Author: whatcathyreadnext

The Classics Club Spin #19

whatcathyreadnext9 Comments

The Classics ClubHow time flies because it’s time for another Classics Club spin.  And not just any old spin but ‘an extra special, super-dooper CHUNKSTER edition’!  This time, the wonderful people who run The Classics Club are encouraging us to fill our spin list with 20 of the HUGE books we may have put off reading up until now.

For those unfamiliar with how the spin works, here are the step-by-step instructions:

  • At your blog, before next Tuesday 27th November 2018, create a post that lists twenty books of your choice that remain “to be read” on your Classics Club list. This is your Spin List.
  • You have to read one of these twenty books by the end of the spin period.
  • On Tuesday 27th November, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by 31st January 2019.

When I looked at the unread books left on my Classics Club list, I was disappointed to find (OK, that’s a lie) that I don’t have that many huge books to choose from and very few that would qualify as ‘chunksters’.  However, I’ve selected the twenty biggest books…many of which will probably viewed as positively svelte by some.   Knowing my luck, though, I’ll end up with the biggest one anyway.  (The page numbers are in some cases from Goodreads so may not be accurate.  Gulp, you mean the books might actually have more pages than shown…?)

My Classics Club Spin #19 List

  1. The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood (281 pages)
  2. Villette by Charlotte Bronte (575 pages)
  3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (374 pages)
  4. Sick Heart River by John Buchan (318 pages)
  5. Kindred by Octavia E Butler (295 pages)
  6. Romola by George Eliot (708 pages)
  7. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong (461 pages)
  8. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (304 pages)
  9. Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann (255 pages)
  10. The Town House by Norah Lofts (301 pages)
  11. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (359 pages)
  12. A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates (406 pages)
  13. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers (483 pages)
  14. Katherine by Anya Seton (516 pages)
  15. The Last Man by Mary Shelley (291 pages)
  16. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (528 pages)
  17. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (343 pages)
  18. The Flowers of Adonis by Rosemary Sutcliff (425 pages)
  19. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin (361 pages)
  20. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson (234 pages)

Will you be taking part in the Classics Club Spin #19?  If so, what’s the biggest book on your spin list and are you excited or daunted by the prospect of reading it?

Top Ten Tuesday: Thanksgiving/Thankful Freebie

whatcathyreadnext5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday new

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Thanksgiving/Thankful Freebie giving us free rein to come up with our own take on the topic.  As later this month it will be the two year blogiversary of  What Cathy Read Next, I thought I’d use this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many individuals, groups and organisations who have made the book blogging community such a fantastic thing to be part of.

In no particular order, my thanks to…

  1. Everyone who follows my blog, likes and comments on my book reviews and shares them on social media
  2. The book bloggers who have helped me discover fantastic new authors and who write such wonderful reviews that my wishlist and TBR pile have grown exponentially over the past two years!
  3. All the publishers (too many to mention individually) who have sent me review copies, invited me to participate in blog tours or approved my requests on NetGalley
  4. The blog tour organisers who have included me in their list of tour hosts and who work with such professionalism and efficiency in support of authors
  5. The lovely authors who have sent me review copies of their books and waited so patiently for my reviews
  6. My local library for ensuring reading is an activity available to everyone
  7. The organisers of literary festivals and their brilliant volunteers for providing such fantastic opportunities for book lovers to hear from and mingle with authors
  8. Authors for writing stories that amaze, thrill and inspire us, and that make us laugh, cry and, mostly importantly, think
  9. My family and friends for their encouragement and support with my blogging endeavours
  10. The Book Connectors Facebook group for being (thanks to founder, Anne Cater) a source of valuable advice, information and mutual support as well as a (much-needed) place for intelligent and respectful debate between authors and book bloggers

Thank You