It’s time for The Classics Spin #9.
For this exercise, Classics Club readers are to make a numbered list of 20 unread books on their original reading list. Then next Monday, April 6, the club will announce a number between 1 and 20, and by May 15 we are to read the book with that number on the spin list we created .
The assignment suggests that we pick books from several categories for the spin list to challenge ourselves:
For example, you could list five Classics Club books 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.)
However, I know that the next three months (April-June) are going to be very busy for me. Not wanting to set myself up for failure, I’m choosing from among the shorter books and the easiest to read on my original list.
So here’s my list of 20 for the upcoming spin:
- Faulkner, William. Sanctuary
- Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row
- Brink, Carol Ryrie. Caddie Woodlawn
- O’Neill, Eugene. The Iceman Cometh
- Morley, Christopher. Kitty Foyle
- James, Henry. The Beast in the Jungle
- Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire
- Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men
- Wharton, Edith. Ghost Stories
- Cather, Willa. O Pioneers!
- Masters, Edgar Lee. Spoon River Anthology
- Wilder, Thornton. Our Town
- Koestler, Arthur. Darkness at Noon
- Styron, William. Darkness Visible
- Agee, James. A Death in the Family
- Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five
- James, Henry. What Maisie Knew
- Smith, Dodie. I Capture the Castle
- Nabokov, Vladimir. Pnin
- Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground
Update
We have a winner! It’s #2.
So I’ll be reading Steinbeck’s Cannery Row by May 15. Excited! Believe it or not, I’ve never read this book before.
