Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

It really can't be argued that Shakespeare is one of the biggest names in literature and he continues to be a favorite of many readers. So this week is devoted to one of the greats. If you're not a fan of the classics or maybe even if you've already (miraculously) read all of his works, then you read one of the many books inspired by Shakespeare.

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Suggestions:
Books by Shakespeare
Penguin Books: 7 books inspired by Shakespeare
Early Bird Books: Bards of a Feather: 11 Books Inspired by William Shakespeare
Book Scrolling: The Best Books Inspired By Shakespeare
Off the Shelf: 11 Books Inspired by Shakespeare
Barnes & Noble: 21 Shakespearean Books to Read If You Don’t Want to Read Shakespeare
Huffington Post: 11 Books Inspired by Shakespeare
Goodreads: Popular Shakespeare Inspired Books
Bookbub: 14 Books You Probably Didn’t Know Were Based on Shakespeare’s Works
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Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
- Is it by Shakespeare or inspired by him?
- Have you read Shakespeare before?
- If it is inspired by him, which work is it inspired by?

Every summer a local theatre company does an outdoor performance of one of Shakespeare's plays. I'm waiting to see what they are doing this summer before making a decision. I'm southern hemisphere so I shouldn't have long to wait before I see it advertised even though it won't run until February. If I haven't read the play before (I have read most of his major ones) I'll read the play. If I have read it I'm hoping I can find something inspired by it.

Although I thoroughly enjoy seeing Shakespeare plays performed, I have finally come to the conclusion that I don't enjoy reading them so I will definitely be reading something inspired by him.

As of now I'm leaning towards We That Are Young, inspired by King Lear but will be looking to you all for other suggestions.

So far I'm having a really difficult time finding a book I'm even a little bit interested in. I decided to take a slightly different approach and look into phrases attributed to Shakespeare to see if there's something I could use there. I found a list of common phrases that were first used by Shakespeare.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/60264/...

Apparently "The game is afoot" was first coined by Shakespeare in "Henry V". Sir Arthur Conan Doyle went on to use this phrase as Sherlock Holmes' famous catchphrase, so technically, at least a part of Sherlock was inspired by Shakespeare. I'm going with that and plan on reading something with Sherlock Holmes - possibly The Beekeeper's Apprentice

That’s a fun idea, Peter!

I will probably be going with Shakespeare's Landlord for this but I'm planning on using To Be or Not To Be: A Chooseable-Path Adventure for the non-traditional format book. The author also has Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure if that's more your taste.

My two options (only two! Most of my other categories have at least five!) are:

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth (obviously)
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (main character's name is Montague, like in R&J)

Definitely need more research though! I hate having such a limited choice when I'm reading in order -- hurts my mood reading abilities.

I will probably read Gertrude and Claudius by John Updike. I also have Macbeth by Jo Nesbø but it may be too dark for me.

I was thinking about Hag-Seed... but not sold on it yet so I’ll be looking back in on this thread for more ideas.

I'm planning on Shakespeare Saved My Life. I'm thinking this should count as inspired by Shakespeare.

I have never read a complete Shakespeare play - only excerpts for school and quotes in different places. So I think this is it. But where is a good place to begin? I have read plays before, so I feel okay with that, but English is not my first language, and I predict I will have a hard time understanding the old words and spellings. I would like to read an original play, though. But recommendations for a good place to start and preferably an edition with notes or a dictionary for the older language would be greatly appreciated.

All the October Daye books by Seanan McGuire have titles based on Shakespeare quotes.

I'm probably going to read Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold which I was given as a gift last year or If We Were Villains which a few of my blogger friends have loved.

I would like to read a Shakespeare play every year, and there are A LOT I haven't read yet, so my options are wide open! Of his most popular, I still have not read Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, and As You Lie It, so ... one of those.

Johanne - the English is difficult, there are spellings in not familiar with and words I don't know, so I just ... skip over those. If I start feeling confused or the word keeps popping up, I start googling for help. If you already know how the story goes it's much easier to follow, so pick one you already are familiar with.

Johanne wrote: "I have never read a complete Shakespeare play - only excerpts for school and quotes in different places. So I think this is it. But where is a good place to begin? I have read plays before, so I fe..."

I would definitely recommend starting with one that you are familiar with the plot line -- in America, we usually have students reading Romeo and Juliet first, as the plot is the easiest and most familiar. We also teach Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night's Dream in high schools. His historical plays are usually university level material.

From the original suggestion thread, here are some ideas for this prompt:

a title inspired by Shakespeare like The Fault in Our Stars
a book with Shakespeare as a character like Ink and Steel or Fools and Mortals
a book that features a performance of a Shakespeare play like Station Eleven or If We Were Villains
a book that has at least some sort of Shakespearean connection, like in Cascade a Shakespearean theater is part of the plot

You could read a nonfiction book about Shakespeare.

You could read a historical fiction novel set during the Shakespearean time period (Elizabethan era 1558-1603).

You could even look at the Complete List of Shakespeare's Characters (which is like multiple hundreds) and use a book with an author or character with that name.

And, of course, there are many many options for books inspired by Shakespeare like Fool or A Thousand Acres or the books in the Hogarth Shakespeare series.

Emily wrote: "Johanne wrote: "I have never read a complete Shakespeare play - only excerpts for school and quotes in different places. So I think this is it. But where is a good place to begin? I have read plays..."

R&J, Caesar, Macbeth, and Othello or Hamlet were the ones we taught where I used to teach. I have so much of Macbeth memorized from teaching it for 7 years to 5-6 classes a year!

For this prompt, I’ll probably read one of the plays. Titus Andronicus has been on my shelf for awhile (to be fair, they all are in my shelf in my Riverside Shakespeare textbook....).

I might read Macbeth from the Hogarth series.

I liked Hag-seed enough, but it wasn’t one the greatest thing I ever read. I HIGHLY recommend Fool and its sequel, The Serpent of Venice if you’re into the Christopher Moore/Carl Hiassen type humor. They’re both bawdy for sure.

If anyone is looking to read a Shakespeare play, I recommend the Folgers Shakespeare texts. They do a really nice job of explanations of references on the left hand page with the text on the right hand page.

Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
The title is based on a song from Shakespeare

Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham
Another title from a song

Wyrd Sisterss (Discworld #6, Witches #2) by Terry Pratchett
Takes themes from MacBeth

When my kids and I started with Shakespeare we always read a story version of the play first so we had the plot sorted. I was particularly fond of Leon Garfield's Shakespeare Stories and Shakespeare Stories II. They included bits of the original language which was nice.When we moved on to the play proper I opted for the Oxford School Shakespeare series (edited by Roma Gill I think). They were recommended to me and we liked them so stuck with them. Another tip that I use for any dense classic I'm struggling with is to listen to the audio while reading along. It seems to help with both attention and comprehension.

There is a fantasy novella (Miranda in Milan) that is a reimagining of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and is scheduled for publication in March '19.


I'm 90% sure that I'm going the super easy route with this one and using a book with a character that shares a name with a Shakespeare character - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. (Lennox is a character in Macbeth.)

Thanks everyone for your tips on reading Shakespeare :)

dalex wrote: "There is a fantasy novella (Miranda in Milan) that is a reimagining of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and is scheduled for publication in March '19.


I'm 90% sure that I'm going the s..."

dalex, I think I'm taking the same approach. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue has Montague as a last name, but it doesn't seem to have a relation to Romeo and Juliet. I'm also considering The Summer Wives, where the main character is a former Shakespearean actress (but has left that career behind and I don't think it plays a role in the novel).

There are a few in that Hogarth series now aren’t there? Vinegar Girl (Taming of the Shrew), Macbeth (well that one’s kinda obvious lol), Hag Seed (The Tempest), The Gap of Time (Winters Tale), Shylock is my Name (Merchant of Venice), Dunbar (King Lear) and New Boy (Othello).

I have Macbeth here so I’ll probably read that one. If you wanted to do a movie version of the challenge you could watch 10 Things I Hate About You which of course of The Taming of the Shrew.

I'm kind of torn with this one! There are definitely a few of his plays that I haven't read yet, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing being at the top of my list. But I've also found some really great "inspired bys" that I'm interested in: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead , Station Eleven , etc. I'll probably go with twelfth night but idk

Emily wrote: "dalex, I think I'm taking the same approach. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue has Montague as a last name, but it doesn't seem to have a relation to Romeo and Juliet. I'm also considering The Summer Wives, where the main character is a former Shakespearean actress (but has left that career behind and I don't think it plays a role in the novel). "

Those sound like great choices and a clever interpretation of the prompt.

I am planning to read A Thousand Acres which is said to be inspired by Shakespear.

Javier Marías usually derives his titles from and discusses themes of Shakespeare's plays in his novels. He has translated Shakespeare into Spanish, so he knows the plays well and connects them in interesting ways to his own plots.

I plan to read A Heart So White, whose title is a line from Macbeth.

Kelly wrote: "I am planning to read A Thousand Acres which is said to be inspired by Shakespear."

It's King Lear, Kelly :-)

I did a read of this one year and followed it up with Shakespeare's real version. I enjoyed them both.

Today on Amazon, Troilus and Cressida is .99 cents and King Lear is free. I got King Lear and will probably read that along with Romeo and Juliet.

I'm probably going to go with Dalex's suggestion and read Station Eleven

How about one where Shakespeare is a character? Am eyeing Nothing Like the Sun, though I suspect it might be better appreciated by Shakespearean scholars, and I am decidedly not one!

My fall back is on the opposite end of the spectrum - Ian Doescher's Star Wars-as-Shakespearean-plays are a riot and I wouldn't mind reading a few more from the series!

For those looking for a straightforward interpretation of his canon, I found Miranda and Caliban to be a sympathetic retelling of The Tempest from the point of view of the "villain".

Ugh Shakespeare...this is bringing back every High School english class I didn't care for at all...SO glad the prompt includes "or inspired by" or else I probably would have cheated on this one!

I'm going to go with Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
which is said to be inspired by R&J with its' whole star-crossed lovers theme. I enjoyed watching the movie when it came out so I'm fairly certain I'll enjoy the book as well. It was long enough ago that I don't really remember what happens. :)

Stacey wrote: "I'm going to go with Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion which is said to be inspired by R&J with its' whole star-crossed lovers theme. I enjoyed watching the movie when it came out so I'm fairly certain I'll enjoy the book as well. It was long enough ago that I don't really remember what happens. :)"

Can you believe I read that entire book, with characters literally named "R" and "Julia" - and there's even a scene where Julia comes out on her balcony and calls down to R - and I nevernotonce realized that it was inspired by Romeo & Juliet! megaduh moment when I read that in another review after.



Kerry wrote: "Today on Amazon, Troilus and Cressida is .99 cents and King Lear is free. I got King Lear and will probably read that along with Romeo and Juliet."

You can find all of Shakespeare's plays free on Gutenberg, but they will come with the original spelling and no annotations.

Nadine wrote: "Stacey wrote: "I'm going to go with Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion which is said to be inspired by R&J with its' whole star-crossed lovers theme. I enjoyed watching the movie when it came out so I'm f..."

Good to know Nadine. I will have to check that out. Thank you.

I read Macbeth by Jo Nesbo this year and highly recommend it. The audiobook is great. I've also read New Boy and thought it was ok.

For this one I'd like to read Shakespeare's Macbeth. I remember reading part of it in school and enjoyed it. If that doesn't happen I'll read Warm Bodies.

OMG I just remembered I have some of the Wishbone books! If you like reading children's books and classics then I would recommend these. I loved the show when I was little and I remember liking the books. I just searched it and there is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet: Romeo and Juliet.

Warm Bodies was an unexpected delight! I didn't make the connection to R&J while reading it/watching the movie (does every starcrossed pairing automatically evoke those two mopey teenagers?) but thought both characters and their relationship were quite well-developed. R's inner voice is particularly fascinating.

i will read Juliet by Anne Fortier. The story is inspired by Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :-)

Tracy wrote: "Kelly wrote: "I am planning to read A Thousand Acres which is said to be inspired by Shakespear."

It's King Lear, Kelly :-)

I did a read of this one year and followed it up with Shak..."

Thanks Tracy! I read initially what book it was based on but then I forgot... (oopsie) I am not a huge shakespear person I haven't read any of his since HS. And I have never read King Lear! But know he is a fabulous story constructor so I am excited to read it but in plain English so I can understand it! lol!

If you want something quirky, I actually really enjoyed reading srsly Hamlet with my 9yo. It retells Hamlet using emojis. They have a whole series of Omg Shakespeare Boxed Set adaptations!

Since its been sitting on my kindle I will read New Boy by Tracy Chevalier. This is a retelling of Othello and is part of the Hogarth Project.

Peter wrote: "So far I'm having a really difficult time finding a book I'm even a little bit interested in. I decided to take a slightly different approach and look into phrases attributed to Shakespeare to see ..."

I really like this idea. Thanks Peter.

I might read Haunt Me Still which is the sequel to Interred with Their Bones. Interred with Their Bones stars a shakespeare scholar hunting down a copy of a lost Shakespeare play, a la National Treasure or Da Vinci Code. I think the second one has a Macbeth theme.

I'd also strongly recommend If We Were Villains for those who enjoy mysteries and psychological thrillers.

I recently finished reading The Word Is Murder, & Shakespeare's Hamlet is talked about a lot. It could easily work for this prompt.

Is there a list of books that I can research? I’m really struggling with this prompt.

Betty, the first post in this topic contains links to many lists of options.

Johanne, I highly recommend Hamlet. It's my favorite play ever. Plus you're from Denmark, right? That's where the play is set, so it seems like a good choice. As for editions, there is a line of editions called No Fear Shakespeare which provides the original text on one side of the page & a modern English translation on the other side of the page. That might be helpful. See the link below for more info.

https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/sha...

Thanks a lot Katie. I have decided on Hamlet, reasoning as you did :) Maybe it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between me and ole William.

Katie wrote: "Betty, the first post in this topic contains links to many lists of options."
Oops! I see it now!! Thank you so much!

I'm going to try Vinegar Girl, which is based on Taming of the Shrew. It sounds kind of light-weight (a good thing for this prompt) and entertaining. Plus, I bought a copy on Ebay for a little more than $3 with free shipping, so if I DNF it, there isn't much of a loss.

I am going to read Sonnets. I have not read it before. I have not read any Shakespeare since high school. This will be a fun week!

I'll also be reading:


Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

But that might change since I am only mildly interested in the book