Hello, Clubbers! It’s time for another Classics Club Spin! What is the spin? It’s easy. At your blog, before next Sunday 21st April, 2024 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. Try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you have been putting off, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favourite author, re-reads, ancients, non-fiction, books in translation ..read more

Magda Szabó Magda Szabó was a Hungarian novelist of both children’s and adult novels. She also wrote essays, plays, memoirs, and poetry. She is the Hungarian author most translated into other languages. Szabó was born in Debrecen, Austria-Hungary, where her father was an academic. As a child, she spoke four languages with her father and went on to graduate from the University of Debrecen in Latin and Hungarian. At first a teacher, she went on to work for the Ministry of Religion and Education during the war. She began writing as a poet. During the war, she joined the New Moon Group, which clai ..read more

Today’s the Day! On the 15th January, 2024 we announced the latest Classic Club Spin, challenging you to read book 20 on your CC Spin #36 list by 3rd March. Did you read your book? Did you write about it, or not? What’s Next? In the comments below, tell us what book you read, and what you thought of it? Feel free to add a link to your review, here, on twitter and/or fb. Also add your link to the ‘Reviews by Members’ in the tab at the top of the page. Take a moment to see what everyone else has been reading. Tick/strikeout/cross off that book from your Classics Club List – cong ..read more

Wilkie Collins Wilkie Collins was a 19th century British author of sensation novels and plays who is considered a pioneer of detective fiction. His The Moonstone is considered the first example of police procedural fiction. He was a friend and disciple of Charles Dickens, who accepted his stories for publication in his journals and collaborated with him in both drama and fiction. Collins was the son of a well-known Royal Academy landscape painter, William Collins. He grew up in Hampstead, but when he was 12, the family moved to Italy and France for two years, where he learned Italian and becam ..read more

Nellie Bly Nellie Bly, whose real name was Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, was an American journalist who was most famous for her trip around the world (inspired by Verne’s book) and her undercover exposé on a mental institution. She more or less created the idea of investigative journalism. Bly was born in Cochran Mills, Pennsylvania. Her father, Michael Cochran, had begun as a laborer and mill worker before rising to become a prominent business owner. However, her father died intestate when she was six, leaving the family poorly off. She enrolled in Indiana Normal School at the age of 15, but was ..read more

If you joined the game last week, find number 20 on your CC Spin #36 List! That’s the CLASSIC you are challenged to read by 3rd March 2024.  We know it can be hard to stay on track and enthused about your Spin Book for the whole journey. We plan to provide support and encouragement to all our CC Spinners via twitter, fb, instagram and goodreads. We hope you can join us in cheering everyone on to finish another fabulous classics reading experience! If you’re struggling with your book, let us know. We’ll do everything we can to help you through. Perhaps one of your new moderators has r ..read more

Hello, Clubbers! It’s time for another Classics Club Spin! What is the spin? It’s easy. At your blog, before next Sunday 21st January, 2024 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. Try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you have been putting off, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favourite author, re-reads, ancients, non-fiction, books in translati ..read more

We at The Classics Club take note of blogging events that could be of interest to others. Here are a few… 2024 (ALL YEAR) 2024 Ozathon Lory at Entering the Enchanted Castle will start a readalong of the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. The Book Stop, home of a fellow Oz fan, will be joining Lory as co-host. There are 14 books, and the plan is to start in December and read in published order through January of 2025. If you’re not up for such a commitment, though, there will be a stopping point at the end of the first six books. It’s not necessary to read all of them, or read them in o ..read more

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft was an English philosopher, writer, and strong advocate for women’s rights. She is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which argued that women were deliberately educated to make them frivolous and incapable and that if they were educated like boys, they would be better wives and mothers and could make capable professionals. Wollstonecraft lead an unconventional life, with the unfortunate result that her private affairs received more attention than her writings until the twentieth century. Now, she is considered one of the leading feminis ..read more

Today’s the Day! On the 9th October, 2023 we announced the latest Classic Club Spin, challenging you to read book 2 on your CC Spin #35 list by 3rd December. Did you read your book? Did you write about it, or not? What’s Next? In the comments below, tell us what book you read, and what you thought of it? Feel free to add a link to your review, here, on twitter and/or fb. Also add your link to the ‘Reviews by Members’ in the tab at the top of the page. Take a moment to see what everyone else has been reading. Tick/strikeout/cross off that book from your Classics Club List – con ..read more