Women's Classic Literature Enthusiasts discussion

Please nominate a book for March. There is no theme.
Nominations close 15 January

Hello! I am new to the group so please let me know if I'm off track with my nomination of The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve. Looking forward to joining you in discussions this year. (:

When nominating, please state whether or not you are able to lead the book discussion. We would also like all nominations to be at least 50 years old. Nominations are limited to two per person.

Now with that out of the way I nominate Swastika Night. :)

Jen wrote: "Hello! I am new to the group so please let me know if I'm off track with my nomination of The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve. Looking forward to joining you in discuss..."

Yes it does, welcome to the group. :)

If your nomination wins would you be able to lead the discussion?

Half my comment seems to be missing???
There is no theme for March.

To Kill a Mockingbird Can lead.

I would like to nominate Daniel Deronda and yes, I could lead the discussion.

If Daniel Deronda wins, I hope we give ourselves longer than 30/31 days to read it.

It looks like an interesting book.

That's a really good point Andrea! How long do you think we might need? 6 weeks? 2 months? Does anyone remember how long we gave Middlemarch?

I was just joining the group when everyone was completing Middlemarch, so I can't answer that question.

I would like to nominate The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

If you guys can be charitable and bear with me, I take a stab at leading the discussion if this wins the poll.

Alexa wrote: "That's a really good point Andrea! How long do you think we might need? 6 weeks? 2 months? Does anyone remember how long we gave Middlemarch?"

That type of book needs at least two months. If it wins, we could make it a 2 month'er and just move the schedule back. Another idea is to take two months every year and nominate only books that are 600 pages or longer for that period.

That's a good idea Emily, to devote one of our reading cycles to longer books.

I like the idea of waiting to see if it wins, and then if so, giving it two months and pushing the schedule back.

I'll nominate Beryl Markham's autobiographical West with the Night.

I could offer my own praise of the book, but Earnest Hemmingway did it much better than I could have:

"Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves writers. The only parts of it that I know about personally, on account of having been there at the time and heard the other people's stories, are absolutely true . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book."

Everyman wrote: "I'll nominate Beryl Markham's autobiographical West with the Night. ..."

Oh, and yes, I would lead the discussion if it's picked.

Oooooh dear, there are so many wonderful nominations! I admit though, Alexa, you're making me more partial to Daniel Deronda every time it's nominated.

I've seen in some groups that shorter books are nominated every month and then longer books are nominated separately. We could also start a new book every month but if it's long take longer to finish it (while also having a new read start).

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "I would like to nominate The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

If you guys can be charitable and bear with me, I take a stab at leading the discussion if this wins the poll."

I'll second Age of Innocence. I may be away part of March though.

Everyman wrote: "I'll nominate Beryl Markham's autobiographical West with the Night.

I could offer my own praise of the book, but Earnest Hemmingway did it much better than I ..."

If this doesn't get selected this month, please mention it next month where we will be taking biography/autobiography nominations.

Anastasia wrote: "When nominating, please state whether or not you are able to lead the book discussion. We would also like all nominations to be at least 50 years old. Nominations are limited to two per person.

..."

Sorry Anastasia I went offline - yes, very happy to try leading a discussion (it would be my first so pointers might be needed!), though with so many great nominations already it seems a slim likelihood.

And thanks for the welcome!

Going back, I led Middlemarch, we gave it a bit over 2 months, I think 10 weeks.

Daniel Deronda is shorter, I think we could easily do it in 2 months.

Well let's see what wins and then decide on duration? Some exciting nominations so far.

Polls are up until 25 January

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Voting closed.
Our March- April read will be Daniel Deronda.
Alexa, as you are leading, does this seem like enough time?

Two months would work fine for me.

Great

So, March to April, I'll take a look at the book and figure out how best to divide it.

Just a question for everyone. In the next few days, I was going to open nominations for the April read. What would everyone like to do? Since Daniel Deronda won and it is a two month read, do you want to also start a new book in April alongside it or do we want to just move the schedule back a month?

I'm in favor or moving the schedule back a month.

Yes, I'm also in favor of moving it back a month.

Moving the schedule back a month seems sensible :)