Comfort Reads discussion

I think it was in November when we decided on possibly doing a buddy-read of To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis in January. I have finally located my copy of the book and will hopefully start reading by the beginning of next week. If you are reading along, or if you have read the novel already, please feel free to join the discussion. I am also hoping to read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome at the same time, as I have heard repeatedly that knowing this book will help with Willis' book. I am excited about this buddy-read, as Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is one of my all-time favourite historical fiction novels. Also, please note that this is an open-ended discussion, there is no pressure to read the book in a certain amount of time, this is supposed to be fun and entertaining. Happy reading to those interested in joining the discussion.

There will be SPOILERS in this discussion.

Should we mark posts with spoiler warnings or just assume you won't check the posts until you've read the book?

I've read the first 3 chapters, and also listened to Three Men in a Boat on audiobook over the last week - and thoroughly enjoyed that. I'll have limited internet access over the coming week - off to stay with my parents - so look forward to catching up with the discussion when I get back.

Jeannette wrote: "Should we mark posts with spoiler warnings or just assume you won't check the posts until you've read the book?"

I keep forgetting about "spoiler warnings" I'll edit my post to include that, thanks for reminding me.

Gundula, It's a good idea to edit the topic title also.

You can add something like

*SPOILERS INCLUDED* or *WARNING: SPOILERS*

And, I forgot all about this.

Doomsday Book is the one by Connie Willis that I want to read next.

Have fun though!

Lisa wrote: "Gundula, It's a good idea to edit the topic title also.

You can add something like

*SPOILERS INCLUDED* or *WARNING: SPOILERS*

And, I forgot all about this.

Doomsday Book is the on..."

Thanks for the hint, Lisa, I edited the topic title as well. You really must read "Doomsday Book" It is amazing.

Well, after a bit of a hiatus I'm back to reading this one. I had no idea it was going to be so funny! Love the way she uses roman numerals for the time. Really grateful I had the heads up to read "Three men in a boat" first - the references are all very obvious, but it's great to be able to understand and appreciate them.

Darkpool wrote: "Well, after a bit of a hiatus I'm back to reading this one. I had no idea it was going to be so funny! Love the way she uses roman numerals for the time. Really grateful I had the heads up to read ..."

I'm going to hopefully be able to start this weekend, I'm reading way too many books again, and it also took me a while to locate the book in my bookshelves; it's in my room beside my bed now, so hopefully, soon.

I think I am going to join this read. I own Three Men in a Boat and just happened to grab To Say Nothing of the Dog from the library! It looks like a lot of fun.

Maude wrote: "I think I am going to join this read. I own Three Men in a Boat and just happened to grab To Say Nothing of the Dog from the library! It looks like a lot of fun."

Yay!!!

Lisa, Since you are a Mod Extrardinare (SP!) I am requesting your aid. I was unable to get on Goodreads yesterday - AGAIN! - finally was told to take some silly little test (after an hour of trying to get on) and Voila, I am now OK again. If this had been the first time I would not complain, but this is either the 2nd or 3rd time. I am an active member and have been here about 10 months. Do others have this same problem? How do "whoever" decides to tell someone "you are not a member" and cause this disruption of someone who has been here for a while?? Any help would be appreciated.

Maude wrote: "Lisa, Since you are a Mod Extrardinare (SP!) I am requesting your aid. I was unable to get on Goodreads yesterday - AGAIN! - finally was told to take some silly little test (after an hour of tryin..."

Maude, Lisa and Lee might be able to help you, but you would honestly be better off becoming a member of the "Feedback" group and mentioning this on a thread there.

Did you perhaps sign off and then sign on with the wrong password? Passwords are easily forgotten and it is one of the reasons that I generally never sign off Goodreads (I've only had trouble with that once or twice, where there was a problem and I had to sign on again). But, I do know with certain groups that if you try to sign on s few times in a row with a wrong password, they will sometimes block you and make you take some security test because they are not sure of your identity (I've had that happen with my email account occasionally, a pain, but not much to do other than jump through the security hoops). Hope this information helps, but I would still mention your problems in the feedback forum, it could be that others are having the same problem, it might be the server you are using, it could be anything.

Maude, I'm not really following this thread because I haven't read the book yet, and won't in time to do so with the group, but I'm glad I saw your post.

There are all sorts of glitches and bugs, and some affect only certain members.

So, I'd follow Gundula's suggestion.

I'd either post about this bug in the Goodreads Feedback group and/or I'd message them directly from the help link at the bottom of the page. You can send f/u posts/messages if what you need to do is excessive in your opinion.

I don't know what the issue is with you but I've heard others complain about similar problems. I know that many of these glitches are browser specific.

I'd love to help but I'm afraid this is one of those issues that needs help directly from Goodreads.

Thank you Lee. I really needed just a point in the right direction and you gave me that so THANK YOU! I'm sorry I posted my question in the wrong place.

Thank you Gundula, I appreciate your advice. Maybe the problem is I don't think I have a password - I might but I never use it. Anyway I will follow up with your suggestions. Thank you.

Maude, We do all have passwords. I never sign out but I still need to key in my password if I've been out of my browser/Goodreads and need to access my inbox or do certain other things on the site, such as the my account section to change my preferences, etc.

If you've forgotten your password, I assume you can ask Goodreads to email it to you, and then if you want you can go to my account and change your password.

I don't want this thread hijacked so I guess if there are more messages about this they're best posted here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

preferably with a link to the first post about this; just click on the time stamp and copy the URL (or ask for help in the above thread to do that.)

I just started To Say Nothing of the Dog: or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last this morning. It looks pretty interesting.

Sigh. My TBR list just took another hit - with ongoing references to Ned looking like Lord Peter Wimsey I now have Whose Body? on my library request list! I was also amused to see that the reader for the audiobook (which is what I've requested) is Ian Carmichael, who coincidentally was the reader on the "Three Men and a Dog" audiobook I listened to.

Darkpool wrote: "Sigh. My TBR list just took another hit - with ongoing references to Ned looking like Lord Peter Wimsey I now have Whose Body? on my library request list! I was also amused to see tha..."

Oh dear, that means I will definitely be adding books and doing research (and getting distracted), fun, but it makes what should be a two or three day read take much longer. Hopefully, I will be starting this weekend, if I can get off of GR and actually read.

I am definitely getting only a minimum number of references in the story. It would make it more fun, I'm sure, but I don't plan to turn this read into a research project! Do you think the author might have overdone it a bit with all of the references? It has made the first part of their journey, to Iffley, a bit tedious. I sort of glazed over after they fished the tutor out of the river and into the boat.

Gundula wrote: "...if I can get off of GR and actually read. "
LMAO!

I don't think the Lord Peter Wimsey series is compulsory, but for me it's the second time he's come up in a week, so I'm taking it as a sign.
I'm definitely appreciating having read "3 men.." first, and finding it quite interesting what else in my recent reading history is proving relevant, e.g. read a book about William the Conqueror over Xmas, and therefore knew what they were on about when discussing the Battle of Hastings.
Hmm, an increased number of coincidences was a symptom of something, wasn't it?

Darkpool wrote: "Gundula wrote: "...if I can get off of GR and actually read. "
LMAO!

I don't think the Lord Peter Wimsey series is compulsory, but for me it's the second time he's come up in a week, so I'm takin..."

This is definitely going to be fun and informative, even if I will likely get distracted and go on research tangents that sometimes even I don't really understand.

I'm glad I have at least a passing knowledge of history. And I know who Wimsey is! :)

I actually have a logistic question. Besides, Doomsday Book, Blackout, All Clear and To Say Nothing of the Dog, are there any other Connie Willis books in the "Oxford Tim Travel" series? I know she has written other novels, but I am not quite sure exactly which of these are part of the "Oxford" series.

From what I gather, Fire Watch was the start of the whole thing, and introduces us to Dunworthy. I've not read it yet, but found it online here (which is a blessing, as my library doesn't have it).
Not sure about the others...

Darkpool wrote: "From what I gather, Fire Watch was the start of the whole thing, and introduces us to Dunworthy. I've not read it yet, but found it online here (which is a blessing, as my library does..."

Thanks, I think that's already on mount tbr, but I should check.