The result of the latest Classics Club Spin has been revealed today!

The idea of the Spin was to list twenty books from my Classics Club list, number them 1 to 20, and the number announced today (Monday) represents the book I have to read before 31st October 2019. The number that has been selected is…

5

And this means the book I need to read is…

Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy

Lady Constantine, breaks all the rules of decorum when she falls in love with beautiful youth Swithin St Cleeve, her social inferior and ten years her junior. Together, in an ancient monument converted into an astronomical observation tower, they create their own private universe – until the pressures of the outside world threaten to destroy it.

This is not one of the books I was particularly hoping for but I’m still quite happy with this result as I love Thomas Hardy and it’s been a while since I last read anything by him.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

I was just thinking that it had been a long time since the last Classics Club Spin and then one was announced yesterday! I feel that I’ve read very few classics so far this year (apart from classic crime), so I’m hoping that this spin will motivate me to start making some progress with my Classics Club list again.

If you’re not sure what a Classics Spin is, here’s a reminder:

The rules for Spin #21:

* List any twenty books you have left to read from your Classics Club list.
* Number them from 1 to 20.
* On Monday 23rd September the Classics Club will announce a number.
* This is the book you need to read by 31st October.

And here is my list:

1. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
2. La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
3. Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier
4. Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner
5. Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy
6. I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
7. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
8. Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault
9. Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari
10. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
11. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
12. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade
13. In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hella S Haasse
14. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
15. The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov
16. Germinal by Emile Zola
17. The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson
18. The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac
19. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
20. Goodbye Mr Chips by James Hilton

Which of these do you think I should be hoping for on Monday?

I shouldn’t really be taking part in the latest Classics Club Spin as I still haven’t managed to finish my book from Spin #19, which was Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. I did start to read it, but the time just wasn’t right and I got distracted by other books. I will go back to it eventually, but for now I’m going to put it aside and let the Spin choose a different classic for me to read.

If you’re not sure what a Classics Spin is, here’s a reminder:

The rules for Spin #20:

* List any twenty books you have left to read from your Classics Club list.
* Number them from 1 to 20.
* On Monday 22nd April the Classics Club will announce a number.
* This is the book you need to read by 31st May.

And here is my list:

1. Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
2. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
3. Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner
4. The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac
5. La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
6. Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy
7. Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier
8. In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hella S Haasse
9. I Will Repay by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
10. Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault
11. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
12. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
13. The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov
14. Goodbye Mr Chips by James Hilton
15. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade
16. Germinal by Emile Zola
17. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
18. The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson
19. The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
20. High Rising by Angela Thirkell

Have you read any of the books on my list? Which numbers should I be hoping for on Monday?

I love taking part in the spins hosted by The Classics Club – this is the nineteenth and although I’ve missed one or two I think I’ve managed to participate in most of them. If you’re not sure what the spins involve, here’s a reminder:

The rules for Spin #19:

* List any twenty books you have left to read from your Classics Club list.
* Number them from 1 to 20.
* On Tuesday 27th November the Classics Club will announce a number.
* This is the book you need to read by 31st January 2019.

And here is my list:

1. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
2. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3. La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
4. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
5. The Duke’s Children by Anthony Trollope
6. The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
7. In a Dark Wood Wandering by Hella S Haasse
8. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham
9. The Pirate by Sir Walter Scott
10. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
11. Germinal by Emile Zola
12. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
13. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
14. The Fifth Queen by Ford Madox Ford
15. How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
16. The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
17. The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson
18. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade
19. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
20. Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault

~

We’ve been given more time than usual to read our book for this spin, so I’ve tried to include lots of long books here. I think most of them have over 400 pages, although one or two are slightly shorter. I don’t mind which one I get, as I’ll be reading them all eventually anyway.

Have you read any of these books? Which number do you think I should be hoping for on Tuesday?

The result of the latest Classics Club Spin has been revealed today!

The idea of the Spin was to list twenty books from my Classics Club list, number them 1 to 20, and the number announced today (Wednesday) represents the book I have to read before 31st August 2018. The number that has been selected is…

9

And this means the book I need to read is…

That Lady by Kate O’Brien

From Goodreads: Spain in the years before the Armada, and high passion meets high politics. Ana, Princess of Eboli is a remarkable woman. Married at thirteen and losing an eye in a duel a year later, Ana is also heiress of Spain’s leading family, widow of Philip II’s wisest cousellor and rumoured to be the King’s mistress. Unexpectedly – and unwisely – she falls in love with Don Antonio Perez, dandy, adulterer, skilled politician. With her unusual looks, her aristocratic arrogance and the simplicities of her faith, Ana cannot understand why her private life should become entangled with the affairs of state and, finally, incur the terrible vindictiveness of the King himself…

Kate O’Brien’s understanding and love of Spain enhance the beauty of this passionate and intelligent novel.

~

I included this on my Classics Club list as it was first published in 1946 and is a Virago Modern Classic. I’ve never read anything by Kate O’Brien and I know very little about this particular book except that a few other bloggers whose opinion I trust have enjoyed it. The setting sounds appealing, though, and I think it should be my type of book.

Have you read That Lady? Did you take part in the Classics Spin? What will you be reading?