I have never before participated in the Classics Club spins, but as I have recently joined the Club with this list of 50 classic books, I thought it would be a great idea to start my challenge with a spin. The rules are: go to your blog; pick twenty books that you listed as “to read” for the Classics Club challenge; and post the list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by 17th May 2026. The number will be announced on that day, and the challenge is to read the book that falls under the announced number by 5th of July 2026.
So, here is my list:
- The Masterpiece by Γmile Zola
- The Illustrious House of Ramires by Eça de Queirós
- The Village of Stepanchikovo by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eça de Queirós
- Elective Affinities byΒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
- Roderick Hudson by Henry James
- Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham
- Jezebel’s Daughter by Wilkie Collins
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady Sarashina
- New Grub Street by George Gissing
- A Time to Love and a Time to Die by Erich Maria Remarque
- The Village by Ivan Bunin
- The Song of the World by Jean Giono
- Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev
- The Comedians by Graham Greene
- Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
- Salka Valka by HalldΓ³r Laxness
- The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
π Only time will tell if I am too ambitious with this list. Are you participating? With what classic books?
Thoughts on Papyrus 
Welcome to Classics Spin!
Nice list! I have only read 4 of these.
I love Steinbeck, but I have read that your #6 is not as good as his others.
I wish you #18, which is so good.
And I would love #18 from my own list:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/05/13/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-44/
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Thank you! I am also praying for #18, that would be so good. I haven’t even heard of your #18, The Pendragon Legend, but its publisher reissuing, Pushkin Press Classics always highlights some truly fascinating books.
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Fun challenge; Iβm betting on you, bookwormπππ
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Welcome to the Classics Club!
I havenβt read any of the books from your list so am looking forward to having my horizons expanded.
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I’ve read five of yours 1,6, 10, 17 and 18 so I can tell you that any of those are good to read though I agree that it’s not the best Steinbeck.
My pick would be Zola’s The Masterpiece because I am so besotted about Zola that I started a collaborative website for him. (readingzola.wordpress.com). If you’re a Zola newbie, it might be worth your while to check out the Translation advice (RH Menu) and if you haven’t already got a copy try to get one of the Oxford Worlds Classics editions because they have the best introductions.
Have fun!
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Thanks! I’ve read a number of Zola: Germinal, The Ladies’ Paradise, The Belly of Paris, and Pot Luck. Though I have most of them in Oxford Worlds, the one I am now dying to read and is part of my 10 Books of Summer challenge is The Earth and it is in Penguin, and it also has a lengthy intro.
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Oh, I don’t know ANY of these. Good luck and welcome to the spin!
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Welcome to the Classics Club Diana. I’ve got one or two of these on my list too. Cannery Row and A Bridge of Dreams. I loved The Song of the Lark and always mean to read more of Willa Cather’s books.
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Thank you! Is The Song of the Lark the only one you’ve read? I wish I still had some notable Cather books to read so I can experience them anew – they are so wonderful. My all-time favourite is My Γntonia, but A Lost Lady was also an unexpected delight.
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Oh thank you, I must try that. Yes I have also read My Antonia – excellent. And I used to have Death Comes to the Archbishop on my Classics list but it seems to have fallen off somehow.
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I hope you enjoy your first spin, I loved Cannery Row and have a Willa Cather book on my list too!
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Oh, Their Eyes Were Watching GodΒ was an amazing read. I knew nothing about it at the time, but thanks to the CC I joined in a sync read of it many years ago and was totally won over by Janie’s voice and story.
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Thanks! It did not come up this time, but I am looking forward to reading it in the near future!
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I havenβt read any of the books, but the ones by John Steinbeck look interesting.
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Quite some interesting books on your list. I’ve only read Cannery Row and, even though I’m a huge Steinbeck fan, that wasn’t to my taste. I’m also a Dostoevsky fan, so I wish you that one. That would mean Cecily Hamilton for me. We’ll see.Here is my list.
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Dostoevsky would have been cool, but I got Wilkie Collins this time!
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Sorry it is hard for me to comment on blogger so I say here that I love your list. I really enjoyed On the Edge of Reason, but your chosen number also looks like a great read. For just a moment I thought it had something to do with the film I watched and liked – The Spirit of the Beehive, that also deals with the aftermath of war, but I now see that this is something different, and there was another movie.
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I know, it’s a nightmare. I had the same problem the other was around until I switched to Google Chrome from Firefox to comment on WordPress. Maybe that would work for you?
The author of The Hive had received the Nobel Prize for Literature, that’s how I found him. I’m looking forward to the read. And I see, you’ve got Wilkie Collins, also a great author. Enjoy.
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The spins are fun. I like it that we have added additional weeks to the time to complete a spin.
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