2020 Group Reads Planning Thread

Hi everyone - hope no one minds if I get a thread started to plan some group reads. I'll use this top post to organize suggestions. Everyone should feel free to suggest books to read.

By the Month:
January
February Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel http://www.librarything.com/topic/315906#
March Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel http://www.librarything.com/topic/317098
April The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel http://www.librarything.com/topic/318087
May La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas (will probably bleed into June) http://www.librarything.com/topic/319411
June Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf https://www.librarything.com/topic/321069
July
August
September The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann http://www.librarything.com/topic/323700
October
November
December

Quarterly Reads
Jan-Mar The Red and the Black http://www.librarything.com/topic/315855
Apr-Jun The Golden Notebook
Oct-Dec Our Mutual Friend

Year-long Reads:
Ross Poldark series by Winston Graham, books 1-4 (one per quarter)
Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L. Sayers (one per month) http://www.librarything.com/topic/314134
Jerusalem by Alan Moore http://www.librarything.com/topic/314516

Group Read Suggestions:

>2 japaul22: Hilary Mantel trilogy - Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, The Mirror and the Light, February-April

>10 Tess_W: Ross Poldark series, books 1-4, by Winston Graham, year long

>27 avatiakh: Jerusalem by Alan Moore

>30 pamelad: Stalingrad by Vassily Grossman

>46 japaul22: La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas May-June

>58 majkia: Lord Peter Wimsey books, year long read

>72 japaul22: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, September

>80 Kristelh: The Red and the Black Jan-Mar, The Golden Notebook Apr-Jun, Our Mutual Friend Oct-Dec

>92 mstrust: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

I'm really excited that Hilary Mantel's third book in her Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, is coming out in March. I'd like to reread the first two, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. I thought we could do January, February, and March group reads of each book if anyone is interested? Or maybe February, March, April if everyone is expecting a long library wait for The Mirror and the Light?

Excellent idea to start a thread and to suggest Hilary Mantel! I'll have to borrow Wolf Hall from my parents over Christmas :D

>2 japaul22: I have not read any of them yet! I think Wolf Hall is the book that has been on my TBR the longest! So I would definitely love a group read of these three.

I did dreadfully with group reads last year, so while I am interested int hem, in principle, I'd clearly best not commit myself to anything

>2 japaul22: I read Wolf Hall this year, so I'd love to see others' comments on Wolf Hall and read Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light as a group. As you mention we may need to have an extended reading period for the third one, but otherwise the timing doesn't really matter to me.

>5 Helenliz: I find group reads hit or miss for myself as well, but some have been so great that I still like doing them. It's hard to be in the right frame of mind for a certain book when the group read pops up.

>2 japaul22: >7 japaul22: I am a bit on the fence about Wolf Hall, I've got it and even started to read it, but found the chosen form jarring, so I abandoned it. But I do like the motivation that comes with group reads, so I may give it a try.

>1 japaul22: I've read the first two books (just recently) but would join in for book 3

Might I suggest reading books #1-3 of the Ross Poldark series by Winston Graham? I've read #1 about 10 years ago and it was great! I would like to read the remainder and this might be a great way to begin

>10 Tess_W: We did do a group read of the whole series in 2017, one book a month, but there could be another one. We've had multi-year group reads of the Vorkosigan Saga, for example.

>10 Tess_W:
>11 rabbitprincess:

I'm sorry, no idea about the 2017 read! I withdraw my suggestion!

>12 Tess_W: if there are others who didn’t do this in 2017 there’s no reason we can’t do it again! I’ll leave it up for a while.

>12 Tess_W: >13 japaul22: Exactly! And if we do it again this year, we can refer back to those previous discussions :)

>10 Tess_W: Perhaps 1 book a quarter? Then we can make it a multiyear read and do 4 a year. I'm in school full time, in addition to working full time, so I would love to read this series, but not all 12 in one year.

>10 Tess_W: I would be happy to do Poldark as I haven't read them yet and have them on my TBR.

Then I put my suggestion for Poldark back on the table. I would be glad to do 1 book per quarter or 3 per year. However, might I suggest 1 book every 3 months--that's 4 per year. I think there are 12 books, so that would be a 3 year read. But I'm interested in either!

>17 Tess_W: Yes 4 per year for 3 years is what I was suggesting. Awesome! That would be very doable for me via audiobook.

I have the Hilary Mantel books (1 and 2) but not the thrid. I am like >5 Helenliz: and probably should not commit. They are not easy reads from what I hear.

Is the thread currently running about short stories part of the group reads? I'd really like to see it running again next year!

>1 japaul22: I think we discussed Poldark books 1-4 (instead of 1-3) that would be 1 per quarter.

>21 chlorine: I would also like to continue with the short stories again next year.

I think Short Stories, Essays, and Poetry are categories for every year?

>2 japaul22: I've read Wolf Hall, and Bring Up the Bodies is on the shelf, so I plan to join in.

I would definitely be in for a Wolf Hall Trilogy group read! :-)

I participated in the Poldark group read in 2017 and loved almost every book. A wonderful series.

I just came across Jerusalem by Alan Moore - looks to be an interesting type of read. I'll throw it out there for a possible group read or just a shared one. It's about 1200 pages and can be divided into 3 distinct books so quite an ambitious project.

>27 avatiakh: I have Jerusalem sitting in my stacks unread too! When it first came out, I got a copy with great excitement but then, every time I looked at it, intimidation replaced my enthusiasm! I still want to read it so if it gets picked, I would join in :-)

Jerusalem would make a potential year long read.

I am planning to read Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad, if anyone is interested. If it is anywhere near as good as Life and Fate it should be well worth reading.

>28 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >29 Kristelh: The reviews are mostly glowing, so I'm tempted and I would need most of the year to get through it. The audiobook is read by Simon Vance so there's that as well. I haven't physically handled a copy but would want to before I went with the audio option. I came across it again recently on a wikipedia list of books set in Northamptonshire. The other novels seem to be survival in the forest type reads.

I'm doing family research and like to check if there are any interesting period novels set in places my ancestors came away from and Northampton itself has an interesting history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Novels_set_in_England_by_county

>31 avatiakh: I read Jerusalem last year and found it a superior book and highly recommend it. I fear however that listening to it in audio may not do it full justice. Indeed there are passages in which Moore writes in what is called Lucy's lips, which is inspired by Joyce in Finnegan's Wake, and looks like this:
"She is a puzzle, shore enearth, as all the Nurzis and the D’actors would afform, but nibber a cross word these days, deepindig on her mendication and on every workin’ grimpill’s progress."

The play with the spelling and the prononciation was fascinating as well as frustrating (at times I wondered if Moore personally hated all non-native English speakers!) but overall a wonderful reading experience, and I think this aspect would be almost completely lost in audio. Mind you, the book is very big with lots of other interesting aspects so it would still be a really worthwhile read.

FTR the translator to French won an award for this book, and I think it's highly deserved because these parts must have been a nightmare to translate!

>31 avatiakh: >32 chlorine: I can't find the interview now, but I read that Simon Vance actually visited Alan Moore twice to discuss (in person!) the material in Jerusalem before he began recording the audio-- so there's that...

>28 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Sounds very interesting - and challenging! I read Watchmen this year and was surprised by how much I liked it. Not at all something I would normally pick up.

>28 Tanya-dogearedcopy: The link led to Selma Lagerlof's Jerusalem, which reminded me that I'd planned to read one of her books because she was the first female Nobel Prize winner, but Jerusalem is over 1000 pages so I put The Saga of Gosta Berling on my wishlist. You never know where LT will take you.

Have now checked out the other Jerusalem. Quite different, but even longer.

>32 chlorine: Oh thanks for commenting on your experience of Jerusalem, it does sound fascinating. I read Riddley Walker some years ago and that was also challenging, Hoban used an imaginary dialect based on Old Kent.
I've read enough now around Jerusalem to wonder if the audio would capture all the essence of the text. I haven't seen a copy of the book as yet and for a year long read would probably go for a digital copy.

>31 avatiakh: of that's interesting! Northants is my current county of residence. Squirelling that link away for another day...

I've had Wolf Hall on the shelf for a few years, so this is a great time to read it. I'm in.

I'll probably join in for the Hilary Mantel group read. I've read the first two books and would like to reread them, though I'm hesitant to commit to that, as there are so many other books on my shelves. I'd definitely join in for a group read of the third.

Like some others had mentioned, I wouldn't mind having the group read start a bit later in the year, or perhaps allowing two months for each book, so that we have enough time to acquire the third one. I too will be waiting for a library copy.

>39 mathgirl40: Should we do February, March, and April for the Wolf Hall trilogy?

I always like reading some classics with a group. Some I'm considering for this year are:

La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Any interest in those?

>40 japaul22: La Reine Margot is on my to-read list, although I am undecided about whether to read in French or in English. Will have to see what I can get my hands on.

I own Le Reine Margot so maybe. Time being the biggest factor. I also have Magic Mtn on the shelf and never get to it.

>40 japaul22: >42 Kristelh: Same! I have had The Magic Mountain for years - it could even be the book that has been longest on my shelf unread. Happy to join in and finally read it!

>36 avatiakh: Riddley Walker is on my wishlist! :)

I read Jerusalem in electronic version and that was quite alright. Maybe there were times I wished I was able to leaf through the book to check previous chapters more easily, but one year after having finished it I do not remember this as a major problem.

>40 japaul22: I would be interested in a group read of La Reine Margot and perhaps The Magic Mountain, although I am not as enthusiastic about the Thomas Mann book.

Sounds like La Reine Margot has the most potential interest of the ones I mentioned. I'm planning to read the Hilary Mantel trilogy in Feb-Apr, so either January or May would work best for me.

Any takers on either January or May for a group read of La Reine Margot?

For Magic Mountain, maybe we could check back in half way through the year to see if anyone is still interested.

>46 japaul22: For me, May would work best for La Reine Margot.

>46 japaul22:, it is pretty long, might need 2 months for La Reine Margot, for me, anyway. So May, best for me too.

>47 DeltaQueen50:, >48 Kristelh: Great, let's plan on May-June.

>49 japaul22: Excellent!

I really like this thread. Haven't read a good book in a long time to be honest. Too much fantasy out there.

>52 This-n-That: January is always so full of activity and New Year's enthusiasm that peters out, so I think a February start would be better. Things are likely to have settled down a bit then.

>52 This-n-That: >53 MissWatson: February sounds great to me to start the Wolf Hall trilogy - let's plan on it!

I agree! February sounds great.

>27 avatiakh: >28 Tanya-dogearedcopy: >29 Kristelh: I have Jerusalem on the TBR pile too, and planned on making it a year-long read in 2020, so I'd be happy to join in with a group read. There's no way I could do it in 3 months though! It's not just the 1200+ pages, it's the size of the print! There are a *lot* of words! (I did start it as a year-long read this year, but got distracted, so I need to start again from the beginning).

I was born in Northampton, and grew up in Wellingborough (most of my family are still in Northants so I still visit regularly), so hopefully I won't find the dialect aspects too baffling!

>56 Jackie_K: It's so cool for this group read that you were born in Northampton!
I won't read the book again as I feel it's a once-in-a-lifetime read (or maybe I'll do a second read when I'm retired ;) but I'll follow the discussions with much interest!

The Lord Peter group (not on LT) is planning a re-read of all the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L. Sayers. If anyone else is interested here. I'm planning on joining that re-read.

The Lord Peter books would make a good year long read.

>58 majkia: I've read them all many times, but I'd be willing to do it again.

>58 majkia: I did that a couple of years ago - they are a series well worth reading or, indeed, re-reading.

>59 hailelib: >60 Dejah_Thoris: >61 Helenliz: Yeah, I've read them all several times but not for awhile. I"ll check on plans but at the moment they're planning on one a month, which I can certainly do.

majkia aka 'good decent demons in corduroy' on Lord Peter

>62 majkia: That might be fun - I've never read any of them. I see there are 11 that Sayers completed and one more that was partially done when she died. So one a month would work really well. Is that something you're thinking of having a thread for on LT, or only in the other group you mentioned off LT?

>63 japaul22: I'll do a thread here, if there's interest.

>64 majkia: Please!

>40 japaul22: Starting Hilary Mantel's trilogy in February would work for me. I'd also be interested in a reread of The Magic Mountain, especially if it's later in the year, after we get through Mantel's trilogy.

>64 majkia: I'd started a reread of the Lord Peter Wimsey books years ago but got stalled halfway, so I'd love some motivation to finish the series.

>59 hailelib: I have only read The Nine Tailors and enjoyed it. So I would like to join in with a year-long read of Lord Peter.

>58 majkia: It's been ages since I read those, I'd enjoy a re-read.

Cool. I"ll put up a thread before January.

>66 mathgirl40: Hmm, there's enough interest to talk about a Magic Mountain group read. I'm not sure what a good month would be, though. Any ideas? Maybe toward the end of the year? November might work for me.

>70 japaul22: Yes, later in the year would be good, but I'd leave a few months for people to finish the book before the end of the year. Maybe September or October?

>71 mathgirl40: How about September, then? I will be traveling all of October for work and can't imagine having the focus to read The Magic Mountain. But I think I could get it done in September. We could continue the discussion as long as it takes for people to finish.

Anyone else interested?

>72 japaul22: That sounds good to me.

I'm a little nervous about it but I will also mark September down for The Magic Mountain.

>72 japaul22:, I have the book on the shelf. So definitely have an interest. Time will be the factor. September seems a good month.

>74 DeltaQueen50: I am also nervous about it - and I brought it up! I loved Thomas Mann's first novel Buddenbrooks, but it's a more traditional family epic novel. And I really hated Death in Venice. So I have no idea what to expect with Magic Mountain.

>1 japaul22: I've organized our suggestion thread. Please let me know if I've missed any or if you'd like to schedule a month for something that was suggested.

Also, feel free to keep using this thread to suggest new group reads all the way through 2020.

>77 japaul22: Looks great! I have already put a hold on Whose Body? so it will arrive in time. Cannot believe it is already time to put holds on books for 2020!

I will be reading these if anyone is interested in joining.

Jan through March The Red and the Black
April through June The Golden Notebook
October through Dec: Our Mutual Friend

>80 Kristelh: I might join in on The Golden Notebook, but I'm only a maybe right now.

hello all! Marjika was nice enough to stop by the Reading Thro Time thread to tell us about the Mantel read. Oh I am so glad - never have gotten any bookgroup to read it cant wait for us to start! Ive read the two books several times and even went to the two night showing of the play on Broadway. Looking forward to reading them along with you and will try very hard to keep out spoilers.

I am also chomping at the bit for the third book coming out in March, so Feb would be the perfect time to get ready for it

>82 cindydavid4: Oh! So jealous you got to see the play! Which reminds me to put the Blu-Ray on my Christmas wish list! Mark Rylance ♥

>80 Kristelh: I love to read a Dickens work a year. I haven't read Our Mutual Friend yet. I'm in!

I would love to do a Sayers reread and just checked my personal library and have Whose Body so I'm all set. I also have the first two Hilary Mantel books and haven't read them yet so the group read looks like the perfect opportunity. Now I just have to find the books!

>83 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'd like to watch that again. a marvelous adaptation.

>80 Kristelh: I'll pencil in Our Mutual Friend as well. I have a hard copy and can also get it through Gutenberg or Serial Reader.

>80 Kristelh: The timing for Our Mutual Friend works well for me, I will definitely join in.

I'm still interested in a group read for Jerusalem (by Alan Moore) - Is that still in the mix?

>89 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I think so, it was suggested as a year long read. I'll set up a thread before the end of the year.

>90 avatiakh: I missed that it was year-long and was waiting for a month to be chosen! Sorry! I'll add it to the top post now.

If there are any others to be added, let me know.

If we're still taking suggestions, can I throw a few in for consideration? Since I've participated in just a few group reads over the years, these may have already been done.
Go Set A Watchman- Harper Lee
The Beautiful and Damned- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mrs. Dalloway- Virginia Woolf

>92 mstrust: I'm in for Mrs. Dalloway. If there is not enough interest for a group read, then I'm open for a shared read. How about June as the book takes place on June 23rd?

>92 mstrust: Happy for Mrs Dalloway as well.

>93 luvamystery65: If Mrs Dalloway doesn't get make it on the calendar I'd be happy to do a shared read. June works for me.
>94 JayneCM: Great! I haven't read any Woolf so far.

>92 mstrust: I would be interested in Mrs. Dalloway

Poldark just checking back.......do we have enough interest for books # 1-4 for a year read or should we maybe try to go with a shared read?

>97 Tess_W:

I might try the first one to see if I like them.

>97 Tess_W: Let's make it a group read since it's over 3 months each book and over 3 years for all 12. Having a thread will let people "catch up" if they want to join in. So excited about this. I downloaded the first audio.

>99 luvamystery65: okay, I'm with you! I don't have any of the books, but I see my library has both audio and ebooks.

The trouble is I am interested in so many of these. Wish I could read faster or that my eyes would grow tired so fast. I thought the Poldark books looked interesting. I loved Mrs Dalloway and would consider a reread. I recommend reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham as a companion read with Mrs Dalloway. Both such good books.

>101 Kristelh: totally agree about the Hours with Dalloway; Id never been able to take to Wolf, but we did this in a book group over several meetings and it gave me more appreciation for the author.

>97 Tess_W: I am interested in Poldark too - it has been on my list for ages.

I'm interested in Poldark, but am worried about over committing - I've still not finished the Forsyte Saga read we started last year (2018, I think!). Don't count on me, I'll probably follow along like tail end Charlie!

>104 Helenliz: That is normally where I end up too! But I just want to read all the books!

>104 Helenliz: >105 JayneCM: Same here. I am tempted by everything but cannot keep up.

>104 Helenliz: The Forsythe thread is still there. I want to continue past the Saga into the other Forsythe books, but I probably won't until next year. The Poldark books will be a 3 year read so pop on in whenever you can. No one is taking off points for not starting with the group. ;-)

>107 luvamystery65: I'm at book 7 of the 9 of the Forsyte books, so getting there, but it doesn't bode well for 12 Poldark books in 3 years!

>108 Helenliz: The Poldark books (at least the first 4) are much quicker reads than The Forsyte Saga, I promise :)

>109 NinieB: Good to know!

In preparation for the year-long group read of Alan Moore's Jerusalem I listened to this interview with him on the Guardian books podcast. It's well worth a listen, and his Northamptonshire accent makes me smile! (I have loads of relatives who sound exactly like him! I've lived away too long, mine is much milder, although I can still hear it on recordings) There are just a couple of instances of *language*, if people are sensitive about that. The podcast is here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2016/dec/02/alan-moore-talks-to-stewart-...

Here is the link to the Jerusalem group read - https://www.librarything.com/topic/314516

Unfortunately my son had turned off the wifi when I first tried to post this so then two threads were established - please ignore the one with only one post in it. The link above leads to the correct thread.

>111 Jackie_K: You got me with the podcast, Jackie. Looks like I will be joining in on the group read of Jerusalem. As I started listening to the podcast, I realized that I was currently reading one of Alan Moore's books From Hell, an interesting take on Jack the Ripper.

As soon as I saw that Philip Dodderidge was in the story, I was in. My ancestor who was a minister studied with Dodderidge. Strangely, Moore also had another of my family connections in the book I am reading now.

Wasnt sure how this works here - where will the Mantel discussion start, at this group or another? And when will the thread start. (yes I know its not February yet but its getting awfully close!) :)

>114 cindydavid4:, those are all good questions.

aaaaaaand? :)

I am not the one in charge. Last year, if I was the one doing the hosting, I started a thread. But I am not hosting Wolf Hall and not sure what plans are this year. I should have started a thread for The Red and the Black so I guess I will start one.

1st Quarterly Read; The Red and the Black by Stendhal, http://www.librarything.com/topic/315855

Sorry, I don’t always check in to LT daily when work gets busy! I’ll start the thread for the Mantel reads - usually whoever suggests the book starts the thread. I wasn’t really planning to put it up til February, but I’ll try to get to it earlier since there’s interest in that.

For all group reads, it’s great to post a link here to the thread when it’s up.

Last year the group reads were also linked on the 2019 category home page. That does not look like it is happening in 2020. I am going to set up a topic and post a link.

>119 Kristelh: only the group admin can edit the group home page, but I can ask for them to be added. Thanks for the suggestion!

>119 Kristelh: >120 japaul22: Editing the group home page is a pain because the edit window is a fixed (small) size and the text is hard to read, especially when there are a lot of links on the page. I'd prefer to limit links to only the main challenge threads.

>120 japaul22:, can you add the link to the top of this page?

>121 rabbitprincess: that’s totally fine - thanks for all the work you do to set up the group! The link to this thread should be sufficient since I have it all in the top post.

thanks to all of you for taken the ball and running with it - If you didnt want to put it up till Feb thats fine; i was just panicking that it was the end of Jan and hadn't heard anything. Sounds like everything is in good hands!

I've set up the thread for the February group read of Wolf Hall.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/315906#

NYT book review interviews Hilary Mantel about her new book The Mirror and the light

I've started a thread for our group read of Bring up the Bodies. http://www.librarything.com/topic/317098

If anyone is interested in reading Tracks by Louise Eldrich, there is a thread over in the 75 Group. There are about 6 of us reading it.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/317198

I made a thread for the April group read of The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/318087

I made a thread for April, May, June group read of The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

https://www.librarything.com/topic/318218

So are we doing or not a thread about short stories? I haven't seen a thread about it but am willing to set it up. But if it requires some updating work I'd rather leave that to someone else as I'm not too good at year long commitments.

>131 chlorine:. Searching through this thread on the word "short," it looks as if you and I are the people most interesting in having a short story thread. I don't see any reason why we should not set one up. Last year not as many collections were read as in 2018, but the updates were not posted since late July. I think that if we do set up a thread, it would be nice to keep the books read up-to-date. Also, would you be interested in calling it short work collections? That would broaden the scope. We could explain in the opening thread that included would be collections of short stories, of essays, of plays, of poems or a combination of forms. I am willing to update the books read if we set up a thread. What do you think of this suggestion? How many genres are you interested in including, or do you want to say only short story collections?

>131 chlorine:, I like that we have a short story thread for when I do read one. So I think it is nice to always have one.

>131 chlorine: Yes, I might be interested in a short story thread too, since I'm trying to get round to reading more short stories. This year so far, I've already started two or three collections, and I've got a dozen or so more authors lined up.

>131 chlorine: & >132 sallylou61: short stories, essays and anthologies?

>132 sallylou61: I'm in favour of having as broad a them as possible so short work collections seems great! Since we're talking about broadening the theme, what are your thoughts about single short works? I try to read some short stories that are not part of a collection, that's a huge benefit of having an e-reader. But maybe it would create too many posts if people were allowed to cite single works? (I would do it in batch if I posted about them because a thread per short story would be too much IMO).

Also listing individual short works would make it impossible to update the list of books read by members, so maybe it's not a good idea.
Thanks anyway for volonteering to update the list!

>136 chlorine:. I am NOT in favor of including individual short works because it would just get too cumbersome. For example, last year I read 88 short works which I tallied on my individual thread in 2 messages. 79 of these were individual short stories (I was in a short story seminar and we normally read 2 a week), 5 were short adult books, and 4 were picture books. I'm okay with calling the thread short works collections, but emphasize that it must be collections. After I sent the message to you the other day, and seeing the responses, I've been thinking of limiting it to short story collections, but I have no real preference.

>137 sallylou61: I'm fine with restricting the tread to collections. :) I have no real preference either on limiting to short story (which is probably the only kind of short works I will read) or opening it to all short works.
So would you like to set up the thread?

And what does a short story seminar consist in?

>138 chlorine:. I live in a retirement community, and a small group of us have met weekly to discuss short stories assigned by our instructor, who is a retired English professor. Rather than have him lecture, we are participate in the discussion. So it's actually a small class.

As you may have noticed, I have set up a thread. I hope you enjoy reading short story collections.

This seminar must have been very interesting. Thanks for setting up the thread!

Is anyone still interested in reading La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas? We had talked about doing it in May but I don't want to start a thread unless there is real interest from at least 3 people. Let me know - I'm happy to read it still!

>141 japaul22: I'll give that one a go. I quite like Dumas and haven't read that one.

>141 japaul22: I'm game! I read The Count of Monte Cristo some two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it!

>141 japaul22: Depending upon the pace, etc., I would participate.

>141 japaul22: I have it ready to go on my iPad!

>141 japaul22:. I have the book but right now, when I should be ahead because of stay in place, I am behind in reading.

That’s great everyone! I’ll start up a thread soon and we can discuss what sort of reading/discussion plan we want to have.

I set up a thread for La Reine Margot. Stop by and discuss how we would like the group read to go!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/319411

Are we still reading Mrs. Dalloway this month? I've got my audiobook ready.

>149 luvamystery65: Yes, I'm still up for reading Mrs. Dalloway, though I might only be able to start a little later this month.

The thread for Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is here. https://www.librarything.com/topic/321069

We had talked about reading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann in September. I know it's about a month away, but because it's a book that requires the right frame of mind, I thought I'd check in to see if anyone is still interested?

I'm still up for it if others are!

>152 japaul22: Yes, I am ready to give it a try in September. :)

>152 japaul22: and >153 DeltaQueen50: I’d like to give it a go.

>153 DeltaQueen50:, >154 Matke: Great! I will set up a thread in late August. Heads up that there are surprisingly few editions out right now. A quick amazon search only had used copies and few of them. I will get this from the library.

>152 japaul22: If life if still giving me time to read in September, I think The Magic Mountain might be a good fit for me these days. I'll keep an eye out for the thread and see if I can on a waitlist at the library!

I would too.

I've set up a thread for the group read of The Magic Mountain.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/323700

>80 Kristelh: Did you start on Our Mutual Friend? Just realized I haven't read a Dickens this year.

>159 luvamystery65:, I did start Our Mutual Friend. I am about 24% into the book. Taking a short break.

I'm finishing up a book and then I'll start it.

>161 luvamystery65:, sounds good