The Obscure Reading Group discussion

Nothing like a 19th century (or 18th, 17th, 16th, etc.) to pull you out of a reading funk. I think someone famous said that.

Ken wrote: "Nothing like a 19th century (or 18th, 17th, 16th, etc.) to pull you out of a reading funk. I think someone famous said that."

Ah, Ken, YOU are famous in my book (pun completely intended). I'm glad you wrote that. (smile)

As noted before, and I'll stay open to the suggestions made here. Some of my holiday break reading will be the magical realism from the last round of nominations.

Angela wrote: "Hi, all... I hope everyone is well and that each of you will have a joyful holiday season despite these most difficult times. I’m in a bit of reading and writing block right now—I think it’s just t..."

Peaceful and joyful holidays to you, too, dear Angela.

Yes, the external noise is bothersome. I'm reading and grading, but I can't seem to create these days. It's not the peaceful "hibernation" of other years when I feel like I'm resting and self-nurturing, yet it IS moving from day to day. * * * I hope your own winter yields energy and new creativity. Even if not your nominations for this group, do you have any favorites I can add?

Kathleen wrote: "Jan, I think your goal to create sense despite chaos makes great sense, and your students are lucky to have you. At this point, I'm just breathing in and out and trying not to worry too much.

And..."

Ah, Kathleen, thank you for your encouragement. I apologize for not seeing this earlier (or forgetting it if I DID see it and responded). I'm closing this semester, and I honestly remembered why I chose to change careers and become a teacher. Definitely one of the most challenging semesters (well nine months) of my teaching career, this also proved to be exceptionally rewarding. Ah, but I'm grateful to have this break. * * * I'm sending hope and warm wishes for peace from afar.

I'm very eager to get reading as a group again, nothing like some companionship to go with a good book. I look forward to Feb, hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

I have had several ideas for our next book, but Kathleen seems to have read every one!

Sandra wrote: "I have had several ideas for our next book, but Kathleen seems to have read every one!"

Ah, well. There's no way any of us will find a classic that none of us has read. One that few of us have read will have to do.

Plus, if you're like me, many classics I've read were so long ago a rereading will not only be harmless, it'll be edifying. Then again, if it's one I've read or reread just a year ago, maybe not.

I have no ideas yet, but on the Second Day of Christmas, my true love and I will get to work.

Sandra wrote: "I have had several ideas for our next book, but Kathleen seems to have read every one!"

Ha! I am definitely like Ken, and would surely welcome a re-read, Sandra, so don't worry about that. I'm also looking forward to reading with the group again, and anxious to see what we'll have coming next.

A friend told me the other day that she found 2020 New Years hats in with the Christmas stuff she was taking out, and her family sat around the fire and burned them--a fitting celebration at the end of this year! :-)

Some say 2020 will end in fire,
Some say in ice.


Both, probably, when you consider the irony of the vaccines being approved and out there just as the pandemic hits its terrible fall-winter stride. So close, yet for most of us who have to wait, so far -- that's the fire.

Ice is the climate the vaccines require to get there.

I have one I am very excited to nominate, very obscure that I don't think anyone has read that Ive checked!

Thanks Ken and Kathleen for your reassurance. I have so many books I want to read that I’m sure whatever we choose will be great. Here’s to a swift end to 2020! Happy Holidays.

Very much looking forward to our nomination and selection process, thinking of several potential nominations.

Stay safe, everyone, and happy reading.
Yvonne

Kelly wrote: "I have one I am very excited to nominate, very obscure that I don't think anyone has read that Ive checked!"

Ooh. . . I'm intrigued, Kelly.
I'm looking forward to seeing the selections.
Jan

Yvonne wrote: "Very much looking forward to our nomination and selection process, thinking of several potential nominations.

Stay safe, everyone, and happy reading.
Yvonne"

Yes, peace and happiness and "good books" to you, too!

To you too, Jan. I look forward to talking with you again and hearing all about how you’ve managed through these challenging times!

Glad you already have a book hiding behind Door #3, Kelly!

Yvonne: It would be a great problem to have, finding multiple possibilities and having to narrow it down to one. I'd make it one I haven't read yet.

Jan... I don't know. Talking to teachers in my old school, I realize just how much a tough job became that much tougher during a pandemic. Bless you all, is all I can say.

It helps to know that you don't have to look at the usual suspects of England and the once United States for classic literature. World Literature opens up all kinds of possibilities... especially when you wander from the fertile (and familiar) grounds of western Europe!

Angela wrote: "Jan, love your thought--"wander from the fertile (and familiar) grounds of western Europe"... One of the things I loved most about the last two reads was that the authors were completely new to me...."

Hello, Angela,

I agree fully with the sentiment but have one correction. Ken wrote that phrase. Don't you love his wonderful words in describing this process? He's a poet, of course. (smile)

Yes, I also enjoyed the past two selections tremendously. This entire group has been a buoy for me. It will be fun to get to know you better through our next read, too.

I feel like a kid again, having the hardest time waiting for Christmas ... or the day after Christmas that is, when Ken gets the ball rolling for our next read!
"Is it here yet?"
"Just a few more days."
🎅 ❄️ 🎁 ⛄ 👪 🎄

Dickens is always in order :)

Hey, all. I just sent out the nomination FAQs for our February book.

Remember, if you want to nominate a book, hit reply and MESSAGE ME so your nomination is private.

Ideally, the poll should be a list of nominations where no one knows who nominated what.

The 12 books for February's selection are up as a poll now. Browse and vote!

Lots of good ones; hard to decide!

Al wrote: "Lots of good ones; hard to decide!"

Yep!

Hi, Al. Welcome to the group.

As for the poll, you can mull it over for awhile before committing.

Although I'll vote, I'm happy to go along with whichever title wins.

What a great selection of books! It is hard to choose.

It's funny, I was new last time, and wanted to join in with The Street, but discovered I couldn't really fit it in :( I followed the discussion though, and enjoyed it a lot.

This time though, I decided to nominate something, and carefully noted how it's done here. I knew of the option to keep polls secret, but secret nominations were new to me! (Not a bad idea - just different :) ) What I hadn't done was work out the time properly. So I logged on this morning, having completely forgotten the time difference - and discovered I'd missed it :D

Even more surprising was that 3 of these books are ones I already wanted to read again, and one of the books I haven't yet read was so close that I'd thought of nominating it myself!

Great suggestions all - and I've actually voted for one I'd never heard of :) (My idea can keep until ... er ... 9 months' time?)

There are SIX titles unfamiliar to me. Here I thought I was a man of letters. Maybe I should revise it to "Man of Letter," but then I'd have to decide which one.

K, maybe.

Ken wrote: "There are SIX titles unfamiliar to me. Here I thought I was a man of letters. Maybe I should revise it to "Man of Letter," but then I'd have to decide which one.

K, maybe."

Ken, you set me giggling, which was a relief after the intense decision-making process I just went through! So many great books to choose from. I'd be happy to read any of them, but now I'm not going to be happy if I don't read all of them!

Ken, you are a card, uh I mean Kard. Difficult choice but, like others, I want to read them all, so I will be happy with whatever wins. I also added six new titles to my TBR. Hope 2021 is a good reading year for us all.

Six for me too! Perhaps they are all the same ones :D

As a new Man of Letter (and "Kard"), I'm happy to provide details of my former ignorance. Those I'd not heard of:

Kenilworth
For the Term of His Natural Life
Gösta Berling's Saga
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyõng
Ramona
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave

There were two I had on the TBR that I remember nothing about, and these previously unknowns:

Memoirs from Beyond the Grave
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong
For the Term of His Natural Life
The Rise of Silas Lapham

It's so fun discovering new classics!

Gosta Berling’s Saga
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong
The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas
For the Term of His Natural Life
Beyond the Grave

Gosta Berling’s Saga
The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong
Flatland
The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas
The Rise of Silas Lapham
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave

I had almost nominated For the Term of His Natural Life, which years ago a friend in Australia was amazed I hadn't read, and I then borrowed on audio.

Several on the list were ones I'd considered nominating! Fun to see the list. Am in agreement that it will be difficult to choose one and vote. Looking forward to our reading and conversation.

Well, it seems as if everyone dug deep to nominate. Most of these are unknown to me as well, so looks like most of us will be learning about a new author.

Day 2 of Voting!

Per usual, the quality of the list is confirmed by a wide spread in voting results. Right now, THREE books are within one vote of the lead and EIGHT books are within two votes of the lead, meaning that it's very much a horse race as remaining votes trickle in.

I say trickle because, typically, the bulk of votes arrive on Day One. Tomorrow morning I'll send out a last call for votes and on Thursday morning I will give everyone two reasons to celebrate:

1. We have a February book to find, read, and discuss.

2. The fateful year of 2020 has only hours of life-support remaining.

Day 3 of Voting!

Last call. Midnight and the poll freezes. Right now there is a single leader by one vote, so most likely that will be the choice.

Tomorrow it will all dawn on me.

I admit to a little excitement.

Waiting with bated breath.... Thanks, Ken, for being a wonderful organizer and moderator!

Sandra wrote: "Waiting with bated breath.... Thanks, Ken, for being a wonderful organizer and moderator!"

The Merchant of Venice!

And thanks, but it's only three times a year, and I have two co-moderators who I can rely on if we ever want to each "own" a month to host. ;-)




Darrin wrote: "I admit to a little excitement."

It is kind of fun.

This is like watching the ball drop in Times Square ... only more fun!

Kathleen wrote: "This is like watching the ball drop in Times Square ... only more fun!"

Much more fun. I never saw the appeal of that, but then, if you're watching TV on New Year's Eve instead of ... reading, something's wrong anyway.


Don't mind me. I'm a little down, just seeing that Mary Ann died.

Ahhh, Ken. Such “whispering humbleness...” but alas, no thanks. And Darrin & Kathleen—that is funny!

That was sad, wasn't it. Part of my childhood that passed away from us all. Hard to think of her as 82. I will always think of her in pigtails and shorts.

Yes, I just heard about Mary Ann too, and agree, how is it possible she was 82? Very sad.

But I love being someplace where reading on New Years Eve is the ultimate, so thanks for that, Ken!

I saw that headline and felt like all of you did and then also heard that Tina Louise was the only remaining living cast member and then just felt old.

And now for something completely different. The first lines of selected classics, rewritten for pandemic times.

https://lithub.com/the-first-lines-of...

Very much an aside; am looking for help with finding the best available kindled edition of Virginia Woolf’s _To the Lighthouse_, to read for another group I’m in. The Amazon search function for a book like this with many editions is maddening. I do not want a “complete novels of Woolf” type of collection — just this book. The one that comes up first is (according to one comment, anyway) incomplete. Then when I checked other kindled editions, the very same reviews are shown, so it’s hard to tell which comment applies to which edition.

Sigh. If you know one specific edition is The Best please provide a link or ISBN or both. Thanks!

Starting to think I may end up having to check out a printed copy from the public library, but I’d much rather read kindled.

I think there are a few Woolfians in the lot, Yvonne. Me, I'm still the answer to the question "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

Worse, I'm a Kindle-phobe. Oh, I've read on the Kindle. I just never warmed to it, which is why my picture is hanging in all the post offices of TREES.