Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Let's Spin Again!

It's time for the Classics Club Spin!  This will be the fourth or fifth time I've participated.  This is how it works: 

  • Pick twenty books that you have left to read from your Classics Club List.
  • Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday, August 11th.
  • Monday morning, the Club will announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
  • The challenge is to read that book by October 6, even if it’s one you dread reading!

I've decided to change the way I make my list.  Previously, I filled certain categories.  This time, I'm using Random.org to give me a list of twenty from my remaining books. Here goes!

1. Discourse on Method, by Rene Descartes
2. Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
3. The Wings of the Dove, by Henry James
4. Three Series, Complete, by Emily Dickinson
5. Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
6. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
7. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
8. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
9. Dracula's Guest, by Bram Stoker
10. Queen Mab, by Percy Bysshe Shelley
11. The Weapons Shop, by A.E. van Vogt
12. Northhanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
13. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
14. Daisy Miller, by Henry James
15. Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen
16. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard
17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
18. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
19. The Waves, by Virginia Woolf
20. Lyrical Ballads, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth

I think Random.org gave me an interesting mix.  There are a couple I was planning on reading soon anyway, some I've been avoiding.  One I was thinking of taking off my list because I can't get into it.  I have mixed feelings about the poetry.  I've already started Dickinson's work, but was taking it slow, as there a lot of poems and I don't know if I'll want to rush it.  My intention was to read the Lyrical Ballads in the same way. We'll see what happens if one of those numbers come up.  I'm excited for Monday!

10 comments:

  1. Some unusual/unknown (to me) books on your list this time.
    Northanger Abbey would be good to do this month with Austen in August :-)

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    1. Random.org gave me an good mix. There's poetry, theatre, short stories, and genre classics. The sci-fi classics are often lesser known.

      Northanger Abbey would go well with Austen in August. I wonder what Monday will bring!

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  2. Anonymous8/8/14 10:49

    Emily Dickinson wrote one of my all-time favourite poems (Hope is the thing with feathers), and I love Northanger Abbey. Otherwise, I don't think I've actually read any of these, so I look forward to seeing what you end up with :-)

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    1. I don't think I've read that Dickinson poem. I think I'd remember a line like that. I wouldn't mind reading Northanger Abbey. Most of my list are books I'd love to read.

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  3. Anonymous9/8/14 06:19

    This is really a 'different mix'. I've only read Treasure Island because it had been on my bookshelf for so many years. The list of authors is great...I will be curious which one you'll be reading!

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    1. Thanks! I've always enjoyed variety, even in my classics.

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  4. Nice mix - I loved 6, 12, and 14. Good luck!

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    1. I wasn't able to get into The House of Mirth the last time I tried to read it. I hope I have better luck next time.

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  5. Discourse on Method would be a toughie! I plan to read it too one day, but I'd be a little disconcerted to see it come up. ;-) My favourite choice would be The House of Mirth. What a fantastic creation by Wharton!

    Best of luck with your spin!

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    1. Discourse on Method is really short. I've already read Descartes' Meditations, so I'm not too worried. Having it come up in the Spin might be the final push I need to read it though.

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