Classics Club Spin #9--book #2 on my list!

The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein

Uhm...I probably should have investigated this book a bit more before committing to read it for a spin! It contains 926 pages! Yikes! Oh, well, after April 25 I'll have time...to...read...all...926...pages. I'm sure! Sure I'm sure! Yeah...sure! :)

As I read more about this book, it is evidently VERY repetitive!! Something I don't appreciate about the books I read? Repetition! Yikes again!!

But I will persevere nonethless. I mean, I did FINALLY make it through The Golden Notebook, so I'm sure Stein won't present a more insurmountable challenge than Lessing did...right?!? 

And with 36 reviews on Goodreads, it is an average of 3.76/5.00. That's good...right?!? Right! 






And here is a rejection letter that made me chuckle!

But...this is a classic piece of literature and I am so curious to read Stein's writing--I am still enthralled to read and review this one! So onward and upward!!

Here are some of the covers I discovered...with the edition I wish to read to the right.

Do you envy or pity me at this point for this selection? :)

I really hope to have a review posted on May 15th! Check back to see how I do with this commitment! (I may be ready to be committed before I finish it!)

Listing for Classics Club Spin #9

I've been waiting for another Classics Club Spin! (I actually drafted my listing a couple of months ago!) As of Monday, April 6th, I will know which of the books from the following list will be my next "classic" read! Whoo! Whoo! :)This review is to be posted by May 15. 

Here are other classics I've read and reviewed!

Wish me luck!


Okay, the ones I rather dread, but for whatever reason wish to read:
1. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
     I feel as if I really should read this if I haven't yet...
2. The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein
     I want to read something written by her, but really have no idea what to expect.
3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
     I'm sure this is going to gross me out, but I think we all need to read it...
4. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
     So many references that I feel I need to have at least read it.
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
     Loved The Grapes of Wrath, but have never been attracted to this one, though I feel I 
     should read it. It is referred to so often and by so many!! And is loved by many readers 
     whose opinion I value! 

Those books about which I am relatively neutral:
6. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
     Really feel the need to read one of her books!
7. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
     Have yet to read one of his novels.
8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
     Just keep seeing references to this one all over the place and am definitely curious! 
     And I own a copy now!
9. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
    Loved An American Tragedy when I read it at the age of 15. 
10. The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter
     Fascinated by the concept.

Those I cannot wait to read:
11. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
     Feel I should read it so I can understand the references made to it.
12. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
     Loved the movie and would like to read the book, which is virtually always better, 
     in my opinion!
13. The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes
     Love Hughes, and want to read what he had to say...
14. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
     Love his short stories and this will be the first full-length novel of his for me to have 
     read. (The Last Tycoon doesn't count, since it was unfinished.)
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
     Yeah, I know. Unbelievable that some English/literature teacher in my past never 
     got to this one, but I am very curious.

Free Choice:
16. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
     Read this at age 15, loved it, and am anxious to see how I feel about it now, some 
     44 years later! :)
17. The Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter 
     First read when I was 13. I loved it then and am anxious to see how it resonates 
     for me now.
18. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
     I loved Go Tell It on the Mountain and want to read this one! I own it, too! :)
19. The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study by W.E.B. Du Bois
     Have always said I wanted to read something he'd written. I admire his 
     accomplishments with regard to the NAACP, etc.
20. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
     So many have mentioned that this is a "must-read" book and there are so many    
      references to it.

What classic have you read and/or reviewed lately? Some are a bit difficult to slog through (example here!), but others are such a joy to read (another example here)!