What was your number 20? Was the spin good to you?
I failed at the last spin. I was slightly optimistic about my chances of completion when Catch-22 came up. I went out and bought the book, flicked through it briefly and then retired it to my shelf where it still stands. This time I'm ready for a challenge!
My twenty books are listed according to how enthusiastic I am about reading them:
Unabashedly Over Enthused
20. No Name by Wilkie Collins
19. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
18. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
17. The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf
16. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Controllably Enthused
15. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
14. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
13. The Diary of Anne Frank
12. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
11. The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner
Enthused
10. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
8. The Stranger by Albert Camus
7. The Crowded Streeet by Winifred Holtby
6. The Rector's Daughter by FM Mayor
Significantly Unenthused
5. What Maisie Knew by Henry James
4. Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford
3. The Women's Room by Marylin French
2. The Monk by Matthew Lewis
1. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
I definitely know which number I hope will be picked (any between 16 and 20) but, as ever, I'm just looking forward to the surprise. Be gentle with me, Classics Spin!
Have you read any of these? Are you partaking in the spin this time around?
I fear that I have made a rookie mistake in putting my YEY books as number 1...there is a chance that I'm over-thinking this but I am almost certain that I have drastically reduced my chances of getting something that I actually want to read :| We have a couple of books in common but I have In Cold Blood a lot higher because I really feel as though I want to read it quite badly right now.
ReplyDeleteALSO, I wasn't even brave enough to put The Monk on my list of 50 so I wish you nothing but good luck if that comes up!
ALSO (take two), you are yet to read The Book Thief? Boy, are you in for a treat! I proper sobbed at that when I read it on holiday one year so that I was laid on a beach boo-hoo-ing. An odd experience but an excellent book :)
In Cold Blood is the most enthralling all-absorbing book... SERIOUSLY WILL SOME ONE ELSE FINALLY READ IT ALREADY?!
DeleteYou can do it :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Agnes Grey, but then I think I could really relate to her experiences as a governess as a teacher - a lot of her struggles were the same as mine are today!
Hope you get a number higher than 6.....
I love your categories! Just to fuel your enthusiasm, I have to say that you're totally right about 16-19! I don't know about the Collins, since I've only read Woman in White, which I loved, but instead of reading more of his novels, I got sidetracked by new shiny things.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a good number!
I'm not taking part this time around because I usually suck at spinning, and especially with wedding plans in the works for next month. However, from your unenthused list, I quite enjoyed Death in Venice, so if you get that one, turn your frown upside down. ;)
ReplyDeleteI have Death in Venice on my original list, not the spin list. I am still recovering from fighting my way through Magic Mountain a few years ago, so I don't blame you for putting Death at the bottom of the list. I would have done the same. Good luck with your spin!
ReplyDeleteI like this, it's fun! Though of course I hope you don't find it's one of the books you're not keen on reading. That said I think it's good you've picked them, a challenge. I've not read any of them though I have read some good reviews of Parade's End - here's hoping when you read it it's better than you're thinking :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent choice, sticking Death in Venice in the sucky category. Because YES you are not enthused to read it, but YES it is also about 12 pages long. *appreciative applause at devious tactics*
ReplyDeleteLolita! Lolita! I hope you get to read this one for the spin. The Monk is an interesting choice, one of those quintessential works of the gothic genre that is definitely worth reading. Good luck and wonderful blog you got here.
ReplyDelete