The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

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Northanger Abbey discussion starts tomorrow, October 1

The poll is up for the next group read, starting mid-late January 2022.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

In May, we will read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It will be an interesting comparison/contrast with The Sorrows of Satan; or, The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire, for those that are reading that one.

Is there a thread for discussing Belinda yet? I've noticed there is something about edited editions omitting references to 2 interracial relationships. It appears the 3rd Edition from 1810 changes or omits things that are in the 1st and 2nd editions, from 1801 and 1802,
The following is Wikipedia about it. I described it above because in discussing what is changed in Belinda, there are plot SPOILERS , So I put that part in spoilers.

(view spoiler)[ In its first (1801) and second (1802) editions, Juba, a Black servant, marries an English farmgirl named Lucy. The third edition of the book, published in 1810, omitted the character Juba, and instead has Lucy betrothed to one James Jackson. Also, in the first two editions, Belinda almost marries Mr. Vincent, a rich West Indian Creole; in the 1810 edition, Belinda only esteems him and never agrees to marry him." (hide spoiler)]

The following is Wikipedia on the reason for the edit and has NO SPOILERS:

"It has been argued that this change came at the insistence of Edgeworth's father, rather than the author herself, because he edited several of her works after their publication."

I bring this up so I can make sure I read the edition the group does, although the differences can also just be noted. I am unaware which is the standard edition or even if more than one is available. I was hoping someone knows more about this.

Brian wrote: "Is there a thread for discussing Belinda yet? I've noticed there is something about edited editions omitting references to 2 interracial relationships. It appears the 3rd Edition from..."

Thanks for letting us know, Brian! I'll investigate further and then start a thread so that people can get the unedited edition.

Today, when I opened this group's Group Page, it indicated that there is no current ongoing read and just refers to the upcoming Clotel read.
The Belinda read should be indicated as it looks bad that this group is not reading any books as a group right now, especially as we are.

Brian wrote: "Today, when I opened this group's Group Page, it indicated that there is no current ongoing read and just refers to the upcoming Clotel read.
The Belinda read should be indicated as it looks bad th..."

Thanks Brian, I think I have it up there now.

A poll is up for our September book. I’ve done it early as I will shortly be on a trip of a lifetime - a cruise through the British isles, ending in London and a meeting with our lovely Madge

Wow, please give Madge regards and love from all of us!

Robin P wrote: "Wow, please give Madge regards and love from all of us!"

I will. I was lucky years ago to have a lovely lunch with her. She’s wonderful.

Have a wonderful trip and yes give our best regards to Madge!

Have a lovely time and say Hello to Madge for me!

January poll is up

The poll for our March book is overwhelmingly in favor of

The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois

It is rare for us to read nonfiction, except for some biographies of our authors. So this is a distinctive opportunity. The book is widely available through libraries, ebook services, bookstores, etc. and should be free on any platform related to Gutenberg.

Wow! I just bought this recently from Amazon but haven’t read it yet. I’m really looking forward to this.

Ashley, go to the goodreads homepage and click on groups. You'll see the list-then click on the name of this group.
Click on Edit Membership.
It will tell you your status and give you the option to leave this group.

Hopefully we'll still be active when you have time to join us again!
You're welcome to rejoin us any time!

The poll is up for the July read

Question: Today I got an e-mail notice that this Group will be reading an Enid Blyton story in December. When I went to this site, I saw that the Group will be reading an M.R. James story on November 26, 2024.

I can't find any thread where these reads are discussed. Would someone tell me which thread I can look to so I don't miss out on planning to read such reads?

Brian E wrote: "Question: Today I got an e-mail notice that this Group will be reading an Enid Blyton story in December. When I went to this site, I saw that the Group will be reading an [author:M.R..."

The m.r. James starts today and is not yet posted. I don’t see the blyton anywhere

It looks like you can listen to the M.R. James and Edith Nesbit stories read aloud on several YouTube channels. I might go that route since I have several hours of "brainless" tasks I need to do on the computer this week.

Oops. E. Nesbit not Enid Blyton. This American still gets them confused.
Thanks for the info. I'm presuming these are Christmas time short stories decided on only recently. Being short, they are easy to fit in on short notice. For the future, though, I'd still like to know if there is a Planning/Announcement thread rather than a Discussion thread - a thread where I can look and find out that these books have been selected as a special Group read or Moderator read prior to the opening of the book's actual discussion thread. I want to know this so I can plan and not be caught unawares. A Moderator's Choice Thread or something like that?

If the answer is that such reads aren't discussed or announced ahead of time except as an upcoming read on the Heading on the Group homepage, then that's fine and I'll just adjust my behavior. I want to make sure I'm not missing out on something that's there merely because I can't find it.

As a heads-up, we will be reading The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon from about Dec 10-31. Although the author was known for her melodramatic thrillers, a couple of which we have read, this is a lighthearted story for the holidays and a quick read. It is in public domain and should be widely available.

That sounds good!

Robin P wrote: "As a heads-up, we will be reading The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon from about Dec 10-31..."

Thanks for the heads up. I may decide to add the Braddon to my planned Christmas read of the non-fiction . I currently have this edition in my Amazon cart while I decide whether to buy it or one of the 7 Kindle editions on Amazon which all, unfortunately, have location numbers rather than page numbers. EDIT: Bought the book.

The upcoming reads only seems to feature one book-there are others at the bottom of the page I believe.

However I will mention her that we are still planning to read Daniel Deronda in the New Year-schedule etc to be posted closer to the time.

Frances wrote: "The upcoming reads only seems to feature one book-there are others at the bottom of the page I believe.."

That is exactly the information I was looking for, Frances. After over 6 years on here, I did not know that existed down there. Instead, I would just click on the "more upcoming books" link which only took me to the bookshelf and not to any list of upcoming reads. I now know where to check in the future.

Thank you! Thank you!

Lifelong learning!

Brian E wrote: "Frances wrote: "The upcoming reads only seems to feature one book-there are others at the bottom of the page I believe.."

That is exactly the information I was looking for, Frances. After over 6 y..."

Don't feel bad, I didn't know that either, or else I forgot! I kept thinking I wasn't posting my books right! The upcoming books link is really misleading but I suppose some groups only put on that shelf something they have plans for.

I'll also be leading a mod's choice read of Gosta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlof starting January 14. I'll post a schedule and background information closer to the time.
Because most of us will be reading the book in translation, just note that there are a few different versions with slightly different titles. For example, the English version on Gutenberg (which is the one I'll be reading unless our local used bookstore happens to have a copy) is called The Story of Gosta Berling, and it won't come up in the search without the umlaut (I found it by searching for the author - even though her name also has an umlaut, the search works without it). I see the Kindle version is $0.99 for the same title on the US Amazon site, and one for the same price just called Gosta Berling.

Lori wrote: "I'll also be leading a mod's choice read of Gosta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlof starting January 14. I'll post a schedule and background information closer to the time.
Because most of us will ..."

Thanks for the Notice as a decision to read Gosta does affect my other reading choices for the time period.

We will be reading The Christmas Hirelings from Dec 10-31. I have posted threads with information and a reading schedule for this short book.

Brian E wrote: "Lori wrote: "I'll also be leading a mod's choice read of Gosta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlof starting January 14. I'll post a schedule and background information closer to the time. Because most of us will ..."

Thanks for the Notice as a decision to read Gosta does affect my other reading choices for the time period.."

As there is a reading schedule for it, I will participate in reading Gösta Berling's Saga rather than Daniel Deronda. Both reads look good though. Maybe if time opens up, I can join the DD read later when it gets scheduled.

Brian E wrote: "Brian E wrote: "Lori wrote: "I'll also be leading a mod's choice read of Gosta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlof starting January 14. I'll post a schedule and background information closer to the ti..."

Brian the saga is like connected short stories that can easily be read in snippets

Deborah wrote: "Brian the saga is like connected short stories that can easily be read in snippets."

That should work out great for me as my brain works in snippets.

I realized I wasn't receiving email from Goodreads anymore and wrote to try to get the problem fixed. I received this infuriating reply. Apparently, to keep up with our groups going forward, we will have to visit each one and hunt for new messages and threads. Lord only knows how we'll find comments on our reviews. Way to kill the site, Goodreads!
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We’ve simplified the way we notify members about activity on Goodreads. As part of this change, we’ve moved the notification settings to a new Notifications page and updated or removed some of our settings. For example, you’re now only notified on Goodreads about social activity, such as likes, mentions, and follows, and these notifications are no longer sent via email.

To make sure you don’t miss any Goodreads activity, we recommend reviewing your notification settings. For steps to locate the new Notifications page and our updated settings, check out our Help topic: How can I edit my notification settings?

To update your notifications, check out our Help topic: How can I edit my notification settings?

For answers to frequently-asked questions, visit Goodreads Help.

Abigail wrote: "I realized I wasn't receiving email from Goodreads anymore and wrote to try to get the problem fixed. I received this infuriating reply. Apparently, to keep up with our groups going forward, we wil..."

Sorry, the Mods could have alerted everyone, as we realized this a while ago. This changed a couple weeks ago and affects everyone on GR. There have been many complaints but they just receive a canned response. One member who is visually challenged and uses a screen reader now has a lot more trouble getting to the new stuff.

I use both the app and the desktop versions. The Group Notifications setting is very easy on the the app-you can update all the settings at one go-and it transfers to the desktop version automatically.

The new settings didn't affect me because I use the group to alert me of new comments. If you click on the speech bubbble icon (right next to the bell icon, next to the search bar), it will be shown the groups that you are in, then you have just to check the topics that interestet you or the groups that interest you at that moment. It just show 4 topics by group. But if you are inside the group, look for the "unread messages", when you click on it it shown only the topics that have unread messages. If you click on the red "X new" it will get you to the first unread message.

Rafael wrote: "The new settings didn't affect me because I use the group to alert me of new comments. If you click on the speech bubbble icon (right next to the bell icon, next to the search bar), it will be show..."

I always do that too, I would get way too many emails, but some people say they need the notifications for different reasons.