I thought Spell the Month in Books was fiendishly difficult last month but it was a walk in the park compared to the December challenge. Jana from Reviews From the Stacks who hosts the meme, has set a theme of “Winter or Christmas” but I had to admit defeat after I thought of only four book titles matching the theme.
So I’ve taken a different path, choosing books from my second Classics Club list that I might decide to read this winter. Know however that I’m not making any promises I will read them. I’ve learned through experience that I enjoy the process of making reading lists far more than actually reading the listed books…..
D
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
Seeing Brona of Bronasbooks and Karen of Kaggsysbookishramblings embark on a serial reading of Middlemarch has made me hanker after some George Eliot. Daniel Deronda is the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society of her day.
E
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I’m a late comer to Steinbeck so haven’t read either of the books considered to be his finest work (East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath). Steinbeck considered East of Eden to be his magnum opus, the novel that “has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years.”
C
Cousin Bette by Honoré De Balzac
I loved Le Père Goriot and am hoping Cousin Bette will be just as good. The Bette of the title is a poor, plain spinster who relies on the condescending patronage of her socially superior relatives in Paris. She turns out to be a vengeful woman when crossed in love and marriage.
E
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
This went onto my Classics Club list on the strength of a discussion on the Backlisted podcast.
M
The Mother’s Recompense by Edith Wharton
Not as well known as The Age of Innocence or House of Mirth, but it’s on my reading list because it sounds an interesting study of a woman who broke the rules of society when she abandoned her husband and infant daughter. I love the artwork on the cover of my Virago edition.
B
The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
My experience of Norwegian fiction has been largely confined to Nordic noir until now. I’m hoping The Birds will give me a different perspective. Tarei Vesaas apparently often writes fiction with deep psychological insight with tales about simple rural people who undergo a severe psychological drama.
E
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
A second outing for Edith Wharton with a novella described in some circles her masterpiece. Set in the US fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, it tells the story of Ethan Frome, married to a sickly wife but in love with her cousin and companion
R
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Of all the books I’ve listed this is the one that is calling to me most strongly. Ruth is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman. He abandons her but not before getting her pregnant. She gets a chance to make a new life but when her former lover turns up again she has to choose whether to save her reputation or her pride.
If you fancy having a go at Spell the Month, you’ll find all the info you need on the website of the host, Reviews From the Stacks. The theme for January is “new” which we can interpret in whatever way takes our fancy – we could choose new releases, recent acquisitions or just books with the word “new” in the title.
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