Bob’s Comments (group member since Jun 22, 2011)

Bob’s comments from the Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.

Three is better than none, as long as you have fun. I agree, Omelas is a solid five stars. Enjoy the coming year.

I jumped the gun on this and read it last November when it was nominated. It is excellent. I saw the Henry Fonda movie years ago. Both on screen and in print the story is powerful.

Chris, welcome to the group.

Of the Dickens I’ve read so far Copperfield is the best. Alias Grace and Silas Marner are also excellent. Great list, enjoy.

Welcome, Kayla!

Thank you for all the comments and encouragement. I’m ready for the New Year!

You have a nice list, and some are quite large. I hope you enjoy everyone.

You have an all-star list of authors and some great books. Enjoy!!

With just hours left till the New Year, I have discovered a flaw with my great grand reading plan. I didn’t pay attention to your plan to allow for impulse reads, so I didn’t. My planed reading is close to the max number of books I normally read in a year. Maybe the group will pick uninteresting books this year and save me the dilemma of breaking the plan. Happy New Year.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan is our
February 2023 Short Story/Novella Read.

This discussion will open on February 1

Beware Short Story Discussions will have Spoilers

March 2023 nominations now open! Please review the requirements below for book eligibility.

In the interest of variety, please wait a month to renominate a book that has been in the poll. These are the books from
February's poll:

Poll Winner, The 39 Steps by John Buchan
2nd, Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
3rd, The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét
4th, The Offshore Pirate by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5th, What I Believe by Bertrand Russell
6th, The Immortal by Jorge Luis Borges
7th, Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron
8th, The Verger by W. Somerset Maugham

1. Members nominating for a monthly Group Read will need to check that a copy of the text is reasonably available for members and is available in English. Moderators may disallow a nomination if a copy is not readily available.

2. Books that have already been featured as short story group reads or currently on our bookshelf, in any category, are not eligible to be nominated.

Short Story Book Shelf

3. Only books up to 130 pages maximum are eligible for nomination. If a story slightly exceeds this number of pages the moderator will decide if the story will pass through to the poll, (probably a coin toss)

4. A story's size will be determined by using the Goodreads default edition. If a larger number of editions listed indicate the story has more pages than the default edition, it may be ruled ineligible. If the story has no Goodreads edition and is a part of a larger collection, please identify the collection title and indicate the number of pages applied to the story you are nominating.

5. Only stories/books that were published before 1999 are eligible to be nominated in this section.

6. When making a nomination, please use "add book/author" link to help moderators and others view the book selected.

7. Only seven books, by seven different authors will move forward to the poll. This will be determined by the number of seconds a book receives. The seven books with the most seconds moves to the poll.

8. Only one nomination AND one second per member will be allowed. A nomination can be changed only until it has been seconded. Once seconded, in fairness to the member making the second, the nomination will stand.

8a. A second can be withdrawn and placed on another choice. This change must in some way be noted in a post such as, "I am withdrawing my second for book A and placing it on book B." It will be easier for the moderator to track changes.

9. Only one book per author, In the event that more than one book by the same author is nominated, the first one to receive a second will be eligible. The nominator of the ruled ineligible book will be able to nominate a replacement or second another already in nomination.

9a. Same author-multiple categories The same author may be nominated in multiple categories in a single month as long as the nominations are for different books. In the case of identical nominations, precedence will go to the first one to receive a second.

Nominations will run from today thru the 14th. Polls will open on the 16th and run till the end of the month

I have read a few of these, you should enjoy them. Enjoy.

Enjoy your challenge.

You have been updating with some delicious choices!

Tick tock, tick tock a brand-new year of reading is about to start.

I have done all the preparation and planning I can. I have established my score card along with my goals and expectations, message #1. I am happy that most of my planned reads are already on my bookshelf. Most of these are hard copy paper reads, the rest are electronic. The balance will have to be secured, most of those seem to be in my library system. Except for some of the oldest selections, which I do have a curious interest. I am very interested in the books I have pre-selected. I will be surprised if any get tagged DNF. I have not selected or planned any reads for challenges #5, 6, 7, 12, and 13. These challenges, at least for me are evolutionary they will develop as the year goes by.

Happy New Year, Happy Reading Everyone!!

Welcome Carol.

Lynn, this grey-haired old man thanks you, your…very generous.

With two and a half days left in the year, I have gone as far as I can go. I have completed 8 challenges. Made a showing on three others and left two untouched. I’m not much for dieting. Personally, it was not a great year and while I managed some good reading my participation was lacking. I apologize. Now, on to next year!!

This year I am also planning to read The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Yearling. Enjoy your challenges!

Welcome Alessandro!