Introductions Thread

[Terry]

Hi. I just noticed that the introduction asked us to name our favorite book written by a woman. It is a close call, but at this time my pick is Faces in the Crowd . It loses it's way a little in the final chapters, but most of the writing is brilliant.

[Kirsty]

That sounds like such an intriguing book, Terry; I’ll have to see if I can find a copy.

[Tiffany]

Hi! My name is Tiffany. I've been a long-time lurker but this is the first time I'm posting. I live in Cincinnati, OH and work as the office manager of a local public library. I have an MFA in creative writing, but I mostly write mystery and horror.

I love exploring all kinds of literature. Some of my favorite recent discoveries have been from the publisher Europa Editions. That's been my main exposure to international fiction. Some of my favorites are The Elegance of the Hedgehog, My Brilliant Friend, and Juno's Swans.

I hope to be able to get to know you all here!

[Kirsty]

Welcome to the group, Tiffany! We can’t promise that there will be any activity here after December, as Katie and I no longer have the time to moderate, but I hope to converse with you about books in the next few months regardless.

[Laura]

Hi Kirsty and Anne. I was thinking that this would be group worth reviving. My only reservation is that my main focus is on fiction books, so I'm not so enthusiastic about non-fiction. There are plenty of other groups which may be seen as competitors - Read Women, or Virago Modern Classics, or Women's Classic Literature Enthusiasts. But I do like your emphasis on World - for me that means reading a lot works in translation, but I have done that - women from Japan, Spain, Mexico and other countries.

I think there is this unique element to your original ideas.

Would there be any interest from either of you in re-opening it and would you like me as a partner or moderator, or I could just be an active participant?

[Kirsty]

Hi Laura, thanks for your message. Whilst I did enjoy the discussions in this group, I have no time or inclination personally to devote to opening it back up and moderating, and I am only a very occasional Goodreads user these days. The group has been kept live just so others can access the resources if they want to.

[Laura]

Hi Kirsty - would you mind then if I started to use the group page - and start a new book read? I'm not really wanting to invite or even attract a lot of participants, I just thought that it is a space I could use with a friend. I always read books by women, and although much of my reading currently is complying with the Virago Modern Classics list - I always want to expand my reading to other countries - I feel as if I haven't read enough French, German, Dutch women. For example I recently re-read Marie de France - she's from the 12th century, but definitely qualifies as a Woman of The World. She's a very important female writer.

I prefer things small. And I prefer not to be reading with people who are insistent on their knowledge and the importance of their reading knowledge. I had a particularly unpleasant experience recently with a group of 5. I'm trying to find readers, who read deeply and seriously but are still open-minded enough to listen and pay attention to other readers' interpretations. This is surprisingly difficult to find - and the other thing I've noted is that most discussions tend to be very superficial.

I'm yet to find a group whereby a reader will look at things in depth. I did host a very pleasant and friendly group and we read together - Tessa Hadley's Free Love. Several Friends contributed thoughtful and lengthy comments, but I'm not really sure - where to take that group. Just the one author is far too narrow for me.

The problem is to explore books, themes and authors of interest to me, but also be able to engage with other readers whereby our paths cross. I certainly don't expect a perfect match, but again your nice broad topic of Women and World - seems wonderfully encompassing, but at the same time doesn't restrict either. For example - I could do a deep delve into British women writers, or another interest area - a specific focus on Irish women - so there doesn't need to be a requirement of translated works, although that does strike me as an important balancing trend.

A great deal of my reading has focussed on, Australian, Canadian, Irish, British women writers - and of course British is very wide - with a lot of women with Commonwealth or Immigrant backgrounds. I think a theme is needed. I like themes in my reading because I feel as if I am developing and exploring a particular area. I did suggest this in the Modern Virago group - but they disliked it - they prefer to randomly pick from the 745 titles on the official list.

Anyway, I understand you have other occupations and time investments currently, but who knows there maybe a possible overlap in our interest areas.

[Kirsty]

Laura, please feel free to create some new threads here if you would like to. I would much rather the resources were being used, so if you want to resurrect old threads or group reads, I'd be more than happy for you to do this.

Sorry to hear that you haven't had great experiences with group reads - that's largely why I stepped away from this group, and from book clubs in general.