Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Lilly, of course you're welcome to join in!

I'd just like to say that Kathleen and I have now read the first of five volumes of The Wanderer: or, Female Difficulties, and so far it is an excellent read. There's still time to join in as we are going very slowly. I'm hooked enough that I just had to remind those of you that have expressed an interest. You are missing out on high 19th century drama here! ;)

Leni wrote: "I'd just like to say that Kathleen and I have now read the first of five volumes of The Wanderer: or, Female Difficulties, and so far it is an excellent read. There's still time to jo..."

I'll add that I wondered a little at first when Leni called reading 10 chapters a week "taking it slow," but it turns out these are really short chapters which go so fast! There's lots of romance and fun social/historical significance. Good times--come join.

Oh I so want to join with this one as I adored Evelina by her, so I definitely want to read more of her work. This one will have to wait for me due to the length, but I've been reading your comments and taking note of what you think!

I appreciate your appeals for more readers but I really must continue to get my current books under control and finished before I can even consider taking on another chunkster. I, too, have been following the comments and definitely want to read this book sometime, just not now.

I am really glad you guys are enjoying it so much - I trust both of your opinions tremendously (Kathleen and Leni) and vow to get it in the lineup asap. ;-)

Is there anyone interested in doing a buddy read of Angela's Ashes in Nov/Dec if it doesn't win in the polls?

Right that's it, I need to get started on War and Peace. I've made myself a scarily daunting schedule on the non-spoiler thread, which will probably take until the end of the year. I know some others were interested in reading this one, but I can't remember who. So is anyone still brave enough to join me in tackling this beast before the end of the year?

Lilly wrote: "Do you mind me joining you for the "Anne of Green Gables" read?

I didn't notice there was a buddy read being planned ... But then I sort of got lost on the usual discussion threads ever since my ..."

just seeing this now, but please do join us in October for Anne of Green Gables. The more the merrier!

Sue wrote: "Lilly wrote: "Do you mind me joining you for the "Anne of Green Gables" read?

I didn't notice there was a buddy read being planned ... But then I sort of got lost on the usual discussion threads ..."

Going to the library today Sue to secure my copy! :)
(Anne of Green Gables)

Pink wrote: "Right that's it, I need to get started on War and Peace. I've made myself a scarily daunting schedule on the non-spoiler thread, which will probably take until the end of the year. I know some oth..."

I really want to read War and Peace at some point. However I am determined to read LotR's from October to December and with all the other books I need to read for other groups, adding another chunkster to the schedule just isn't practical at the moment unfortunately. Good luck with your read though. I hope you keep up with it!

Hailee, the discussion threads will still be there for when you do find time. I planned on reading this last year and the year before..I think it's finally time for me!

If the Les Misérables buddy read comes together at the beginning of the year, I will join. I have always wanted to read it, but the page length scared me away.

Thank you, Sue!
My copy of "Anne of Green Gables" will definitely need a little dusting - it's on the very top shelf. :D
Though I think I should get through the Tempest once, before I can start on this one ...

"War and Peace" has been on my should-read list for years now. But at the moment I definitely won't be able to squeeze it in ... :(

Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at a time and this has been on my list for more than a year.

Pink wrote: "Right that's it, I need to get started on War and Peace. I've made myself a scarily daunting schedule on the non-spoiler thread, which will probably take until the end of the year. I know some oth..."

"Scarily daunting" is right! Wow!

I went on Audible to check out audio versions, and I'm surprised to find there's only two audio versions and neither are whispersynced! There's usually more editions to choose from on these older classics.

I have to pass on the buddy read for now, though. Maybe next year.

That doesn't sound like many options for such a well known classic!

I'm really enjoying W&P, but I have such a long way to go...

Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at a time and thi..."

Yes! I was planning to read Dune in 2016 and haven't gotten around to it yet. I'd love to tackle this as a buddy read, it looks like the book to discuss.

I'm planning to put Dune on my Old and New challenge for 2017, so if you end up not getting to it this year I'll join you after new years. I just don't stand a chance at fitting it in this year.

Might join in for the next year as well ;)

Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at a time and thi..."

Picking it up this in the next couple of days. Existing group read thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at ..."

Sam, I feel like I can read this book but only over the next 10 weeks. It'll prolly get down to the wire but I can manage. What are the buddy read rules? Can we just make them up as we go, should we meet back weekly or biweekly? How do you wanna buddy up? What would make this a super fantastic experience for you? Have you any buddy read experiences that you want to share? Bunch of questions I know, but I think it's important to state our wants upfront.

Leni, you can jump in at your convenience. Could be a great way to get a headstart on 2017. Lemme know

Kathy wrote: "Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at ..."

I should have looked for a thread! Oh of course. I'm getting pretty psyched because DUNE has been on my tbr for like 2 years. It is finally coming off.

Newly, you can comment on the discussion thread that Kathy linked above whenever you are ready. There are no rules, you can discuss with Sam and Kathy if you want to stick to a particular timeframe, or just go at your own pace and post your thoughts in your own time.

If you all want it added to the schedule list, with links to the existing discussion thread, just let me know which month/months to put it under :)

Newly wrote: "Leni, you can jump in at your convenience. Could be a great way to get a headstart on 2017. Lemme know."

Ahahahahah, headstart? I'm more likely to be playing catch-up for 2016 all January the way I'm going lately. But I do look forward to Dune. I have so much classic sci-fi I want to read, but also so much classic, uh... classics. 2016 has been very 19th century.

Leni wrote: "Newly wrote: "Leni, you can jump in at your convenience. Could be a great way to get a headstart on 2017. Lemme know."

Ahahahahah, headstart? I'm more likely to be playing catch-up for 2016 all Ja..."

That sounds like a some wild head space you are occupying, I need to read another book published in 1800s, any ideas?

Newly wrote: "I need to read another book published in 1800s, any ideas?"

Here's a goodreads list you might be interested in:

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

If you want to fit it in this year The Time Machine might be a good option as it is only about 120 pages.

Thanks for the suggestion Hailee! and wouldn't you know it The Time Machine is on my TBR.

Newly wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion Hailee! and wouldn't you know it The Time Machine is on my TBR."

:D

Newly wrote: "Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than ..."

Hey Newly, if you're fine with it, I'm fine with it :) How about we start in October?
The book is split into 3 almost equal parts. I could manage to read one part every two weeks, how do you feel about this pace?

I'm not that experienced with buddy reads either :) I like the idea that you mentioned, having some kind of meetup in the comments and have a chat - but this is hard to plan. I'd say let's just make this up as we go (and hopefully some others might join?). Let me know your thoughts!

Susan and me will be reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" for october. Anyone who's interested, feel free to join in! ;)

There's already an existing thread which Susan hunted down.

Pink, could you please add the book to the buddy read list for october? This is probably the easiest way to let everyone know ...

Lilly wrote: "Susan and me will be reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" for october. Anyone who's interested, feel free to join in! ;)

There's already an existing thread which Susan hunted down.

Pink, could y..."

Yep will do :)

Just started The Silmarillion. I'm going to try to finish that and The Hobbit this week before starting LOTR. Anyone up for that?

Lilly wrote: "Susan and me will be reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" for october. Anyone who's interested, feel free to join in! ;)

There's already an existing thread which Susan hunted down.

Pink, could y..."

I have this in my classic challenge, so I´lll try to make it :)

Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at read..."
I'm going to the book store tomorrow! Honestly i dont know about pacing. I'm kinda likely to just friend you and check on your progress daily. I'm kinda wanna make a friendly wager.I was thinking more of a race. I'm going to read https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...#
and as soon as I'm done with that I'm going to start https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...# . I have a thing on Oct. 1 but feel free to start whenever. I also have a vacay in Oct. so my comms will be a bit spotty from the 5-12 and i'd like to have the baby done by 10-20 (next readathon). how do you feel about writing a two person review for this read? I kinda want this to be fast read because I've been intimidated by this book for so long. I'm gonna check for an audio too. super excited to have this done in 2016.

Newly wrote: "Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Sam wrote: "Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get be..."

I've never done a two person review, so that would be interesting :)
I can see why you want to get throught this quickly; I tried once before and just couldn't get into it. So I'll just start sometime around the 1st and we'll see how fast I can do it. Maybe we can check in and exchange some thoughts on the go? Audio seems a good option, I wonder how all the names are pronounced. But I have the book ready (and for far too long too), so I might just stick to that. It will be so good to finally get it off my "unread" shelves.

Thank you, Pink! :)

Glad you're in, Desertorum ;)

Lena wrote: "Just started The Silmarillion. I'm going to try to finish that and The Hobbit this week before starting LOTR. Anyone up for that?"

Hi Lena! I would be happy to read The Silmarillion with you. I've never read it. I have read The Hobbit three or four times, but I'll try to reread that one as well before we embark on LotR.

Also, I noticed that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is listed as a possible buddy read in December. I had actually just started reading it before I joined this group, and was wondering if anyone else would like to read it sooner? If not, I'm only about 75 pages in, so I can put it down for now and pick it back up come December.

This might not be the place for this question, but where are we going to discuss The Silmarillion? I see that there's a thread already in place for The Hobbit. Would we just need to use that thread for both books?

Newly wrote: "Hey guys Does anyone want to read DUNE by Frank Herbert. Let me know I'm really looking to end 2016 with this over 600page read. I want to get better at reading more than one book at a time and thi..."

Hi Newly! I'd love to read Dune. It's been on my TBR list for ages. I'm going to Buddy Read The Silmarillion with Lena first, but if y'all get a thread going, I'll try to keep up. ;)

Lilly wrote: "Susan and me will be reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" for october. Anyone who's interested, feel free to join in! ;)

There's already an existing thread which Susan hunted down.

This was one of my favorite books in college. I'd love to reread it! I think I might be signing up for too many buddy reads to read many of the bigger group reads, though. ;-p

Celeste I requested A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for December. I have a packed scheduled both reading and otherwise and cannot read before then. I would love to have you read with me if you can.

Brina, that's no problem! I have a lot of reading to do, so I have no problem shelving it for the time being. I look forward to reading it with you in December!

Celeste wrote: "I think I might be signing up for too many body reads to read many of the bigger group reads, though..."

I know what you mean. There are a few buddy reads that I would have loved to do, especially Dune but with all the other buddy and group reads I have committed to in this group and another that I am part of, there is literally no more room in my schedule in the next couple of months.

Hailee wrote: "Celeste wrote: "I think I might be signing up for too many body reads to read many of the bigger group reads, though..."

I know what you mean. There are a few buddy reads that I would have loved t..."

Sometimes it's important to know when to limit yourself. Books are much more enjoyable when you're not trying to read twenty at one time.

I have decided for all the groups I am in that I am only doing group reads if I actually wanted to read the book anyway. These buddy reads are allowing me to read classics I already had on my TBR pile. Cutting down, I still have a full schedule.

Brina wrote: "I have decided for all the groups I am in that I am only doing group reads if I actually wanted to read the book anyway. These buddy reads are allowing me to read classics I already had on my TBR p..."

Thats a good idea. I will probably have to be a bit stricter with myself in 2017.

I saw The Moonstone on the buddy reads schedule for October. Is anyone still planning on reading it? If so, I'd like to join in for that one. It's been on my to-read list for a while.

Renee wrote: "I saw The Moonstone on the buddy reads schedule for October. Is anyone still planning on reading it? If so, I'd like to join in for that one. It's been on my to-read list for a while."

It's on my stack too, Renee. I might try to read it, especially toward the end of the month!

I see that Frankenstein is up for the October group read, but I tried that one and absolutely hated it. Is anyone up for an alternative? Perhaps Dracula? Surely I'm not the only person who has never read this.

Brina wrote: "I have decided for all the groups I am in that I am only doing group reads if I actually wanted to read the book anyway. These buddy reads are allowing me to read classics I already had on my TBR p..."

It's a tricky thing. My TBR list is there because I want to read those books, but I also don't want to be limited by it. The question I come back to is, "Do I really want to read this more than other books, or am I motivated by guilt?" Because if it's guilt reading, then I'll just go do something else to avoid it.

Renee wrote: "I saw The Moonstone on the buddy reads schedule for October. Is anyone still planning on reading it? If so, I'd like to join in for that one. It's been on my to-read list for a while."

Yes, intending to read The Moonstone :)
The Woman in White was awesome. Looking forward to this one too!