When this new Classics Club game was announced a few days ago I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to join in or not, but in the end I couldn’t resist. Here are the rules:
- Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
- Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
- Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday.
- Monday morning, we’ll 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 April 1
And here is my list:
Five books I’m looking forward to reading:
1. The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte M. Yonge
2. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
3. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
4. Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
5. Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
Five books I’ve been hesitant to read:
6. The Odyssey by Homer
7. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
9. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
10. Washington Square by Henry James
Five Victorian books
11. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
12. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
13. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
14. Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
15. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Five from the twentieth century:
16. The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham
17. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
18. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
19. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
20. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Now I just have to wait for Monday to find out which book I’ll be reading!
UPDATE: Monday 18th February 2013
So the number has been announced and I will be reading…
#14 – Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon!
I’m very happy with this as it’s a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time and as I loved the other two Braddon books I’ve read (Lady Audley’s Secret and The Doctor’s Wife) I’m expecting to enjoy this one too.
She Reads Novels 
I decided not to join in on this, this time around but good luck! I’m interested to see what you all end up reading 🙂
I can’t wait to find out what it will be!
I like the categories – and seeing which books you’ve chosen for each has me mentally drawing up my list. I’ve also been hesitant to read Dostoevsky, or any of the Russians really.
I’ve enjoyed books by a few other Russian authors (Tolstoy and Mikhail Bulgakov) but didn’t get very far with Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and am a bit nervous about trying another of his books.
Just out of curiosity, why are you hesitant about Washington Square by Henry James? It’s a short work and even if it is definitely an early novel, and a bit different from James’s later achievements, I think it can be easily enjoable: the story is pleasant and there is a good characterization.
I started to read Washington Square a few years ago but found it difficult to get into, so I’ve been a bit reluctant to try it again. I’m glad to hear that you think it’s an enjoyable book. I probably just need to be in the right mood for it.
You have some wonderful possibilities there, though I’d be wary of the same five as you. I’ve read Wives and Daughters and The Painted Veil this year and loved them both. I’d pick out 2, 11, 14 and 17 as particular favourites too, and of course I hope you love whichever book your number gives you.
I would be quite happy if any of the numbers you’ve mentioned are picked tomorrow!
Like you I put off joining for a couple of days, but the lure was too strong in ther end.
Good luck 🙂
Good luck to you too, Brona!
I can’t decide if I want to join in or not…I have so much to read in the next couple of months that I fear I won’t have time to read one from the list. I hope you get Excellent Women or Wide Sargasso Sea – both books I really love!
I’m hoping I’ll get one of the shorter books on my list or lack of time could be a problem for me too. I’ll be pleased if it’s either Excellent Women or Wide Sargasso Sea as I’m expecting to enjoy both of those.
Good luck!
I still don’t know if joining in The classics club or not!! (feaaaar) 😀
I love being part of the Classics Club, Isi. I hope you’ll think about joining in. 🙂
No need to hesitate with #9… it’s one of my all-time favorites!
I’m glad to hear that! I think reading The Pearl at school put me off Steinbeck, but I’m prepared to give him another chance with one of his longer novels.
I never thought I would like Steinbeck but loved East of Eden…….and The House of Mirth – all of those last five in fact. Like you I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a shorter book. Good luck and hope you draw something you’ll love.
Well, we know now that it’s #14 but even though East of Eden and The House of Mirth weren’t drawn I would still like to read both of those at some point this year.
oh I am so looking forward to reading Captain Blood, though I didn’t but it on my twenty-list. I can wait. :D…. A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favourites!…I went into it, two years ago, with many misgivings, but it really had me in its grip to the very end.
Opinion seems to be very divided on A Tale of Two Cities. I’m expecting to enjoy it but I really have to be in the right mood for Dickens.
What a great list! Aurora Floyd is one I’ve been wanting to read too.
I’m hoping to start reading Aurora Floyd at the weekend. I love Mary Elizabeth Braddon!