Reviews From the Stacks
This is my first time playing along with Spell the Month, hosted by Reviews from the Stacks. This month's twist is to pick books from your favorite genre. Since I am a long-time classics reader, I had lots on my Read shelf to choose from.
O is for Of Mice and Men by one of my favorite authors, the incomparable John Steinbeck. I first read it in high school, but I've read it a few times since and cried every time.
C is for Cannery Row, also by Steinbeck and a truly lovely story that I have read many times.
T is for A Town Like Alice, by Neville Shute. I've read this three times and loved it each time.
O is for Oliver Twist by Mr. Charles Dickens -- my first Dickens and one I have reread many times.
B is for The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton -- unfinished but a wonderful story about American heiresses marrying English lords.
E is for Emma by the one and only Jane Austen. How could I not have an Austen on this list, and Emma is definitely in contention for Austen at her peak.
R is for Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, the grand dame of psychological thrillers. I first read this as a young teenager and have read it countless times since then.
Welcome to the "Spell the Month" challenge. I absolutely love it. Glad to have found you, we seem to like the same kind of literature. I even have read all of your books but one, The Buccaneers. Sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe last one of the novels I read was "Cannery Row". Unfortunately, I didn't like that one even though I absolutely love all the other Steinbeck books.
I'm looking forward to seeing more from you.
Yes, I am so glad we met up via Spell the Month--we do seem to have similar taste in books, and I have bookmarked your blog for frequent visiting :)
DeleteSo am I. I am following you now, so I will see your posts all the time. :D
DeleteYou say you are a first-generation American. May I ask where your parents are from (if you want to reveal it) and are you still in touch with their home country. We raised our sons abroad and they are a lot less German than I am. LOL
My Dad was from England and my Mom from Canada. I have loads of cousins in Australia and the UK. My parents met in Canada during WWII when my Dad was in training for the RAF. After a lot of moving around after WWII, they ended up in Colorado.
DeleteAh, I see, so at least you had the same language. Our boys grew up more English than German. I always say the only thing that is German about them is their passport. ;)
DeleteFun list of books spelling out October! Of Mice and Men makes me cry, too. And I absolutely love A Town Like Alice. Jane Austen's Emma is also a favorite. I just reread that one last year. And I love Edith Wharton, so I enjoyed The Buccaneers, too. :D
ReplyDeleteA Town Like Alice is such a good book--I fear Nevil Shute is becoming forgotten, which makes me sad.
DeleteThat is sad. A Town Like Alice is such a classic. I even loved the mini series they made of it decades ago; I think it had Bryan Brown in it. It's one of my favorite books.
DeleteI enjoyed the mini-series too, and yes, with Bryan Brown! They changed a few things, but overall true to the book.
DeleteI never saw the film but loved teh book.
DeleteI must read A Town Like Alice. I've heard very good things about Neville Shute. I am also interested in his book On The Beach. This is a good idea Spell The Month. I chose The Odd Women, Call of The Wild and Things Fall Apart but then I hit a wall going any further but these 3 books are excellent.
ReplyDeleteI don't recognize the title, The Odd Women, but I like the sound of it. Must investigate. I really enjoyed Call of the Wild, and that put me on a Jack London kick for a while. I think it all started when Chris on Northern Exposure read Call of the Wild as the framework for an episode, so I had to read it!
DeleteThe Odd Women by George Gissing. Wonderful book and what a nice and respectful depiction of one of the main characters in this novel, a 19th century suffragette.
DeleteYour posts about Gissing have put him on my radar. Will seek out this book. I need to read a new classic!
DeleteWhat fun! I've seen "spell the month in books" a few times, but didn't know what it's about. The Buccaneers and A Town Like Alice are still on my list, but I love all the others.
ReplyDeleteThey are both wonderful, and The Buccaneers is an almost finished novel and Wharton left notes about how she planned to end it.
DeleteYou know your classics! Oliver Twist was my first Dickens too, and I loved it. Many of these I could reread now.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the classic Classics is that they are so rereadable!
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