Off-Topic Summer Reading

[annette]

I'm embarrassed to admit it but I read my first classic ever - Persuasion by Jane Austen. Maybe I read some classics in school but don't remember.

Also just finished The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by annette

I'm embarrassed to admit it but I read my first classic ever - Persuasion by Jane Austen. Maybe I read some classics in school but don't remember.

Annette, I always felt that I missed a lot of the classics when I was in school - or at least the good ones! I went back and read many of them in my 20s; I recall reading The Age of The Innocence, The Scarlett Letter, Anna Karenina, and many others during that time. I hadn't read any Jane Austen though b/c we read Pride and Prejudice in High School, but I didn't like it then! However I've recently gone back and read a number of hers, including P&P (which I liked this time!). Did you like Persuasion? I haven't gotten to that one yet.

[Rivercat]

I'm reading Billie Jean King's autobiography, All In, and it's fascinating. I had vague notions of how she and a handful of other players broke away and formed the women's tennis tour and eventually the WTA, but they faced so much opposition and sexism.

Even without the appendices, it's a chonker of a read at about 420 pages so I'd expected it to be slow going but I'm already over halfway through. Highly recommended if you have any interest in professional tennis or the history of women's sports and Title IX.

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by annette

I'm embarrassed to admit it but I read my first classic ever - Persuasion by Jane Austen. Maybe I read some classics in school but don't remember.
.

I love Jane Austen, and Persuasion is one of my favorites!

Originally Posted by toaster

Annette, I always felt that I missed a lot of the classics when I was in school - or at least the good ones! I went back and read many of them in my 20s; I recall reading The Age of The Innocence, The Scarlett Letter, Anna Karenina, and many others during that time. I hadn't read any Jane Austen though b/c we read Pride and Prejudice in High School, but I didn't like it then! However I've recently gone back and read a number of hers, including P&P (which I liked this time!). Did you like Persuasion? I haven't gotten to that one yet.

I read a lot of classics in high school but didn't appreciate them until I was older. Maturity and experience, plus not being tested and assigned papers on the reading make the novels much more enjoyable later in life!

I'm reading My Friend Anne Frank: The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds, and just finished In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women.

Erica

[annette]

Originally Posted by toaster

Annette, I always felt that I missed a lot of the classics when I was in school - or at least the good ones! I went back and read many of them in my 20s; I recall reading The Age of The Innocence, The Scarlett Letter, Anna Karenina, and many others during that time. I hadn't read any Jane Austen though b/c we read Pride and Prejudice in High School, but I didn't like it then! However I've recently gone back and read a number of hers, including P&P (which I liked this time!). Did you like Persuasion? I haven't gotten to that one yet.

Beth - I did like it but had to read slowly as the author's sentences seemed to run on and on. Are all her books like that?

[Carol K]

I took a 19th century British literature course in college that introduced me to Jane Austen with Emma. I loved it, so I read all of her novels (only 6, so there is no reason not to read all of them) and her incomplete works too. I love her dry sense of humor and you can count on her for a satisfying ending.

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Carol K

I took a 19th century British literature course in college that introduced me to Jane Austen with Emma. I loved it, so I read all of her novels (only 6, so there is no reason not to read all of them) and her incomplete works too. I love her dry sense of humor and you can count on her for a satisfying ending.

I feel like her books and humor are timeless, too. I think that's one of the things I love about them.

Erica

[Laura S.]

My mom had a bunch of Louisa May Alcott's books from when she was a kid and she passed them on to me. I always broke my her heart because I tried to read Little Women and never could get into it. But I loved, loved, loved the rest of the books she had - Little Men, Jo's Boys, Jack & Jill, etc. I also read a couple of Joseph Conrad's books after reading one in school I liked his books as well. Those were my main forays into reading classics.

Now, I'm reading The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan and The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly.

I'm one of those people who reads two books at a time. I always read different types of books like 1 mystery and 1 historical fiction or 1 romance and 1 thriller, etc. I get bored with just one storyline at a time read books fast enough that I'm starting a new book.

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Laura S.

. I always broke my her heart because I tried to read Little Women and never could get into it.

This is me and my daughter! I don't like owning books (but DH is a book collector with almost 2000 books) and I own TWO books with sentimental value - one of them is Little Women. I always dreamed of passing it down to my daughter and she ended up hating the book! I was crushed! I loved that book when I was a young girl and it was given to me by my beloved aunt (my daughter is actually named after her), who wrote a special note for me in the cover.

Erica

[sherry7899]

Originally Posted by Erica H.

This is me and my daughter! I don't like owning books (but DH is a book collector with almost 2000 books) and I own TWO books with sentimental value - one of them is Little Women. I always dreamed of passing it down to my daughter and she ended up hating the book! I was crushed! I loved that book when I was a young girl and it was given to me by my beloved aunt (my daughter is actually named after her), who wrote a special note for me in the cover.

Erica

I am.sad my son is not a reader. He really enjoyed it in elementary school and then lost interest. That broke my heart. He is a total music geek, though. 😁