Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

That app is just missing too many things!

If anyone here has read Radiance , maybe you could answer this https://www.goodreads.com/questions/1... .
Maybe i missed it but its annoying me now and i can't find it.

We get this bit "Moons, though lovely, just lovely, are consolation prizes. Sino-Russian Mars. Saturn split between Germany and Austria-Hungary. French Neptune. American Pluto. Spanish Mercury. Ottoman Jupiter. All present and accounted for—except Venus."

But Uranus isn't listed.

Intriguing, but haven't read it.

Radiance looks extremely interesting and it reminds me I have Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan too read; as well as Breakfast of Champions once I finish Moby Dick. For some reason I connected Melville with Vonnegut. I feel like Vonnegut, may not be a favourite author but a, kind of, base layer.

PinkieBrown wrote: "Radiance looks extremely interesting and it reminds me I have Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan too read; as well as Breakfast of Champions once I finish Moby Dick. For some reason I connected Melvill..."

I read The Sirens of Titan in the last year and really enjoyed it. I read quite a bit of Vonnegut in the 1980s and it was fun to return to an author I had neglected for so long.

Pink, I haven't received an email for the poll this month. I wanted to check if it is just me. There have been so many GR issues recently, I wonder if others haven't received it as well.

Hi, thanks for letting me know, I’ll check if it sent out or not.

I've resent now, so hopefully everyone will receive it.

I noticed the missing mail too. Though it was an experiment to see how it would change the vote. And it did. Before the mail went out there was around 60 people voting and in the December 2020 Old School Hunger looked like a winner. Mail goes out and Shakespeare took a quick climb to the top. Hunger now third.

Pink wrote: "Hi, thanks for letting me know, I’ll check if it sent out or not.

I've resent now, so hopefully everyone will receive it."

Thank you, Pink! What is strange is I still don't see the email on the app but only when I use the site. I have written to GR for help.

Matt, many have raised this issue on GR help. I read them when I was posting my issue.

Matt wrote: "I'm thinking something is wrong with GR website right now. The update feed on my main home page (like when GR friends update status on books, post reviews, etc.) hasn't updated in over a day. Wonde..."

Yeah same. Only group updates are working but at least thats something.

Matt wrote: "I'm thinking something is wrong with GR website right now. The update feed on my main home page (like when GR friends update status on books, post reviews, etc.) hasn't updated in over a day. Wonde..."

Same here. Latest news is 3 days old.

Chances are good that GRAmazon broke the news feed in getting their 2020 awards whatever up, but of course the advertising event takes higher priority than the site's basic functioning. Doesn't help that the app feed appears to be even more unscathed than usual.

Its the same with me. The latest updates in my home page are two days old. I hope they'll fix it soon!

Ryan wrote: "On the home page of this group, it says certain books starting on certain dates - 84 Charing Cross Road - 1st Nov - 1st Nov etc. Are these the group read books for this month if it’s dated November..."

Yes 84, Charing Cross Road is the current short story book for November. Each month there is a new Old School Book (published before 1900) and a New School published 1900- 2000, correct me guys if I'm incorrect on that one. There is a short story which should have fewer than either 130 or 135 pages for its MPE - most popular edition- and a Revisit the Shelf book, which is a reread of a book already on the shelf. Finally, there are four long read books that are voted upon quarterly. That means that each month there are five "current" books/short stories being read. Choose whatever strikes your fancy. Also, that wonderful time of year is approaching where we plan the books that we will read for next year's challenge. My to-read list grows to unruly dimensions, and I never quite read them all. Yet, it is fun to plan.

Good question. I'd like to know the answer as well.

Jyoti wrote: "If I wanna ask for recommendations, where do I ask? Should I make a topic in chit chat folder?"

Yes feel free to make a thread for this :)

Am I the only one for whom the "What are you currently reading" thread behaves strangely? The new posts button takes me to arbitrary places within the last couple of pages, and then it abruptly marks everything as read. Could this be because of the thread size? Maybe we could archive it at a given date, on New Year or something.

I’ve done that with other groups. New year, new thread. And it behaves better.

Nente wrote: "Am I the only one for whom the "What are you currently reading" thread behaves strangely? The new posts button takes me to arbitrary places within the last couple of pages, and then it abruptly mar..."

You are not alone, I have similar issues with that thread.

Nente wrote: "Am I the only one for whom the "What are you currently reading" thread behaves strangely? The new posts button takes me to arbitrary places within the last couple of pages, and then it abruptly mar..."

It works okay for me, but maybe New Year, New Thread is a good idea! Hopefully, we can struggle along till the end of this year?

That’s fair and is less work for you which is only right.

Thank you

Thank you!

When will the 2021 Bingo Challenge be posted?

Julia wrote: "When will the 2021 Bingo Challenge be posted?"

Probably a little before 2021.

Usually the challenges are posted in the first week or so of December. I know that both Bob and Katy must be hard at work finalizing next year's challenges.

Julia wrote: "When will the 2021 Bingo Challenge be posted?"

Yes, in December. I finish up the new board for Bingo after Thanksgiving holiday here.

Katy wrote: "Julia wrote: "When will the 2021 Bingo Challenge be posted?"

Yes, in December. I finish up the new board for Bingo after Thanksgiving holiday here."


Keen. I'm looking forward to it. Y'all are the best!

Mods, might we start to build a Shakespeare Collection? We have Old School Classics Collection, but no Shakespeare entries there. I noticed because I am starting today to reread Hamlet and canot find a place to post any comments. I realize time set aside will be required and that during my current read I may/not post any comments, but I hope to do so in the future. Anyway that is part of my dream for Catching Up group. And my request.

Here is the Shakespeare Folder:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Also in 2016 - 2018 we did several Buddy Reads on some of the plays. This thread has some links to those. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks Katy.

Cynda wrote: "Thanks Katy."

You are welcome. Glad to help.

Katy wrote: "I use Goodreads on my laptop computer from the website."

Yeah, me too. I don't use it on the app unless I have no access to a computer.

How do members of this group handle books that carry over to the next year? Do you only use complete reads on challenges?

Annette wrote: "How do members of this group handle books that carry over to the next year? Do you only use complete reads on challenges?"

I use whatever year I finish a book for the challenges.

Is anyone else having an issue with Goodreads not posting their reviews?

Brina wrote: "Is anyone else having an issue with Goodreads not posting their reviews?"

I'm having all sorts of issues with Goodreads right now.

Katy wrote: "Brina wrote: "Is anyone else having an issue with Goodreads not posting their reviews?"

I'm having all sorts of issues with Goodreads right now."

I just posted a review. I'm lucky this time; I've had many glitches in the past.

Is the March Old School Nominations board coming?

I haven't heard from Pink for a while. I hope she is alright.

There is plenty of time till the 15th, lets give Pink another day. If she is still absent, I'll post Old School tomorrow afternoon.

Bob wrote: "There is plenty of time till the 15th, lets give Pink another day. If she is still absent, I'll post Old School tomorrow afternoon."

oops I already started doing it Bob. Want me to stop working on the thread?

Sorry for my absence, I'm back and okay now. Thanks to my fellow mods for taking care of threads for me :)

Good afternoon!

Welcome back, Pink. Glad to hear (and we all hear, because a little voice inside our heads reads to us) that you are better. I do have a question, but it's a bit complicated.

I have an omnibus on one of my Kindles called 50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol: 1 by Joseph Conrad. Published by Golden Deer Classics, it contains 50 full-length classic novels. According to the main book page on Goodreads, it has 25,022 pages, and on my Kindle it has 369,451 Locations.

I am reading Emma by Jane Austen as part of a buddy read. It's the second book in the omnibus, beginning at Location 7541 and ending at Location 14048. Dividing the 6,507 location difference into the total locations in the omnibus and multiplying the result by 25,022 pages, gives Emma a total of 440.7 (rounded up to 441) pages. How do I post the updates on my Currently Reading shelf?

Sorry, I'm not Pink, but I'm going to jump into the conversation. That is probably a personal call. I would look up Emma and record it as an individual book and not record the 50 Masterpieces at all, but that is just me. But you could just enter them both. This also comes up with short stories vs. short story collections. I like to keep track of my short stories, so if I can find them in Goodreads I will list them individually.

For instance The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories is a short story collection I borrowed from my local library and read completely. I rated this book and marked it read on my personal shelves. Yet, when I looked up the short stories only some of them are entered into Goodreads as individual "books". For about five of those I rated them, marked them as read, and put them on my short story shelf.

I look at my Goodreads account as a personal record of my reading. I try to be both as accurate and as complete as possible. Someday I might want to go back to reread one of those short stories. I would need to know which book I got it from and that I don't actually own it, so I don't waste hours looking for it on my physical bookshelves - which I used to do before Goodreads.

Lynn wrote: "Sorry, I'm not Pink, but I'm going to jump into the conversation. That is probably a personal call. I would look up Emma and record it as an individual book and not record the 50 Masterpieces at al..."

Thank you, Lynn. I think I need to look up ebook and Kindle editions of Emma that are close to 441 pages long.

Jim wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Sorry, I'm not Pink, but I'm going to jump into the conversation. That is probably a personal call. I would look up Emma and record it as an individual book and not record the 50 Maste..."

Sounds like a good plan. Again each person's Goodreads account is individual. My goals are more for documentation purposes for my own memory. Also when I joined I became a librarian and spent a few months making book page entries for antique books I own. Surprisingly, I owned over 200 books that were not in the database yet at that time. Only after that was finished did I look around for a group to join. Others have their own purposes. For some it is learning about new books and authors. Some people seem driven to influence the reading choices of society. You do you and have fun!

War and Peace - which translation? Sorry if this has been asked before somewhere!

I’m just curious which translation of War and Peace people recommend and why?

Hopefully will start reading it in March!

Thanks

Laura Jayne wrote: "War and Peace - which translation? Sorry if this has been asked before somewhere!

I’m just curious which translation of War and Peace people recommend and why?

Hopefully will start reading it in ..."

Bob is reading it now, not sure what translation he has. You might check out this thread in the group: War & Peace: Background, Author, Translations, etc. or this one: War and Peace - No Spoilers