The History Book Club discussion
WELCOME AND MODERATOR'S CORNER
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THE MODERATOR'S CORNER - ANNOUNCEMENTS
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https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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We are about ready to begin the holiday season for many of you and will wind up the 2016 year very soon.
We look forward to a new year (2017 and another year on goodreads). 2017 will be our tenth year. Hard to believe. We want everybody to start off 2017 on the right foot so we are sending out some friendly reminders and some information. So here is a lot of information for 2017 to get your started on the right foot.
Event Notifications:
Please remember that one of our requirements for membership is that you simply "respond" to the event notifications - either yes that you will participate, no that you do not have the time or maybe that if you have the time - you will participate - either yes, no or maybe are all great responses and help us with our planning. This takes one second and one click of your mouse. Ignoring and not responding at all - doesn't help us make the group the best that we can be nor does it help us present selections and offerings that you are interested in. We want our selections and offerings to reflect the interests of all of you. So please help us by just letting us know you are out there and this will be a very big help to all of our volunteer moderators and administrators who keep up the offerings, moderate the discussions and keep things moving along. This is good for group morale and for you too - because you will see selections that interest you when you take part. We are very mindful of spam and we do not allow it here on the HBC. That is why you will only get one event notification per book we are discussing either as a Book of a Month selection, or Spotlighted read from any special interest area. Just respond yes, maybe or no. Very simple.
Polls
We do not have a great many polls but when we do - this is another of our requirements - that you participate and click on your selection or choice and maybe add a comment or two. Just clicking on your choice or response takes one click and one second. We have over 13,000+ members so we should be doing better with response to all of our polls. We can do a whole lot better on this - so please do your part and be counted. You will not see what you want at the HBC without at least your minimal involvement to help the group. All of us are volunteers bringing you the moderated book discussions, the threads and other offerings. Please help us move things along and respond to the polls. Here is a link to the current poll which deals with the upcoming Presidential Series (please make your selection now!):
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
Challenges
Everybody loves challenges and we have quite a few going on now.
First, we have the Readathons. If you have not participated in one - they can be a lot of fun and can get you involved in getting that to be read pile smaller. This is a great new year's resolution - to read more. If you would like to participate - just sign up. If you sign up once, then you are signed up for all of the upcoming ones from year to year. We will notify you when all of these will take place. We have tried to find the right number of readathons to have each year - is it six, five or some other number. We have decided to have four (4) readathons in 2017. These are a lot of work for the moderators but they are a whole lot of fun when folks participate. So step one is for you to sign up that you will be participating in one or four for 2017.
Here is the link for sign up:
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...
Here are some Readathon FAQs:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Second, we have the brand new Ireland challenge. This is a fun way to read the books about a particular country or location and find out more about their customs, their authors, their culture. We are a global community so we can learn a great deal about each other this way. Make sure to sign up for the challenge and set up your shelf for your completed books.
Here is the sign up link:
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...
Here is another helpful link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Third, we have the ongoing Japan challenge - we have extended this challenge until June of 2017 to give folks time to either complete their challenge or start a new one. This is a fun way to read the books about Japan or a location in Japan and find out more about Japanese customs, their authors, and their culture. Make sure to sign up for the challenge and set up your shelf for your completed books.
Here is the sign up link:
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...
Here is another helpful link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Fourth - we have the 50 Books Read in any specific year challenge and here you can read books from any genre and take part and share your books with fellow group members.
Check out the 2016 year 50 Books Read links: (we will be setting up the 2017 threads very soon)
Here is the link to the 50 Books Read folder:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Fifth, we also have the 100 Movies Watched in 2016 as well which is a fun challenge to participate in. Watch for the sign up thread for 2017
Here is the link to the 100 Movies Watches in 2015/2016 folder:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Buddy Reads
We would like to have more buddy reads in 2017. So let me know if there is a particular book that you would like to lead in the new year.
In honor of our Ireland challenge - Samanta will be leading a buddy read on James Joyce's - Dubliners.
Watch for the event notification for this (Start date is January 16th, 2017 through March 12th, 2017) and together we will get through this wonderful classic in honor of Ireland.
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Greetings Everyone
Very soon we will beginning a great book by a wonderful Irish legend - James Joyce
We will be reading and discussing - Dubliners
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James JoyceThis will be a two-month buddy read.
I will be creating a folder for the book soon.
Samanta will be leading the discussion.
Note: For those of you who are beginning the Ireland challenge - this is a great kick off for that reading challenge.
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If you celebrate Hanukkah - have a happy hanukkah with your family and friends.
If you celebrate Kwanzaa - have a happy 26th through January 1st celebration.
If you celebrate St. Stephen's Day or Boxing Day - enjoy, enjoy.
Whatever your celebration - we wish you all the very best during this holiday season.
Bentley wrote: "Merry Christmas to all of the HBC group members wherever they are globally and a Happy New Year.If you celebrate Hanukkah - have a happy hanukkah with your family and friends.
If you celebrate K..."
Thanks Bentley! Merry Christmas to you too!! :)
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Our first challenge was visiting and reading about the Middle East. That was an exciting one.
We have completed the India challenge and we really enjoyed the discussion of this wonderful part of the world.
We began the Japan challenge and are still finishing that up but there is still time to participate in that challenge in 2017.
Ireland was kicked off for the start of 2017.
Next up are the Koreas (North and South).
We are now voting again for the lineup of the next countries to visit for challenges.
The poll is now open.
Goodreads use to be able to send out the polls to all group members but that feature has not worked well for awhile.
So we need to count on all of the 13,000+ members to take a second and just vote on this poll so that we have a realistic assessment of which country's authors, icons, leaders, places locations that you would like to read about next and to challenge yourself. This is a great way to discover some wonderful new authors that you may not have had an opportunity to discover before.
Those of you who have participated in any of our challenges - please be sure to vote in this next poll - I will even allow write ins of countries that you would like to vote for but may not have been top picks. So stay tuned for the results but you must vote.
The only countries that are NOT viable because we have selected them already are:
Middle East
India
Japan
Ireland
and the Upcoming Korea (North and South)
VOTE
Here is the link to the poll - be sure to vote. One of our rules and guideline is to take the couple of seconds it takes to just respond to the polls to help us with our planning and be able to please you.
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/8...
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by A. Scott Berg (no photo)So do not be shy - just jump onto the threads and introduce yourself and tell us you are reading with us and start discussing the book by posting your ideas, responses to the discussion questions
and what you are thinking about as we read and discuss this wonderful book about such an iconic man:
Discussion thread link is - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Spoiler Glossary thread is - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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Hello Everybody - I checked the Readathon link and I extended the end date on the text edit which had an end date of 2016 - that should have been extended and was not at the end of 2016 even though we are able to continue to utilize the same set up once you have joined - your avatar and name is carried over from year to year.
Now that we found what the problem was (some folks after the end of 2016 and before today contacted me) - you should be able to add yourself to the readathon and be able to set or reset your goals and set up your reading shelf for 2017.
Just scroll to the bottom of the text and you will see that you can enter the number of books that you would like to read during the readathons and update it or put them in a new shelf by just creating a new one - so then you will be able to add your new shelf for your readathon books in 2017 or keep the old one (shelf) and just update the number of books you want to complete.
I would suggest a new shelf name and number but see what works for you and make sure that you can see the books you complete during the upcoming readathon.
I am not sure if this was the only problem that folks found - but this particular problem has now been found and fixed.
The next readathon is March 25th, 2017.
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I will send out an event notification today because frankly I did not want to be the only person participating (lol).
We have always had a great number of folks - so I think this would be better with a solid invite.
Karen you are the only one that I have heard from.
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I am still interested in participating in the readathons when I can. Is there a schedule of proposed dates somewhere that I have missed?
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There was a time when we "did not allow private profiles" at all when we were a private group. However, we realize that under 18 folks are allowed into a public group and these folks have private profiles which is fine with us as long as we are able to see that they have a name and avatar even though it is more than likely a pseudonym.
The important thing is that we are able to still contact them with updates and group rules and guidelines and we will be able to instruct these members on how to follow them.
If however, we have no way to contact these folks and they have no name whatsoever and no books entered or read or to be read and zero posts - we do not feel comfortable with these folks who are obviously lurkers or trolls and who are not going to participate with the group or be able to be contacted if they somehow need guidance. In this day and age we want to protect ourselves and our membership.
We are all volunteers and we do not have the time to chase mystery folks down who are not offering anything to the group in terms of group participation or camaraderie and are just here to lurk or cause trouble. We remove such profiles after review.
How to Fix This:
a) Set up membership with this group where either your profile is not private and/or if you are under 18 that you at the very least have your first name posted and visible as well as have the ability to receive messages from the moderators without forcing them to try to send you a message by adding you as friend when there is no personal interaction between you. If we are not able to contact you and you are blocking us and we do not know who you are (or even because you are using a confusing pseudonym or a confusing profile name) and you have zero involvement with goodreads - it would be best for all involved if you did not join us. Additionally, we do not allow message avatars with personal ideologies or book cover spam. We work very hard to protect our membership from lurkers, trolls or folks who we have blocked who might be disruptive or non communicative. We reserve the right to not allow membership to folks who are hiding their identity and block our trying to contact them by normal means.
This is no fun for anybody. At the very least - identify yourself with your first name only, no book spam or message spam and please have the ability to receive our messages without our having to resort to subterfuge by sending a message to you via a friend request. It is too annoying and we choose not to do it.
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APRIL 8TH - WE HAVE THE 30 FOLKS MINIMUM QUORUM.
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Regards,
Bentley
Still awaiting my library copy. So will see about joining this one...
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The Book of the Month historic monthly selections (all those before Lindbergh) as well as all previous buddy reads (all those before and including Dubliners) have been moved to their appropriate topical subject area.
There is a list of books at the bottom of the main page and you can link to the complete listing of discussed books very easily and the folder will show you where the discussion threads for that previous book are housed.
Therefore at any time you can find the discussion for any book that we have completed. I just wanted you to know that I completed the moves of all of these historical discussions - if anyone got worried or was looking for them.
by A. Scott Berg (no photo)
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James Joyce
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Think about the fact that you are a member of a group that has certain rules - and follow the rules of each group site. Otherwise, you will find yourself one group short very fast.
This is a link to a folder which has threads for telling everybody what you are reading, asking folks to help you find a particular book and much more:
The section is called My Books and I:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
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We sent out a broadcast message today about the current BOTM offering. We will be sending out a few on polls, the Readathon, upcoming buddy reads etc. These are not just sent to one person but to everybody.
We try very hard to reach everybody through event notifications, postings, some broadcasts but we are very circumspect since we do not like spam.
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by
Colson Whitehead
Bentley wrote: "Big Month this month - The Underground Railroad starts on August 8th - delay due to vacation by [author:Colson Whi..."Any update? Thanks.
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Bentley wrote: "It is coming Neotony21 - unexpected event this month so I am putting it off until September 8th. Look for event notifications."Thank you.
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This September BOTM selection led by Bentley begins Friday, September 8th.
A great beach/vacation/pool read or just sitting in your rocker on the porch over Labor Day Weekend and during the month of September.
The discussion runs through October 8th.
Synopsis:
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. .
About the author:
Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Underground Railroad, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, the 2016 National Book Award, and named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review.
He is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of the MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships. He lives in New York City.
Reviews:
“Get it, then get another copy for someone you know because you are definitely going to want to talk about it once you read that heart-stopping last page.” --Oprah Winfrey (Oprah's Book Club 2016 Selection)
“[A] potent, almost hallucinatory novel... It possesses the chilling matter-of-fact power of the slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, with echoes of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and brush strokes borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift…He has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present.” --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Bentley
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This new poll is regarding the Presidential Series and John Adams. John Adams was the top vote getter. So now you have an opportunity to select the book you would be most interested in if you were participating in the upcoming discussion which will start in 2018.
As a member of the HBC - this is one of the requirements of membership - just take a second and respond to the event notifications and polls - it is just a click and helps us with planning.
So many times we hear that you would like to vote on selections - polls take a lot time and we have 15,000 members almost - so we should be getting that many votes - do not leave it to somebody else.
This is the new poll:
John Adams
This poll will examine the choices for the John Adams upcoming reading selection which will be the next President covered in the Presidential Series (after Madison). The order for the Presidents selected was determined by the group membership in a recently completed poll. The results are posted.
This selection will begin in 2018 and will continue for three - four months - depending upon the length of the selection. Some selections will take a long time so rather than begin this selection around Christmas or other important religious or family holidays, we are waiting until 2018 to begin the John Adams selection and we will have completed the Madison book by then.
We have added all of the books nominated on the John Adams thread and a few others. However, if you do not see your favorite book on this list; then just comment or pop me a note and I will immediately add it to this poll or you can write it in - but make sure that you select from the list the correct book and author. Also make sure that it is not already listed. If I find a duplicate, I will delete it.
You can always change your vote at any time; so nothing is lost. Some of the John Adams's books deal with only a certain period of his life, some may be multi-volume (if that is ever the case - I always add both separately), some deal with other topics too; some are all encompassing, others deal with specific events in Adam's life or presidency and others are by the man, himself and some may be about other relationships or focused on specific issues during his life or presidency or even his wife and first lady - Abigail Adams. Others deal with some of the other founding fathers as well. So select wisely.
Before making your selection, please try to look up your choice and make sure it really is a book you are interested in; do not be lured in by the title. Also, check out the author and what others have said about the book before you (reviewers who you trust). Then of course, make your selection.
Bentley
Note: Be careful when making your selection: a great many of these books have the same title (John Adams) so be careful to make the right choice.
Go to this link and vote now:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
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We will be still doing all of the same books.
Bentley wrote: "Folks, I have had a very heavy travel schedule and have been away - I will simply move out the schedule.We will be still doing all of the same books."
Welcome back!
Breathe, relax and read!
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Hey, no sweat. Welcome back. Remember this is what we do for fun you still have to do your real job. And if we do not say it enough thank you for all you do to keep this club up and running.
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Quick question: Did The Black Presidency book of the month discussion actually get moved to June or is that some sort of anomaly. I have started reading for the Feb. 1 start date. If the dates have changed it just means I will be ahead of the game. Just want to make sure that we really do want the start date in June.
by
Michael Eric Dyson
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This is a copy of a broadcast message which goes to all members. There is no need to respond to Bentley personally. This is just a way to get current information out to members.
First:
On February 26th, we will begin a spotlighted 14 week read and discussion of the book Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy. Event notifications have gone out. We only send out one per book; we do not try to bother our members needlessly. Please respond to the single event notification per book. Only if you respond yes or maybe does the event notification show up on your personal page - otherwise there are no future reminders regarding that specific book.
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Adrian GoldsworthyThis event will be led by Vicki Cline and this is a global event; so wherever you are in the world - you can easily take part in any of our discussions. The threads are open 24x7. If you missed the event notification, you should be able to sign up here (see link below). There is no need to read ahead - a syllabus with assigned reading is always posted.
This is the link to the event notification:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
The discussion and read will not begin until February 26th - but here is a link to where the threads for the discussion will be housed as they are developed and posted.
This is the link to the discussion folder for Caesar: Life of a Colossus
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Please remember that the discussion does not start until February 26th and there is plenty of time with weekly assigned reading. You are never behind at the History Book Club and you can always get caught up.
Second:
50 Books in 2018
1. So far all of the new threads for each member who requested one are up for 2018.
2. All of the 2017- 50 Books Read have been archived but they are still accessible in the Archival folder which is at the bottom of the group page. Just scroll down.
3. If you would like to have your own thread and post what you have read and keep track of your reading; it is a fun way to do it. We have a standard format so that all members will be able to easily get the information they want from any book you posted. But it is an easy format to use, we provide the sample and we are here to help you. In no time you will be a pro.
4. We call it 50 Books - but we do not care if you read 1, 10, 40, 50 or more - even a 100+. That is up to you and you can read any genre as well. We like history here; but we all read many different kinds of books.
5. If you are interested in participating in the 50 Books - then request your thread and express your interest on either of these two threads:
Introduction Thread link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
OR
How To's Thread link:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
or you can send Bentley a PM.
6. This is a fun way to get to know folks on the 50 Books thread and develop your own following.
7. It goes without saying that there is no advertising, self promotion nor is this a place for authors to advertise their books. This is just a nice personal space for our members.
These periodic broadcasts will tell you what is coming up and what you may have missed and the links will be provided to assist you so look for them and keep them for reference.
Regards,
Bentley
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Link to the Event Notification where you can sign up now:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
H is for Hawk is a sensitive, soaring tale of the author Helen Macdonald and her falcon Mabel who she trained.
The book is more than a tale of how to train a falcon which is challenging enough; but it is a tale of rebuilding and finding in nature the spirit of renewal.
Helen lost her father; and was experiencing grief. Like most folks who have faced any kind of loss - whether it be a loss of grandparents, parents, a child; all discover that grief and despair are universal and no one is exempt.
Helen faced her grief - but it seemed to overwhelm her. Everyone is unique in crisis but in confronting hers - it enveloped her.
Macdonald described in her book how personal it was for her - “While the steps were familiar — the person taking them was not. I was in ruins. Some deep part of me was trying to rebuild itself, and its model was right there on my fist. The hawk was everything I wanted to be; solitary, self possessed, free from grief and numb to the hurts of human life.”
Mabel while being trained - became a catalyst for Helen.
It is important to point out that this is not a sad tale of grief but a glorious one of rebuilding a life and managing the process while allowing the process to unfold. It is as much a tale of falconry, of connecting with animals (hawks, dogs, cats, etc) as it is of humanity.
Vicki Constantine Crook in her wonderful NYTimes Sunday Book Review of the book writes - “But as Mabel matures into a confident hunter, she brings MacDonald a different kind of discovery - that grace resides in the most unlikely places - and that moving forward means leaving something behind."
Please join me in discovering this delightful, magnificent story of a falcon named Mabel, its trainer Helen and their journey together.
Bentley
by
Helen Macdonald
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Link to the event notification so you can sign up now:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
Synopsis:
"In the introduction to his biography of the great Roman emperor, Adrian Goldsworthy writes, “Caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator . . . as well as husband, father, lover and adulterer.” In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines Caesar as military leader, in all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C."
Awards:
The Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award (2007)
Reviews:
Monumental. . . . [Goldsworthy] writes with great style."—Atlantic Monthly
About the author:
Adrian Goldsworthy read history at Oxford and is the author of The Roman Army at War, The Punic Wars, and other books about the ancient world. He lives in Wales.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this spotlighted read.
Bentley
by
Adrian Goldsworthy
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Link to the Event Notification so you can sign up now:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
Reading 1 Federalist Paper per week plus some supplementary materials will allow us time to discuss each paper in its entirety and then try to match the issues/topics discussed in each paper with current events, cases, and arguments being made by Congress, the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branches of government.
How does each paper written by our founding fathers have so much relevance for everyday Americans? And why should we be paying attention to the words of our founding fathers so many years ago?
We hope that everyone will participate/discuss these monumental papers/essays which were originally published in the newspapers of New York in order to ratify the new United States Constitution. These papers were written anonymously in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name "Publius".
We realize today the importance of the Constitution in America but what some folks do not know was that the Constitution was almost not accepted. In 1781 the states had ratified the Articles of Confederation which gave all of the powers to the states which worked for a few years; but in 1787 the young country realized that they needed a federal government which would provide the cohesiveness and support that the states needed to protect all of them "collectively"; but this was not going to be a slam dunk. New York was a hot bed for opposing ideas; to the rescue came Hamilton, Madison and Jay writing a series of essays known as The Federalist.
We hope that you will be able to join us for this spotlighted discussion of The Federalist Papers.
Bentley
by
Alexander Hamilton
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Some of the books coming up are very long - and we treat these books in different ways.
For example - The Federalist Papers has 85 essays and we are only covering one per week.
by
Alexander HamiltonFor John Adams - the chapters are extremely long so we are allowing two weeks per chapter.
by
David McCulloughFor Ulysses (Ireland Challenge) there are 18 episodes but they are complex and can be difficult and have a lot of ancient history references as well - we are allowing two weeks per episode.
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James JoyceGood annotated edition:
by Don Gifford (no photo)If the book selected is 700+ pages - not as long as War and Peace but in the ball park - we have to make allowances to assist everyone - our volunteers and our members. If we do not - we basically are doing the book by ourselves while folks catch up.
We have to look at the chapter lengths, the book length (number of pages), the difficulty and complexity level of the book too.
by
Leo Tolstoy
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Chandigarh: The Backstory - And The City It Couldn't Be (other topics)A Promised Land (other topics)
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (other topics)
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (other topics)
Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Vibhor Mohan (other topics)Barack Obama (other topics)
Garrett M. Graff (other topics)
Garrett M. Graff (other topics)
John M. Barry (other topics)
More...
Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
This event notification is for the Presidential Series discussion beginning September 26th with a three month duration ending on December 18th.
In Washington, A Life, Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
Review(s):
“Truly magnificent… [a] well-researched, well-written and absolutely definitive biography” –Andrew Roberts, The Wall Street Journal
“Superb… the best, most comprehensive, and most balanced single-volume biography of Washington ever written.” –Gordon S. Wood, The New York Review of Books
We hope you can join us to discuss Washington, A Life by Ron Chernow beginning September 26th, 2016.
Bentley will be leading this discussion and sorry for the delay.
Note:
This discussion will last for three months through December so there is plenty of time to participate and get caught up. This a great book and is enjoyable reading. We have a syllabus and table of contents that you can follow. And if you have a US mailing address and you are participating in this discussion and introduce yourself - you are eligible to receive a free ancillary book about Washington free from our publishers just for taking part. So make sure to introduce yourself on the introduction or week one thread, send me via PM your mailing address and post and participate in the Washington, A Life discussion and your free book will be on its way complements of our wonderful publishers.
This is where you sign up for the discussion:
https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
This is where you introduce yourself - either on the introduction thread or week one thread:
Introduction for A Washington, A Life: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Week One: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Week Two: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
This is the Table of Contents and Syllabus for the three month discussion - very easy to participate virtually:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Then send PM to me with your full name and address and I will forward it to the publisher so that you can receive your free book.