Classics Without All the Class discussion

It doesn't have to be a classic, just whatever you're reading right now.

I am reading the The Fellowship of the Ring and Looking for Alaska at the moment. I cannot put the latter down. It is such a great book. I find myself completely enveloped in this book right now. I am glad I decided to use the remaining balance on a gift card to purchase it.

I am enjoying LOTR with the sister group at the moment as well. This is my first audiobook experience. I LOVE it. I have noticed I have to make myself pay attention or else I get ADD on start surfing the web and then have to go back and relisten. I am learning when I can and cannot listen to this without being distracted. Any suggestions on how to stay focused when you listen at home? It has nothing to do with the book, but rather with me getting distracted. I do great in the car though!

I can't listen to audio books at home, unless I am sitting away from the computer. Sometimes I knit but that's all the distraction I can take. I can listen in the car, or while walking.

Right now I'm trying to finish up Les Miserables which is taking a long time simply because it's long. I love it. Only 140 pages to go! Also reading A Study in Scarlet though I should wait till I finish Les Mis. I have a bunch of other books out from the library, to work on the classic author challenge, waiting for me to start.

im reading harry potter and the chamber of secrets right now, and on a pdf file i'm reading fallen (whenever i have time)

Jessica wrote: "I am reading the The Fellowship of the Ring and Looking for Alaska at the moment. I cannot put the latter down. It is such a great book. I find myself completely enveloped in this book right now. I..."

The only time I listen to an audiobook is in the car (without my kids, lol). I listened to Life of Pi at home, and played some match 3 game while I did. Something that was thoughtless and didn't take much, but actually helped me concentrate on the book, strangely enough. Jeane is way better at it than I am! :)

I've been a slow reader and I am much behind my yearly challenge. I'm still reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley on my Kindle app and Under the Net by Iris Murdoch. Hopefully, I'll have finished both of them by Friday next week.

I've recently finished Life of Pi for the group. Also I've finished The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I by L.J. Smith; Three People by Isabella Alden; Felicity Story Collection by Valerie Tripp; Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher; and The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares. Next I will probably finish Anna Karenina and begin the next Secret Circle books.

I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, Louise De la Vallière by Alexandre Dumas (fifth in the series of D'Artagnan Romances), and I just started A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which I'm enjoying by the way. I hadn't had decided to start reading Sherlock Homes for a long time, I'm glad I did now because of this group =D

Les Misérables. It's SUCH a long book and I've been so busy lately; I'm taking forever to read it!

Kaylyn wrote: "Les Misérables. It's SUCH a long book and I've been so busy lately; I'm taking forever to read it!"

I am reading Les Mis too and feel the same way! I love classics and decided to tackle this because of movie and a kindle promotion... I am 45% of the way through and it has taken me all of February. I have so many other books on my list that I am tempted to give it up, but just then the plot picks up and has some wonderful inciteful words...

To everyone tackling Les Mis in spite of some parts dragging I guarantee the end will not disappoint and it will all be worth it

Travis of NNY wrote: "To everyone tackling Les Mis in spite of some parts dragging I guarantee the end will not disappoint and it will all be worth it"

I am about 110 pages from the end. Should have stayed up last night to finish but had to stop around midnight. It is such a gripping story. I admit I found that some parts have moved more slowly than others but overall everything fits together perfectly. Embrace the digressions, the exposition, the long descriptions!

I never read apocalyptic books but I did and highly recommend Swan Song

This month is probably my first try to plan my readings ahead. Now, I'm reading Of Mice and Men, a short interesting read. But it's one of those reads that you either love or hate, because a good friend of mine didn't like it much but I beg to differ on that. I'm still one third away from the end of The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan, which is a piece of non-fiction, but reads exactly like a novel. It's pretty amazing also. Along with that I'm bringing out the child in me through the seven Chronicles of Narnia. It's in audio format, so that I can enjoy them on the go when my hands are busy. It's also very much fun. First book done will clear out a space for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. An Arabic read is necessary (I have a thing for my mother language :D), so I'm reading a sarcastic poiltical criticism by Mahmoud AlSadany "A Donkey from the East/حمار من الشرق", and it's hilarious. Sort of the Egyptian version of George Carlin. So that'll be the readings of the week in a nutshell.

@Travis of NNY I remember reading Swan Song when it first came out. I absolutely loved it. It has been more 20 years...maybe due for a reread!

reading Dracula and The House of Blackstone Moor.

I'm reading Their Eyes Were Watching God for the second time now.

Hello...This is Pearl. I just joined the group.I am currently reading 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' by Jules Verne. Its gripping and am enjoying it. Before this I finished the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series.
I started Les Mis some years back but was lacking in patience at that time so gave up..may be now will pick it up again...

. I am really hooked... and I am only on page 30. I adore Ruth Rendell. She writes wonderful character studies.

I finished Les Mis last night! It took me just under two months to read it.

What a glorious story. I love it so.

Now to get serious about Sherlock. :-)

@ Margaret, I loved Les Mis. I cried like a baby at the end. It was definitely worth the time to read it!

Shannon wrote: "@ Margaret, I loved Les Mis. I cried like a baby at the end. It was definitely worth the time to read it!"

Oh, I cried and cried last night. I am a crier; happy ending or sad, if the book has gotten to me, I'll cry. And I knew the ending before I started, having read the book before (in abridged versions).

I was reading the last chapter as my kids were getting ready for bed last night. They saw me sitting there sobbing and left me alone. They're used to it. (When I read The Outsiders to them a few years ago, there was a point when I had to hand the book to my daughter to read because I was sobbing so much.)

Reading a debut novel called Haunted Ground a mystery by Erin Hart

Margaret wrote: "Shannon wrote: "@ Margaret, I loved Les Mis. I cried like a baby at the end. It was definitely worth the time to read it!"

Oh, I cried and cried last night. I am a crier; happy ending or sad, if ..."

I won't say I cried but my eyes may have got watery for a moment

I am reading Hamlet with my LitClub. Since it's a play we read the book but watching a movie brings it more to life. Anyone have a recommendation? I bought two versions, the one with David Tenant and another with Mel Gibson.

Ali wrote: "I am reading Hamlet with my LitClub. Since it's a play we read the book but watching a movie brings it more to life. Anyone have a recommendation? I bought two versions, the one with David Tenant a..."

I think in 9th grade we watched the Mel Gibson one and it wad pretty good but that was 16 years ago so I can't be sure

I am reading Messenger by Lois Lowry I'm on page 37

I am reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, and From Russia With Love in addition to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Im well into Don Quixote

I can't find my copy of Sherlock Holmes! So today I started The Things They Carried because so many people are raving about it. I haven't been big on Viet Nam stories since I read The 13th Valley many years ago but I think it's time.

Margaret wrote: "I can't find my copy of Sherlock Holmes! So today I started The Things They Carried because so many people are raving about it. I haven't been big on Viet Nam stories since I read The 13th Valley..."

I actually have The Things They Carried sitting right next to me for the same reason! I haven't started it yet though. Let me know what you think since you'll probably get to it before me.

I'm reading The Secret Circle: The Captive Part II and The Power by L.J. Smith.

Currently reading 'Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world' by Murakami

The writing started off like "distant" or something, but quickly got into it, and enjoying it a lot =) have to love his writing style !

PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi (my first graphic novel -- it is for one of my book clubs.

I'm reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Caliban's War, and Dead and Gone.

I'm reading Somewhere in time by Richard Matheson(really interesting so far),Anne Frank's Diary

I'm reading Walking the Camino and House of the Dead by Dostoyevsky. A lot of you are reading A Study in Scarlet so I might give that one a go next.

I'm reading The Violinists Thumb, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Giver.

I'm halfway through One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest!

that's a good one, Tanya.

One flew east
one flew west
one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

@Ali--Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet follows the play to the letter & is absolutely the best movie of this play! No other will do for this Shakespeare lover.

Just started The Agony and the Ecstasy on audio. Read Bohemia & Study in Scarlet, but plan to do more Sherlock Holmes this month.

Reading Calculated In Death and getting ready to start Will the Real William Shakespeare Please Step Forward? for a review for the blog. Hoping to get a couple more Sherlocks under my belt for the book discussion podcast as well.

I have almost finished Of Mice and Men. I read The Beggar's Opera before that. I'm still reading Under the Net meanwhile.

I'm finished with Of Mice and Men and I'm half way through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. About Holmes , I concur to the opinion that it's enjoyable but not as exciting as it should be (but that's another story in another thread). I'm also listening to the third Chronicle of Narnia, that is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'm thinking of reading Phantom of the Opera or The Picture of Dorian Gray next. I haven't decided yet (help will be highly appreciated).
My Arabic read is "Black Suits You" by Algerian Author Ahlam Mosteghanemi. Next read will be The Call of the Curlew by Taha Hussein.

Marwa wrote: "I'm finished with Of Mice and Men and I'm half way through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. About Holmes , I concur to the opinion that it's enjoyable but not as exciting as it should be (but tha..."

I haven't read Phantom, but Dorian was the second book we read for the book club. I enjoyed the story overall, but Wilde did tend to get over descriptive. I hope that helps. ;)

Just finished PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic novel about growing up in Iran. Very good. Presently reading A HEARTBEAT AWAY by Michael Palmer, a political mystery.

Karena wrote: "I haven't read Phantom, but Dorian was the second book we read for the book club. I enjoyed the story overall, but Wilde did tend to get over descriptive. I hope that helps. ;)
"

Thanks, Karena. That helps indeed.

I finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and now I've just started The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Pretty heartbreaking so far.

Tanya wrote: "I finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and now I've just started The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Pretty heartbreaking so far."

The Kite Runner was really good. I need to watch the movie now. :)