🎙️ Simply Stunning Classic Book Club

This month we discussed Jean Webster’s Daddy Long Legs. First published in 1912, the blurb for this one is below: A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month and that she can never know who he is. Judy's life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties and a growing friendship with the...

Alrighty, so, welcome back to the Simply Stunning Classic Book Club where we’re (wait for it) Booked on the Classics. Thank you. I’m here all week. This one was my choice, and boy, did I dither about it. Was an Agatha a lazy choice? Surely we’d have nothing to discuss that hadn’t been discussed before? In the end though, it was pure selfishness that sent me towards an Agatha Christie. You see, as...

Life just keeps happening, so it took us a while to get together and discuss this one. While I personally didn’t enjoy the book, in many ways it was the perfect book club book, as it generated plenty of healthy discussion. Anyways, have a listen and let us know if you’ve read it and what you think… Next time: A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie Thanks for reading Simply Stunning Classic Book...

This month’s theme came about because 16 December last year would have been Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, so it seemed the perfect time to talk about all things Jane. Life, though, had other ideas and rather than meeting in December, we’re a month or so late, but you know what? Hay ho and all that. Having already read and discussed the full novels Austen published during her life, we all approache...

It had to happen, we had to take on the challenge of the bard himself - William Shakespeare. Most of us are forced into reading Shakespeare in high school and, as a result, have a dislike for it. I was fortunate to have a great teacher for extension English in my last year of high school. She brought King Lear alive for us, and I developed an appreciation for it. When I lived in Sydney, I made a h...

I was SOOOOOOO excited for this book and still can’t believe I’ve never read it before, particularly since I’ve watched the movie (the most recent one) a million squillion times. Although Gatsby wasn’t a commercial success when first released, it is now regarded as one of the Great American Novels in that it explores (amongst other themes) the disintegration of the American dream. While set in the...

Written in 1953 during the McCarthy “reds under the beds” era, Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel about a future society where books are outlawed and “firemen” burn any found. One fireman, Guy Montag, becomes disillusioned with his role and begins to question the government’s control over thought and knowledge. The Government’s justification is that thinking is dangerous and leads to unhappiness,...

The Awakening by Kate Chopin was first published in 1899, but, as has been the case with several of the books we’ve read in the Simply Stunning Classic Book Club, its themes are relevant today. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Set in New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf coast, the novel had a mixed reception upon publication, and while never technically banned, it was censored an...

Episode 2: The Code of the Woosters, by P.G. Wodehouse Today we’re discussing The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse. This one was Donna’s choice and prompted another great discussion - including a full change of mind from Sue. First published in October 1938, this is another of those books that appear on those lists of books you have to read. It’s also a book that is regarded as a comfort rea...

Welcome to the first episode of the Simply Stunning Classic Book Club Podcast. Today, we’re discussing Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows . First published in 1908, it regularly appears on lists like this one put out by the BBC - The 100 greatest British novels (as voted by critics from outside Britain). For many people it’s like a comfort blanket, a well-loved book from childhood, one you...