Vintage Tales discussion

For the last several years, in order to have something to contribute to our group's "classic Christmas stories" thread, I've usually tried to read a classic Christmas book during the month of December. This year, I've started The Birds' Christmas Carol (1886) by American author Kate Douglas Wiggin (who's best known for her novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm). "Bird" in this book is a family name, so the titular characters are not feathered avians. :-)

I love The Birds Christmas Carol, Werner. Enjoy!

I'm liking it so far, Rosemarie, thanks!

In order to kick off two different annual challenge threads in two of the Goodreads groups I help moderate as early as possible, I wanted to start my reading year in 2021 with a book that: a.) consists of content old enough to be deemed a classic; b.) is in the Bluefield College library's collection; and c,) is likely to be a quick read. The Diamond Lens and Other Strange Tales by Fitz-James O'Brien meets all three criteria, so I've started on it this afternoon.

Although I've read the two novellas Canadian author Kelley Armstrong wrote as sequels to her Nadia Stafford trilogy, I've yet to read any of the original three books. So, in keeping with my plan of trying to finish, or at least make progress in, the many series I've started without completing or catching up with, I've begun reading the trilogy opener, Exit Strategy.

Dwight Burkholder, whose debut novel is The Preacher's Dear (2011) is from the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where my wife Barb was born and raised, and where we lived in our first married years. She's slightly acquainted with him, and we're both friendly with some members of his extended family. That connection is how we got a free copy of the book when it came out. Barb read and liked it back then, but I hadn't; so she was willing to re-read it as our next "car book," and we started on it today.

Last year, Goodreads author Kana Wu kindly donated a copy of her debut novel, No Romance Allowed, to the Bluefield College library, where I work. I'm not a big reader of "romances;" but this one did pique my curiosity. Then too, Kana and I have become Goodreads friends; and I do try, at times, to read books by my author friends, in order to support their creative efforts. So I started reading this one yesterday, and I'm liking it so far.

This month, I'm taking part in a common read, in another group, of Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, and just started it yesterday. (Actually, I'm reading it in the 1898 Thomas Y. Crowell and Co. printing, but the edition Goodreads uses as a default has a much cooler cover. :-) ) I've wanted for a long time to read more of Longfellow's work, having only experienced it from short selections in American Literature textbooks. (So far, though, I have to admit that I'm not as impressed as I'd hoped to be.)

Another group I'm in is doing a common read of Dickens' classic novel Dombey and Son, starting tomorrow, and I'm joining in. Since I don't expect to get to read tomorrow, I started it today, and am just a few pages in. This is a reread for me; but my previous read was perhaps as much as 50 years ago or more, or certainly close to 50, so my memories of most of it are hazy at best. But I did vividly recall the opening scene of Dombey after the birth of his son and heir, and the satirical humor with which Dickens depicts it!

That sounds good. I'm reading a few books, working my way slowing through The Red and the Black by Stendhal.

This month, I'm taking part in another group's common read of The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley (I started a bit late). It's my first introduction to his work --surprisingly, I'd never heard of him before I joined Goodreads.

Barb and I started on a new "car book" today: the alternate-world fantasy novel Operation Luna by Poul Anderson. It's the sequel to his Operation Chaos, which we read together a few years ago and both liked (and some years before that, we also read and liked his stand-alone SF novel The High Crusade), so I have good hopes for this one. Since it's a pretty thick book for a trade paperback, I'm expecting it will take us awhile to read it.

Recently, I received a copy of my friend Andrew M. Seddon's latest story collection, The Deadliest Sins: Seven Supernatural Stories, each story focusing on one of the traditional "seven deadly sins." It's not really a review copy --Andrew would gift me with one whether I reviewed it or not-- but I'm prioritizing it as if it were, so started on it this weekend. I'm expecting it to be quite a quick read.

I'm reading The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox Jr..
Kingdom Come is the name of a settlement in the Kentucky mountains.

Although Barb and I recently began reading Poul Anderson's Operation Luna, the sequel to his Operation Chaos which we read and liked back in 2015, Barb remarked that she wasn't connecting as well with the characters as she would if she could actually remember the earlier read. So I suggested rereading it, so we could read the two back-to-back. That works for her, so we started our reread of the first book today.

Back when I was a teen, in the mid-to-late 60s, I was quite fascinated with an 1899 history of Norway, Norway by a Sigvart Sorensen. But it's one of a number of books that I didn't have author/title information for (in this case. because the copy I read was missing its front cover and title page), and I only ran it down this year. I realized I couldn't do it justice in a review without a reread, so I started reading it again this week.

My first read of George Eliot's great novel Middlemarch was more than 20 years ago. Since I'd never reviewed it here, watching the wonderful 1994 BBC miniseries adaptation (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108858/ ) on DVD last summer inspired me to do a reread, so I finally started on it again yesterday.

Having finished our reread of Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson (which we originally read in 2015), Barb and I immediately started on the sequel, Operation Luna. Though Barb was the one who suggested the reread, reading the books back-to-back will give us both a fresher recollection of the characters, and make the visit with old friends in the second one more rewarding. :-)

I'm now taking part in a common read, in another group, of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four. This is a reread for me (as of last year, I've read the entire original Holmes canon); but my previous read was as a tween kid back in the 60s, so my recollections of it aren't sharp.

Because she knows I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and of her series sleuth Hercules Poirot, my wife gave me a copy of Mrs. McGinty's Dead for Christmas some years ago. As is usually the case with books in my mountainous TBR piles, it's sat unread for years; so I'm taking advantage of a common read in another group this month to finally read it. (I'm joining in very late in the month; but it's a fairly short book, and I'm expecting it to be a quick read.)

That's great, Werner! I enjoy Agatha Christie from time to time. I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice days ago and found I couldn't read another book for a few days (that's what happens to me when I read a really good book.) For Jane Austen July, I'm currently reading Persuasion

Glad to hear from another Christie and Austen reader, Gia! I was introduced to the former as a grade school kid, and to the latter when I was in high school (I picked Pride and Prejudice to do a book report on). But I have to admit that, while I like Dame Agatha, I really like Jane, even though it took me until last year to fulfill my goal of moving every one of her novels to my "read" shelf. (I hadn't heard about "Jane Austen July," though --that sounds pretty cool!)

I am currently reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. This is my first time reading this and I am loving it!! :)

@Werner Me too! I like to read a mystery book about twice a year. Most of the Christie books I've read were when I was part of a classics book group here on GR last year. It was fun and we read a book each month. Jane is great! Cool that you read Pride and Prejudice so young! I'm working my way slowly through all her books and writings. This is my first year for Jane Austen July; I learn about all these fun groups from Janice:)

@Janice Great! I haven't gotten to that one yet. Someday:)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney was picked as a common read for this month in another one of my groups, and I'm joining in. Although I'm starting a bit late, I expect it to be a fairly quick read. This will be my first experience with the author's long fiction; he hadn't previously been on my radar at all, though I've read one of his short stories years ago in an anthology (I'm not sure which one now, though, since it's been quite a while!).

@Werner Good for you! As for me, I ditched Persuasion for now (I'll pick it back up later on when I have more time). Now I am reading Lady Susan by Jane Austen as part of another group's readalong.

Gia wrote: "@Werner Good for you! As for me, I ditched Persuasion for now (I'll pick it back up later on when I have more time). Now I am reading Lady Susan by Jane Austen as part of another group's readalong."

I just started reading Persuasion yesterday. :)

@Janice Cool! I look forward to the day when I start reading it again as my life will have calmed down by then :)

Gia wrote: "@Janice Cool! I look forward to the day when I start reading it again as my life will have calmed down by then :)"

I look forward to seeing what you thought of it. :) Are enjoying Lady Susan? :)

Janice wrote: "Gia wrote: "@Janice Cool! I look forward to the day when I start reading it again as my life will have calmed down by then :)"

I look forward to seeing what you thought of it. :) Are enjoying Lady..."

I haven't made it very far into Lady Susan (I need to get going on that!) And I can't seem to get into the story line yet either - but I think this is mostly due to the fact that I'm still so much into Pride and Prejudice, which I finished reading nearly a month ago, lol! Last night I watched Pride and Prejudice the movie with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It was wonderful! And it was the perfect thing to do on such a rainy evening:)

Gia wrote: "Janice wrote: "Gia wrote: "@Janice Cool! I look forward to the day when I start reading it again as my life will have calmed down by then :)"

I look forward to seeing what you thought of it. :) Ar..."

That is my favourite movie version of Pride and Prejudice. <3 And I agree it's the perfect thing to watch on a rainy day. :)

Janice wrote: "Gia wrote: "Janice wrote: "Gia wrote: "@Janice Cool! I look forward to the day when I start reading it again as my life will have calmed down by then :)"

I look forward to seeing what you thought ..."

Cool! I can't wait to watch it again! :) I'm going to have to add this movie to my collection, I can see that now.

Last month, an ongoing discussion in another group prompted me to send for a copy of the current edition of a nonfiction book, The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition by Edward Fudge, to refer to. I'd read the first edition in the early 90s (and reviewed it retrospectively here on Goodreads years ago); but I decided that the new edition has enough new content to make a (re?)read desirable, and I got started on it this weekend.

Ever since I read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake back in 2019, I've wanted to read the sequel, Girl of Nightmares. I've finally gotten hold of a copy and have some time to work it in, so I started on it today!

I'm starting the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry. Been wanting to get to this one for a while now.😏
Patient Zero

While I'm waiting to start a common read in another group on Oct. 1, I've started reading the short stories in Black Pulp (2013), an anthology from Pro Se Press, a small publishing house which specializes in New Pulp. (Since I won't finish all of the stories in this particular stint of reading, the collection goes onto my :being read intermittently" shelf, to dip into again the next time I find myself between books.)

I'm currently reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

This month, I'm taking part in another group's common read of The Castle of Otranto (1764) by British author Horace Walpole, which is a novel I've long considered a must-read. Since it's only 110 pages long, at least in the 1964 Oxford Univ. Press printing that I'm actually reading (the one in the link here has a much more attractive cover!), I'm expecting it to be a pretty quick read.

A review copy of The Flower & The Blackbird by Liane Zane, which I'd been expecting, arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. Liane's a Goodreads friend, and the book is the second installment of her Elioud Legacy trilogy (the series opener, The Harlequin and the Drangue, got four stars from me last year). It came at a fortuitous time; I was just about finished with my previous read, so was able to start on Liane's book this morning! :-)

I'm rereading 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I thought that was a wonderful book, Janice.

It's unusual for me to start reading two different books in one day, but due to the vagaries of circumstance, that's what I did yesterday. First, I started Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin, which is a common read in another group. I'd meant to begin on that one a couple of days earlier; but the public library was closed on Tuesday for the state election here in Virginia, and I didn't get a chance to read at all on Wednesday.

Then, Barb and I started a new book I'm reading to her, Avenging Angels: The Wine of Violence, by "A. W. Hart." Like "Franklin W. Dixon" or "Carolyn Keene," that's a house pen name for the different authors who contribute to the series. This is the seventh installment, but I suggested reading it as a stand-alone (which should be possible with these books), because the author is my Goodreads friend Charles Gramlich.

I'm still reading Salem's Lot.

On the whole, I don't do a lot of seasonal reading (except, of recent years, around Christmas). But I wanted a short, quick read that I could fit in before I start another common read on Dec. 1; and I really liked Gail Rock's first short novel, The House Without a Christmas Tree. So, although I don't plan to read the whole Addie Mills series, I've embarked on a short seasonal read with the second book, The Thanksgiving Treasure.

That's great Werner! The holiday book I am reading is A Tale of Two Hearts (Once Upon A Dickens Christmas #2) It's not a classic but it's a fun light read with themes in the vintage style. And I'm reading Little Women in a buddy read.

As November closes, I'm again filling time before starting another novel (a multi-person buddy read slated to begin on Dec. 1). When in those interludes, I've been reading the short-story collection Black Pulp (which I plan to finish sometime next month); but I have only one unread story there, so it won't fill out the month. So I've started on another anthology, English Country House Murders.

Gia, I've read Little Women at least twice! I hope you like it as much as I did.

Along with a few members of another group, this month I'm taking part in a multi-person buddy read of the Christy Award-winning historical novel Passing by Samaria (1999), by Sharon Ewell Foster. Set in Mississippi and Chicago in the time just after World War I, it focuses on the early 20th-century Great Migration of American blacks from the South (especially the rural South) to the urban North.

I am almost finished reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It also includes the book Good Wives.

Werner, that's great! I'm sure I will love Little Women :) Janice, I need to get caught up to where you are in the book, haha!

I also just started reading 4:50 from Paddington :)

This month, a multi-person buddy read of Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie is going on in another of my group's, and I've recently joined in. Even though I'm late to the party, I'm confident I can finish the book well before Dec. 31, since it's only 178 pages long. This is actually a reread for me; but my previous read was as a pre-teen kid, and my memories of the book are only vestigial.