- Go to your blog.
- 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 July 1, even if it’s an icky one you dread reading! (No fair not listing any scary ones!)
I've switched up the categories a little bit, adding five really long choices, and five shorter ones:
Five I'm hesitant to read/ am not sure if I will like:
1. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
2. The Europeans by Henry James
3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
4. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
5. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Five I can't wait to read:
6. Possession by A.S. Byatt ***The Winner!****
7. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
8. Germinal by Emile Zola
9. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
10. One of Ours by Willa Cather
Hefty books:
11. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
12. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
13. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
14. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
15. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
Books light enough to carry in my purse:
16. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
16. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
17. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
18. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
19. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
20. The Reef by Edith Wharton
Excellent choices. I read The Count of Monte Cristo the end of last year and really enjoyed it. The middle is a bit slow if you're going with the unabridged, but I thought it was worth it. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteKristi - I am excited about reading The Count of Monte Cristo, whenever that may actually happen.(Go #12!) The Three Musketeers was such a page-turner, so I'm expecting the same for this one. I'll prepare myself for the middle,though :)
DeleteThe last category is very creative :) Even though Villette is hefty, I very much desire to read it (and also added it to my spin list). Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteRiv - Villette is one of those that I've wanted to read for years and years. Maybe it will take this Spin to finally do it!
DeleteI read Our Mutual Friend last year and loved it! You have some great titles on your list - hope the spin will give you a book to love!
ReplyDeleteCat - I'm excited that I got Possession, but I would have loved to have read Our Mutual Friend. I have a beautiful copy of it that I bought new, which I almost never do.
DeleteYou all are so brave; I don't have the courage to trust the spin!
ReplyDeleteLisa - lol! I don't feel like it took bravery because I liked most of my choices.
DeleteYou have really got some hefty choices on there! The Syn Also Rises is a wonderful book but one I have a love/hate relationship with.
ReplyDeleteEllie - When I read Hemingway in high school I hated him. I've been wanting to try again many years later to see if I appreciate him more.
DeleteGreat choices, and lucky you, you got something that you can't wait to read. And Possession is such a thrilling literary feat. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteAngus - Yes, I'm very excited about Possession! I hope it meets my expectations.
DeleteIt's great to get the push you need to read a book you are sure is destined to become a favorite. I read Possession a long time ago, when it first came out, and enjoyed it so much. Hope you find it worthy of being a favorite.
ReplyDeleteOOoh, Possession is one of my all-time favorites!
ReplyDelete