Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Loretta wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Would Shakespeare be considered a classic?"

Yes Sarah! 😊"

I wasn't sure since he's not alive anymore.

Sarah wrote: "Loretta wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Would Shakespeare be considered a classic?"

Yes Sarah! 😊"

I wasn't sure since he's not alive anymore."

Ah, huh. 🤗

Sarah wrote: "Would Shakespeare be considered a classic?"

If you're interested in Shakespeare, his Othello is next month's Old School selection.

When it comes to classics, a dead author is generally considered a virtue.

Melanti wrote: "When it comes to classics, a dead author is generally considered a virtue."

LOL, nicely put!

Melanti wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Would Shakespeare be considered a classic?"

If you're interested in Shakespeare, his Othello is next month's Old School selection.

When it comes to classics, a dead aut..."

I wonder if he was just as appreciated when alive.

He's on such a high pedestal now that I doubt it's possible for him to be just as appreciated.

But was apparently one of the more popular play companies in London and performed at court, so he did pretty well in his own life time.

Hello everybody!
Happy to have found this group!
Honestly speaking I find the group thing sort of baffling cause I see there are lots of icons and chat boxes here, I've totally lost my way in. Now my question is imagining that I wanna join you in reading "The Wuthering Heights", how's it gonna work? I mean what is the plan? I'm a bit puzzled and would love to join you in reading. Is it like we're gonna get notifications or something?

La Petite Princesse :-) wrote: "Hello everybody!
Happy to have found this group!
Honestly speaking I find the group thing sort of baffling cause I see there are lots of icons and chat boxes here, I've totally lost my way in. Now ..."

Link to the Bronte Collection

Wuthering Heights is the reread selection for July 2017. It simply means that its discussion threads will be moved from its permanent folder to its own active folder for the month of July. It will remain in this folder for the month of July, August, and September before being placed back in its permanent file.

None of our discussions are ever closed. You can go the above link and comment on Wuthering Heights or any other books by the Bronte's that are on our bookshelf. By its being selected for rereading it will likely have more members participating in rereading or first time reading and should generate a livelier discussion.

Remember all of our book discussions are open for comment anytime. They don't have to be on our Currently Reading list for reading and discussion. By having a past book from our shelf selected for a monthly reread can help entice a member to reread a favorite or a newer member read one that they have been thinking about.

As for notifications, yes, Pink sends out a group wide message between the 16th & 18th every month announcing current reading and future readings and provides a link to the polls for the following month.

To wordy, sorry, hope this helps.

Welcome to the group!

As to how to get to group reads, that sort of depends on if you're in the app or on the website.

If you're using the site, when you're on the group home page just scroll down until you get to the discussion board. There will be multiple folders with various discussion threads there. Current group reads and the main group folder are usually the top 5 or 6 threads. The group read threads are usually formatted "Month Year - Title".

With the app, you'd go Groups->Catching Up ->Scroll down to the folders section.

Older group read folders are further down and kept for a couple of months, then we move the threads into either generic Old/New school folders or a dedicated thread for an individual author if we've read multiple books by them. You might have to scroll down to the bottom and click on "More Discussions" since the site just shows the most recently active threads.

On the main site, you can also use the "Search Discussion posts" box in the right column, and if you search for the book title and put the toggle in the "topics" selection, that usually works pretty well in finding the books.

Here's the Wuthering Heights threads:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/comme...

We do our nominations/voting a month in advance, so the discussion will start on July 1.

Bob wrote: "La Petite Princesse :-) wrote: "Hello everybody!
Happy to have found this group!
Honestly speaking I find the group thing sort of baffling cause I see there are lots of icons and chat boxes here, I..."
Thank you Bob! This absolutely helped. Now I have a clear vision on the matter :-)

Melanti wrote: "Welcome to the group!

As to how to get to group reads, that sort of depends on if you're in the app or on the website.

If you're using the site, when you're on the group home page just scroll d..."

Oh, I got it. Thank you dear Melanti :-)

I am officially beginning the group in November. I see the 4 books listed for November but when do we start the long quarterly book and when will it be announced? Do we read the long book at our own pace or at a set pace?

We started our last quarterly book of the year on October 1st, it runs through from October- December. You are free to read at your own pace, or Katy is moderating one of the threads and posing questions as the weeks go, if you'd prefer to read along with the group. This discussion will continue for another 2 months yet. We also have a non spoiler thread. Here's a link to all of them. https://www.goodreads.com/group/comme...

Here's a link to our group reads thread, which will be updated for December's books when the polls end on Tuesday 31st October. Feel free to vote for your favourite if you haven't already.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Donna wrote: "I am officially beginning the group in November. I see the 4 books listed for November but when do we start the long quarterly book and when will it be announced? Do we read the long book at our ow..."

As Pink noted we are reading The Woman in White for the 4th quarter of 2017. Do join us, I'm sure you can catch up if you want to read along at my slow pace, or just join us in the other threads at your own pace.

Pink wrote: "We started our last quarterly book of the year on October 1st, it runs through from October- December. You are free to read at your own pace, or Katy is moderating one of the threads and posing que..."
Can I ask a silly question, please. Come Nov. 1st. do I, if I wish, get to nominate a different book for each of the four/five categories, or is it just one nomination per reader, regardless of the category? - )

Yes, you can nominate(or second) one book in each of the categories.

And no question is too silly.

Katy wrote: "Yes, you can nominate(or second) one book in each of the categories.

And no question is too silly."
Cool! Thank you. What excellent service! - )

We aim to please ;)

Katy wrote: "We aim to please ;)"
And you succeed! - )

How are books added to the shelves? Just curious and wondering whether suggestions are encouraged or not. Thank you! :)

The book on the shelves are past and current group reads.

If you'd like to nominate something, you can do so in these threads: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Melanti wrote: "The book on the shelves are past and current group reads.

If you'd like to nominate something, you can do so in these threads: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group..."

Thank you! :)

I’ve been a member for a couple of months yet not active. I had another challenge I wanted to finish before taking this on.
I wondered do I post my review anywhere? The group I moderate, A Book for All Seasons, ( everyone feel free to join), we discuss in one thread and post a review in another. I could quite tell if the spoiler/no spoiler thread was the review thread.

We don't necessarily post reviews in the group read threads at all, though if you'd like to, the spoiler thread is usually the best place. Normally, we just discuss rather than post reviews - though people do from time to time.

Oh great ok. Thanks for clarifying.

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to post this.

I wanted to ask if I am reading a book that is discussed here, is it okay to mention the weblink to that discussion in my Goodreads book review?

I would not have thought / ever found the time to read those books without the opportunity to discuss them. I like to read books but I did not think it could be this enjoyable - this is neat!

Hi, people sometimes link their reviews in the discussion, which is absolutely fine. I don't see any problem with linking our discussions in your review either. I'm glad it's made the books more enjoyable for you!

Pink wrote: "Hi, people sometimes link their reviews in the discussion, which is absolutely fine. I don't see any problem with linking our discussions in your review either. I'm glad it's made the books more en..."

this is brill! - thanks

I would never have thought to link my posts or the group discussion to a review. That's some awesome outside-the-box thinking!

Hi moderators. I found this group and would like to become an active member. I enjoy reading and catching up on the classics. The information as to how the group works is very helpful.

But I do have several questions. Do most members read the same book at the same time? Or is it okay to read any classic and discuss it here? At the moment I am reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Where would I find related discussions?

Thanks for moderating this group. (I will go over the rules again).

Welcome to the group Howard. So glad that you have joined us and want to be an active member.

We do have several monthly group reads, but you can read any classic you like at any time. We do not close any of our discussion threads, so feel free to discuss at any time.

The threads for The Picture of Dorian Gray can be found in the Oscar Wilde Collection of our discussion threads here.

Hope that helps.

Hi Moderators
Quick question : is it ok to mention my reading blog in relevant comments, or is that bad etiquette? I havent participated in Goodreads groups very much and I thought I should ask first. Thanks for feedback.

Hi Warren, I'd say it's okay to mention in a discreet way, if it's relevant to the comments and you don't overdo it. We try to keep our members from being spammed, or asked to click on unnecessary links outside of Goodreads, but a reading blog by an enthusiastic classics reader, I don't see the harm of.

Pink wrote: "Hi Warren, I'd say it's okay to mention in a discreet way, if it's relevant to the comments and you don't overdo it. We try to keep our members from being spammed, or asked to click on unnecessary ..."

Thanks Pink, will do. I want to add my personal challenge to that thread, but it will be clearer if interested people can see the blog. Thanks also for the welcome, I'm looking forward to choosing, reading and sharing thoughts on one of the February books in a few weeks' time.

Warren wrote: "Hi Moderators
Quick question : is it ok to mention my reading blog in relevant comments, or is that bad etiquette? I havent participated in Goodreads groups very much and I thought I should ask fir..."

Mentioning your blog in your Personal Challenge thread is an appropriate place to do so.

I wish we could have some place to talk about getting the next months books. (What translations, free versions, audiobook versions....) I do my “home work” well in advance, as now I am looking for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for April. I discovered that there is a version by Tolkien. I would like to mention it somewhere. Like for instance, if it could be allowed that the non-spoiler tread start right away after a book has won a vote?

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I wish we could have some place to talk about getting the next months books. (What translations, free versions, audiobook versions....) I do my “home work” well in advance, as now I am looking for ..."

Use this thread to discuss translations & best editions of a book: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hope that helps.

In "non-Group Reads"? It is about April's group read

J_BlueFlower wrote: "In "non-Group Reads"? It is about April's group read"

But it is not a group read yet. And this allows the thread to be more general about any book.

And it gives the mod's time to discuss and think about how to use the non spoiler threads for the best purpose. Thank you for the suggestion.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I wish we could have some place to talk about getting the next months books. (What translations, free versions, audiobook versions....) I do my “home work” well in advance, as now I am looking for ..."

Here is the thread you asked for: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I hope that it helps.

It is perfect, and other people seem to like the version hunting discussion as well. Thank you.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "It is perfect, and other people seem to like the version hunting discussion as well. Thank you."

You are welcome. It was a nice suggestion on your part.

Katy wrote: "J_BlueFlower wrote: "It is perfect, and other people seem to like the version hunting discussion as well. Thank you."

You are welcome. It was a nice suggestion on your part."

I agree that this really helps, Katy. On some of these older classics, it is really difficult to decide which translation/edition is best. And as J_BlueFlower mentioned, I also spend days hunting down the "perfect" edition for me. Thank you!

Quick Question. How many readers do you have to have before starting a buddy read thread? Some groups say two and others three.

Cynda wrote: "Quick Question. How many readers do you have to have before starting a buddy read thread? Some groups say two and others three."

We are fine with two for a buddy read.

I think I lost my buddies for Catch 22. I don't want to like make this unpleasant so I'll just stick it out solo. but for future reference, what are we supposed to do when a buddy read falls apart?

I guess we don't really have a rule for failed buddy reads. You can all just bail, or try it at a later date. With Catch-22, it is a group read -- so feel free to add to the previous thread's comments.

Where would be the right place to post about documentaries and other factual programming on classic literature? There's a Film & TV adaptations folder, but it is exactly that.

Antonomasia wrote: "Where would be the right place to post about documentaries and other factual programming on classic literature? There's a Film & TV adaptations folder, but it is exactly that."

I think the film and tv adaptations folder would be fine to post in, or else the general chit chat folder. You can start a thread for documentaries if you like, I'll be interested to see any recommendations.

Antonomasia wrote: "Where would be the right place to post about documentaries and other factual programming on classic literature? There's a Film & TV adaptations folder, but it is exactly that."

Go ahead with a new thread in that folder & call it documentaries. That should be the best place for the discussion.