New? Introduce Yourself By Saying a Friendly Hello

[Kathleen]

Ginny wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Like Ken, I've yet to read Trollope. What do you think is the best to start with, the obscure one or something else? ..."

Some great advice from Diane already. There are 47 novels..."

What a great site, Ginny, thank you. After some review, Miss Mackenzie sounds like a great one for me to start with. Hoping for next year ... which is in just a few months--yikes!

[BarbaraW]

Hey. I’m Barbara from near Tampa,FL. I love to read and this group really fits the bill. The Street was great. Looking forward to Bronte novel. It’s so nice to have web friends who love to read literature. Thank you.

[Kelly]

BarbaraW wrote: "Hey. I’m Barbara from near Tampa,FL. I love to read and this group really fits the bill. The Street was great. Looking forward to Bronte novel. It’s so nice to have web friends who love to read lit..."

Hey Barbara!

I'm in the Tampa Bay area as well!! Welcome!

-Kelly

[Bionic Jean]

Welcome from me too, Barbara! (I'm one of the rare English members :) )

[Ken]

Hi, Barbara. Glad you dropped by at the "Introduce yourself!" thread.

I have a sister-in-law in Englewood not far from you. My wife and I have it on our frozen-in-time travel schedule, post-pandemic (post Canterbury Tales, post-Decameron, etc.).

[Sara]

Welcome, Barbara. Always nice to have another serious reader on board.

[Darrin]

Welcome!

[Stacey B]

Hi everyone, I'm Stacey.
I received an invite from Jan to join this group-
So..here I am.
I'm almost sure I will get my bearings with a little time; if not I will ask.
Happy New Year to everyone.
Thank you Jan.

[Jan]

Stacey wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm Stacey.
I received an invite from Jan to join this group-
So..here I am.
I'm almost sure I will get my bearings with a little time; if not I will ask.
Happy New Year to everyone...."

It's a genuine pleasure, Stacey. Reading your interests in books, I was struck by your comment about enjoying all books except those "filled with no imagination." The people you'll meet here as well as the books will prove to be lively, indeed.

I received a little "ding" to check social media just now. My dear Steve and I are gently laughing away the stress from this year, and he teased me about how excited I am about February's upcoming discussion. Of course, I'm excited about this. Welcome!

[Sandra]

Welcome Stacey. Any friend of Jan’s is a friend of ours❤️

[Darrin]

Welcome.

[Joseph]

Hello!

[Stacey B]

Wow..Im impressed.
You just made my night!
Thank you so much.

[Stacey B]

Jan wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm Stacey.
I received an invite from Jan to join this group-
So..here I am.
I'm almost sure I will get my bearings with a little time; if not I will ask.
Happy New Ye..."
Thank you-
I cant wait for this year to gone- all of it. :)

[Bionic Jean]

Welcome Stacey! This is a lovely group :)

[Sara]

Welcome, Stacey. Lovely to have you here.

[Ken]

Welcome, Stacey and Joseph. Always good to see new faces in the reading room.

And Happy New Year to all of you. I'm convinced 2021 will improve on 2020.

[Sara]

Oh, Joseph, I had meant to welcome you as well. Happy New Year.

[Stacey B]

This is so great-
I should introduce myself one a month. :)
Thank you for making me feel so welcome.
HNY!!!

[Diane]

Stacey and Joseph, welcome aboard our obscure little group. Great discussions here by people who take reading seriously.

[Stacey B]

Diane wrote: "Stacey and Joseph, welcome aboard our obscure little group. Great discussions here by people who take reading seriously."
Works for me, and thank you so much!!

[Diane]

Hello, Genise. Kind greetings to you too. Hope you enjoy this group and our obscure books and opinions.

[Ken]

Welcome, Genise. Hope you can quickly find a copy of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and jump in for the first week of Feb.

You only need read the first part, as Brontë herself divided the book, around 160 pp., by Feb. 1st. That should help!

[Kathleen]

A very late welcome to our newest members, Paula, Barbara, Stacey, Joseph and Genise. Discussion time is coming, and I look forward to seeing you in the threads!

An aside to Ginny and Diane, I did start my first Trollope: The Warden, since it's being read by the Classics group. I can see why he's a favorite--very engaging. I'm reading way too many books concurrently right now, but when I go back to The Warden, I fall easily right back into it, with his distinctive characters.

[Diane]

Kathleen, if you decide to read the entire Barchester series, I think you'll continue to be delighted. Trollope was fantastic at portraying human nature, in addition to telling a good story.

[Miriam]

Hello everybody!
My name is Miriam and I'm from Italy.
I was reading "The tenant of Wildfell Hall" on my own, when I became aware of the existence of this group.
So I thought that maybe I could join you in this
journey.
I'm currently at chapter 18, but I hope I can reach you in these days...

[Darrin]

Welcome Miriam!

[Miriam]

Thank you, Darrin!

[Ken]

Glad to have you in the group, Miriam. I'm sure you'll catch us in no time. Enjoy!

[Miriam]

Thanks, Ken!

[Sandra]

Welcome, Miriam. We have lively and interesting discussions! Looking forward to your comments.

[Miriam]

You're very kind, Sandra.

[Kathleen]

Hi Miriam, and welcome! Look forward to you adding your thoughts to the discussion. :-)

[Miriam]

Hi, Kathleen!

[Scout]

Hi, all. I'm Scout in South Georgia, U.S. I just discovered this group, and it looks like a great one! I wish I had been around for the Jude read, as I last read it in high school and am a Hardy fan. I'll look around and see what you're reading now.

[Ken]

Hi, Scout. Good to see you here! Our next read isn't until June, but you can nominate any ole book you wish (including an unread Hardy, if you wish).

[Carol]

Hello Scout, this is a great group. The books are discussed in detail. It brings new dimensions to the novels.

[Darrin]

Welcome, Scout

[Kathleen]

It is a great group, Scout--welcome!

[Sue]

Hi Scout. Nice to see you here.

[Scout]

Thanks, all! Happy to be here.

[Scout]

Sue wrote: "Hi Scout. Nice to see you here."

Nice to see you, also. I saw that you were a member when I signed up! I thought you might be interested to know that when I run out of good books to read, I go to your page and see what you've been reading. I love your reviews! Take care, Scout

[Sue]

Thanks Scout. I’m glad to know you are checking out my books. So much to read!

[Leanne]

Hi everyone! I’m Leanne and I’m from London. I joined this group because I have been an admirer of Hardy since I was first introduced to him by my English teacher in 2017. I haven’t made my way through all of his works yet but I’m really interested to hear everyone’s thoughts on his work and sharing some of my own :) Happy reading!

[Ken]

Hi Leanne and welcome!

Alas, we are not a Thomas Hardy group. We just happened to choose Jude the Obscure as our first group read, is all. Then we borrowed (with Thomas's permission) the word "Obscure" for our book group.

Our mission is to choose good books that are somewhat off the beaten track. That's why we are the "Obscure Reading Group."

Bottom line: You're certainly welcome to stay and see what book is chosen at the end of this month for our JUNE read! However, if your heart is set on all Hardy, all the time, I'm sad to say this isn't the answer to that Wessex dream.

[Leanne]

Hello Ken! I am beyond embarrassed, but when one door closes another one opens and I’m more than eager to stay and join your June read, if you’ll have me :) After all, like Jude, I am ‘crazy for books’!

[Sara]

Leanne, glad you have decided to stay. I'm a big fan of Hardy as well, so maybe there will be another Hardy in the future of this group.

[Leanne]

Thank you Sara, I’ll be looking forward to our next read!

[Ken]

Leanne wrote: "Hello Ken! I am beyond embarrassed, but when one door closes another one opens and I’m more than eager to stay and join your June read, if you’ll have me :) After all, like Jude, I am ‘crazy for bo..."

Glad you chose to stay, Leanne. At the end of April, if you wish (it's optional), you may wish to nominate a book when I send out a call for nominations. From there we vote in a poll and have a month (May) to track down and read the winner so we're ready to roll on June 1st.

Sheesh. Seems so weird to be saying "June 1st" already, but time, it keeps on rolling....

[Kathleen]

Welcome, Leanne! Glad you'll be staying with us. You're coming at a good time, so you can be in our nominations. I'm so anxious to see what our next book will be!