Lately in the comments section of this blog there has been a little classics love emerging, one comment in particular mentioned how wonderful it would be if we could actually discuss the classics, which got me thinking…
Is anyone interested in an online book club where we read one of the classics every 4-6 weeks and discuss it on a set day? I thought we could start now with the book Emma by Jane Austen and aim to discuss the book one weekend in January, depending on whether people feel they need 4 weeks or 6 weeks! I would welcome book suggestions from anyone involved, so just let me know if you have a favourite you would like us all to read! Who knows, maybe after our book discussion, we could nominate a particular night for everyone to watch the film and discuss online! Please note: wine and popcorn are needed for film night 
!
I am so hoping a few people are interested? Please leave a comment if you are!
Speaking of books, I have just finished North and South (again!) and am sitting here in tears; such an epic, moving piece of social history, sadly far too often overlooked. The tears aka the “great flood” (this time!!) began as Higgins and Thornton lay the factory to rest and well, it contines ! I have so much more I want to say about this piece of art, but will wait for another day!
And I can not close without acknowledging the mess that was the last post, I changed the tense of the first line and forgot to align the rest! A day spent with Mr. Thornton and clearly I can no longer think! Ahem
Would love to join in! Am aiming to start another blog in the new year full of book reviews and am setting up a Once A Month book club there, but welcome any excuse to read more books
Would you set it up as a link in or a discussion somehow?
Thanks for joining in! Yes, I’ll be setting up a discussion, will post details soon!
I’m in, this sounds great!! I’ll begin reading Emma this week!
Me too! Enjoy!
Count me in! Will see if it’s available on Google books and read it online.
Glad you’re getting settled and on track – well done!
Hugs
Groatie
So glad you’re joining in!
Great idea, FT! Count me in.
Emma? Done. Haha. Glad that was the first choice.
As for suggestions…the classics I have always wanted to read are a tad ambitious for 4-6 weeks, especially with Baby J around now, but just in case anyone else is interested, here they are:
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
Others (leaning towards modern classics?):
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Just reading those fabulous titles makes me yearn to take an English literature course again….sigh!
Oh, also now I’m interested in North and South since you’ve mentioned it a few times!
Just looked up at my list, and feel that the first three I would definitely need some moral support to finish!
lol you’ve got it from me babe
Also, can I admit I have a major crush on Fyodor Dostoevsky!!!
Can I be in too?
Clarification – if school is crazy I might sit a book out here and there, but overall I’m in.
Not a problem! Glad you’ve joined!
Ooh I’m in; I think I might have Emma on my bookshelf here, but I am getting an ereader for Christmas* (mostly for work pdfs!) so will be happy to stock it with classics from project Gutenberg!
*I might have cheated and already added Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice to it…
lol
I have to say I can not fathom reading from a reader, I’m terribly old fashioned about most things and just adore the feeling of turning pages and love the smell of books!
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OOO!!! Count me in!!!!!!!!!!
Great!
Yay! Sign me up. I love ‘Emma’. Brilliant. Liked the earlier suggestion of Mrs Dalloway too. And maybe ‘Villette’ by Charlote Bronte?
Good suggestions! It took me a long while to appreciate Emma, now I absolutely adore the novel!
I’m in. Other suggestions are Bleak House, Ruth, and Adam Bede. Also Mansfield Park, probably Jane Austen’s least appreciated novel–I love it!
So true re Mansfield Park! Fab suggestions!
I would love to do this if I have the right technology for the discussion. Not a huge fan of Emma, but I can imagine more painful ways of spending time than rereading it. Villette is an interesting choice. I have a copy with a discussion of the book, which thoroughly confused me.
I’ll do it via the blog so there’s no worry about technology! Villette is a good choice too, we can all support each other
I would definitely be interested. My last final is next Thursday. That will be a good time for me to relax and read something other than textbooks! Please keep me posted as to the details.
Will do a post this weekend about it!
I’d love to join in as well. Thank you!!
Thanks for joining us!
I will try as I have not been reading anything since finishing a couple of books during the summer holidays! The video of Colin Firth is hilarious!
It is funny isn’t it?
What a fun idea!! count me in..
Love everything Jane Austen!
AMEN
would love to join in please! Good idea to pass the chilly weather…which, I am finished with thank you, it can leave now!
xoxo
AMEN to that too!!! Cold weather be gone!
Um, might I suggest the future reading of some Dickens as I have been enjoying hos works so much and have no IRL friends who really read? Sad, I know.
Dickens must be on the list, yes! I even have some vintage Dickens which I would love to dust off and read! In the UK, oddly enough, many of my friends were not readers and I yearned to discuss books which led me to joining a book group!
Yes please, count me in. I am doing a PGCE (Teacher Training) which is hard going but I will certainly give it a go. With Christmas coming it’ll be good to read something like that. What about Woman in White, Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina? I think the Ilyiad etc are beyond me, sorry x
Great suggestions, particularly Anna Karenina is a personal favourite!
I’d love to join in!
Super!
Ok..Id so love to join,but seeing as I have just..last night, finished a novel I started 6 months ago..yes,months NOT weeks,I feel I will never keep up :0)
I would still love to be involved and I am very interested in reading others thoughts on Austen in particular.
You’ll be great
I think that’s one of the best things about a book group, learning from other’s observations!
So glad you’ve joined Granny!
The English major in me would love to join.:) My struggle is between beloved favorites or unread classics.
Austen is high on my list. ‘Emma’ is a good start. (‘Persuasion’ is my quiet second favorite. I’ve always too disappointed in Emma’s behavior to just enjoy the novel;) so I return again to Mr. Darcy and Eliza.:)) Elizabeth Gaskell is wonderful. If we’re going to reading English classic novels, I like the suggesion ‘Villette’ and I adore ‘Middlemarch.’ If we’re considering twentieth century classics, I lean toward Woolf or Fitzgerald (‘Tender is the Night’ is on my bedstand.:))
We have very similar taste in books! I’ll try to make it fair and alternate the traditional with 20th century classics!
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I’d love to join in as I read loads and am always keen to discuss books. I’m not sure how it would work though? Would it be in comments from a post?
That’s probably the best way, I’ll post questions and we can all reply in the comments and there will be a discussion post too!
Count me in, too! I’m a little nervous… it’s been 15 years since I finished my English degree. I’ve lost all ability to write with correct punctuation and the only books lining my nightstand are parenting books… but I’d love to join! I might be a bit of a lurker, but it’ll be wonderful to crack open a good classic.
By the way, I fell in love with my husband over the Pickwick Papers. Whenever I’d wander by his dorm room, he’d quickly grab Pickwick Papers and start reading. Only later did I realize that he never made it past page 3! He only opened the book to impress me!! It worked. After uni (we both studied in Sheffield) he immigrated to the States and we’ve been married 14 years. He’s my very own Mr. Darcy….. =)
Leslie
So glad you’ve joined in! And your story about your husband & your meeting had me laughing out loud!
Excellent idea ! When do we start?
Well start reading now, I’ll post about it this weekend
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