Popping in here to say I do still try to be part of this Book Club – obviously with varying degrees of success. I actually read (and enjoyed) the dual selections for back in October about Beryl Markham, but didn’t finish until you all had moved on.
I also bought “Far From the Madding Crowd,” but couldn’t really get into it. Plus I wasn’t going to be done by early December … I may still try to go back and finish it, though.
I’m game for whatever selection this group comes up with for February. H and I may be in warmer climes at that point, possibly without internet, so I’ll have to see if I can join in.
Hi CBBBlinker! Thanks for checking in. From the description of *The Bookman’s Tale/i, I am guessing that it might have a wider appeal that some of our previous choices. I hope you can join us!
Enjoyed the Hardy discussion - I’m into “Return of the Native” - borrowed from a friend who agreed with me that we couldn’t remember this novel as well as his others and we should renew the acquaintance!
An on-line book discussion is fun. I don’t know if others have had my experience with in person book groups that sometimes break down into mild gossip sessions and chat involving everything but the book itself. Nice to stay on track with just relevant diversions. The Bookman’s Tale - off to the library!
I also like all the links people can bring into the online discussions, to reviews, to pictures of plants, or articles about or interviews with the author. To me these make the discussions significantly more interesting than a real life book club. And you get to mull over ideas and questions as well.
@Momofadult, you may have noticed–but just in case–our discussions are every other month. That gives each of us time to read other books that the group might not be interested in, or just do crossword puzzles and binge-watch old episodes of “Gilmore Girls” (that might just be me :). ) Our discussion of The Bookman’s Tale will begin February 1st.
Here is a list of the books we have read to-date. We pride ourselves on our eclectic tastes!
My local library has tossed (almost) all their classics, so I couldn’t pick up Captain Blood or Beau Geste today (they finally had the DVDs of* Far from the Madding Crowd.*) However they did have The Man called Thursday. Yay! I’ll let you know what I think. I’m reading Cryptomanicon, but I can tell already it’s going to be a bit of a slog as I don’t like the protagonist.
Are you really a crossword enthusiast, Mary? I certainly am; I find them stimulating and relaxing at the same time. There used to be an excellent crossword by Merl Reagle in the Philadelphia Inquirer every Sunday. Reagle died suddenly not long ago, and I’m mourning him. I often attempt the Sunday New York Times crossword too, but it has a tendency to get the better of me.
Thanks @Mary13. I picked up The Bookman’s Tale today at the library - it’s on a book club list there also. Looks intriguing. I’m eager to try some of those past selections as well, thanks for the list.
I am! They’re great when I don’t feel like reading, but don’t want to zone out in front of the TV. I always bring them on road trips because they make the time pass more quickly (my husband is usually the driver). I just grab them out of our daily paper (yes, we still get real newspapers at our house!)–usually from the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune.
DH and I do the NYTimes crossword puzzle on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It definitely helps to have two heads though I always complain DH does not hold up his end on cars and sports. Thursday is our favorite, it’s always a theme like Sunday, but not such a slog. I’ve found the smaller size is actually more enjoyable. Fridays and Saturdays we usually do a first pass and can only figure out two or three words and we’ll think we’ll never do it, but we nearly always do get it. We were sorry about Merl Reagle too, his puzzles often appeared in the NYT and I remember correctly he’s the one who demonstrates how to construct a puzzle in the movie Wordplay as well.
For years I solved the NYT crossword every day. Saturday puzzles were always a challenge, but I pride myself on finally being able to solve Fridays’ (not that I could do one now–so rusty, grrr)!. I still have a subscription, but find myself doing Monday and Tuesday puzzles only of late. Any Rex Parker blog fans here ? The movie Wordplay was excellent!
Mathmom, I’m very familiar with the “only figuring out a few words on the first pass and thinking you’ll never do it” experience. I will sometimes work on a NYT Sunday crossword over several days. I’ve discovered that my mind somehow keeps on working on the puzzle while I’m away from it, or asleep…a very interesting phenomenon!
I’ve looked up individual puzzles on his blog when I’ve been frustrated with them (puzzle do-able but theme too obscure, for example) and wanted to see what someone else had to say. He’s very entertaining.
We always go read Rex after doing the puzzle. Enjoy the snarkiness most of the time. I think he used to link more youtube videos. A few times we’ve discovered we’ve only half figured out the theme.
It’s infuriating. I can get most things via inter-library loan, but they just toss things if no one has read them recently. They threw out nearly all their fantasy the year before Harry Potter came out and then had to buy it all back again. They do things like toss out volume three of a five volume series because for some reason it hadn’t been checked out. And don’t even get me started on why volume three of some other series is shelved with regular fiction while the rest of it is on a different floor of the library with sci fi.
I’m surprised that classics get tossed because so many students check them out - at least here. So I looked to see if our library has Captain Blood and Beau Geste - yep - but no A Man Called Thursday.
We do have a problem with a volume or two missing from a series. The librarian claims attrition - falling apart due to age or handling - or theft. She reorders if made aware of the missing volume.
When the kids were small, I had a project to read all the Newberry Award winners to them. I was horrified to learn that the public libraries in a neighboring community, home to a major private “most selective” university, discards books, including award winners and classics, that haven’t been checked out for a period of time (I can’t remember their time frame). Apparently, I "saved"one of the older Newberry winners from the discard bucket.
This Newberry book was still appearing on recommended lists of kiddie literature during the '80’s when I wanted it - so it wasn’t a book that had clearly served its useful life. I would have thought the job of libraries was to make available the best and the classics - and perhaps even promote them a bit. Guess I’m naive.
So just thought I’d let you know I read A Man Called Thursday * and pretty much hated it! It felt like watching an overlong Keystone Cops movie with a touch of the Dali sequence from Notorious thrown in. It really brought home once again that I really like character driven fiction and I all the characters seemed pretty much the same. Even the hero, who is given some background never really seemed real to me. OTOH Chesterton really writes well and there were some lovely descriptions.
I decided I needed something different. I went off to the library and got out the new Dick Francis (written only by the son). So far it’s fast paced and he’s still pretty good at channeling his Dad’s style. They had Elizabeth is Missing and it looks good, so I’ll probably read that next. I also picked up a few of the older CC Book Club selections from before I joined this group.
I read A Man Called Thursday with another book group maybe ten years ago. I too had a hard time with it. Ditto the book we read around the same time, Walker Percy’s Love in the Ruins. Other members of our group just loved both, so I figured it was just me
I’m still reading Under the Greenwood Tree, Patty Smith’s M Train and listening to an old Kate Morton novel, The Forgotten Garden. I have on good authority that a copy of The Bookman’s Tale will be under the tree tomorrow. Yay!
? The movie Wordplay was excellent!