Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Bryony, I would be interested! Ken Follett is on my list of new authors to read this year. I was planning to read Pillars of the Earth, but I am loving doing buddy reads, so I'd be willing to read this one instead. I have a few other books I need to finish before the end of the month. What do you think about starting 10/1?

I haven't read the Pillars of the Earth, but Fall of Giants is fantastic ;)

I'm enjoying buddy reads too Katie, so I'm really happy you're interested in reading this too. Starting on 1 October works well for me as I have a few library books I'd like to read and return before getting started with this doorstep!

Good to hear you enjoyed Fall of Giants Sophie. I've heard so many positive reviews of it so I'm really looking forward to finally reading it.

I feel I said this a 100 times before on this group, so sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I listened to the whole Century trilogy on audiobook and the narrator has done a fantastic job! For me, listening to them is definitely less daunting than reading 1000 pages ;)

Yeah, I'm definitely going to go for the audiobook!

Would anyone be interested to buddy read The Name of the Wind or The Shining? Or The Bronze Horseman?

goldberry wrote: "Would anyone be interested to buddy read The Name of the Wind or The Shining? Or The Bronze Horseman?"

I have the Shining on my Pop Sugar list for this year so I could keep you company with that. Just let me know when and how quickly you plan on reading it. I do have 2 library books out that I have to put on priority but I should be done with them by the end of the weekend with no problems :-)

goldberry wrote: "Would anyone be interested to buddy read The Name of the Wind or The Shining? Or The Bronze Horseman?"

We will be reading and discussing The Shining next month at the Stephen King fans group here on goodreads

I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?

Hi! Is anyone interested in a buddy read for The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper? I'm usually on here at 9/10:30 AM to 1:00 PM and 3/4:30 PM to 6:40/7:00 PM on Monday - Thursdays. Also, I can read one or two chapters on weekdays.

Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing Les Miserables also, but in super small pieces over the course of the year for right now. If I find the pace of the reading to be pleasant (Classics aren't always my favorite) I will probably buy a copy and try to read a little more quickly

What are your plans as far as spacing it out?

Tracy wrote: "goldberry wrote: "Would anyone be interested to buddy read The Name of the Wind or The Shining? Or The Bronze Horseman?"

I have the Shining on my Pop Sugar ..."

I just read both at the end of 2017.

But if you plan on reading The Wise Man's Fear once you're finished The Name of the Wind, I could probably be talked into a buddy read!

Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing Les Miserables also, but in super small pieces over ..."
I don't have spesific plans. Spacing it out in small peaces throughout the year sounds like a good way to go. I don't want to get burned out on those books, so I plan on reading some smaller books at the same time. I am very open to suggestions about how to go about tackling his task.

Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing Les Miserables also, but in super smal..."

Im a little confused about the serial reader app I'm doing this on as I don't know the version, translation or page number that I'm on. I just purchased the unabridged version on my kindle..... this one:
.
I'll take a look and see where I am and maybe try to divide up the pages into something manageable and then maybe we can start later in the month? Or sooner depending on what we can figure out.
What is the version you have? I'm just curious because there are so many?

Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing Les Miserables also, but i..."

I have the word cloud classics edition . It is an unabridged version traslated by Isabel F. Hapgood. It sounds good to to divide it up and start later in the month.

Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing Les Miserabl..."

They should be about the same, Mine has an extra 200 pages but I think thats because there is a forward and an afterward by various authors. If we plan on approximately 100 pages a month, we can finish by the end of the year :-)

Thats only about 25 pages a week, depending if you want to spread it out or do one or two sittings for the month. It also will help you manage to read War and Peace....Good luck with that ;-)

Mods are we setting up a new thread for 2018 buddy reads?

I don't particularly see the need. But if you do please ask and I'll do it!

Sophie wrote: "I don't particularly see the need. But if you do please ask and I'll do it!"

I've got it Sophie, I just needed to go back and read the original post for this topic, so I see where we discuss our buddy read in the A-z folders. That was kind of my question
:-)

You have all the info here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... 😉

Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Ira wrote: "I'm trying to read War and Peace and Les Misérables this year. Anybody interested in joining me?"

I'm doing ..."

That sounds great.

I'm doing Ulysses on serial reader if anyone wants to buddy read it with me! I'm using it for my week 15: book with an unusual structure. The subscription will end a little bit after week 15 but I have a physical copy as well so I can speed it up in that last week.

I’m using it for Week 44, I think, And was planning on using Serial Reader, but what? It doesn’t do the whole book??

Jody wrote: "I’m using it for Week 44, I think, And was planning on using Serial Reader, but what? It doesn’t do the whole book??"

That wasn't the impression I got ?? Confused

Me too, but Sabrina is saying her subscription will end so ... I guess I'll find out. I have an ebook version too, but I like the idea of the prescribed daily dose.

I 100% want to do Ulysses as a buddy read. I'm not reading in order this year (woohoo!), so I'm up for whenever works for other people.

For me, the serial subscription to Ulysses is 109 issues. I just started two other books and they have linked to GR full books.

Mine too. I guess I’ll just hope for the best. 😁

I’m pretty sure it has the whole book , just no idea what edition and I don’t know if it’s an abridged version?

I'm pretty sure Serial Reader uses whatever version is open domain.

I've switched over from serial reader to an unabridged version of Les Miserables on my kindle. Already in the beginning I'm not enjoying the way things are being left out in the serial version. Example: reading about Bishop D-------- was bothering me. Why is the name excluded? I hate that. I hated it about The Color Purple, and I hate it here. I want to read THE WHOLE THING. Otherwise, its just not that intimidating :-/

I calculated that 25 pages a day will bring me to around 50 days of reading. So I think thats going to be my goal. ( more or less, but at least I know I can get it done in a year )

I've also taken the audio book I had planned off of my intimidating list because I have decided I will never again attempt another audiobook. I'm just not an auditory person. Too much else on the brain. I miss the entire book I'm listening to. So new Resolution for the year and forever: No books on audio!

Jody wrote: "I’m using it for Week 44, I think, And was planning on using Serial Reader, but what? It doesn’t do the whole book??"

oh no what i meant by "the subscription ends" is that if i were to do the daily reading as given by the app, I would be finished after week 15. It gives you the whole book, but in daily doses

I checked the serial version of the two books I have with the free kindle version. From the first two issues they match. Though with one of the books the kindle version adds an introduction and analysis of the book. So I think the serial app is the unabridged version. With many classics and translations some version are better than others.

Tracy wrote: "I've switched over from serial reader to an unabridged version of Les Miserables on my kindle. Already in the beginning I'm not enjoying the way things are being left out in the serial version. Exa..."

Classic books often have names of people and places missing. Also sometimes dates are not complete either. It's just how they wrote novels. For instance, in Pride and Prejudice Wickham's regiment are "the --shire".

Les Miserables is a weird one as the French original had the names but it appears that at least one English translation removed the names and replaced them with dashes while others kept the names.

I've read a paperback edition of The Color Purple and if you are talking about Mister then it is definitely written as "Mister --" there as well.

So, it's not that the serial reader is removing names just that the book was written without names or the translation they are using misses out the names.

Katie wrote: "I 100% want to do Ulysses as a buddy read. I'm not reading in order this year (woohoo!), so I'm up for whenever works for other people."

I started yesterday if you'd like to join! I'm using serial reader so I'll be going pretty slowly

I may have to check out this app.

This is probably going to be a bit of a stretch, but would anyone want to buddy read Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers? I'm learning French and have this edition and am planning on starting it in late April/May.

Tracy wrote: "I've switched over from serial reader to an unabridged version of Les Miserables on my kindle. Already in the beginning I'm not enjoying the way things are being left out in the serial version. Exa..."

I know this is totally after the fact, but it was quite common in the 19th century to write names like that. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is like that, and I listened to the audiobook, and the reader was very clever with how he handled the names. Sometimes he just sort of garbled it, sometimes he actually spoke the punctuation - whatever he did, it sounded very natural, and I didn't realize what was happening until I was reading along in my ebook when one of these names popped up.

I'm so glad to see some more serial reader users here!

I'm new to this group and wondering if anybody is up for some buddy reads?

What book would you like to buddy read? Just ask here, maybe someone has it on their list!

So....now that we have less than half a year left, I want to get started on Ulysses soon. I know some other people in this group have this doorstop on their plan for this year too. Shall we decide on a start date and a reading schedule? Anyone else want to join us? I think I would need until near the end of the year to finish it.

I think I might have to get started on it soon too, even though I'm reading in order (for me, as long as I finish in order, that's close enough). I could start on August 20th, if that works for you?

Uh oh, it's official! Ulysses time has come. Count me in. Starting in 5 days seems a little scary, but I'll look to see if/when it's available at my library.

I'm happy to wait until it's available for you Katie. I'm really not looking forward to it ...

Can I join the Ulysses buddy read too, please? I was debating reading Finnegans Wake for the intimidating book prompt but I feel that might be a step too far this year. I have a copy so I’m happy to start anytime.

If we wanted a schedule then it’s divided into 18 episodes so we could read one (or more) a week. Helpfully the book doesn’t actually contain chapter headings but there are enough reading guides online that I’m sure there must be a list of episodes we could follow if we chose to.

Jody wrote: "I'm happy to wait until it's available for you Katie. I'm really not looking forward to it ..."

Time to torture yourself again?? Wishing you all luck with this one :-)

Yay Bryony!
Ulysses is available at my library, but I'm currently halfway through a 1000+ page biography (of Ulysses S. Grant, interestingly enough), but I'll be ready to start Ulysses after that. Maybe during the readathon?

Katie wrote: "Yay Bryony!
Ulysses is available at my library, but I'm currently halfway through a 1000+ page biography (of Ulysses S. Grant, interestingly enough), but I'll be ready to start Ulysses after that. ..."

If we start the week of the readathon, we will have exactly 18 weeks left until the end of the year so we can go with Bryony's reading pace suggestion.

I'll definitely start with you guys, but I will have to push ahead if I'm going to finish the challenge this year (as I'm reading order). This book is SO daunting.

I’m reading in order for every prompt except this one! I’m down to read a bit faster too though because I’d rather not read Ulysses during the December holidays.