Introductions

[Lynaia]

I’ve got you beat Elizabeth. I have over 1000 books in my tbr pile. I finally stopped purchasing ebooks for the most part. They can add up SO fast!

[Jan C]

More than that for me. Books I have read have either been recycled for re-sale or are sitting in the garage. Far outnumbered by the unread/partially read books on my shelves and sitting in the closets.

I try to stop buying but I'm not very successful at it. All it requires is an email from Powell's alerting me to a 25% off sale. Bought 5 more today and 3 kindle books in the last couple of days. I'm hopeless.

[W]

I have virtually stopped buying books.Doubt I'll be able to finish all I already have,in my lifetime.But I also like to re read those,which I have kept for years.

[Susan]

Hi Nancy, welcome to the group.

I will never be able to finish all the books I buy, but I am absolutely addicted to book buying. I do stick to kindle now, as my kids like paper books, so I give up the shelf space (such as there is left!) to them.

[Kathleen]

Hi everyone! I was drawn to this group because of your upcoming read of Palace Walk, which would be wonderful to read with you.

I love all kinds of books, but maybe classics and literary fiction best. Some of my favorites from the 20th century are The Great Gatsby, A Fine Balance and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Favorite 20th Century authors would include Shirley Jackson, William Saroyan and James Baldwin.

Looking forward to finding some new favorites from you all!

[Nigeyb]

Welcome aboard Kathleen

[Susan]

Welcome, Kathleen. We have a buddy read of The Sundial by Shirley Jackson going on at the moment. One of my favourites too :)

[Kathleen]

Thank you Nigeyb and Susan.I haven't read the Sundial yet--will be looking for a copy as soon as libraries open again. :-) Enjoy!

[Judy]

Welcome, Kathleen, glad you have joined us. I'm looking forward to Palace Walk too.

[Lynaia]

Welcome Kathleen!

[Kathleen]

Thank you Judy and Lynaia. Such a friendly group!

[Christopher]

Hi all. Finally have a day off now the toddler is back at nursery and decided to spend the morning updating my Goodreads lists and connect with a few communities.

I decided this year that I would study 20th century history in detail, right from the causes of the First World War right through to the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the century - reading both non fiction accounts, historical fiction and plenty of classic and influential works shoved in between. So this group looked appealing and looking forward to finding some great recommendations!

[Susan]

Sounds great, Christoper. A personal challenge and a fascinating period to think about.

[Nigeyb]

Christopher wrote:


"I would study 20th century history in detail, right from the causes of the First World War right through to the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the century - reading both non fiction accounts, historical fiction and plenty of classic and influential works shoved in between"

Bravo Christopher

You'll find many a like minded soul round these parts

When do you start? What's your first book likely to be?

Please keep us abreast with progress on your project. We have discussion threads for many of the books you may be considering and, if we don't, then please suggest it as a buddy read. There's likely to be taker or three.

Welcome to Reading the 20th Century

[Christopher]

Nigeyb wrote: "When do you start? What's your first book likely to be?"

I'm already a few books in; I started with Paul Ham's excellent summary of the lead up to the First World War 1914: The Year the World Ended. Covers the issues that were brewing throughout Europe from the Franco-Prussian War to the imperialistic and colonial race to divide up Africa and eventually to the outbreak of war. I was only planning on covering three or four books for that period but have ended up adding about twenty books to my list as I have been completely consumed by how fascinating that era was: the monarchies, politics, societies and even learning about the lives of individual key personnel in detail. I followed it up with Peter Hart's The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War, which opened up a lot of further reading to problems in the middle East, the Russian Revolution -the Bolsheviks and even biographies of some interesting people, i.e Rasputin.

So, looks like I'll be sticking in this era for a while yet but changing genre on a sort of rotation. I've got Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World and the implications of the Treaty of Versailles to read and some accounts from German soldiers, including Storm of Steel but will read some fiction with All Quiet on the Western Front first and some poetry from the trenches. I'll likely take a break and delve into a bit of sci-fi or fantasy in-between, as all this gets a bit heavy. =)

[Susan]

Starting with the beginning of the Great War, I really liked:

Twilight of Empire: The Tragedy at Mayerling and the End of the Habsburgs

The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War

Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Führer's Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals

The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance that Changed the World

The Perfect Summer England 1911, Just Before the Storm

[Susan]

Sarajevo 1914: Sparking the First World War is out in September and looks good.

July 1914: Countdown to War also looks good.

[Christopher]

That's fantastic! Thank you, Susan.

[Nigeyb]

You've picked some splendid WW1 titles there Christopher


One book you might want to consider, to get an overview of the period between the wars, and which you might not already know, is...

The Long Week-End: A Social History of Great Britain, 1918-39 by Robert Graves

Robert Graves was author of the excellent First World War memoir Goodbye to All That (amongst many other noteworthy books).

Here’s my review of The Long Week-End

[Christopher]

Excellent review and sounds like a really interesting read. Thanks for the recommendation, Nigeyb.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Love to see another interested in The Great War. My visits have been mostly fiction and mostly on the western front. One nonfiction I keep hoping to get to is The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915 - 1919. I'm also interested in Tuchman's The Zimmerman Telegram and Gambling on War: Confidence, Fear, and the Tragedy of the First World War.

But mostly I'm a fiction reader. I find fiction is able to tell the psychological effects of war better than nonfiction. War isn't just armies, it is also individuals and war isn't just the military, it is also civilians.

[Susan]

So interesting that Robert Graves wrote that book in 1940 too, as you say in your review, Nigeyb; at the start of WWII and without knowing the outcome.

[Judy]

Welcome, Christopher. I can see a lot of great titles have been mentioned in this thread - another I remember finding fascinating was Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front although it was a bit disjointed a times.

Susan, I'm pleased to see you recommend The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm, as I have a copy and it is one I hope to read soon.

[Jan C]

I would add Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur and Forgotten Voices of the Somme: The Most Devastating Battle of the Great War in the Words of Those Who Survived by Joshua Levine (I think). These are real people recalling what they thought and said - of course, this was long after the war.

[Susan]

I loved The Perfect Summer, Judy. I enjoyed The Great Silence 1918-1920: Living in the Shadow of the Great War, by the same author, too, although I was less impressed by her novel, Abdication.

[ClaraBelle]

I’m Clara. I’m 17 and am homeschooled and live in Mississippi. I enjoy volleyball, music, dancing, hiking, bicycling, writing, reading, cooking, gardening and being around family and friends. My favorite 20th century book is TLTWATW by CS Lewis. I enjoy reading George Orwell, Dorothy Sayers, Willa Cather, Agatha Christie, Marjorie Rawlings, and Francine Rivers. I’d love to read other authors so please message me with your recommendations. I look forward to being a part of this group

[Nigeyb]

Welcome aboard Clara


You have great taste. Looking forward to reading your contributions.

[ClaraBelle]

Nigeyb wrote: "Welcome aboard Clara


You have great taste. Looking forward to reading your contributions."

Thank you

[Bronwyn]

Welcome Christopher and Clara!

[ClaraBelle]

Bronwyn wrote: "Welcome Christopher and Clara!"

Thank you 😊

[Christopher]

Thanks all!

[Ce Ce]

I am CeCe. I currently divide my life between two cities...Minneapolis in the US Midwest and San Francisco on the West Coast.

My reading is eclectic. I am currently reading “Andersonville”, the Pulitzer Prize winning American Civil War novel by MacKinlay Kantor published in 1955. It’s a challenging read. Long and painful...exposing the dark side of humans divided against ourselves. The very act of reading it seems to drive home the insanity and darkness of civil war.

Yesterday, as a reprieve from the hell of a prisoner of war camp (Andersonville), I started reading “The Life Before Us” by Romain Gary (Émile Ajar). Excellent!

I have just learned of this group and joined in anticipation of your reading of Saramago’s “Blindness”. It will be my first Saramago.

[Roman Clodia]

Welcome, CeCe - it's nice to see you again from the Metamorphoses group!

Blindness will be my first Saramago, too - I'm looking forward to it very much.

[Kalliope]

Hello, I have been a member of this group for a while but when I got the notification that you will be reading Blindness, I thought of becoming active for at least this reading.

Hello, RC - I did not know you were a Mod in this group.

[Susan]

Welcome, CeCe. I loved Andersonville, but agree it is a difficult read.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Hi Cece - Andersonville is one I have onhand but have not yet gotten to.

[Nigeyb]

Welcome aboard

[Judy]

Welcome CeCe and Kalliope.

[Ce Ce]

Thank you! I am looking forward to Saramago.

[Roman Clodia]

Hi Kalli, lovely to see you here and yes, I've only been a Mod for a short time. Great to have you with us for Saramago - will you be reading it in the original?

[Kalliope]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Hi Kalli, lovely to see you here and yes, I've only been a Mod for a short time. Great to have you with us for Saramago - will you be reading it in the original?"

I wasn't going to - I had planned to read it in Spanish. I am learning Italian now and did not want to mess about with the Portuguese for a while, but it is a shame not to. The other three I have read by Saramago I did read them in Portuguese. So, yes.

[Roman Clodia]

Kalliope wrote: "The other three I have read by Saramago I did read them in Portuguese. So, yes."

That's brilliant, it will be very interesting to see how and how well the translation works. And maybe we'll also have the treat of your stunning images as we read... :)

[Kalliope]

Roman Clodia wrote: "

That's brilliant, it will be very interesting to see how and how well the translation works. And m..."

Thank you, but I think the images I will post will be very simple if existent. We are reading an Essay on Blindness. haha...

But then there is his Seeing

[Brenda]

Hi, I’m Brenda from Michigan in the US. I happened to see a group post from my friend Tania in my feed of Olivia Manning and I was curious about the group.

I love the group picture and the premise and see that you’re reading The Painted Veil next month. It’s one of my most favorite movies and I’ve always wanted to read the book. I also plan on starting The Balkan Trilogy in the next couple weeks.

[Lynaia]

Welcome Brenda! You should really enjoy this group. Very friendly and lots of good discussions.

BTW, what part of Michigan are you from? I’m in the Kalamazoo area in southwest Michigan.

[Bronwyn]

Welcome Brenda!

(I’m originally from metro-Detroit, but now live in Columbus.)

[Brenda]

Hi Lynaia, thank you! I do love friendly and lively discussions!!

I’m in the suburbs of Detroit, Warren to be exact. Always fun to meet a fellow Michigander. 😄

[Lynaia]

👍🏻

[Lynaia]

Brenda, since you’re in the Detroit area, do you get over to John King Books much? We used to make a trip about once a year but of course that didn’t happen in 2020. I could spend days and a fortune in that place!

[Jan C]

Welcome Brenda. Former Chicagoan who used (many years ago) to go to camp in Saugatuck. I now live in western North Carolina.

I read The Painted Veil some years ago and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed both movies of the book. Very different and different from the book, I thought.