Janet Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 No worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) I like having the different threads for the different counties - good idea. What about, though, threads on people's tackling the challenge? Should they go in the other bit of the Reading Challenge Section, or here, or in the Reading Blog (as poppy has done)? I'd love for them to be collected together in one place so that we call keep track of how people are tackling/making progress and what their thoughts are without sifting through the rest of the site - a bit different to threads on the books themselves. My efforts are so far constrained to my reading blog, other than individual reviews of books. (BTW, if I'm missing something obvious, please forgive!). Edited January 17, 2014 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I was wondering the same, Will. I definitely don't think they should be in with the 'normal' reading blogs. I'm not sure, but I seem to remember there is a 'one thread only' policy in that section - there certainly used to be even if it isn't written down anywhere here - maybe the thread was on the old forum (the non-invision one). It's probably best for them to be in the 'challenge' section - I think an individual thread is a good idea, especially if some of us are changing some of the books if we have already read, or don't fancy, them - so my vote would go to that section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I think my list is in the wrong place then ....is it possible to get it moved to the Challenge section, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Of course, I can move it and I'm happy to - however as far as I can see you don't have a second thread in that section so you aren't breaking any rules, so equally yours can stay there if you'd prefer? I will wait to hear back from you again before I take any action... and sorry if it sounded like I was telling people off - it wasn't my intention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Oh Janet, I didn't take it as a telling off at all! I'm quite happy for my post to go wherever it's most suitable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I don't think there's any particular rule in place about the amount of threads, I'd just expect people to be sensible. It would make sense to me to have the individual logs in here too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 I've been thinking about the challenge today, and about the new section on the forum for group reads. There a few books on our English Counties list that I find a bit daunting, and wondered if anyone would be interested in doing a group read with me? The books I've been thinking about are: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Middlemarch by George Eliot Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy I was thinking of taking it fairly slowly, and depending on the length of chapters, maybe just one, two or three chapters a week (which I'll be mixing in with other books). It might mean reading some of the books for quite a long time, but I think I might be less daunted with only having to read a little bit at a time, and being able to discuss and keep track of progress with someone else. Anyone fancy joining me in a social read? If so, any preferences on any of these books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Definitely - it sounds like a fab idea. My preference would be Nicholas Nickleby as I think I need to take it slowly. I don't know much about Trollope as I haven't read him before, so that would be my second choice from that list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Excellent! I'm so pleased, Janet - I find them all a bit intimidating, but have to day Dickens is top of my list too at the moment. Let's see if anyone else wants to join us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) It's a great idea, but I'll have to cry off I'm afraid. This is partly because I've just read Barchester Towers and Nicholas Nickleby. Far From The Madding Crowd will be a fresh read, and Middlemarch a reread, but I'd rather push on with both of them when I turn to them - I find if I only do books like this a few chapters at a time, I don't get into them at all. I understand your reasons though - I do the same with some of the big history books I find daunting! Good luck with them though. I absolutely loved both Nickleby and Barchester, and I think, once you're stuck into them, you'll gallop through them. There are some great characters in both of them! Edited August 18, 2014 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I believe that many (all?) or Dickens' works were originally published as serials so Nicholas Nickleby should work well in this format. According to Wikipedia, Nicholas Nickleby's breakdown was thus: Nicholas Nickleby was originally issued in 19 monthly numbers; the last was a double-number and cost two shillings instead of one. Each number comprised 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz: I – March 1838 (chapters 1–4); II – April 1838 (chapters 5–7); III – May 1838 (chapters 8–10); IV – June 1838 (chapters 11–14); V – July 1838 (chapters 15–17); VI – August 1838 (chapters 18–20); VII – September 1838 (chapters 21–23); VIII – October 1838 (chapters 24–26); IX – November 1838 (chapters 27–29); X – December 1838 (chapters 30–33); XI – January 1839 (chapters 34–36); XII – February 1839 (chapters 37–39); XIII – March 1839 (chapters 40–42); XIV – April 1839 (chapters 43–45); XV – May 1839 (chapters 46–48); XVI – June 1839 (chapters 49–51); XVII – July 1839 (chapters 52–54); XVIII – August 1839 (chapters 55–58); XIX–XX – September 1839 (chapters 59–65). Obviously I don't know without checking my book (which isn't to hand) how long these breakdowns work out at as pages, but following this would take 19 weeks if we did it on a weekly basis. I'm not sure whether that's too long...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 I've downloaded the Kindle version, and although it doesn't have page numbers, Part I is 5%, so I'm guessing that's close to 50 pages, which sounds achievable and reasonable for each week, and I'm happy with the 19 weeks to finish the books (Christmas is probably in there, so we might run on a couple of weeks extra as well). So far, it looks like it's only me and you, Janet, but I'll set up a thread in the social reads board and we can see if anyone else wants to join in. I'm so glad to be reading along with someone else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Excellent. I'll be reading mine on Kindle too, Claire. I wonder if we'll have the same version/edition? Mine is this one... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084BZXAE/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o09_?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'm not quite clear how the thread will work? If it's just us to start with, but then someone else joins in later, how will they know where it's safe to read up to? I guess the best thing would be to have the first post editable so that we could put something like 'week two - chapters a to b - page 4 of thread'? Would that work? Sorry if I'm being dense - I haven't really thought this through! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 Aargh, I didn't see the free one! I've gone for this one … http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nicholas-Nickleby-Vintage-Classics-Charles-ebook/dp/B00B2N5GR6/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1408559392&sr=1-2&keywords=nicholas+nickleby I'm not 100% sure how the thread will work either, it's a whole new world! I think editing the first post is a good idea, with the date against each part to say what we've read and where we're up to, and putting a link to the first post where we discuss those chapters. If I create the thread, and then as an admin you'll be able to edit it as well. For the first week, I was thinking of making it a bit longer, so we finish the week on a Sunday and start the next one on a Monday, that'll give us a bit of time to get into it, and we can see how we get on. I think it'll be a case of making it up as we go along, and see how it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Sounds good to me. I have the paper version of the edition you've bought on Kindle, but I'd far rather read it on my Kindle so I think I'll probably buy that version too so we're reading the same copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I'd like to join in if I may! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Yay! Yes, please do, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Absolutely! The more the merrier I've set up the thread here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Whoops - I accidentally read chapter 5 too! So far, so good! I'm away for two weeks in September, and I know from experience that I don't read as much as I intend when I'm away so I'll be playing catch-up when I get back, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Joining you on that one J, I go away for 2 weeks next week so won't be around for a while after the first discussion. Will be reading and ready to chinwag when I get back though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 I can't believe it's over a year ago that we started discussing this! I've not done too badly, and I'm really enjoying the group read of Nicholas Nickleby, and hope we can do it again for some of the other books on the list. I definitely want to make more inroads into the list too, but I suspect it might be the new year before I have chance to concentrate on it a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I haven't done many of these, or of my World Challenge this year. Never mind - hopefully next year I'll do better. I am enjoying our group read very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 (edited) I started off by allowing myself to tick off any on the list that I'd read in the previous 12-18 months. That accounted for three (Barchester Towers, Wuthering Heights, The Darling Buds of May). The other 8 so far ticked off have all been read since, so I'm quite happy with the progress so far. I'm likely to read another 1 or 2 before the end of the year. What I've been most pleased about is how it's prompted me to read books that I've often intended to read, or revisit, but never got around to, with some great discoveries. Yes, I really enjoyed Nicholas Nickleby, but Far From The Madding Crowd and The Dark Is Rising are now on my (short) 6-star list, whilst none have rated less than 3-stars (solid read!). Edited November 8, 2014 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 That's great progress, Willoyd! It's great none of the books you read disappointed you . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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