So, the 1st of December, time for the silly season to start!
As many of you know already I don't really do many/any yearly reading challenges, but I do love a good readalong. And there are two beauties that have caught my eye recently.
Liz @Adventures in Reading is planning a HUGE 18mnth readalong of the entire Iris Murdoch oeuvre...in chronological order. That's one book per month for the dedicated and fanatic!
When I first spotted Liz's post I only had The Sea The Sea, on my TBR pile, which menat that I wouldn't be joining in the readalong until May 2019!! But since then I have been acquiring (shhhh don't tell Mr Books!) more of her books. I now have Under the Net, The Book and the Brotherhood and The Flight From the Enchanter.
I'm now in catch up mode.
Under the Net was Murdoch's first book, written in 1954, and a November read. The Flight From the Enchanter is the December read. The Book and the Brotherhood is slated for September 2019! All my editions so far are Random Vintage Classics.
Follow along on twitter with #IMReadalong
I've never read Les Mis before or seen the movie, stage production or any other format of the story. I'm not quite sure how that has happened. All I know is that it's set during, in or around the French Revolution, one of the periods of history that I have a particular obsession with.
My edition of the book is the Penguin hardcover translated by Norman Denny. A bit of a brick, but it has a pretty ribbon marker to keep my place :-)
Follow along on Twitter with #LesMisReadalong
Have you spotted any interesting readalongs for 2018? I could be tempted!
I'm so excited that you're joining in with Les Mis Brona. I can't believe you haven't seen it. I think you should remedy that over the Christmas break! Or do you want to go in blind? I only saw it first with the movie, I went along despite my rather large misgivings about Russell Crowe, and musicals in general. But surprise, surprise, I LOVED the movie- the music is totally amazing. I went back and saw the movie three times I think at the cinema. And I've since seen the stage show 4 times in three cities (just luck really, and conference locations), but I went in Melbourne x2 (consecutive nights), Sydney and Brisbane.
ReplyDeleteYou've made the same rookie mistake as I did before the movie, it isn't actually set in the French Revolution, it's set in the early 19th century, and ends with the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris (no I didn't know about that before I'd seen the shows either).
I think we have the same Penguin hardback edition from your description. And a small typo- 365 chapters is one a day...
Thanks for the enthusiastic response Louise.
DeleteI think I've decided to go in blind and save the movie for Christmas next year!
I'll keep my rookie mistake but fix the type - thanks :-)
I'm glad you're coming in fresh, and thanks for spreading the word!
DeleteBrona, both of these challenges/read-alongs sound irresistable.
ReplyDeleteBut I have barely recovered from #AusReadingMonth! I will
think about it...which one? both?
This weekend I will comb through all challenges 2018 and decide which ones to 'drop'
and which new ones to start. You will hear from me!
I am sorely out of touch with read alongs, but I could be quite tempted with Les Mis...it would be a reread for me though, and perhaps I ought to tackle War and Peace first. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the2 updates!
I'm so glad you're joining in with my Iris Murdoch project! Fraid it's 26 months rather than 18, however!!
ReplyDelete