Classics for Beginners discussion

I keep losing library cards, I've searched everywhere, but the stupid cards just disappear!

Great, because my parents are non-readers and I have to accept the fact that I'm the only member in the family who love books because what I mentioned before our place don't have a nice library since my parents time. Now, I'm jealous because I never touch a library card since birth. If you talk about our school library, well, we only have our ID to swipe and done.

Namida: I don't know what to do in your case, because we have second hand bookstores here in the Phil. that sold cheap books like below one dollar for a hardbound Harry Potter. If you have cheaper shipping rate, I can send some books if you want to. Although, don't expect YAs. Hehe.

Kwesi 章英狮 wrote: "Great, because my parents are non-readers and I have to accept the fact that I'm the only member in the family who love books because what I mentioned before our place don't have a nice library sin..."

wow kwesi, i didn't say it to deserve pity:) i do still read, i have a minimum number of books per year to buy and grope my way through ebooks on the net, though not so much, cuz it's practically illegal^^...and no in fact i'm not much of a huge fan of YA, i've read some of course but i don't usually find them worth the money spent to buy 'em..

Thanks for the offer it is marvelously kind of you, and in the repetitive words of Miss Bates "I'm much obliged to you" ^^

Don't worry! Now, I have to mention this too, most of my B&N classics are for free online. Anyone interested, I can paste the link here although I don't recommend it since this group is against illegal downloading of e-books (maybe). Haha. Most of my YAs are galleys so I don't have to waste my money to buy them except if I have a friend who beg me to read the book.

Kwesi 章英狮 wrote: "Don't worry! Now, I have to mention this too, most of my B&N classics are for free online. Anyone interested, I can paste the link here although I don't recommend it since this group is against ill..."

yeah it's awfully easy to find classics online (though i tried finding the Woman in Black to read just like i told you i would and couldn't, maybe because Susan Hill is still alive) the problem is, i love the feel of a book in my hand, reading in the waiting hours before my lesson starts, or alone in one of the empty classrooms at school leaving social life downstairs... a corporeal book in my hands feels much better a companion than an ebook, don't you think?

Heidi wrote: "I'm rereading "Little Women" for the local book club I'm in. It's so good!"

It's the one classic from my childhood I can remember rereading, and I'd reread it again now if I had the time. :p

I agree Namida I love printed books! But with my shelves in full capacity, for convenience sake, I love my kindle too! :)

I'm trying to get through The Arabian Nights. There are quite a few of these stories that I end up skipping because they are boring and ridiculously long. But for the most part I'm enjoying it. I had no idea that Ali Baba & Aladdin were debateable parts of the tales. My copy does include these stories (haven't gotten around to reading them yet) But it has notes that mention their debateability. What does everyone else think that has read this book?

Arabian Nights has always been on my to-read list, so I'd like to know your final thoughts.
I'm reading 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' which is fascinating. I took an African American Lit course and a couple of chapters were required reading. The writing is very clear and her story is heart breaking.

Well I'm still working through it (Arabian nights) I'm currently on the first Sinbad adventure

Mupples wrote: "Arabian Nights has always been on my to-read list, so I'd like to know your final thoughts.
I'm reading 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' which is fascinating. I took an African American Lit ..."

I've heard of that book! Is it the one that stirred a lot of controversy upon first publication over whether the author was really African-American as she claimed?

I'm not sure, I think she's described as being mulatto in her words ... which is a mix. She might have been more white based.

Wikipedia stated:
Despite the publisher's documents of authenticity, some critics attacked the narrative as based on false accounts. There was a reaction against the more horrific details of slave narratives, and some readers believed they could not be true.

That's the only controversy I found. Then again, it's Wikipedia.

I'm reading North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell at the moment, about quarter of the way through it.

Still making my way through Jane Eyre and the Hobbit....

Done reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle yesterday while checking the chicken coop at school. Well, it was a fun read while riding pterodactyl. Haha. Currently reading The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill for today's book discussion and rushing the 160 pages of dark story telling.

I'm joining you guys, except for The Color Purple. I already read that book last summer. Hurrah and good luck Desiree!

Currently reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I by Arthur Conan Doyle until the end of the month. Wish me luck guys, I've been putting this book down since last year. I can't read very thick classics, haha.

Desiree wrote: "OK, I'm not going to add any more to my to-read list! It's growing thicker and thicker each and every other day! How annoying! Too much demands! It's not like I can read all in one sitting! I'm goi..."

LOL I know how it feels. I went a little crazy first after I signed up for this site then when I got a Kindle it just exploded! I have WAY too many books on my TBR and To Read shelves!

Now I can't even decide what the heck to read after Jane Eyre!

Desiree wrote: "I'll be reading The Color Purple and Villette starting in Oct. Buddy reads. Join us, people."

Vilette!! i'm almost done with the first volume, can i join the buddy read? i have the color purple still pending, so i can start that as well...although i was hoping to continue The Book Thief, i only put it on hold cuz it's full of German, while villette is full of french, didn't make a good combination...

Desiree wrote: "I can only dream having Kindle. I'd like to have it, saw it on Amazon but I'm no rich girl, but perhaps I'm going to buy the cheapest version, I think the one that first came out lol.

Anyway, wh..."

The Kindle is so worth it!! I saved my pennies to get one and I am so glad that I did. If you love the classics, then the Kindle will pay for itself, because they are all FREE!! :)

I can't decide because I feel overwhelmed by all the choices! I want to read something gothic, maybe Woman in White? I heard that was good.

Desiree wrote: "Namida: Yes yes please do join! We'll be glad to have you aboard! Villete is full of french? Now, that's when google translator comes in handy :)

Mirela: Oh man! Wish I could have that Kindle th..."

Sense and Sensibility it is! LOL Yes, you can find used and new Kindles on Ebay. I would definitely save up for it!!

Desiree wrote: "Namida: Yes yes please do join! We'll be glad to have you aboard! Villete is full of french? Now, that's when google translator comes in handy :)

Mirela: Oh man! Wish I could have that Kindle th..."

thanks :) and do you have the penguin version of Villette, it has full notes in the end, with every french sentence translated, dunno if the rest have those though, but i think any version should have translations, they don't expect a normal reader to be fluent in french and english, i know some french but this book proved my illiteracy really !

Desiree wrote: "Really? Used Kindles? Then it must be cheaper huh? Will check it out. Oh shoot, I forgot I don't own a credit card. Amazon doesn't accept paypal. :("

Ebay accepts paypal. :)

Desiree wrote: "Really? Used Kindles? Then it must be cheaper huh? Will check it out. Oh shoot, I forgot I don't own a credit card. Amazon doesn't accept paypal. :(

Namida, that's pretty interesting about the p..."

Did you see this yet?? I wish I could buy the new one!! Too bad I already splurged to get the one I have plus all the books! :(

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005...

WTH! Thanks for sharing Mirela. I can't help but to save money for next month! Hey, how come Amazon Kindle only open Kindle files? Aw.

Kwesi, this is all the files that the Kindle supports:

"Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion."

There's a program called Calibre that will convert all kinds of formats to the MOBI format for use on the Kindle e-reader.


Desiree, 3 times?? That's ridiculous! Sorry :(

Have you guys checked out the Kindle Fire?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005...

I want it so bad!!!!!!!!!!

ME TOOO! FIRE!

Times 3? Well, be forge by the amount of peso I have to spent for the Kindle, like multiply it by 43 and that is the exact amount in peso. I pity myself, no, I mean not really. Anyway, thanks for sharing that Mirela and hey, I have Calibre. I usually use it for my Nook. Hehe.

I want Fire substitute for my Nook Color, Fire is kind of better in pictures. Haha. I think I have to save for Fire but I love the sexy Kindle. Unfortunately, Kindle Fire are not available in the Phil. Heck!

I only have Nook. They usually ship it through Philippines and you have to pay taxes but there is a company who ship in the Philippines who manage to sell their service in a very cheap price. So we ship our product through their company and ship it back to the Phil, unlike in our local post office. Plus post offices here are one of the worst corrupt government owned management. Yikees!

I just started reading Don Quixote. I have no idea what it's about! It's a big book, I hope it's not boring!

Uy, good luck Mirela! Haha.

I've only read the first chapter. LOL So far it's pretty easy to understand. But the book is like 940 pages!!! I feel a tad bit overwhelmed. Ugh I should have read another Jane Austen book, but I can't quit now!

Desiree wrote: "940 pages??? Are you really sure, it'll take months for you to finish it! Why don't you read Mansfield Park with me instead? It's been a while since I read another Austen, I have read only P&P, S&S..."

Months??? What?? No way! It would probably take me two weeks. I'm a very impatient reader! LOL

Are you going to do up a new thread in the Buddy Reads section? And of course I will read it with you! When are you starting?

Desiree wrote: "Well tell me about it when you're done. I'd like to have a go with it because I heard it's critically acclaimed.

Oh really? You'll read it with me? I'm excited to read another Austen, I've been..."

I will definitely let you know what I think of it!

No, I have not read Mansfield Park, the only Jane Austen book I've read is Pride and Prejudice! So yeah I gotta read a lot more! I will definitely join the buddy read thread for Mansfield Park! I can't wait until everyone starts reading Villette because that is my favorite book!

And yes, people in this group are awesome! I've been part of plenty of other groups since I've joined GR but no other ones have been this active and friendly!

u guys should really read mansfield park, it's my second austen favourite, it's brilliant, fanny being a little bit too righteous but it's ok...but don't bother with it's movie, it butchered down the entire feeling of the book, exaggerating such themes such as slavery which austen would never have dwelt on such savagely...well i just want u to read it

About the kindle thing, i wanted to ask a question, i've heard u order through amazon and it has to already be shipping to ur country, but it doesn't ship to all countries, so buying a kindle in egypt won't do any good since i still can't download books, is that true?

I'm currently reading JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye. I've read it before, but after I took a Lit & Soc class in college and realized I've probably been reading novels too shallowly. I resolved to start from scratch, pretend like I haven't read any novels yet, and try to understand works more deeply. Starting with The Catcher In The Rye, I'm blogging everything about the stuff I read at deantasticreads.blogspot.com :D

Namida... wrote: "u guys should really read mansfield park, it's my second austen favourite, it's brilliant, fanny being a little bit too righteous but it's ok...but don't bother with it's movie, it butchered down t..."

Namida, if you can buy a Kindle in Egypt then you can also buy the ebooks. However, right now, it says that the Kindle 3 (keyboard) with 3G is not compatible in Egypt. But you can buy the regular one with Wi-Fi if you are willing to shell out the dough for shipping. Hope that helps!

About the Kindle. I live in the US, but my Kindle is only WiFi, not 3G (had to get the cheap one last year.)
I just download to my computer and transfer via cable to my Kindle. You should be able to do this any where in the world that you can access the Amazon site.

Dean wrote: "I'm currently reading JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye. I've read it before, but after I took a Lit & Soc class in college and realized I've probably been reading novels too shallowly. I resolv..."

Good for you Dean. I checked out your blog and bookmarked it to revisit. I always like to see what others think about books, and it might inspire me to keep up with a blog or at least reviews :-)

Mirela wrote: "Namida... wrote: "u guys should really read mansfield park, it's my second austen favourite, it's brilliant, fanny being a little bit too righteous but it's ok...but don't bother with it's movie, i..."

thanks Mirela and Susan, that does help...especially in the far future when i do get one, at least now i know it's not entirely impossible :)

I'm done reading first volume of Sherlock Holmes and back to Dracula.

Theresa wrote: "Hi Desiree! I want to read Mansfield Park too. If it isn't nominated for the November read, I would love to read it along with you.

Hi Mirela, don't give up on Don Quixote! I am excited to hear wh..."

Thanks for the support! ;) I know I said this would take me about two weeks to read, but now I'm thinking it may take 3! Oh well, as long as it's good I'll be happy!

I am still reading the Hobbit! I admit I haven't even picked it up in the last few weeks!

I am almost finished with Frankenstein. I plan to start Rebecca next.

Love both of those!!

Starting Rebecca hopefully today!! I am still reading The book of lost things...almost finished!!!

Started A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens two days ago, and so far, it's hard to put down...his wording is a little bit of a challenge, but the story is intriguing and suspenseful with a hint of romance...

Teri-lynn wrote: "Starting Rebecca hopefully today!! I am still reading The book of lost things...almost finished!!!"

Rebecca is wonderful! Once I started I could not stop, dang work and sleep, dang you both!

Nance wrote: "Started A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens two days ago, and so far, it's hard to put down...his wording is a little bit of a challenge, but the story is intriguing and suspensefu..."

A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorites! Once you catch on to his style of writing its really excellent. No spoilers, but the ending is amazing.

Kristine wrote: "Teri-lynn wrote: "Starting Rebecca hopefully today!! I am still reading The book of lost things...almost finished!!!"

Rebecca is wonderful! Once I started I could not stop, dang work and sleep, ..."

Oh, how is the The Book of Lost Things? I've had that on my TBR shelf for so long...it looks good, but I just always find something else to read and put it to the side. And, Rebecca is one of my favorites...5 stars to be sure:)

Currently Reading Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas it's not a classic, but it should be. Maybe some day. (Funny)