Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

January - If This Is a Man / The Truce by Primo Levi 464 pgs International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27th, 2025

February - The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois 288 pgs

March - Narrative of Sojourner Truth 288 pgs OR Ain't I a Woman? by Sojourner Truth 106 pgs (Narrative may be more accessible for more members.) International Women's Day, March 8, 2025

April - My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin 512 pgs DOB April, 16, 1889

May - Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume 1 by Karl Marx 1152 pgs DOB May 5, 1818

June - Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf 352 pgs

July - The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs 472 pgs Independence Day in the USA, July 4, 2025

August - The Wretched of the Earth 251 pgs OR Black Skin, White Masks 232 pgs by Frantz Fanon (2 votes for each, both highly rated on GR)

September - The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius 155 pgs

BONUS September - The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka 200 pgs Harvest Moon is September 7, 2025 for most of the world population.

October - The Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb 348 pgs

November - South Sea Vagabonds by J.W. Wray
252 pgs

December - The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro 1246 pgs Robert Moses DOB December 18, 1888

Thank you Samantha - an excellent selection to look forward to.

Great selection! I would however humbly suggest that The Communist Manifesto be offered as an alternate selection to Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume 1, which is very long and academic. The Manifesto, although obviously a polemic rather than a philosophical work, is specifically written for the layperson, and pretty much covers all of Marx's ideas about economics, whereas Capital seeks to ground all of those ideas on a scientific basis, in well over 1000 pages. (And that's just volume one of three).

An informed suggestion, Jim. Sounds like a great idea. I'll look into if we've already had The Communist Manifesto as a group read.

Thank you for posting the list! I look forward to joining in for some of the shorter reads. Unfortunately, books over 400 p tend to be out of my grasp to fit in during the year. Great list!

I'll be reading Primo Levi but I wouldn't be able to fit it in for January.

Remember that I don't usually archive the NF reads for a few months. The May & Dec reads are very long, which is why I made a point to separate the in the schedule.

Thanks, Samantha. I just bought the kindle edition.

Thanks Samantha! I’m interested in the books for Jan, Feb, June, Sept and Nov but will probably not be able to fit in all of them. My library only has 2 of them. I might order If This is a Man. Interestingly enough, that title was a crossword puzzle clue recently that my husband asked me about.

Pam, you should definitely inquire at your library if they can obtain older titles like these that they don't own from other libraries through interlibrary loan. Odds are good that the interlibrary loan department can find them.

interesting list, thanks

I'll be reading The essays of Elia, Capital, and The Wretched of the Earth.

A GR reviewer recommended reading The Power Broker followed by The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and that’s what I’m going to do.

Sounds like you did your research, Melanie. The threads will remain open for comment, if you want to discuss either after the respective months.

Honestly, I don’t think I can wait to read the books in their respective months. I’ll look forward to reading the comments.

I'll be joining in the January reads.

Melanie, if you're eager to read any certain titles, I encourage you to do so whenever you're ready. You can always join in the discussions when they happen.

I normally prefer to read with the group in the respective month. I enjoy the reading more that way. Sometimes group reads help me push through difficult reads. I presume Primo Levi's memoir will be such a read for me. So now I'm rearranging my Jan reading schedule to accomodate it.

Thanks Samantha. I do use the ILL process. I even found one of my favorite books ever through the system. My experience recently is, that by the time I get the book, I’m reading other books and don’t have time to read it. The last few books I’ve requested I returned unread. I feel guilty doing that. I might request one later in the year, though. For January, I’ll likely order the book so I can read it in January.

Pam, I don't know about your library and state, but at my system in Louisiana we always tell patrons ILLs may take about 2 weeks to arrive. If you haven't before, try requested them with that in mind with your reading schedule. Maybe it'll help, but I understand the system is unpredictable. Often, you can request a renewal, too. If the book is not in high demand, you just may be granted one!

Unfortunately, although I nominated the Primo Levi and have the book, I left home for the holidays and am gone through January. I would have brought it if I knew. I trust there'll be participation during its month since it got alot of support.

Looking forward to alot of these and appreciate the September bonus read.

Jen wrote: "Unfortunately, although I nominated the Primo Levi and have the book, I left home for the holidays and am gone through January. I would have brought it if I knew. I trust there'll be participation ..."

I apologize for the delay in posting the schedule, Jen. I wanted to give its creation the attention it deserved, and I could not do that before I finished the semester. I hope you jump into the discussion to add your thoughts when you get to read the book. :)

No worries, Sam. End of year is a lot and I don’t mind reading it later. I’d just feel a little bad if there was no activity even from me as the person who nominated it but as I said I am guessing there will be activity among other group members. Some have already said they’d be there, so that’s great :)

I inquired at our used bookstore and the library about the Primo Levi book. I was told that they don't have it and it is out of publication. However, my library has Survival in Auschwitz and The Reawakening: The Companion Volume to Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, which I checked out. It looks like they might be the same books but published under different titles.

Yes, Pam, I think that’s right! If I remember right, I explained that in my message where I nominated it.

Samantha wrote: "Melanie, if you're eager to read any certain titles, I encourage you to do so whenever you're ready. You can always join in the discussions when they happen."

Thanks, Samantha!

Samantha wrote: "An informed suggestion, Jim. Sounds like a great idea. I'll look into if we've already had The Communist Manifesto as a group read."

I'm planning to go with a variation of Jim's idea - I'll be reading The Communist Manifesto in January, Capital volume 1 in January - March, and April and May I'll be reading some of the major critiques and commentaries. And before that - from now until early January - I'll be reading the biography Karl Marx by Francis Wheen

Melanie wrote: "A GR reviewer recommended reading The Power Broker followed by The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and that’s what I’m going to do."

That sounds like a great plan!. Perhaps start with the Power Broker in July or, at any rate, earlier. Maybe we can plan something together.

Jeremy, that sounds good to me!

The Kindle version of Ain't I a Woman? by Sojourner Truth is $1 at the moment, just FYI, folks.

Melanie wrote: "Jeremy, that sounds good to me!"

Melanie wrote: "A GR reviewer recommended reading The Power Broker followed by The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and that’s what I’m going to do."

Hi Melanie! Still up for this? Because I mixed up the order I read The Death and Life of Great American Cities (almost done). I continue to think reading them both is a really great idea. Either order will serve us well. Reading the Caro second does, I think give you an idea of what exactly he destroyed. I would encourage anyone considering the Caro to start now. It's a very interesting but a very long book. Even though it was written over 50 years ago its lessons apply as much or more now than ever.

Jeremy, the discussion thread for The Death and Life of Great American Cities is open. Feel free to share your thoughts there.

Jeremy wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Jeremy, that sounds good to me!"

Melanie wrote: "A GR reviewer recommended reading The Power Broker followed by The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and that’s what I’m goi..."

Hi Jeremy, I think that's fine that you read Death and Life first. I'll do that too.

Are we not doing a thread for the "bonus" September read? Or have I somehow not found it? I think I was (one of?) the only supportive vote for it but I am indeed still very interested in reading this. I planned to start in a week or so. I see my Libby e-library has both ebook and audio :)

Jen I am sorry that was my fault. I missed that when I was doing the September reads.

Jen, I apologize for my lack of posting a discussion thread for it. That is my fault, as I clearly missed it when I posted the other thread. Lesle is not at fault here, but I appreciate her for going ahead am posting the thread. Thank you, Lesle!

I missed it to when I was posting the monthly reads for the group so I felt it to be my error, but I will take us splitting the responsibility.

Your more than welcome Samantha.