It’s always a nice surprise to see that the Classics Club have announced another Classics Spin! I don’t feel that I’ve made much progress with my Classics Club reading recently, so I’m looking forward to taking part in this, the twenty-third Spin!
If you’re not sure what a Classics Spin is, here’s a reminder:
The rules for Spin #23:
* List any twenty books you have left to read from your Classics Club list.
* Number them from 1 to 20.
* On Sunday 19th April the Classics Club will announce a number.
* This is the book you need to read by 1st June 2020.
And here is my list:
1. Germinal by Émile Zola
2. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
3. The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov
4. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
5. High Rising by Angela Thirkell
6. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
7. Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier
8. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
9. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
10. The Duke’s Children by Anthony Trollope
11. The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson
12. Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner
13. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade
14. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
15. Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari
16. La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
17. I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
18. Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault
19. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
20. Goodbye Mr Chips by James Hilton
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Castle Dor would come at the perfect time for Ali’s Daphne du Maurier Reading Week in May, but as I have plenty of time to read at the moment I would be happy to get one of the longer books on my list too.
Which of these do you think I should be hoping for?
She Reads Novels 
That’s a nice list – I’d be happy with pretty much anything off it! (though I obviously favour the Russians…) Happy reading!
I would love to get one of the Russian books this time!
I loved Jane and Prudence, so I’m rooting for that one. But there are a lot of good books on this list…many of which I still need to read, too. 🙂
I think Barbara Pym would be perfect escapism at the moment!
We share two books on our spin list, Fire From Heaven and The Brothers Karamazov.
I would be happy to get either of those.
Of course, there are others you’re really going to like. The Long Ships comes to mind.
I must read La Reine Margot and Daniel Deronda!
I love Dumas so I think La Reine Margot is the one I’m hoping for most!
I had a hard time getting into Castle Dor but ended up liking it.
Castle Dor is the last of du Maurier’s books I have left to read, apart from some of her non-fiction. I’m glad you liked it in the end.
I’ll put The Black Arrow at number 9 too. I really liked Germinal, Castle Dor, The Long Ships, High Rising and a few others. That’s a great list.
It would be interesting to compare notes if number 9 comes up, then! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed some of the others on my list.
Dickens is always great, of course, but I’m going for The White Guard – I think I may have gone for it on your last couple of spins too! It’s bound to come up some time… 😉
I’ve been meaning to read The White Guard for years, so I hope it comes up this time! If not, Dickens would be good.
Oh Goodbye Mr Chips! That’s the first time I’ve seen the book on a list…and now I just want to rewatch the lovely old B&W movie with a box of tissues!
I read James Hilton’s Lost Horizon a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so thought I would put Goodbye Mr Chips on my Classics Club list. I would love that one to come up in the spin!
You’ve got some great books on that list. The Crysalids is definitely my favourite Wyndham novel, but then you’ve got a Trollope as well and I prefer the Palliser books to the Barchester sequence. 4 or 10 for me.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Wyndham so far, so I would be happy to get The Crysalids in the spin. As for Trollope, I think I have a slight preference for the Barchester series, but I do like the Pallisers as well.
I’m kind of hoping you get the Brothers Karamazov, as it’s on my own reading list, and I’ve heard a lot of people say the Russian classics are actually quite accessible. Good luck.
Thanks. I’ve read Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and The Idiot, and they were both a bit challenging but not too difficult to read. I’ve enjoyed most of the Russian classics I’ve read.
Great list! I’ve only read Sandokan and loved it. If you can find The Adventures of Captain Storm by Emilio Salgari, I’m sure you would love it too.
The number has just been revealed and I’ll be reading Daniel Deronda, but I do want to read Sandokan soon too. I need something fun and entertaining!