Dickens so far, although I've only read a few. I loved the way he wrote about the revolution and the way the lives of the individual characters were swept up in the historical events.
Cranford is the only book we share this time around, but I see several books I loved on your list - especially The Painted Veil and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Good luck Monday!
ReplyDeleteThe Painted Veil keeps coming up a lot in the comments, it makes me excited to start it.
DeleteI hated The Awakening but liked The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, so I'm mixed on your choices, lol. Too bad that we don't have Persuasion for the same number or we could have ended up with an unplanned readalong!
ReplyDeleteHi Sam here's my post http://didibooksenglish.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/classics-club-spin-4/ This will be my first participation in the spin and hope you pick a good number. ;)
ReplyDeleteHard Times is on my spin list too! The universe is trying to tell you something about Their Eyes Were Watching God! I love that book...I have read it four or five times.
ReplyDeleteYou have some wonderful options on this list! I am a huge fan of Persuasion, and Dickens is always a favorite. Hope you get a book you really want to read! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG, you got Les Mis! I hope you love it! It looks like a commitment.
ReplyDelete