Vintage Tales discussion
Group Reads/Readalongs
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Group Read Nominations
message 101:
by
Werner
(new)
Jul 31, 2022 06:22AM
I'll plan to get the poll up tonight, with this line-up: A Doll's House, The Prose Edda, and Quo Vadis. (If anyone really has a burning urgency to see The Count of Monte Cristo included, I'll put it in too; but since I'm not sensing that so far, at this point I'm omitting it because of its length.) So if anyone has last-minute requests for additions, deletions, etc., get them in before then! :-) (I'll probably get back online around 6:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Savings time.)
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The poll is now up, at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... . Voting will be open through Sunday, Aug. 14.
Voting has ended on the poll, and we have a winner: Quo Vadis. (It garnered seven votes. to three for The Prose Edda and just one for A Doll's House.) We'll plan to start our read on Sept. 1, and I'll plan to get the discussion thread posted at that time. All group members are invited to join in!
Mod
We're once again at the point in time when we should start thinking seriously about what book we might want to pick for our annual group read in September! The poll usually goes up on Aug. 1; on that day, my wife and I will actually be leaving very early in the morning for a short visit with family, during which I'll be offline, but Rosemarie has helpfully stepped up to the plate and agreed to get the poll posted.My suggestion is a relatively short one:
The Mabinogion. As I understand it, it's our primary medieval source for the actual mythology and folklore of the Celtic peoples, which underlies a great deal of modern writing in the fantasy genre. I'd like to read The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander with my wife sometime; but I'm inclined to think that for myself, a prior reading of the actual legends he reworked would be a valuable background.
Jamaica Inn got four stars from me when I read it back in 2012! It would be an excellent pick for a group read (probably better than The Mabinogion, to be honest!), and I could get behind it as a nomination. (I wouldn't plan to reread it myself, but I would definitely take part in the discussion.)
Mod
You can access the poll from the group's desktop homepage in two ways: by clicking on polls or scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking on more polls.
The poll is open for two weeks.
Happy reading everyone!
Jazzy wrote (at the poll itself): "There are only 2 books - shall we read both of them?"Jazzy, I took the liberty of copying -and-pasting your comment here, so that more group members could see it and respond to it! It's an interesting idea (though nobody has ever suggested it before). The Mabinogion is a fairly short read, which could make it easier to work both books in during September; and I'm game to read it. (As I said above, I'm not planning to reread the Du Maurier book, though I'll join in the discussion.) What do the rest of you think?
Mod
Sounds good to me. If I can fit both in, I will.😊
Well, I'm favorable to the idea in this specific case, too. That makes four of us, which is as many people who've voted on the poll so far (and three of us were among those voters). Gia, what do you think?All of our group reads are always strictly voluntary! So in that respect, having two of them next month won't constrain anyone; folks will be free to take part in both, one or the other, or neither. A dual read would just mean that both books would be featured on the homepage, and both would have official discussion threads in the Group Reads/Readalongs folder. :-)
Reading both books in September works for me too! I'll probably only read The Mabinogion, but I could surprise myself and reach for the other book too, lol! Will see.
Gia wrote: "Reading both books in September works for me too! I'll probably only read The Mabinogion...."Then I'd say we have a consensus; and unless somebody else in the group is passionately opposed to the idea, that's what we'll plan on doing! :-)
Like most Goodreads groups, we've mostly used our group bookshelves just for books selected for official group reads. However, I've just noticed that about ten years ago, one of our members (Holly), added a couple of books she wanted to read to the to-read shelf. (That doesn't create any confusion for the Goodreads program; unless books on that shelf are given start and finish dates, the program won't treat them as actual upcoming group reads.)I'm going to extend the same invitation to everyone to add classic books that you'd like to read to that shelf. Of course, we don't have to pick our group reads from that list; but I think it will be a worthwhile resource to refer to when we're thinking about what books to pick, or nominate, for group reads. (Another group I help to moderate is trying the same thing.) Even if it does nothing else, it will give us an idea of which books at least one other person in the group might want to read!
Okay, I added a bunch off the top of my head.😏😉Sorry if I went overboard!
No, Vickie, you didn't go overboard at all (I expect to eventually add more than you did). It's great to see somebody in the group taking the ball and running with it; that's what I was hoping for!
Doing this also made me realize how many classics I still need to read. Waaaay to many, yikes!
Vickie wrote: "Doing this also made me realize how many classics I still need to read. Waaaay to many, yikes!"Well, you're still young, Vickie; and you only have 144 books on your to-read shelf! (In perspective, I'm 71; and I've got close to 400 books on that shelf --and a lot more on the "maybe" shelf.) By the time you're my age, you'll have a LOT more classics under your belt. :-)
Gosh, I don't know, but we'll see, lol. Plus, I haven't updated my to-read shelf in a long time. There are SO many I haven't put on there, but the physical copies are all staring at me on my actual bookshelves at home, hundreds of them. UGH, it's so depressing when I see them. Not to mention, all the ebooks I have, as well, just sitting there waiting. Never enough time in my day, sigh...
I can relate (my physical TBR piles are mountainous.) But think of it this way --it's a good problem to have! If you lived in a time or place where you didn't have much at all to read, and not very easy means of getting more reading material, now that would really be a BAD problem. :-)
Looking ahead a couple of months (give or take a day), we usually do an annual group common read in September. I'd like to put in a plug for the book
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston. It's one that's been on my to-read shelf forever, and I'd resolved last December that I want 2024 to be the year that I finally read it. (At 238 pages, it's also not unduly long, so shouldn't require a major time commitment.)
Mod
Mod
Since the group is called Vintage Tales, the books need to be vintage as well, say first published before 1974. They can be any genre-novels, short stories, historical fiction, books for readers of all ages, etc.
Mod
Good choice!
Frenchman's Creek has been on my "maybe-to-read" shelf for a while, so it would be my second choice of the three nominated so far! Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn was one of two books group members could choose from for our 2023 group read; I'd read it before, and really like it.
I would like to nominate Pnin by Nabokov
I was also hesitating with Emma by Jane Austen but I figured more people would probably have already read it…
Mod
Oh really ? Well in that case I’ll do that, thank you :)
Elsa wrote: "I was also hesitating with Emma by Jane Austen but I figured more people would probably have already read it…"I didn't read Emma until I was in my late 60s, and I'm sure there are others in the group who haven't read it yet. (It got five stars from me; and although my 2019 read was recent enough that I won't reread it this soon, I'd be glad to join in discussing it if it wins the poll.)
Here's the link to the poll (which is now up!) that Rosemarie mentioned in her message to all group members this morning: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... .
By now, most folks in the group will have read Rosemarie's message that Emma has won the poll. I'm looking forward to that discussion!
September is fast approaching, so it's not too early to start brainstorming about what book to choose for our annual group read (which we've been doing in September). My suggestion this time would be
Benito Cereno (1855) by Herman Melville. It would be a fairly short read; and personally, I'd like to read more of Melville's work than the relatively small amount of it that I have already.
Hmm...I don’t know. I looked through our group 'want to read' shelf and I'm going to choose One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Hmmm! There's no question that Cabbages and Kings (1904) qualifies as a nominee. However, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was published in 1962. We don't have an explicit definition of "classic" for these reads; but the most recently published book we've ever had in a poll was from 1960. (The only time there was ever a discussion of the issue on this thread was in 2019, when we agreed that 2003 is too recent.)1962 isn't long after 1960, and it's arguable that a book that's still being widely read after 63 years has stood a fairly long test of time. (I'm thinking out loud here!) For myself, I generally use 1950 as a cut-off date for "classics;" but that's somewhat arbitrary, and ca. 1965 actually marks a more significant watershed in Western culture. Rosemarie, in message 58, you wrote "I generally consider books published at least 50 years ago as possible classics." What do you think?
Having heard no objections to One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, we're including it on the list. (The rule of thumb in legal circles is that "Silence is consent." :-) ) So, to recap, we now have three nominees so far, that book plus Benito Cereno and Cabbages and Kings.
Whatever the majority wants is fine with me, but then maybe we should update our group shelf? Remove any that don't fit the bill.😏
Vintage Tales
Books mentioned in this topic
Benito Cereno (other topics)Go Set a Watchman (other topics)
To Kill a Mockingbird (other topics)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (other topics)
Cabbages and Kings (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Herman Melville (other topics)O. Henry (other topics)
Herman Melville (other topics)
Daphne du Maurier (other topics)
Booth Tarkington (other topics)
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