Read, Share, Enjoy: Classics and More! discussion

Please introduce yourself in this section.
Where abouts do you live?
Occupation and/or hobby?
Favorite book genre?
What book first comes to mind as your favorite?
What are you reading now, just finished?

I'm excited about this group, thanks Beth for setting this up!

I live in Hershey, Pennsylvania in the USA.

I work as a professor of biology.

My favorite book genre is hard to say. I love "the novel"--a story that resonates with me, with characters that learn real lessons.

I really love The Scarlet Letter because the themes of good and evil, sin and penitence are close to my heart.

Right now I am reading a YA book in Spanish with my kids called The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly (not reading one just for me right now because I'm catching up on podcasts).

Welcome Daniel! Thank you for joining and introducing yourself. I feel like I know you since we are in other book clubs together. You write insightful reviews so I am glad you are here! BTW, I used to live in Mount Joy! Small World.

hello, I'm George. I already know Beth and Daniel from previous GR reading. I've lived in the Salt Lake City area for 35 years but originally from Tampa. I favor the serious drama novels but also like to read a little nonfiction (usually with a biology focus), scifi or anything of interest.
I'm an ADD reader, just now finished The Unknown Soldier, and currently reading Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.

Hi my name is Sam. I live outside London in the UK. I enjoy reading the classics and have a soft spot for Thomas Hardy. I enjoy group reading for the discussions and suggestions I would never have looked at before. I look forward to our correspondence.

Hi Sam, I know a couple of Thomas Hardy fans in this group. I read The Mayor of Casterbridge and loved it in spite of it breaking my heart a little. I want to read more by him.

Please list some books you would like to read in the Book Suggestions thread. I will add them to the bookshelf.

I'm glad you joined us. (o:

15 members and counting! I'm glad to see some new names on the list. I may get some ideas from your TO READ lists so all our members preferences are included in upcoming polls.

Hi!

I'm Valerie. I 'know' George + Beth from the (slightly?) defunct Classics GR group. I think Daniel may be the person who was potentially going to join George + I when we did a buddy read of Gilead.

I live in Fonthill, Ontario which is about 1/2 an hour northwest-ish of Buffalo. I am a West Coast girl though, having been born + raised on Vancouver Island. I am a self employed goldsmith/jewellery designer (my second career). I have a BSc in Biology + worked for many years in animal welfare.

My favorite genre is mystery! That actually was the impetus for joining the other Classics group - I was in a mystery rut. However, I would say my tastes are quite broad. I also really like: sci-fi (mostly the older books), magic realism, satire, fantasy, etc. In non-fiction I tend to read biology/animal related books, travel, with the odd memoir thrown in.

I don't know what my favorite book is - maybe I'll say "The Hobbit" for now!

I am presently reading 'Babbit" for the classic A-Z author challenge. So far I am enjoying it (it is satire after all!). I quite like the A-Z challenge and plan on doing it again next year. I has helped me explore authors I may not have.

Hi Valerie! I'm glad you joined us. I think you are in good company in regards to mysteries. And there are science fiction enthusiasts here too! I think the A-Z author challenge is great. I need to do that sometime soon. I will add your suggestions to the book shelf. Membership is increasing weekly and we should be ready for our first poll soon for a January group read.

Hello everyone!
My name is Ruth and I'm from El Paso, Texas.

I am a behavior therapist for children with autism.

I like all kinds of books especially fantasy and classics.

It is hard to choose a favorite book but some favorites I would choose are the Harry Potter series, The Scarlet Letter and Brave New World.

Right now I just finished The importance of being Ernest and now I am reading The House of the Seven Gables.

The books listed here look very interesting and some I have in my bookshelves that I have been wanting to read.

Hi Ruth! Welcome to the group. Thank you for your service to autistic children. I hope this group will offer you some relaxation outside of what must be a rewarding but stressful occupation.

I'm glad you like the look of the books of the shelf. I hope we will get some good discussions going this year. I am a fan of Oscar Wilde and The Importance of Being Ernest is one I want to read. I also want to read the Scarlett Letter.

I there are more books you would like to see on the shelf, please list them in the BOOK SUGGESTIONS section.

Hello ! I'm Clara, I'm currently studying Classics and Archaeology in Canada but I am from France.
I obviously love reading and thanks to my study I have read some great classics books which is one of my favourite genre of books. I also love reading historical books and it's even more perfect when they combine.

I am always looking for new suggestion for classics which is why this group looks perfect for me. One of my all time favourite classic book is the Aeneid by Virgil.

I am very excited to join all of you in this journey and in these great reading experience !

Hi Clara! I'm really glad you found us. We are getting ready to read The Painted Veil by Maugham as our first group read. Also, very soon the poll for Mystery will be up. If you have any suggestions for Mysteries (or other genres) please add them to the BOOK SUGGESTIONS folder. Welcome to the group!

Clara wrote: "Hello ! I'm Clara, I'm currently studying Classics and Archaeology in Canada but I am from France...."

Welcome Clara. You may have noticed we have a Canadian member, Valerie. My aunt and cousin are Canadians in the Vancouver area; I went there for a visit in September. Your English seems very good, so you can read novels etc in English as well as French? My notes show I've read 7 novels by French writers, including Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog this year, which I enjoyed. I have a number of other French authors in my to-read list. I'm not much for reading the very old classics as you do, however.

Clara wrote: "Hello ! I'm Clara, I'm currently studying Classics and Archaeology in Canada but I am from France.
I obviously love reading and thanks to my study I have read some great classics books which is one..."

Hi Clara: as George noted I'm Canadian! Which university are you taking classics + archaeology? It seems to me there aren't many schools offering archaeology any longer.

I would say the really old classics are my weak area. Perhaps we can tap into your expertise! :)

Hi George.
Yes I can and I do read in both English and French, which I'm very grateful for since it allows me to read the book in its original language, without having to go through the translation. Translation are getting better but I always found that sometimes, a lot is lost by reading a translation.
I have not read The Elegance of the Hedgehog but I have heard some great things about it.

Hi Valerie.
I am studying at Concordia university which is in Montreal ! I really love it because I can combine both Archaeology and Classics. I really think they go well together and I love studying both at the same time.

I do love old classics as well, I actually just finished a class that made me re read the Odyssey and the Iliad, and I realized that I forgot how much I loved those two books. I would love to talk about it and maybe propose some of it to the groups :)

Hello everyone.
My name is Natalie and I just spotted this group and decided to give it a try.

I love poetry--I don't write it, but I keep a blog where I copy out poems that strike me and write some brief comments on them and the ways in which I think they are effective. I most love the 19th century followed by the 20th. I have too many authors I like to list them all but to give you an idea:
Renaissance: Shakespeare, Donne, Webster, Sydney

19th century (I don't like the 18th much!) Austen, Dickens, George Eliot, Wordsworth, Keats, Hardy, Anthony Trollope

20th century: TS Eliot, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, Joyce, Woolf, Philip Larkin, Anthony Hecht, Yeats, and many others.

I also like to read mysteries on occasion and some history, biography, and essays.

Natalie wrote: "Hello everyone.
My name is Natalie and I just spotted this groups and decided to give it a try.

I love poetry--I don't write it, but I keep a blog where I copy out poems that strike me and write ..."


Hi Natalie! Sounds like an interesting mix! You can advise us on poets! One of my fave sonnets is posted on my studio bulletin board, by Shakespeare.

I read Babbit as part of the A-Z classic author challenge this year, and enjoyed it very much. I like satire, and that book certainly fits the bill!

Welcome Natalie! Glad you joined our group. I will admit poetry is a challenge for me but I see it as a genre I need to explore more. I tried reading TS Eliot's The Wasteland. I got through it with the help of cliffnotes and thought it was interesting. We can certainly add that genre to our list.

Thank you. "The Wasteland" is perhaps THE most single difficult poem by any major poet! I admire your tenacity but there are so many other poems that one can enjoy with Cliffnotes!

This past summer I read "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis and thought how little life has changed in the past 80 years. I've also reread Main St. recently and in most ways that could be happening today. The same with "Babbit".

Hello everybody,

My name is Lalitha and I am from India. I am a researcher and I love traveling, reading and cinema.

I like classics in general, but historical fiction better. If they come as a package, its hard to get me off the book (like Gone with the Wind, A Tale of Two Cities etc). Some of my favourite authors are Thomas Hardy, Dickens, Somerset Maugham, Dostoevsky and Margret Atwood.

I am currently reading The Painted Veil and I am looking to read The Razor's edge for a third time after this one.

I look forward to some interesting ideas for the next book to pick up and also possibly have discussions on a book that I happen to read and is currently being discussed.

Lalitha, welcome to the group! We read the Painted Veil earlier this year. Did you find the discussion folder? We have followed a different genre each month. Next year we will be reading a different classic author each month to support the very popular A-Z Challenge. We look forward to you joining in discussion. It has been sparse lately but hopefully we will find time to chat about books more again soon!

Beth wrote: "Lalitha, welcome to the group! We read the Painted Veil earlier this year. Did you find the discussion folder? We have followed a different genre each month. Next year we will be reading a differen..."

Hello Beth,
Yes, I found the group interestingly from the thread on Painted Veil! I like the fact that there is already a plan in place for next year. I really look forward!

Lalitha wrote: "Beth wrote: "Lalitha, welcome to the group! We read the Painted Veil earlier this year. Did you find the discussion folder? We have followed a different genre each month. Next year we will be readi..."

Welcome to our little group!

Valerie wrote: "Lalitha wrote: "Beth wrote: "Lalitha, welcome to the group! We read the Painted Veil earlier this year. Did you find the discussion folder? We have followed a different genre each month. Next year ..."

Thank you!