Group Check-In #31: May 2018

~ The Classics Club
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Hi Clubbers! How’s the reading going?

Tell us about your project — or you! Introduce yourself. Chat.

Tell us what you’ve read, how you’re feeling about your progress, how much you love the classics or the community — any struggles, a favorite read so far. Really, whatever you feel like sharing!

Some people prefer writing an update at their own blog and linking it here in the comments. That’s fine, too.

Feel free to respond to one another in the comments below — ask questions, visit each other, tell us you are new to the club, planning to join the club — etc. This is a meet and greet.

If you’re having trouble with your list and need encouragement, say that! That’s understandable. We want new classics readers to join us, so there’s nothing wrong with arriving to this thread with all of the newness showing!

(Please also note the “check-in” feature here is entirely voluntarily, intended for those who like weighing in with others in the group, and having a periodic place to reflect upon goals for the club. For some this feature would feel like an unwanted intrusion. Silent participation in this group is of course welcome!)

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm about this project!

New? Introduce yourself to the group on Twitter using hashtag #ccintroductions @ourclassicsclub. You can also introduce yourself here at the blog. 🙂

Twitter hashtag for reading check-ins: #ccreadingupdate

Note that if you’re on Twitter, you can also tweet your latest classic book reviews to the group using hashtag #ccbookreviews.

24 thoughts on “Group Check-In #31: May 2018”

  1. So far this year I’ve read Maurice by E.M. Forster and re-read two by Willa Cather, My Antonia and The Song of the Lark. I’m planning to read Middlemarch in June but need to get a new edition. The font is way too small for me in the World’s Classics paperback edition that I own.

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  3. Hi all! I have just finished reading The Two Towers and I liked as much as (or perhaps more than) The Fellowship of the Ring. So I will be reading The Return of the King soonish, completing thus my first read of The Lord of The Rings. I also want to read The Great Gatsby soonish but right now I’m in the middle of a book about vikings: Beyond the Northlands. I’ve always liked to mix things up 🙂

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  4. I’ve finished 3 classics recently. “Murder in Stained Glass”, Margaret Armstrong (1939); “The Red House Mystery”, A. A. Milne (yes, THAT AA Milne!) (1922); and my listed one, “Excellent Women”, Barbara Pym (1952). The first 2 are interesting cozy mysteries. “Excellent Women” is a slice-of-life look at London right after WWII.

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    1. I read The Red House Mystery too recently and loved it, till somebody mentioned that the dialogue had a Pooh-ish feel to it, and now I can’t get it out of my head that the ‘tec and his sidekick were Pooh and Piglet in disguise… 😉

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  5. Since the latest Classics Spin the two books I can count as ‘classics’ (in that they were published more than, say, sixty years ago) are Henry James’ The Aspern Papers (1888) and, most recently, Georges Simenon’s Maigret in Holland (1931). I can’t say these were planned or on any list, just that they appealed at the time — and what better reason for reading them is there, might I ask? 🙂

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  6. I’ve just started Scoop – I thought I was going to get bogged down in an intense tale of relationships and catholicism and instead it’s just a bit of fun!

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  7. I am also a little behind, but I’ve read 3 on my list this year so far, which is better than usual! I’ve been enjoying them a lot more than I expected too! I just finished Emma by Jane Austen and it is now one of my favorite books of all time 🙂 I am a newly converted Austen fan!

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    1. AUSTEN! Emma is probably my least favorite, but considering how good they all are, that’s no rub!

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  8. I don’t think I’ve read any of my CC books since the last check-in, but I have both The Dain Curse by Dashiel Hammett and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad coming up in the next couple of weeks – looking forward to them both.

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    1. you’re looking forward to Heart of Darkness?! I think I may have tried reading it far too young (a set text). No pressure, but I’m looking forward to your review!

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      1. I tried to listen to it on an audiobook a few years ago and didn’t have a clue what was going on most of the time! But I have a secret weapon now – an Oxford World’s Classics edition with an explanatory introduction and notes, so I’m confident at least I’ll find out what it’s about this time… 😉 🤣

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  11. I am SOOOO behind. In life in general, but particularly in my Classics Reading. Isn’t that always the case, though? I do hope to get myself to read at least one of the books that’s been on my list this weekend. We’ll see what happens… It’ll be nice to get back to reading and posting about what I’ve read.

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  12. I just completed a biography of Vera Brittain, whom I find absolutely dazzling. I’m reading another on her right now, & then I’m hosting a (very casual Twitter read) of Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain throughout June. As in, the most casual group read ever. No schedules, no pressure. We’re just quietly reading and tweeting as and if the mood strikes. 🙂 If you’re curious, I wrote about it at my place. 🙂

    I hope everyone is well! It’s HOT here in Georgia — nearing the hundred mark! And the pollen is serious this year. Sometimes I get home and have to scrape it off my face before I can see! 😀

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