Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Good morning all. I know many of you know Mike F. and have chatted with him about different Classic discussions.
He has been away for a few months. I recieved a message this morning from him and thought I would share as he requested. Please feel free to to leave any comments here for him.

Mike said to you:
Hi Lesle, an extremely belated Happy New Year to you! Thank you for thinking of me. Apologies I've only just picked up your message, I've not used Goodreads for a while as my computer broke. I've been meaning to fix it for a while, but I've been saying that for months.

We're doing OK, aside from having Chicken Pox come through the kids over the last month. Otherwise we're getting by, but I do lack time for much else beyond work and housework. I'm slowly getting through Les Mis, but probably averaging a mere page a week.

Please do pass on my regards to the group. I do miss participating and have ever so many classics yet to read. I'm sure the busyness will pass someday and I'll be back.

I hope you and yours are doing well.

Commiserations re the chickenpox, Mike - it can be so upsetting for children particularly, so I hope you're all clear now.

And I hope your computer issues are now resolved - we miss your friendly participation in the group.

Best wishes.

Mike is the Member that came up with the "And" List that I am using in one of the group challenges this year.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I have also sent Mike the link to this thread so it would be easier for him with his computer issues.

Nice of Leslie to contact you. Hope the kids get well soon.

Below zero again but worried more about those with icy roads. Drive careful.

All the best, Mike. I hope everything's ok now.

Thanks for keeping in touch with Lesle, Mike. It's good to hear your news, even though chicken pox is no fun.
We miss you!

Best wishes to you, Mike! I hope you'll be able to join us soon.

Best wishes, Mike! Hope the children are better.

Thanks for the messages, sorry it's taken so long to get back here. I got through 3 cases of chicken pox with the youngest 3, the oldest 3 had had it 10 years before. It seems a distant memory now, single parenthood has been quite the roller-coaster and time is easily my scarcest resource. That said, I've been dangerously close to burn out a few too many times and need to make more an effort to find time for me.

So here I am with a new computer (a Raspberry Pi 5!) and a goal to read at least 5 classics before the year ends - especially as my AND list made it to a challenge. I see the group is celebrating Jane Austen, so reading Pride and Prejudice is a must. I also see that East of Eden is starting next month and that has long been on my TBR. I think I can finish a short story collection by Chekhov too. I'll figure out the others as I go.

Someday I'll get back to finish Proust and Les Mis, they simply require a mental effort I can't currently sustain. In this season of life I've found myself in, I think it's more important for me to be reading in a way that is relaxing rather than taxing. That's certainly not to say I wasn't enjoying them, quite the contrary, however they do require sustained concentration I can't currently exert.

It's good to hear from you, Mike. Thank you for taking time to update us on your very busy life.
Comfort reads and escapist reads are always relaxing. My go-to books are children's books, vintage mysteries and pulp science fiction.
Do take care of yourself, you deserve it.

Mike wrote: "Thanks for the messages, sorry it's taken so long to get back here. I got through 3 cases of chicken pox with the youngest 3, the oldest 3 had had it 10 years before. It seems a distant memory now,..."

Great to hear from you Mike - and sorry to hear that the kids have been ill - three with chickpox must have been extra stressful. Look after yourself - and enjoy the Raspberry Pi !

Nice to hear hear from you, Mike. I agree about the relaxing reading. Take care of yourself.

Rosemarie wrote: "It's good to hear from you, Mike. Thank you for taking time to update us on your very busy life.
Comfort reads and escapist reads are always relaxing. My go-to books are children's books, vintage m..."

I have been reading lots of children's books, every night! A firm favourite in this house are the works of Julia Donaldson103243]. I did pick up a new copy of a personal favourite of mine, The Neverending Story. My grandmother gave me my original copy for my 8th birthday but I've read it so many times I'm afraid it'll fall apart if I read that copy again. Sadly it's still 4 years too young to be counted here!

I've also started reading some Star Trek novels. No prize winning fiction here, but definitely light entertainment to distract for a short while. I have been meaning to read some older sci-fi such as Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke as well as Frank Herbert's non-Dune works.

John wrote: "Great to hear from you Mike - and sorry to hear that the kids have been ill - three with chickpox must have been extra stressful. Look after yourself - and enjoy the Raspberry Pi !"

There was lots of calamine lotion and cuddles. From start to finish it was nearly 5 weeks, one of which being a miserable half-term for two of them. But it's over and not something I'll have to deal with again!

The Pi is fun little device. It takes up no room compared to the old PC, extremely low power and silent with no moving parts. I've got it nicely set-up for email and Goodreads and it also acts as a media server for all the household CDs and DVDs. Quite pleased with the set-up, even if it's taken me nearly a year and some annual leave to get it up and running.

Kathy wrote: "Nice to hear hear from you, Mike. I agree about the relaxing reading. Take care of yourself."

Thank you! I need to be told more often to take care of myself, all too easy to be busy with everyone else and forget about lil' ol' me.

Hi Mike, glad to hear you're persevering with Les Miz. My reading group (there are three of us) was reading Don Quixote and I finally had to say, enough! I couldn't take it anymore that DQ and Sancho Panza get beat up every other page. So we dropped it and now we're reading Les Miz instead. These characters are taking a different pummeling (by life) so it's not exactly happy escapist reading. But at least they're not getting physically beat up every other page.

Mike, YA and children's books are considered classics if they've been published 40 years ago for the first time.
The Neverending Story is magical.

Mike I am impressed with your father skills. I had one child and a single parent and could not do it without my parents.

Reading has to be an enjoyable experience while everything else is taxing in your world.
Im glad you like the AND list is in the challenge!

Happy you took a moment to let us know how things are going. We do miss you but we all understand that life is always a prioity.
Take care

Melanie wrote: "Hi Mike, glad to hear you're persevering with Les Miz. My reading group (there are three of us) was reading Don Quixote and I finally had to say, enough! I couldn't take it anymore that DQ and Sanc..."

Thanks, it's going to take a while but I'll get there. Remarkably I find that it's easy to pick back up after several months of not reading, some other books I lose the plot entirely and end up re-reading. I've nearly finished Part 2, I'm on Book 8 Chapter 4.

Certainly part of the challenge is that life is beating these people up, just like me. While perhaps there is a camaraderie to be found, it's a reminder of the reality I'm trying to escape. The kids are staying with their aunt and uncle the week after next, so that might be a week I make a little progress.

Rosemarie wrote: "Mike, YA and children's books are considered classics if they've been published 40 years ago for the first time.
The Neverending Story is magical."

Wonderful, I will read it as part of the challenge then! I remember being so captivated by the book, especially when Bastian is hiding to read the book, so much so I almost felt like I was Bastian.

Lesle wrote: "Mike I am impressed with your father skills. I had one child and a single parent and could not do it without my parents.

Reading has to be an enjoyable experience while everything else is taxing ..."

Thanks Lesle! I must confess that, while I was the only parent, my second and third eldest were around and they provided some help. It may also have helped that it wasn't the first time I've dealt with Chicken Pox.

I have big plans for relaxing reading tonight, children are bathed and in bed so I'm going to have a cup of cranberry and raspberry tea and read some more Chekhov short stories.

Mike wrote: ".The kids are staying with their aunt and uncle the week after next, so that might be a week I make a little progress"

A great idea to involve your family Mike - one of my daughter's favourite sayings is "It takes a village to raise a child".

John wrote: "A great idea to involve your family Mike - one of my daughter's favourite sayings is "It takes a village to raise a child"...."

Indeed it does John!

John wrote: "A great idea to involve your family Mike - one of my daughter's favourite sayings is "It takes a village to raise a child""

I'm inclined to agree! I am very thankful for the support my brother and his wife offer me, as I am of my parents. I am also blessed with some good neighbours who chat with the children, and the families of their friends who will take them on days out with their own children.

I think it would be very hard to truly do this on my own, so I am glad I am not really on my own.