With the discussion of Ricardas Gavelis's Vilnius Poker at the end of this month, my group of "non-structured" friends and I will be nearing the end of a full year of shared reads, and speaking for myself, the experience has been fantastic. Sarah, Frances, EL Fay, Richard, and (not blogging right now but still dropping by the discussions) Claire: we've had a blast reading and writing together. I love the fact that we can all be honest about our enthusiasm for or frustration with the chosen books, without worrying about hurting each others' feelings or appearing ridiculous. I love that this is a group of people who also like to tackle the kind of weird, challenging books that get me excited, and who share my sometimes-cracked sense of humor. GROUP HUG, you guys!
Ahem.
So luckily, we're re-upping our bookish lease for 2011, with a brand-new button from the Hogarth Press (thanks, Frances!) and even a real name—because "non-structured reading group" is a bit of a mouthful, we thought it might be nice to revisit our Woolf in Winter project from last January and February, and call ourselves The Wolves.
Anyway, another great thing about this past year is all the lovely people who have dropped in to participate for a month or three when the book caught their eye, and because we'd love that to happen again this year, here's your official invitation: do any of these books appeal to you? If so, please consider joining us; discussions will begin during the last weekend of the stated month, and we'd love to have you along!
- January (EL Fay): The Bread Givers, by Anzia Yezierska
- February (Emily): Our Horses in Egypt by Rosalind Belben
- March (Richard): Conversation in the Cathedral, by Mario Vargas Llosa
- April (Sarah): The Dodecahedron, or Frames for a Frame, by Paul Glennon
- May (Frances): What Ever Happened to Modernism?, by Gabriel Josipovici
- June (Claire): The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz
- July (EL Fay): Snow, by Orhan Pamuk
- August (Frances): The End of the Story, by Lydia Davis
- September (Richard): The Memoirs of Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar
- October (Sarah): House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski
- November (Emily): The Planetarium, by Nathalie Sarraute
- December (Claire): Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather, by Xingjian Gao
Looking forward to it, y'all.
There's some great selections there of the 'weird, challenging books' that thrill me. I'll definitely be joining you for many of those on the list.
I'd never participated in shared reading until this year's Woolf in Winter and the recent Madame Bovary, and I am delighted that I took part. My reading of each book was enhanced considerably by reading other's thoughts.
Oh, and I am loving Vilnius Poker; a third of the way through and I keep thinking, can this continue being so good?
The prospect of having you join us for some of these is immensely exciting, Anthony! I've loved your contributions to both Woolf in Winter and the Madame Bovary readalong, so am very glad that you found them worthwhile as well. On two other notes, a) I know that your series of posts on the Josipovici title inspired Frances to suggest it, so thanks for that, and b) I'm super into Vilnius Poker as well!
Hugs right back at you, Emily! Gosh, this list goes beyond exciting to a whole new level of reading venture. I'm looking forward to it SO much. And I agree with Anthony - Vilnius Poker is pretty fantastic.
Looking forward to it, lady! And glad you're enjoying the Gavelis. It took me 50 pages or so to get into it, but now I'm hooked.
House of Leaves? You all are brave, brave souls.
Lol. In our vainer moments, we like to think so. :-)
I just read Sasha's thoughts on part of House of Leaves, no way am I joining in that reading. I am scared so easily. But, I would like to join for some of the months. And Snow has been one of those books that I have wanted to read for ages.
Ooh, I just read Sasha's entry and had totally the opposite response, haha. But I like to be spooked - not gross-out-horror type of scared, but I love spooky/ominous/atmospheric. And Vilnius Poker is actually kind of gross-out horrorish at times, and I'm still really liking it. So go figure. :-)
I have loved the groups selections this year and wish I could have participated in some of them. I like your upcoming list very much. There are many books on it that I would like to read and since I am soon to be done with school at the end of May I might be able to read some of them! I'm hoping I can jump in with the Josipovici. Fingers crossed!
I hope you find time to read the Josipovici with us, fresh from graduation! After all Anthony's posts on it, I'm excited to dive in.
I'm thrilled with the selection -- a lot of unfamiliar names and titles, and a lot of my favorite bloggers. I shall be stalking The Wolves next year, and shall be tagging along, no doubt. :]
And Danielewski! Davis! Good luck, they're lovely authors -- and you already know how mad I am for them. :)
The Davis and Danielewski are two I'm particularly excited about, Sasha - and they're not even my picks! :-) Hope to see you join us for a few of these, and I'm looking forward to revisiting your posts on House of Leaves after I've read it myself.
Well, I've been wanting to check out Llosa, and both "Snow" and "Oscar Wao" are on my bookshelf waiting for me to read.
I'm a bit late to the party, but I will look into the other titles too, and join when I can!
Margie, we would love to have you for the Llosa, Pamuk and Díaz. And whatever else you'd like to read!
It's a while off, but I'd love to join in for Le Planetarium - I'm a big fan of Sarraute and remember enjoying this book very much. I'm also keen on Josipovici and if possible, would like very much to be around for Marguerite Yourcenar, whom I've never read. Such an interesting list of novels!
I'm psyched to hear you're a fan of Sarraute, litlove, since I haven't actually read any of her stuff but have the sneaking suspicion I'm going to love her. I look forward to the discussion around Le Planetarium even more now that you're going to join. :-)
I'm also happy to see Sarraute on there, especially one I haven't read. (I found Martereau fascinating.) And I have the Yourcenar book sitting on my shelf ready to read.
So glad to have another vote for Sarraute, and Yourcenar!