Samantha’s Comments (group member since Aug 17, 2017)

Samantha’s comments from the Never too Late to Read Classics group.

Suggestions and votes updated as of October 11 2:47pm CDT.

Pam wrote: "I plan to participate. I downloaded “Twenty-one Stories” from Hoopla."

Love seeing the library support, Pam!

Suggestions & votes updated as of October 11 at 2:24pm CDT.

Lesle wrote: "Tracey wrote: "The Country Diary of the Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden (could also be under wilderness). Let me know and I will put this and the Peregrine under that. Thank you all you super mods :..."

Noted that this has been recorded as a suggestion for the Wilderness reads.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

418 pages

Group total: 371,796

Rosemarie, I love that we have such a well-read group here for times like this! :)

Lesle wrote: "Tracey wrote: "Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton"

Tracy Im not sure how to take this one. Library of Congress and Wikipedia both have it listed for genre as Psychologi..."

Resident librarian checking in. I furthered Leslie's checked with WorldCat and reviews on Books in Print. Nothing I saw indicates it to be a romance.

Thanks for solving that, Lesle!

Sara wrote: "Sorry, Samantha. Thank you, I will check out the new threads!"

No problem! Ideally, I would have had that thread posted by Tuesday evening or yesterday, but...life. :) I hope you enjoying reading his work with the group sooner than you expected!

October is essay time for us. Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb has various editions that range from ~200 to almost 500 pages. I linked this one for its accessible ISBN. Charles Lamb was a British essayist, and earlier this year we read Ten Tales from Shakespeare by him and his sister, Mary, as part of our short story selections.

From GR of this linked edition: Published under the pseudonym "Elia," Charles Lamb’s book, by turns witty, insightful, self-deprecating, and philosophical, offers an unusually warm, human glimpse of life in a circle that included such luminaries as Coleridge, Wordsworth, and William Hazlitt. Published in The London Magazine in the early 1820s, these often nostalgic essays are important documents in the development of autobiographical writing which gained him a devoted following among 19th-century readers.

Tracey wrote: "Klee Wyck (03) by Carr, Emily Paperback (2004)

and Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

Also does ornithology books count ot are they under wilderness:

The Per..."</i>

I will consult with Lesle and other mods about [book:The Peregrine.

James wrote: "I nominate The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960-61) by William Shirer."

We read this back in August of 2023. It is also archived but open to comments still. You have great suggestions to the point that we've already read them! With so many ideas rolling in, I am trying to avoid repeated just yet.

James wrote: "I nominate A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf."

James, we actually read this as part of our 2020 NF reads. You are welcome to look back over the archived discussion and add to it there. :)

Jen wrote: "I support Thunderclap- great idea!

Nidhi, The Swan's Nest doesn't seem to be nonfiction or is it just tagged inaccurately here?"

Thank you for catching that, Jen! Much appreciated.

For Q4 October - December we are exploring Graham Greene. You have a choice between two different collections of his: Complete Short Stories 594 pgs OR Collected Short Stories 367 pgs. READER'S CHOICE. Odds are that some stories overlap between the two collections, so feel free to peruse his works as you wish. Notice the similarities in the two descriptions below! Which book will you be reading? What story of his will be your favorite?

Complete: (GR) Affairs, obsessions, ardors, fantasy, myth, legends, dreams, fear, pity, and violence—this magnificent collection of stories illuminates all corners of the human experience. Including four previously uncollected stories, this new complete edition reveals Graham Greene in a range of contrasting moods, sometimes cynical and witty, sometimes searching and philosophical. Each of these forty-nine stories confirms V. S. Pritchett’s declaration that Greene is “a master of storytelling.”

Collected: (GR) Affairs, obsessions, ardours, fantasy, myth, legend and dream, fear, pity and violence — this magnificent collection of stories illuminates all corners of the human experience.

Previously published in three volumes — May We Borrow Your Husband?, A Sense of Reality and Twenty-One Stories — these thirty-seven stories reveal Graham Greene in a range of contrasting moods, sometimes cynical and witty, sometimes searching and philosophical. Each one confirms V.S. Pritchett's statement that Greene is 'a master of storytelling'.

Sara wrote: "I support The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford

I suggest Twenty-One Stories by Graham Greene published 1954"

Sara, I am not including Graham Greene as a possibility for next year ONLY because I am now going to post our two choices of reads for Q4 this year... Which are both his. :)

All votes & suggestions are current as of 8:38p CDT Oct 2nd.

I have not included Garden Party, because we read it back in 2021, I think when we first started short story reads or soon after.

Short story and nonfiction possibilities for 2026 have been updated! Go check out the possible reads and feel free to add your own suggestions and support. :)

All votes and suggestions marked as of 7:26 pm CDT Sept 29th.

We could use more suggested titles, and we can always use more support to read listed titles! Plenty to consider for your 2026 classic nonfiction reads. Remember, even if the title is not technically a classic by its publication date, we are still reading ABOUT classics - events and people.

All votes tallied thus far as of 7:17 pm CDT Sept. 29th. I included my own votes for Heart of the West & Aesop. (If I linked a different edition than the one you did, my reasoning is usually trying to link informative yet also possibly more widely found editions.)

Any other suggestions or votes?