Tea and Tales with Cate and Allison discussion
2016: The Classics
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Introduction and Suggestions
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I've always wanted to reread 1984. It is one of my favorite dystopian classics!
I've never read 1984 or The Scarlet Letter and would love to read either. I would also add wuthering heights to the mix.
Hi all!First of all, I think it's time I properly introduce myself. My name is Aisha, but I go by Minerva Grace at PagesAndCup on Instagram.
I majored in English when I attended college, but my emphasis was news and speech writing. My advisor once told me that in order to be a good writer, you need to read. A lot. And so I did. I took a lot of literature courses and fell in love with works like Dante's Divine Comedy, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Shakespeare and Chaucer. That's just the short list. I'm currently reading War and Peace and am enjoying it so far.
What I feel I'm missing are works by American authors. That's why when Allison suggested reading The Scarlet Letter, I jumped on the chance. The last time I read it was in high school, and that was a long time ago. I'd also love to read more from John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway.
I'm looking forward to whatever we decide to read. :)
Yaaaaaaaay classics!! It's actually been my goal for a while for 2016 to be "The Year of the Classics" and read one a month :-) Anyway, I'm Dani and basically I want to read classics because I want to sound smart at parties and understand movie references ;-) Joking joking...sorta. I also want to have a better appreciation for where fine literature started and how it has progressed (or in some cases, not).
Classics that are definitely on my TBR are Arabian Nights, A Tale of Two Cities, Monte Cristo, and probably something by Vonnegut, Dumas, and/or Dostoyevsky. My high school education had no problem filling up my curriculum with American authors or regency period-esque authors (Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Emma, etc) but was very hesitant to go anywhere near non-American/British writers. The furthest we strayed from that was Toni Morrison's Beloved and you'd be amazed how many people at my school were angry we were reading something by someone who wasn't a dead white person who spoke English "properly."
Hi I'm Aimee, I go buy aimeeelizabethcharlotte on Instagram and add .wordpress.com for my blog. I am going back to uni this September to study for my PGCE in Secondary English and really want to get back into reading classics again.
I would love to reread 1984 and Brave New World.
I would also like to pick up To Kill A Mocking Bird ( as we studied Of Mice and Men in school) and Rebecca by Daphne du Mariuer X
Hi Allison,I'm really looking forward to reading some classics with the group in 2016 :)
My suggestions are: Siddhartha, Peter Pan, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, The Colour Purple or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Hello everyone! My name is Lisa. Despite having two masters and doctorate in English literature, I am continually amazed by how little I've actually read! Or so it seems. So I would be on board for pretty much anything. I'm currently listening to a novel about Nathaniel Hawthorne, so I would be interested in reading a scarlet letter.
Mod
I have a background in Communications and Marketing, love to travel, have a passion for cooking and baking, am a true Anglophile and love to chat books and anything else! I can't wait to delve further into my love of books and literature this coming year with all of you! Xx
Hey guys! My name is Abby and I'm @thebookwormsfavoritebooks on Instagram, and I run thebookwormsfavoritebooks.blogspot.com ! Reading more classics is one of my 2016 New Years Resolutions because I find that classic literature has some of the most beautiful passages of writing to be found!My suggestions/classics I've been meaning to read/reread are: Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Virgin Suicides, Great Expectations, and The Odyssey! Also Les Mis (maybe in French??). Just remembered that one!!
Ann of Green Gables would be one I'd be interested in. I received the book (anthology) many years ago as a gift and never read it! I'd also like to read Death Comes For the Archbishop by Wlla Cather. I read something of her's years ago, but can't recall the title....Hannah wrote: "Hi Allison,
I'm really looking forward to reading some classics with the group in 2016 :)
My suggestions are: Siddhartha, Peter Pan, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, The Colour Purple or The Ten..."
Hey!Woo, I'm so excited for this! I've definitely missed out on reading some of the classics! I'm Holly, or HollyKnitlightly on Instagram, and this is my first group on Goodreads. I mostly use Goodreads to help me keep track of how many books I've read for the year (and also to find new books to read!) so I'm really excited to have come across this group.
Hi everyone! My name is Kerstin and I go by shereadsbymoonlight on Instagram. Besides reading I love to travel, spend time in nature and play the occasional board-or video-game. I also suffer from a tea addiction, which manifests in drinking a lot of tea and collection tea cups and other tea paraphernalia :). One of my reading goals for next year is to delve more into the classics. I used to read quite a few of them throughout my teenage years but have woefully neglected them over the past decade or so (shame on me; also, I'm getting old). Lately I have picked up a couple and rediscovered my enjoyment of the beautiful writing, language and the glimpse into past centuries they offer.
1984 and the Scarlet Letter are definitely two books I'd like to read; I'd also like to get stuck into some George Eliot, John Steinbeck and Herman Melville (mainly Moby Dick) as well as some Russian classics.
I just had to respond being a knitter and tea drinker as well. Looks like we both enjoyed our David's Advent calender at this year! Holly wrote: "Hey!
Woo, I'm so excited for this! I've definitely missed out on reading some of the classics! I'm Holly, or HollyKnitlightly on Instagram, and this is my first group on Goodreads. I mostly use Go..."
Hey, everyone! I'm Leah and I'm a freelance writer. I have a 'somewhat' bookish blog (www.whiteskyproject.com) and I've read a lot of books by indie or new authors but I've realized not long ago that I haven't read a lot or enough of the classics! And it feels wrong that I haven't! I've had "read more classics" on my to-do list for the last couple of years but I fail every time. Maybe this group is just what I need, yeah? :)I've been wanting to read 1984, A Tale of Two Cities, stuff by Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Vonnegut.
Hi everyone, I'm Michelle, I'm studying psychology but going to take a year off to focus on work. I have so many classcis on my shelf and have never picked them up. I shamefully haven't read any of the Bronte sisters or picked up an Austen. I don't know why I can't, I love the sound of them but maybe I'm worried they'll disappoint me or I won't get it.
So I woulndnt mind trying: The Scarlett letter, Villette, middlemarch, north and south, the tenant of wildfell hall or persuasion
I must have neglected to save.Hello all! I'm @_muck_ on instagram. I'm a big fan of Fitzgerald and Hemingway and would gladly re-read any of theirs. I have thought of reading Moby Dick, but it's a bit daunting.
I'm open to most anything though.
Fun facts about me, I'm a copywriter by day and a playwright by night. I used to be a voracious reader, but I'm finding that I need to make a focused effort to read consistently these days. Partially because I used to carry a book everywhere, now I carry my smartphone. Too many distractions.
I met last year's reading goal of 26 books.
Mod
I just posted the January classics poll, so please take a moment to vote on which book you'd like to read. I tried to take suggestions from everyone, and I also made sure that we had some non-white, non-male, non-English choices since a number of you expressed interest in this. I can't wait to see what we pick! Yay!
Yes! I love it! Yarn, tea & books... what more could you need? Jill wrote: "I just had to respond being a knitter and tea drinker as well. Looks like we both enjoyed our David's Advent calender at this year!
Holly wrote: "Hey!
Woo, I'm so excited for this! I've definit..."
Hi everyone!! So I'm Tia and I love reading, but somehow no matter how much I tell myself I'll start my list of classics I tend to always get lost in other sets of books. Can't wait to start this with you all!! Classics are one of my favorite genres and I wish I he more read then I already do. Again can't wait! :)
Chocolate?Holly wrote: "Yes! I love it! Yarn, tea & books... what more could you need?
Jill wrote: "I just had to respond being a knitter and tea drinker as well. Looks like we both enjoyed our David's Advent calender a..."
Hi! I'm Mae. On instagram I go by mayajude_. I'm excited to read/re-read some classics. I'd love to re-read Catcher in the Rye, Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace and any Dickens novel.
Hi everyone!I'm Kelly & I run a ladies book club that meets in person in San Diego called San Diego Book Divas! I'm on Instagram @kellyrenee1979
We read a few classics a year & call the series Quarterly Classics! I'd love to host a book for both groups later in the year. I'm looking at doing a long read for Quarterly Classics in May 2016. I will be making a poll with these 4 titles: East of Eden, The Good Earth, Grapes of Wrath, The Invisible Man
I'm also trying to read more books from the Rory Gilmore book list. :)
--Kelly
Hello, sorry I'm late to the comments, I've never used goodreads for any type of discussion or collaboration so it took me forever to figure out how to join the group and vote on the book (the limitation of using the goodreads app only I suppose)
That too! Jill wrote: "Chocolate?Holly wrote: "Yes! I love it! Yarn, tea & books... what more could you need?
Jill wrote: "I just had to respond being a knitter and tea drinker as well. Looks like we both enjoyed ou..."
Allison, Have we chosen a book for this month?? I have been so busy I wouldn't be surprised if it went straight over my head ??
X
Mod
Thanks for voting in our January classics poll! Looks like we'll be reading 1984 by George Orwell, and I'm so excited! This has such a huge place in our culture, and I can't believe I've never read it! Head on over to the 1984 thread so that we can chat about the book!
I recently purchased Rebecca and would love to add that to the mix for a potential classic read this year!
Mod
Rebecca has been on my list forever! I definitely think that's such a great choice!
Mod
I can't believe we're already over halfway through February! I pulled last month's suggestions from this thread, but if there are any new books you want to add to be included in the March poll, please list them here. I can't wait to see which classic we'll be reading next month!
Allison
Thank you to all of you who have expressed interest in reading/re-reading some of the classics this year! I'm so excited to read and discuss some amazing works of literature with you!
We'll be reading one classic book each month, so 12 over the course of 2016. Feel free to read all of the books or to pick and choose which ones you're most interested in. We'll have a poll each month to decide which book we'll be reading, and I'll pull the choices from the suggestions you leave here. Once we've decided on a book, I'll start a new thread in this folder where we can post questions and discuss the book as we read it. Sound good? Let me know if you have any other suggestions, and I'll incorporate them here!
OK, now the fun part: book suggestions! Please post which book(s) you'd like to read, and I'll get them up in a poll ASAP so we can choose our January book. I'll throw in Invisible Man, The Scarlett Letter, and 1984, all books I SHOULD have read but have not. Don't judge too harshly!
Also, I'd love it if we each shared a little about ourselves and why we want to read classic literature this year. I'll go first!
I'm Allison, and I'm currently in school working toward my single subject English credential. I'll be working with high school English students in the fall, and I want to read some of those classic high school English books that I somehow missed. I also love classic literature and haven't read as much as I'd like in the past couple of years. I'm looking forward to reading/re-reading and discussing some really great works of literature this year with all of your!
As always, happy reading!
Allison