close up shot of a roulette

The Classics Club: Spin#41

it’s time for another round of the classic club spin and this time I’m hoping to get either Vita Sackville West or Jean Rhys

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I failed miserably with the last Classics Club spin — I just wasn’t in the mood for the book I landed. But I’mnot ready to give up so here goes for the 41st Spin.

What is a CC Spin?

  • Simply pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
  • Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Sunday, 15th June.
  • A number from 1-20 will be announced. 
  • Read that book by 24th August.

I’ve tweaked my list ever so slightly since Classics Club Spin #40.

Out has gone Excellent Women by Barbara Pym since I’ve now read that one. Also removed is Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett which I should have read for Classics Club spin 40 — I’ll get to it one day.

Newly added are Strike for a Kingdom by the Welsh author Menna Gallie. Fiction Fan read this for Reading Wales Month ’25 and it sounded rather good. Also added is Voss by Patrick White which I started for a readalong hosted by Brona @ This Reading Life three years ago and always intended to pick up again. Well guess what happened to that good intention???? Maybe it will get another chance this time.

Here’s my new spin list.

  1. A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1886) 
  2. The Dream by Emile Zola (1888) 
  3. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)
  4. Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915) 
  5. The Mother’s Recompense by Edith Wharton (1924)
  6. Quartet by Jean Rhys (1929)
  7. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville West (1930)
  8. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)
  9.  They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple (1934)
  10. Princes in the Land by Joanna Cannan (1938)
  11. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)
  12. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)
  13. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (1940)
  14. Fisherman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier (1941)
  15. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)
  16. No Highway by Neville Shute (1948)
  17. The Far Cry by Emma Smith (1949)
  18.  Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)
  19. Voss by Patrick White (1957)
  20. Strike for a Kingdom, Menna Gallie (1959)

If this list was yours, which titles would you be hoping to see come up in the spin?? I quite fancy Quartet by Jean Rhys or The Edwardians by Vita Sackville West.

21 responses to “The Classics Club: Spin#41”

  1. Classic Club Spin #41 Lands On Evelyn Waugh : BookerTalk

    […] Sadly this means that my pleadings for Jean Rhys or Vita Sackville West went unheard. Not to worry, at least I got one of the shorter books from my list of twenty. […]

    Reply
  2. BookerTalk Avatar
    BookerTalk

    I seem to remember that you really didn’t get on with “Grapes”. !!

    Reply
  3. Jane Avatar
    Jane

    Amazingly I’ve actually read quite a few on your list, including all the Persephone’s and Scoop and Fisherman’s Creek and they’ve all been brilliant! The Grapes of Wrath stands a lone as one of my top 5 books of all. Cold Comfort Farm followed by watching the film would be my choice I think for a challenge, but I hope you enjoy your read whichever number is spun!

    Reply
    1. BookerTalk Avatar
      BookerTalk

      Thanks Jane. I know Grapes of Wrath has divided readers’ opinions – my husband shares your views and has been trying to get me to read it for a long time.

      Reply
  4. kimbofo Avatar
    kimbofo

    Quartet is wonderful! I also loved Scoop.

    Voss is hard work but worth the effort.

    Reply
    1. BookerTalk Avatar
      BookerTalk

      Thanks Kim. I did start Voss but wasn’t in the mood at the time to cope with the very densely set text. If this is the book I land I think I’ll have to look for a different edition

      Reply
  5. Davida Chazan Avatar
    Davida Chazan

    Interesting list. I’ve only read Grapes of Wrath, but that was over 50 years ago! I really should get a copy of Cold Comfort Farm, since it sounds very good.

    Reply
  6. kaggsysbookishramblings Avatar
    kaggsysbookishramblings

    Some interesting books, and I hope you get one of the ones you want. I’d be happy to revisit the Lowry as it must be decades since I read it!

    Reply
  7. Lisa Hill Avatar
    Lisa Hill

    I’d go for Strike for a Kingdom, by Menna Gallie because I’ve never heard of it!

    Reply
  8. Calmgrove Avatar
    Calmgrove

    Ah, I’d want Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop, but only because I have a copy and I just need the right excuse!

    Reply
  9. margaret21 Avatar
    margaret21

    On the whole, I’d be hoping one of the female writers came up, especally Wharton. I have to admit I’ve never heard of Joanna Cannan.

    Reply
  10. Brona Avatar
    Brona

    Well, obviously I am going to wish you Voss, so you can finally finish the book!

    Reply
  11. FictionFan Avatar
    FictionFan

    Unsurprisingly I’m hoping you get Strike for a Kingdom! It’s one of my favourite reads of the year so far and it has the added advantage of being short.

    Reply
  12. villabijou Avatar
    villabijou

    I hope you get The Edwardians or Quartet. I really enjoyed these two, however I don’t think you can go wrong with an Arthur Conan Doyle novel can you?

    Reply
  13. Kelly Avatar
    Kelly

    I’ve not read Fisherman’s Creek, but I’ve liked every other du Maurier I’ve read. Here’s hoping you get that one, or at least a book you’ll enjoy this time around!

    Reply
  14. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz Avatar
    Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

    I have two Willa Cather novels on my list, but they are different from the one on your list. I completely forgot about reading a Zola novel this summer. I should look and find out more about The Dream.

    Reply
  15. Elizabeth D. Avatar
    Elizabeth D.

    What a great list! I read Scoop a couple of years ago and I quite enjoyed it; it was my first Waugh. So I suppose I wish you that!
    I hope you love whatever is spun!

    Reply
  16. BuriedInPrint Avatar
    BuriedInPrint

    A few of these are on my TBR and a few other titles by the included authors. If you spin Malcolm Lowry, you might find it helpful to know that there is an extensive series of notes/annotations online, which I found essential to make it through the novel. I knew it was a classic, but I was not expecting it to be quite so challenging (the notes helped but I still felt like I overlooked a lot). Good luck with whatever one comes up!

    Reply
  17. Nordie Avatar
    Nordie

    I havent done a CC Spin in years! I am currently fighting my TBR, and I always seem to be losing. I would have no idea where a Classic was, never mind 20 of them. Well done for sticking through it!

    Reply
    1. BookerTalk Avatar
      BookerTalk

      Good to hear from you again Nordie. I suspect anyone who classes themselves as an avid reader will never get to the end of their TBR

      Reply
  18. hopewellslibraryoflife Avatar
    hopewellslibraryoflife

    Hoping you get Cold Comfort Farm which is a hoot! And, that you come to your senses and ditch the Grapes of Wrath–lol . If you do get Grapes, read The Tortilla Curtain by TC Boyle after. My list goes up tomorrow–I’ve ben posting Persephone Nazi era book reviews this week.

    Reply

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