"Words and Peace" is a blog I've been following for a couple of years and I have always found some interesting new (or old) books there, especially French ones.
On her page, I found the posts by "The Classics Club" asking us to create a post, this time before next Sunday 17th May 2026, and list our choice of any twenty books that remain "to be read" on our Classics Club list. They'll then post a number from 1 through 20 and we have time until Sunday 7th July 2026 to read it.
This time, I only read the one book from my old list (Classics Spin #43) (Fathers and Sons). I do want to concentrate on a couple of books in the near future, so I have listed only ten books and repeated them. The books are all in chronological order.
- Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
- Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
- Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
- Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
- Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
- Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
- Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
- Némirovsky, Irène "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les biens de ce monde) - 1941
- Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
- Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953
- Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
- Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
- Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
- Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
- Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
- Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
- Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
- Némirovsky, Irène "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les biens de ce monde) - 1941
- Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
- Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953
This is a great idea for all of us who want to read more classics. Go ahead, get your own list. I can't wait to see what I get to read this time.
This time, we received #9:
Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.
That's a great idea to focus on ten titles. I was making my list and have Farewell to Arms on it as well. I will let me list stay at twenty different titles for now but I think next spin time I will select only 5 titles.
ReplyDeleteI must confess, Tina, it wasn't my idea. I copied it from someone. That way I can all keep them on a pile somewhere and not need half a shelf for the books I have on the list.
DeleteGoodluck with your spin.
Several Dumas titles I've not heard of! Posting my spin list now....
ReplyDeleteIt's only the one, Stephen. I'm looking forward to your list. See you there.
DeleteI have not read any of these! Good luck with the spin... I hope you get something you enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly. Neither have I. And I usually enjoy my classics. I've had the odd one out but very rarely. Good luck with yours, too.
DeleteCan't wait to see which one you spin! :D
ReplyDeleteMe, either. Thanks, Lark.
DeleteI’ll vote for the Jean Plaidy because I love her numerous series!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anon. I bought that by mistake but it looks like a good one.
DeleteGood choices. A Farewell to Arms was much better than I anticipated. Here's my link if you are interested: https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2026/05/14/classics-club-spin-44-ccspin/
ReplyDeleteI have read several Hemingways, Hopewell, and I loved them all. See you later on your page.
DeleteI have only read 2/10. I can't stand Hemingway, so I'm all for #1, which is really good anyway
ReplyDeleteI know, you mentioned that. Sorry, I really like his writings. But no matter which number gets chosen, we all picked them ourselves, didn't we?
DeleteYour reading choices always pull me out into the wider world, and I like that. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks, Deb. I'm happy I can help. Well, I am an international woman.
DeleteThe idea of classics is so interesting to me. Like, what will be considered classics in one hundred years, from what we are reading right now?
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question, Sarah. I hope people will still be reading the classics we read but also add some great writing from today.
DeleteI also wonder if the concept of what makes something 'classic' will change.
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