Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Please Introduce Yourself
Welcome Steve and Raissa :) I look forward to discussing books with you soon! Steve, buddy reads are an informal process here. There's a requests thread and a schedule thread for books already planned. I think they're a great way for 2 or more people to discuss a book in depth and helpful for those books that prove less popular in winning the group polls :)
Steve, at the moment this fall looks okay for me for a Buddy Read (subject to change with me though) but I think I might be leaning slightly more towards LOTR as opposed to TMM (also subject to change). We shall see. ;-)
Pink wrote: "Welcome Steve and Raissa :) I look forward to discussing books with you soon! Steve, buddy reads are an informal process here. There's a requests thread and a schedule thread for books already pl..."
Thanks Pink, I checked those out this morning. :)
Bat-Cat wrote: "Steve, at the moment this fall looks okay for me for a Buddy Read (subject to change with me though) but I think I might be leaning slightly more towards LOTR as opposed to TMM (also subject to cha..."No hurry. I'm happy to let the idea simmer right through the dog days of summer. :) (I was trying to be clever, that simmer/summer thing just sounds clunky.)
Bat-Cat wrote: "...I think I might be leaning slightly more towards LOTR as opposed to TMM (also subject to change)..."Bat-Cat, I was thinking of reading The Hobbit and LOTR this fall/winter, too. LOTR narrowly lost the third quarter read poll, so maybe others are interested in a buddy read for this, too?
Kim wrote: "Bat-Cat wrote: "...I think I might be leaning slightly more towards LOTR as opposed to TMM (also subject to change)..."Bat-Cat, I was thinking of reading The Hobbit and LOTR this fall/winter, too..."
Kim, that sounds really good - it was what I was thinking too. As Steve says, we'll let things simmer and see what turns up. ;-)
Kim wrote: "Bat-Cat wrote: "...I think I might be leaning slightly more towards LOTR as opposed to TMM (also subject to change)..."Bat-Cat, I was thinking of reading The Hobbit and LOTR this fall/winter, too..."
I'd be in for The Hobbit!
Another group I'm in is doing LotR buddy reads (first two done, third TBD) so I won't be up for them again so soon but I haven't read The Hobbit in ages.
Sarah wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'd be in for The Hobbit!Awesome! You'd probably still have the LOTR books fresh enough in your memory at that point to participate in discussions without rereading them, if you're interested and if you're not, just join us for The Hobbit. :)
Kim wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'd be in for The Hobbit!Awesome! You'd probably still have the LOTR books fresh enough in your memory at that point to participate in discussions without rereading them..."
I'm always up for talking Tolkien :)
There is a lot about the books that I appreciate more this time then I did when I read them the first time right after the LotR movies came out. Would be nice to discuss with people from here and see how it differs from the opinions in a sci-fi/fantasy focused group!
I read them probably a decade or so ago, and barely remember them. Have watched the movies a good few times, though, haha. It's time to reread the books themselves!
Hey Im Megan. Looking to read as much classics I can. So glad found tis group. Feel freeto add me :)
Welcome Megan, I'm glad you've joined us and hope you find some classics you enjoy :)
Megan wrote: "Hey Im Megan. Looking to read as much classics I can. So glad found tis group. Feel freeto add me :)"Hello and welcome Megan! Glad you found our group too! Enjoy and happy reading! :)
Mod
Welcome to the group. I hope you will join in some of our group read discussions.
hi,Megan,Welcome ,,Glad to see you :)
Hello everyone! I have never been part of a group on here before, but I have a bit of a weakness for classics and thought this group might be a fun one to join!
Hi Michelle and welcome. This was the first group I joined and it is fun to participate in the group and buddy reads. There are a wide variety of classics that we read so you should find something that interests you. Enjoy.
Mod
Welcome & I do hope that you find us fun!
Michelle wrote: "Hello everyone! I have never been part of a group on here before, but I have a bit of a weakness for classics and thought this group might be a fun one to join!"Hello and welcome Michelle! This is definetily the group to read classics! I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here! Happy reading! :)
Hi Michelle and welcome :-)
Welcome Michelle, I've glad you've decided to join our group! We're a pretty relaxed bunch here, who obviously all like to read classics, so hopefully you'll find something to join us with. If you have any questions just ask :)
Hello everyone.My name is Simone(born 1993) and I am from Germany.
I read most of the genres out there and trie to read as diverse as possible.
I am already into reading classics. I have The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo on my shelf but they scare me a bit because they are so huge.
Most of my books I buy in English these days because I want to become an English teacher.
Welcome Simone. The classics tend to be much longer than current books are. I think that people have lost their concentration spans in the age of electronics. I see many plays here in Chicago and the current ones also tend to be short. When I read classics, I give myself permission to read fewer books in a year. That usually helps.
Mod
Hello Simone and welcome. I think it is great that you want to read longer classics. To give you a baseline I am currently reading Gone With the Wind. It is 959 pages long but a fast moving story. I think of it as three 320 page books which makes it less daunting. I hope you find classics you enjoy in this group.
Hey, Simone. I'm currently reading War and Peace, and for me what's helped is the short length of the chapters, and giving myself enough time to get through it (in my case, a month to even a month and a half if I needed it, but I don't think I will). Goodreads unfortunately can discourage people from tackling bigger books, in order to meet reading challenge goals. It can be tempting to set your goal high and then read short books to meet it. I knew I'd be reading a few bigger books this year and so I set my goal low (for me, 20 books).
I'm not sure if I'll even bother using that feature next year. I'm more interested in participating in one (or more) of the group reading challenges instead, like a Bingo challenge or Women's Century challenge or something like that (or maybe make up my own). They sound more fun than just trying to tackle a given number of books. :)
Welcome to the group Simone, you have some great advice already on how to tackle those bigger books with small chunks at a time. I often find they're more daunting to actually start, but perfectly readable once I pick them up.
Hello! My name is Melissa and I'm 18, currently living in Europe. I read (read: devour) everything from classics old and modern to fantasy, horror and non-fic. Pretty much anything well written with a high quality language. Generally dislike YA and romance. Glad to be joining this group!
Simone wrote: "Hello everyone.My name is Simone(born 1993) and I am from Germany.
I read most of the genres out there and trie to read as diverse as possible.
I am already into reading classics. I have The Cou..."
Hello and welcome Simone! There is a diverse selection of classical books to read here so I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here! Happy reading! :)
Reader wrote: "Hello! My name is Melissa and I'm 18, currently living in Europe. I read (read: devour) everything from classics old and modern to fantasy, horror and non-fic. Pretty much anything well written wit..."Hi and welcome Melissa! We read and devour classical books here Melissa so you've come to the right place! Enjoy and happy reading! :)
Loretta wrote: "Reader wrote: "Hello! My name is Melissa and I'm 18, currently living in Europe. I read (read: devour) everything from classics old and modern to fantasy, horror and non-fic. Pretty much anything w..."Thank you! Looking forward to it!
Reader wrote: "Loretta wrote: "Reader wrote: "Hello! My name is Melissa and I'm 18, currently living in Europe. I read (read: devour) everything from classics old and modern to fantasy, horror and non-fic. Pretty..."My pleasure! :)
Hi! I just started a new web site for historical fiction by women, about women: www.HerStoryNovels.com I focus on classic and "literary" historical fiction. I'm trying to be comprehensive in my listings of books that fit my parameters, and I would love input on which classic books I am missing--especially neglected classics. There is so much chatter about the newest books that often we forget about good older books.
Welcome, Jyotsna. That sounds like an interesting web site and I will be sure to check it out soon. We read a variety of classics here including some written by and about women. I hope you find some books and heroines here to help fill in your gaps.
Jyotsna wrote: "Hi! I just started a new web site for historical fiction by women, about women: www.HerStoryNovels.com I focus on classic and "literary" historical fiction. I'm trying to be comprehensive in my lis..."Hi, welcome Jyotsna! Enjoy and happy reading! :)
Hi Jyotsna, Welcome. That sounds like a great website. I'll check it out soon.
Welcome Melissa and Jyotsna, I'm glad you've both joined :)
Mod
Hi, my name is Phyllis and I live in Wisconsin. I love to garden, quilt and read. I just finished Of Human Bondage and really liked it. I'm now reading a John Sandford book as I love mysteries. My next classic to read is The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. I enjoy the Good Reads comments.
Mod
I love to garden, quilt and read. I just finished Of Human Bondage and really liked it. I'm now reading a John Sandford book as I love mysteries. M..."
Welcome Phyllis -- I love to garden, quilt, & read too. We did a buddy read of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter this month. Feel free to join in on the conversation.
Welcome Phyllis. Glad you joined. I hope you like the classics we are reading in this group. Looking forward to seeing you in the discussions.
Phyllis wrote: "Hi, my name is Phyllis and I live in Wisconsin. I love to garden, quilt and read. I just finished Of Human Bondage and really liked it. I'm now reading a John Sandford book as I love mysteries. M..."
Hi and welcome Phyllis to Catching Up on Classics! You'll notice that our group is pretty diverse in the books that we read! A little something for everyone, including classical mysteries which you enjoy! Looking forward to your comments on the threads! Happy reading! :)
Welcome to the group Phyllis and good luck with your next book choices, I loved the Heart is a lonely Hunter :)
Hi, I'm Renee and am trying to read more of the classics that I probably should have read earlier, but better late than never right? I live in Canada and have two beautiful daughters age 7 & 12. I belong to a couple other groups, and am hoping that by joining your group I will begin to get into some more classics. A few of my interests are reading, anime and sports (watching only, I'm terrible at playing!). Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens are two of my favourite authors. Although I have many more Dickens books to read, I have enjoyed everything I've read so far.I don't know if this is the right spot to ask or not, but I had a couple questions. Regarding the books on the shelf nomination, does that mean any book that has been read by the group can be nominated for a re-read? Also, how do the quarterly book reads work? Are they chosen at the beginning of the year and scheduled for reading through the year?
I hope to be able to comment on some of the new reads for July and the upcoming reads for August, as there are many I have not read yet. Looking forward to chatting with you all in the discussion threads.
Renee wrote: "Hi, I'm Renee and am trying to read more of the classics that I probably should have read earlier, but better late than never right? I live in Canada and have two beautiful daughters age 7 & 12. I ..."Hello and welcome Renee! So glad you've joined our group to read classics! I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here! Happy reading! :)
Renee wrote: "Hi, I'm Renee and am trying to read more of the classics that I probably should have read earlier, but better late than never right? I live in Canada and have two beautiful daughters age 7 & 12. I ..."Hey Renee! I look forward to discussing books with you, especially the Agatha Christie mystery we have planned for next month! I'll try and answer some of your questions, but I'm very new to the group so a group veteran may need to correct me. Any book on the read shelf can be nominated for a reread, but voters tend to frown upon books that have been read in the last year due to their being fresh on our minds still. I'm unsure about the quarterly reads, but I believe they are voted on a month or two in advance just like the monthly reads. Happy reading!
Welcome Renee. Glad you joined. I also have a 7 year old daughter (and 8 and 5). Dame Christie is one of my favorites as well and thus I love reading mysteries. I have been inspired to read more classics since I joined here and I hope you are as well. Looking forward to seeing you in the group discussions.
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! Also thank you Warner for clearing that up for me. I see quite a few books I'd like to read have been nominated for September so I wanted to know how the books on the shelf nominations worked just in case I wanted to nominate one of them.
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Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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I'd go for a Magic Mountain buddy read in the fall. I don't know much about the group/buddy reading process yet, but I think a smaller group read would be more intimate, in-depth, and rewarding -- more of a journey (I read somewhere that the ideal small group is 8-12). Also, I always get a hankering to read TMM when the leaves start to turn. Perfect timing. I know I said yesterday that I'm up for a buddy read of LOTR, and I am, but if I have choose one for this fall...