Book Snails Book Group discussion

The other classic we are reading is Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. It can be read for free from Project Gutenberg as well. https://www.gutenberg.org/ Happy Reading!

If I can make it through the other 3 (and 1/4) books I’ve got planned for the month, I’ll pick this one up.

Hi, folks, I got on the gutenberg site and found Jules Verne's Around The World In 80 Days . I started reading it just to see if my eyes would tolerate the computer screen . I must say I found it easier on my eyes than I expected. I've stopped at chapt. 9. The screen size and font is very easy to read. Thanks Pien and Vickie, I had no idea this was available! The story is enjoyable and well written also. I hope some of you will start reading it.

I'll be starting this one tomorrow (Friday). Looking forward to it!😊

Just finished this one and loved it! I didn't expect that, so it was a pleasant surprise. 😊

This is one of my all time favourite books. I adore Phileas and Passpartout and their relationship. I think this was the first non-gothic 19th century novel that I had read that wasn't dry. It was so much more exciting and easy to read than I expected.
I hope everyone else that read it also enjoyed it.

Keli wrote: "This is one of my all time favourite books. I adore Phileas and Passpartout and their relationship. I think this was the first non-gothic 19th century novel that I had read that wasn't dry. It was ..."

Hi Keli ; I enjoyed Around The World In 80 Days also , and I'm hoping to read more of his novels . I'm glad so many of Jules Verne's novels are available free from the Gutenberg Project . I get the impression that you are a pretty fast reader. I'm extremely slow (because I can't just read something, I have to edit,spell check and word search terms and expressions as I go). I would enjoy doing a buddy read with you sometime. It would have to wait untill June so I can finish the books I'm reading now. It's Spring time here and a big distraction right now is lawn work and planting veggies in my container garden. Fred of the North West

Fred wrote: "Keli wrote: "This is one of my all time favourite books. I adore Phileas and Passpartout and their relationship. I think this was the first non-gothic 19th century novel that I had read that wasn't..."

Let's do it Fred. Any book looking good to you?

Sounds good Keli, do you ever read about the author before you read the book ? I will find some biographical notes for Jules Verne and share them with you if like. I haven't looked at the list of Jules Verne's works, but I think it is pretty extensive. Do any of his titles appeal to you, Keli ?

Fred wrote: "Sounds good Keli, do you ever read about the author before you read the book ? I will find some biographical notes for Jules Verne and share them with you if like. I haven't looked at the list of J..."

I tend to read books cover to cover; acknowledgements, forwards, introductions, prologues, afterwords, it all gets read if it's included in my copy. I tend not to go out of my way to read about an author because their personal lives, their politics and opinions can put me off ever reading anything by them again.
For example I will never read a Marion Zimmer Bradley novel. I don't care that she wrote a seminal work and was inspiring to some of my favourite authors. I know that her personal ife will have affected her writing and I don't want to think about pedophilia whilst reading a high fantasy novel. I would feel icky. If I had read her before I found out about her personal life I might feel differently, like I do with Alice Walker. The Color Purple is one of my all time favourite books and even Walker's craziness can't ruin it for me but I'll never pick up a book by her that I've not already read.
The thing about authors, to me, is that they create worlds but those worlds are based in how they see, understand and imagine the world to be. Writing is highly personal and I don't think one can completely remove one's self from the process. Subjectivity is always involved.
Now that you know how I feel about it, you can certainly share but if it's going to put me off Verne, I beg no.
I have 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. I read it not too long ago but I sort of rushed through it for a challenge, so it would be nice to try again and see if I like it more the second time around.

Keli wrote: "Fred wrote: "Sounds good Keli, do you ever read about the author before you read the book ? I will find some biographical notes for Jules Verne and share them with you if like. I haven't looked at ..."
Hi Keli ; 20,000 Thousand Leagues sounds good to me. I'll look up Jules Verne's biography and if I find anything I think you'd like to know, I'll share it with you. I agree with you that authors create worlds for us to visit. I tend to ask myself "why this world "? James Mitchener was in the OSS during WW2 . I think his wonderful historical novels were influenced by the sort of research he did during WW2. I don't have any hard facts to back that up but the notes at the back of his books suggest it to me. Do the best stories come from authors who "write what they know"? If so , how did they know it ? So that's where I'm coming from . I don't want to open any dark closets either, and if I accidently do, I promise not to share it , and thank you for sharing your thoughts or books and authors . Do you still want to do this ? Start in June ?

Fred wrote: "Keli wrote: "Fred wrote: "Sounds good Keli, do you ever read about the author before you read the book ? I will find some biographical notes for Jules Verne and share them with you if like. I haven..."

I think a June start would be perfect. I'm currently doing a buddy read with Readage and have four other books to complete this month. So I'm full for May.

Keli wrote: "Fred wrote: "Keli wrote: "Fred wrote: "Sounds good Keli, do you ever read about the author before you read the book ? I will find some biographical notes for Jules Verne and share them with you if ..."

June it is ! :-)

Where is/will be the discussion of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? and when are we reading it? Sorry, I'm a bit confused... I did find a free copy of it on Kindle/Amazon Classics.

Keli or I will create a thread under the Buddy Read folder.😊

Vickie wrote: "Keli or I will create a thread under the Buddy Read folder.😊"

Okeydokes.