Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This thread is for a buddy read of Time and Again beginning September 15th. All welcomed.

If only I had more time. This sounds wonderful.

This sounds pretty cool. I have wanted to get back to reading Finney after reading Invasion of the Body Snatchers a few years ago. If I can get a copy, I'm in.

I'm really looking forward to this!

I'd love to read this one with you, but I read it last September!! I think you'll all enjoy it -- have fun! :)

Franky So glad you can join this read.

Candi Me too

Terris Please pop in and comment while we're reading.

Thanks! I'll try to do that :)

This looks good! I’ll try and find a copy too

I'm in. How could I resist time travel to old New York? Plus, I can use it for my Scifi Bingo challenge.

Does beginning 9/15 mean we begin reading then or begin discussing then? Is there a schedule to the reading?

I just requested it from the library. The time travel sounded intriguing!

I just got my copy in the mail, so I'm excited to start. I might jump into this one early because I know I'm going to be super busy at the end of the month and want to have time to get through it. Plus, I'm reading sort of a downer of a book right now so I need something to balance the reading out.

I'm the opposite, overbooked right now but freer by the middle of the month. Since most of us won't be starting for a while, Franky, please put anything revealing in spoilers. Hope you like it.

Sara wrote: "I'm the opposite, overbooked right now but freer by the middle of the month. Since most of us won't be starting for a while, Franky, please put anything revealing in spoilers. Hope you like it."

Okay, will do. :)

I've been considering giving this one a go. I went to a large used books store yesterday looking for this and a couple more. In a store that may have had 100,000 books I found this author, and there was only one of his books on the shelf, It was From Time to Time.

The other I had hoped to find and was even more disappointed that it wasn't there was Tortilla Flat. There must have been fifty or more various copies of books by John Steinbeck, but not the one I wanted.

Oh well, maybe I will still stumble across a copy. Have fun this one sounds good.

Dang, Bob. I do wish you had found a copy. I'm expecting this to be a very good read. I always found the local used bookstore never had books I wanted when I needed them. I have better luck just going to Better World Books and waiting for it to ship.

Better World Books??? Something new, I'll have to look into this.

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/

My go-to. Almost all books are $3.98, includes shipping. I have never gotten a book in bad condition. They frequently run sales like "buy 3 get 1 free".

Sara wrote: "https://www.betterworldbooks.com/

My go-to. Almost all books are $3.98, includes shipping. I have never gotten a book in bad condition. They frequently run sales like "buy 3 get 1 free"."

Agree about betterworldbooks. They have a shop on Amazon and there are a few other ones that are similar (thriftbooks). Cheap used books and a lot of the classics. It's pretty amazing.

I can vouch for Better World Books as well, they’re pretty awesome.

I love the idea that they are getting books to those who need them with the literary partners program. I get a book and help them to give one.

Tomorrow is the 15th and I am planning to read the first chapter at least tonight. Hope everyone out there is ready to go!

Sara wrote: "Tomorrow is the 15th and I am planning to read the first chapter at least tonight. Hope everyone out there is ready to go!"

Also reading/listening to first chapter today.

I'll try to start tomorrow! I have my book from the library :)

I'm enjoying it so far (up to about the 100 page mark) and already have a few questions that I would love to ask the group when they hit this point in the book. Finney is very detailed in his descriptions and really helps the reader visualize quite a bit.

I love how it starts. I'm all in right away. Can't wait to catch you, Franky.

I love how it starts too. The Si's smart alecky banter and comments reminded me immediately of Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe. I tried looking up the books which influenced Finney but couldn't find any.

I am up to the middle of Chapter 5. Loving this book.

Like the comparison to Marlowe, Anne.

Chapter 2: (view spoiler)[Loved the description of looking through the stereoscope.

That light really did reflect into a lens from these lost faces and objects. That these people were really there once, smiling into the camera.

That is exactly the feeling I used to get when looking through my grandmother's stereoscope. She had photos of the stockyards in Chicago, and it felt like the cattle were rushing toward you.

I like Kate. The stunt with the scarf lets me know she is a risk taker, just like he is.

Another quote I loved (for obvious reasons):

Have you ever given someone a book you enjoyed enormously, with a feeling of envy because they were about to read it for the first time, an experience you could never have again?

I've been there and I'm betting all of you have as well. (hide spoiler)]

I finished Chapter 2. I really felt like I was experiencing everything along with Si, and wondered what would happen when (view spoiler)[ he was under hypnosis. (hide spoiler)] I agree with Franky that the detailed descriptions makes it easy to visualize. The descriptions are of people in action so it doesn't get bogged down.

I like your memories of looking through a stereoscope, Sara. It brought back memories for me of a gift shop that had mounted stereoscopes where you could click through the pictures for a dime.

Franky and Connie, you are right, the detailed descriptions make you feel a part of the action. I get a very clear visual image of each of the characters, even the minor ones.

That sounds like a lot of fun for a dime, Connie. I had my grandmother's stereoscope and cards, which were passed to me by my mother. I just gave them over to my nephew and hoping his girls will appreciate them and that they will always stay in the family. Lots of memories in them for me.

Are we supposed to be reading and commenting one chapter per day like other long reads?

Sara, I appreciate everything you wrote in the spoiler and agree with all. I also liked what seemed to be the (view spoiler)[foreshadowing of his looking through the stereoscope and remarking on the views being so real that "they jump out at you." Similarly, while looking at the old photographs, Si says "knowing what you are seeing was once real....you could have walked into the scene then and spoken to and touched them." .. (hide spoiler)]

There isn't any restriction on how much you read or comment on, Anne. I mark the chapter and put everything revealing in spoilers so that others will not accidentally open a spoiler and ruin any part of the book for them. I'm just starting chapter three when I get a chance to read today and will hopefully get several chapters done this afternoon.

I am also enjoying the foreshadowing element in the novel. I wish I hadn't read the blurb, because I would like to know how this would feel if I didn't have any inkling where it was going.

Sara wrote: "There isn't any restriction on how much you read or comment on, Anne. I mark the chapter and put everything revealing in spoilers so that others will not accidentally open a spoiler and ruin any pa..."

I agree about having read the blurb, though I must admit that the blurb made me very interested in reading this book.

Hi folks--I picked up the book at the library yesterday on a whim, and decided I'd like to join you for this one.

I'm also through Chapter 2, and agree with the comments so far. I envy you the stereoscope, Sara. I did have a viewmaster as a kid, which was one of my favorite toys, but not quite the same thing. :-)

My copy has illustrations, and is actually subtitled "An illustrated novel."

I'm finding it very nostalgic about the 1960s (view spoiler)[steno pools and phone booths and phrases like "goody goody gumdrops." (hide spoiler)] It just feels like a much simpler time, which is great for getting in the mood for what is to come.

I've just read through the first two chapters. I'm hooked for all the reasons everyone has said above. Regarding the stereoscope, (view spoiler)[I like the way the author ties Si's fascination with it, of looking into a past that seems so real, to what lies ahead for Si. (hide spoiler)]

Vivid descriptions and a very compelling start :)

MIne is also "an illustrated novel", Kathleen, and, although I have not reached the first illustration yet, having them gives this a throwback feeling to the days of Dickens and the Victorians, who always employed an illustrator to make the novels come alive.

I share your love of the 60s vibe, a time that is fresh in my mind, although long gone, and I remember the viewmaster, although I believe I only played with one my cousin had and not that I had one myself. I think we are positioned to enjoy this one!

My copy is on order, thanks for letting me know about Better World Books.

Through Chapter 2: Oh, I really think I’m going to like this!

Sara: (view spoiler)[I love your thoughts about old pictures and like Si, I also spend a lot of time in antique shops looking at them. I know you can truly appreciate the way photographs capture unexpected details and spark the imagination decades after they are taken.

Also, love the quote about reading a book for the first time! I had the biggest grin! I just knew you would mark that passage! (hide spoiler)]

Bob--So glad you will be reading this. I'm liking it so far!

Lori - I'm not surprised you are enjoying it. (view spoiler)[I think the antiques, the photography and the fact that we are led to imagine life in the 1800's, which is a time we both love, has the makings of a great story. And Finny has an easy style that flows. (hide spoiler)]

I honestly am really like the ambience and just the general feeling of this book. It has that nostalgic sort of vibe that feels very enlightening and entertaining. I guess it is hard to put into words.

I know exactly what you mean, Franky. Can't really put a finger on what makes this work so well, but "nostalgic vibe" is a good description.

I'm at Chapter 8: (view spoiler)[Well, the Dakota is an absolutely stunning bit of history and adds a wonderful sense of ambience to the tale. Actress Lauren Bacall owned a nine-room apartment for 53 years that recently sold for $23.5 million. It was where John Lennon was living and he was shot outside its front door. A very famous landmark.

The transition from the present to the past as the snow covered the city was perfect. Sometimes I find time travel stories just too complicated or improbable, but I am loving the way this one is laid out. Easy to believe.

I was not surprised when Katie showed up. I think it is fitting that he will go with him. The first trip was easy go and easy return, but I am bracing myself for this one not to be quite so smooth. I like the personal connection with the letter, but I recognize that it makes staying out of it and being just an observer a difficult task. (hide spoiler)]

I like this, in case you couldn't tell.

Oh, I’ll keep reading until I’m through Chapter 8! Lol! This IS turning out to be a page turner! I don’t want to peek at the spoiler just yet so I’ll check back in later.

It sure was a page turner. I just finished the book. Just terrific.

I was reading in Chapter Nine and thinking about how this must be for you and Candi, who are so familiar with all the New York streets and buildings and can probably picture the differences he is describing. I know how it would affect me if this was about Atlanta.

Sara, yes, it was really fun thinking about where he was all the time. I even looked up pictures of Broadway and other areas to get an idea of what NYC looked like as they moved around town. Very cool.

Oh wow, that was super fast, Anne! I'm loving it but only through Chapter 5 at this point. I have to find where my reading time went... I seem to have misplaced a bunch of it ;D

Sara, I have limited personal knowledge of NYC actually, but I've read so much about it that it does seem like a place I know better than I really do! I've been twice in real life, but multiple times through books :D I still need to re-plan my trip that was cancelled during the early days of the shutdown. I'll wait until I can experience it fully though!

For now, this book is a perfect substitute for an in-person visit!

Candi wrote: "Oh wow, that was super fast, Anne! I'm loving it but only through Chapter 5 at this point. I have to find where my reading time went... I seem to have misplaced a bunch of it ;D"

I had a lot of reading time today and devoted all of it to listening to this book.