The Reading Challenge Group discussion

What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it?

I'm currently reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. I'm really enjoying it so far, but it is the first Victorian novel I've read in forever, so it's been a bit hard!

Middlemarch is on my list for next year. I can't say that I've ever made it through a George Eliot novel, but hopefully I make it this time around, haha. I'm trying to finish War and Peace and Bleak House before the year is up. Hopefully I can get through it between homework assignments.

Read Middlemarch a long time ago, it's one I own and will revisit in the future.

Im reading Just One Year by Gayle Forman and to be honest it's a bit of a let down.

@Lissa: Middlemarch is a long, and a bit of a rambling read, but I'm hoping it will help me with the start of my Dickens exploration later this month!

@Jools: I'd definitely recommend revisiting it, it's a wonderful read. I only have about 100 pages to go, which I'm kind of sad about to be honest.

How come Just One Year is a let down? I really hate it when books do that...

Holly wrote: "What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it?

I'm currently reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. I'm really enjoying it so far, but it is the first Victorian novel I've read in forever, so ..."

I enjoyed Middlemarch, though it does get a little bit rambly at times. A lot of Victorian literature is that way, but once you acquire a taste for the rambles and enjoy the beauty in the language that modern literature has mostly forgotten, you might find yourself missing it when you read literature from any other era. I sure do! It's like an addiction for me now - I have to read something Victorian every once in a while to cleanse my palate, or I start wanting to chuck books at the wall screaming, "Why can't you be more like Dickens?!?!" :P

Right now I'm going through the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe, which I'm enjoying very very much. I'd read some of his stories before, so now I'm re-reading those and reading the others for the first time. Aside from a couple that fell flat here and there, it's been great!

I'm also about to start Their Eyes Were Watching God, which looks interesting.

@Holly: It is hard not love Dickens. He can make those characters and the setting pop right out of the pages. He has never failed to keep me up until four in the morning reading "one more chapter." I have to agree with Faye that those rambles in Victorian literature can be addictive.

Lissa wrote: "@Holly: It is hard not love Dickens. He can make those characters and the setting pop right out of the pages. He has never failed to keep me up until four in the morning reading "one more chapter."..."

LOL Same here. I don't know how people survived it back in the days when he would publish only a few chapters a month!

Faye wrote: "Lissa wrote: "@Holly: It is hard not love Dickens. He can make those characters and the setting pop right out of the pages. He has never failed to keep me up until four in the morning reading "one ..."
Ugh, I know. I would have been the crazy lady showing up on his doorstep and demanding that he write faster or beg him to let me read chapters before he sent them in for publication.

I think the idea of a 'serialised' book is very interesting now. The only 'modern' book I know to be done like that was Bridget Jones Diary. I don't know if it would work very well today, and the only thing I can think that is similar nowadays is the realm of fanfiction and sites that host it. Chapters are uploaded regularly, and I found it hard to keep interest with them long enough to read them intermittently. I'd love to see a modern book be serialised!

I must admit, my reading has been very 20th century recently, and I really lost track of the 'beauty' of English Literature. I read The Scarlet Letter as a recommendation from my English teacher, and it was the first book that really made me marvel at the English language. It was, in my mind, a work of art, not just a story. I think that's why, regardless of the very limiting plot of Middlemarch, I'm carrying on. It's the beauty of the writing that I love, the subtle metaphors that Eliot uses are wonderful, and I wish I had the power to write like that! It's totally where literature nowadays falls down. Don't get me wrong, modern literature can be amazing (I'm looking at you, Margaret Atwood), there is just a lack of beauty in the words now.

@Holly: Have you read The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne? It is more gothic, but it was beautifully written. I think I might like it more than I like The Scarlet Letter.

Lissa wrote: "Ugh, I know. I would have been the crazy lady showing up on his doorstep and demanding that he write faster or beg him to let me read chapters before he sent them in for publication."

You and me both! I remember hearing once that Americans were so into The Old Curiosity Shop as it was being written that when ships would come into the harbour bearing the next installment, people would be waiting on the docks shouting at the people on the ships to tell them whether the main characters were still alive, hahaha! Yeah, I would have done that...

Holly wrote: "I think the idea of a 'serialised' book is very interesting now. The only 'modern' book I know to be done like that was Bridget Jones Diary. I don't know if it would work very well today, and the o..."

There's actually a Canadian author who is about to do an "experiment" with his next novel by publishing it bit by bit in a newspaper. It was on the news just yesterday, but... I forget his name, heh.

The only problem with works-in-progress publishing is that sometimes they never finish. Dickens died in the middle of publishing Edwin Drood in installments, which is pretty much the main tragedy of my life. The same happened with Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, I believe. I can't even imagine how their fans must have felt at the time, to hear that this beloved writer had died and their story would never be completed. It's different when the writer has been working on it privately and it's left unfinished on their desk with no one being invested in the tale to mourn the loss of the ending. Maybe that's why publishers stopped doing it that way - one too many permanent cliffhangers.

Faye wrote: "Lissa wrote: "Ugh, I know. I would have been the crazy lady showing up on his doorstep and demanding that he write faster or beg him to let me read chapters before he sent them in for publication."..."
I would be right there with you. I don't know how I would have coped with day to day life if I had to wait weeks between parts of A Tale of Two Cities. I went on vacation with some family one year and forgot to bring my copy of Les Miserables. Two days in I started fidgeting and sulking about wondering if Valjean was going to get out of jail in time to save Cosette. I would have serious issues with having to wait several weeks to know what was happening with the characters in any book, haha.

Trying to balance two-at-a-time which I do sometimes.

Dinosaur Planet Survivors by Anne McCaffrey and Charmed:Kiss of Darkness Brandon Alexander

I am currently 4 books behind in my 2013 Challenge of 20 books. Looks like I will end up about 5 or 6 books short.

I finished Middlemarch about an hour ago. It seemed to take forever, but it was a very rewarding read, I must admit! I'm now a third of the way through Mockingjay. I've been reading for 3 hours straight, with no interruptions. I love it when my parents are out!

I keep on hearing repeated good things about David Mitchell's books, Geoff! Would you recommend any in particular?

Isn't The Luminaries the Man Booker Prize winner this year? Or at least it won some sort of literary prize. I really should keep track more when it comes to awards!

Being a book addict should in itself be a job in my opinion. Hence why proof-reading or being in the publishing industry must be some of the best jobs in the world...

Since I'm a book juggler I currently have American Dream Machine, Serenade, The Narrow Road To The Deep North, The New York Trilogy and War and Peace all on the go

I really don't know how people juggle books. It's always been a mystery to me!

Wow, that's quite the juggling act, Michael!

I don't think I could read one book at a time, I don't have the attention span for that

Holly wrote: "I really don't know how people juggle books. It's always been a mystery to me!"

I can only effectively juggle two books at once as soon as I try to do a third my concentration goes all over the place. Usually I only attempt one book at a time though.

Also if I try reading two similar books at the same time I start merging the two plots together in my mind. Heck I do that after I have read one book and start in on the second.

It's interesting how people are different! Like, Michael, you say you don't have the attention span to read one book. I don't have the attention span to read more than one book. I know that if I start another one, I'll never finish the original one, and then I'll be left with a pile of unfinished books

I like to have a few books on the go, but usually they're all from different genres, which cuts down on the confusion considerably. I like to have something heavy, something light, and something non-fiction, and often a collection of short stories as well, since I can only read one or two of those at a time. That way, I find I have something to read no matter what reading-mood I'm in.

I really need to start reading short story collections... I read The Yellow Wallpaper, which was really interesting.

I know The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has been nominated in another group, so that will be another short story I will have read. I might try some Poe if I can get it out my school library...

POE!!!!!!!!! *love*

I haven't it a clue where to start with him. Might see what they have in the library...

<< That is the Poe collection that I have and it is a pretty good anthology. A lot of short stories, including a couple I had never heard of before and a lot of his poetry.

That looks like a good one, Lissa!

The Tell-Tale Heart, Fall of the House of Usher, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, Masque of the Red Death, Some Words With a Mummy, William Wilson... I'm getting the urge to sing "These are a few of my favourite things," but I'll spare you that, heh. They're a good place to start, anyway!

I'm planning on reading some Poe later today! I'll check the ones you've said out!

I'm currenntly readingNedjma for the Algerian author Kateb Yacine

Im currently reading "The Man Who Forgot His Wife"....my cousin loan it to me and it has been quite an interestimg read so far

I'll give it a shot, Geoff! I might read some of his short stories first.

I'm currently on Book 4 of Paradise Lost, and have just started Alias Grace. For once, I'm actually book juggling!

I really hope I don't start talking in blank verse... That would sound monumentally weird... I am enjoying it so far though, and am trying to get a book a day read.

I am currently reading File No. 113. This book was recommended to me by a "regular" library patron. It is an early detective novel. It's part of Project Gutenberg and you can access it from the book's Goodreads page. It has some unexpected twists(for me at least) and I am enjoying it.

Sassinak

I'm reading The Little Iliad. It's interesting, unusual, and there are loads of references to the original Iliad, which makes me happy.

I'm reading clockwork princess. I love this book, Cassandra Clare is one of my favorite authors:)

Yea... I'm only 15, I'm reading Rick Riordan's House of Hades, and trying to start one of Agatha Christie's books. I've had Angels and Demons on my shelf for some time, I'm gonna try reading it during the Christmas holiday.

I'm reading The Maze Runner And I've also been on and off on the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes book.

Ohhh, Sherlock Holmes! Nice. :)

I'm slowly getting through Poe's complete works, and Paradise Lost.

I'm currently reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and The Fault In Our Stars.
They're really good:)

Zarathustra is Nietzsche, right? I haven't read his work yet, but it's on my list. :)

Yeah it is. You should read it, it's remarkable.

Emad wrote: "I'm currently reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and The Fault In Our Stars.
They're really good:)"

Tell me how you liked tfios as soon as you finish it! It's truly heartfelt.

:)

I definitely will, Fatima:)
It's really amazing. Can't wait to finish it.
Wish me luck:)

I am reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker as a group read in another group.
I had already seen the movie and loved it and now I wanted to pick up also the book.

Orange Is The New Black. Hoping it gets better!!

The Color Purple is on my to-read list. I'm gonna read it very soon:)
And "Orange is The New Black" sounds interesting. The title is really attractive. Good luck:)

I'm currently reading by Stephen King. It's amazing!!!!

Allison, I started that a while a go and loved it.

Have you seen the Netflix adaptation of it? I absolutely love it!

I just found out there was a series. Or is it a movie??