Announcing the Tag for February

[Robin P]

I read Silas Marner in high school and hated it, but I expect I would appreciate it more now. I loved Middlemarch but it's a huge commitment. I have read several others and liked them ok but they weren't that memorable.

[Holly R W]

@Robin, I remember how much I hated Silas Marner during high school, too - So much, that I would never consider reading it again. It's funny how a memory like that sticks.

[Karin]

Robin P wrote: "Joy D wrote: "AJ wrote: "I was really hoping for speculative fiction, threw 10 votes at it, any suggestions for me would be highly appreciated"

I love speculative fiction and have read quite a few..."

It's tagged England 26 times and when I read it I was quite sure it was set in England although I can no longer remember why I thought that.

[NancyJ]

Holly R W wrote: "@Robin, I remember how much I hated Silas Marner during high school, too - So much, that I would never consider reading it again. It's funny how a memory like that sticks."

Robin P wrote: "I read Silas Marner in high school and hated it, but I expect I would appreciate it more now. I loved Middlemarch but it's a huge commitment. I have read several others and liked them ok but they w..."

Jenny wrote: "Silas Marner is a short Eliot book! The only other one I've read is Middlemarch, which is a chunkster but will probably take longer than a month to read."

Thanks for the comments. I had a feeling that the lower ratings for Silas Marner were in part because people were forced to read it in school. The themes seem interesting to me now but they sure wouldn't have when I was young. So I might try it. Joy raved about the writing and character development in Adam Bede so that's tempting too.

Graham Green is another author I've meant to read for a long time. I want to read another Maggie OFarrell book but her latest is the only one without england tags.

I should have stopped looking yesterday, I was happy with my choices !

[Joy D]

NancyJ wrote: "Joy, didn't you read something by George Eliot last year? I've always meant to read her (when I was young her name stuck with me), but I didn't feel up to it last year. Now might be a good time. Do you think I'd like one of her books?
."

I read Adam Bede and really liked it a lot, but it is a big book at over 650 pages. I read Middlemarch the year before, and also enjoyed it very much, but it's around 900 pages and a big time commitment. I read a little bit over a long period of time, and actually worked out really well, as that's the way it was originally written.

I read Silas Marner so long ago that I can't really offer an opinion. I probably need to re-read it.

[NancyJ]

Joy D wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Joy, didn't you read something by George Eliot last year? I've always meant to read her (when I was young her name stuck with me), but I didn't feel up to it last year. Now might be ..."

Thanks. I put Adam Bede on my Round 2 list, along with many other English books (or authors) that I missed. Your review sold me on it. I stopped reading long books due to fog, but I'm going to take advantage of the clarity while I have it. I love the new rules!

[Pam]

This reminds me that I’ve been wanting to try something by Anthony Trollope, but can’t decide where to begin. Any suggestions?

[Joy D]

NancyJ wrote: "Thanks. I put Adam Bede on my Round 2 list, along with many other English books (or authors) that I missed. Your review sold me on it. I stopped reading long books due to fog, but I'm going to take advantage of the clarity while I have it. I love the new rules...."

Hope you enjoy it, NancyJ. I put some longer books on my next round, too.

[Ginger]

The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz! This is the book I chose to meet the requirements for February. A must read love story with a bit of a twist.

[Mary]

I'm currently b working on finishing read all of Agatha Christie's books in order. So I will probably have a couple that fit in this month's tag.

[Robin P]

Pam wrote: "This reminds me that I’ve been wanting to try something by Anthony Trollope, but can’t decide where to begin. Any suggestions?"

My favorite is Barchester Towers which is a satirical book about rivalries among various members of the clergy - and their wives. It is officially the 2nd book of the Barchester series, after The Warden, which is short. If you want just a taste, you could go with The Warden. The only thing about it is that a couple of the chapters are very specific satires on people and institutions of the time that don't mean a lot to us. There was a BBC/PBS series covering those 2 books some time ago with Alan Rickman as the smarmy clergyman in Barchester Towers. You could probably get it from a library.

[Theresa]

Another fantastic banner, Anna! Iconic. And thank you for not making it about the royals.... I've had enough of them for a while. though I will eventually read Spare though not this month.

I've only had enough of the British royals. What I just read about Louis XV and Madame de Pompedour ... that's wonderfully entertaining.

[Anne]

So I'd like to read The Shadow of Water, it's next in the series, but it's not been read by many people and is only tagged England by 2. The synopsis reads:

"In an England on the brink of war, Lily is plagued by visions of the cataclysmic destruction of London. An ancient prophecy is coming to fruition, and it starts with the gruesome discovery of a corpse in the sewers."

Would I be able to count this? Thanks!

[Holly R W]

Hi Anne,

For the monthly tags, we don't need to even consider whether other readers here on Goodreads have tagged a book with "England", for example. If you feel that your book is related in some way to "England", that's all that matters.

It's different for PBT Challenges. If the Challenge says that the book needs to be tagged as "Scotland" (for example), then 5 readers must have tagged it as that.

I hope this makes sense to you.

[Anne]

Holly R W wrote: "Hi Anne,

For the monthly tags, we don't need to even consider whether other readers here on Goodreads have tagged a book with "England", for example. If you feel that your book is related in some..."

Great, thanks Holly. Still figuring out the 'rules'!

[Booknblues]

Anne wrote: "So I'd like to read The Shadow of Water, it's next in the series, but it's not been read by many people and is only tagged England by 2. The synopsis reads:

"In an England on the b..."

If it fits it will work for the tag.

[Nicole R]

Oooo, I love the masthead!

[Joanne]

Also love the creativeness Anna!

[Nicole R]

I feel like I don't always see it because I am usually on the app.