INTRODUCTIONS: Say "How do you do?" and shake hands!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Hi Jo and welcome!   I see we're getting a lot of "re-reads" for Bel Canto - I never realised it was so popular.

(I always knew that blog would come in handy! )

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MissJoMay wrote:

My name is Jo; I've been posting some on the Classics board and then was lured over here when I saw on Melissa's blog that you guys were reading Bel Canto.  I love the novel and have decided to read it again, even though I have about 10,000 other books that I need to read!

I have taught 10th and 12th grade English for the last five years in Tennessee, but I just recently moved to Minnesota to try to find a teaching job up here.  I was in a book club in Tennessee, so I'm hoping this online book club will help fill that gap a bit.  I'm excited to be a part of this community!

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[MissJoMay]

Pepper-

Thanks for the warm welcome! I actually grew up in Minnesota, so I know what I'm getting into with the winters.   Can't say I'm used to them (winters are extremely mild in TN), but I'm glad to be back in the Land of a Thousand Lakes.

I'm currently residing with my parents (until finding a job...which I hope is soon), and we are about 45 minutes southwest of the Cities.  I love the area, and I am looking forward to the cultural opportunities that Minneapolis and St. Paul offer.

I never got to teach Bel Canto (I taught at a Christian school, so it probably wouldn't have been appropriate), but I did get to teach some of my all time favorites (To Kill a Mockingbird and A Midsummer Night's Dream).

[Vatrahaki]

Hello ladies,

    My name is Carmen. I recently quit my IT job to spend time at home with my baby, Anastasia. I'm sure my dog, Zoe, appreciates it as well. I'm currently reading "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!". I've never been in a book club and I thought joining this one would be a great start.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Welcome Carmen   You're jumping in at a good time since we're currently nominating titles for our next reading schedule starting in September.  We're also finishing Bel Canto this month; The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates is our August selection.

[Peppermill]

Welcome, Carmen!

Great book,

 

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!  

Hope you are enjoying it!  Welcome to these boards.  Hope you will join the discussions.  They don't always parallel one's own TBR, but I have found them worth the diversion.

Pepper

(Perhaps you know that the Bel Canto by Ann Patchett that we are reading this month has a character named "Carmen.")

[WilliamWright]

Hello,

I'm not a woman, but i have a few favourite writers of that sex.

looking forward to speaking to people here about Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Bowen and Virginia Woolf - amongst others - and hopefully finding a few new names to entertain me...

But I wasn

  

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Welcome, William 

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WilliamWright wrote:

Hello,

I'm not a woman, but i have a few favourite writers of that sex.

looking forward to speaking to people here about Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Bowen and Virginia Woolf - amongst others - and hopefully finding a few new names to entertain me...

But I wasn

  

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[nikki35]

Thanks, for the warm welcome my name is Nicole from the Massachusetts area.  Currently, I have read so many books want get a fresh perspective of what is out there.  Also, would like to discuss it with other people.  Currently, I am 35 years old and am unemployed I might add with a lot of time on my hands.  Looking for work steadily and hope my boat sails in.

[nikki35]

Laura,

I am so jeaulous always wanted to live in Maine.  Someday would really like to move there it is so calm and peaceful. 

Nikki

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Welcome Nikki!  We're reading The Falls this month - best of luck on your job search

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nikki35 wrote:

Thanks, for the warm welcome my name is Nicole from the Massachusetts area.  Currently, I have read so many books want get a fresh perspective of what is out there.  Also, would like to discuss it with other people.  Currently, I am 35 years old and am unemployed I might add with a lot of time on my hands.  Looking for work steadily and hope my boat sails in.

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[debbaker]

  Hi everyone, I am finally back. I have been reading The Falls and can't wait to discuss. A friend of mine died in the spring and I have been working through the loss and spending time with the family left behind. But it is time for me to jump back in to the discussions. I was disappointed that I missed the great reads that were up this summer.

Looking forward to the next selections, ya'll picked a great list. I will be heading out to pick them up soon.

[Carolina_Write…]

Hi I'm Whitney, and I was so happy to see there is a group like this!
My favorite LbW is Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Welcome, Whitney!

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Carolina_Writer22 wrote:

Hi I'm Whitney, and I was so happy to see there is a group like this!
My favorite LbW is Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

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[Carolina_Write…]

thank you ma'am  

[wiltingdragonf…]

How do you do? I love women's lit and I read quite a few of th e titles on your list. I plan to read more george elliot and the rest. I noticed that you forgot to include women of other cultures. These are mostly british or american women, but there were women of other cultures writing in those time periods that would be great to compare intellectually dont you think?

I am a mother of two. I took a woman's lit course and an African American lit course at the same time. it was thrilling. I am looking to forward to some of the books you have suggested.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Welcome!

Actually, we don't forget women of other cultures.  We read Assia Djebar, Jean Rhys, Nadine Gordimer, and Monica Ali.  The groups nominates and votes for the titles we read - I only break ties and do the organizing.  If there is an author you think we should read keep it in mind for the next round of nominations/voting in January and promote, promote, promote.

[Peppermill]

Don't forget that we also have read George Sands (French) [The Black City].  Coming up are Sofi Oksanen (Finland-Estonia) [Purge  in September] and Marguerite Yourcenar (French) [Memoirs of Hadrian in February].

Murnro and Atwood are both Canadian.

Strong interest has been expressed in eventually reading something by 2009 Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller (Romania): The Passport or The Land of Green Plums  

The last set of nominations included these:

Lahiri, Jhumpa (born in London of Bengali-Indian parents, grew up in U.S.):  Unaccustomed Earth  

Mengiste, Maaza (Ethiopia, MFA in US):  Beneath the Lion's Gaze 

Also suggested in our discussions have been:

Kiran Desai (born in India, educated in U.S. where she lives today, daughter of Anita Desai): The Inheritance of Loss. 

Yvonne Vera or other leading African female writer.

Another novel by Nadine Gordimer.

Interestingly, we have not to date selected (nominated?) the work of Isabel Allende or other Latin American woman.

I have sort of had my antenna attuned to finding a Spanish female author to read/recommend, but have not concentrated on identifying one.  (Science/technology/business were my own fields; literature is an avocation and diversion.)

We have had numerous discussions about selecting a Native American writer, but have not done so to date. 

Bottom line, welcome!, WiltingDragonFly.  I hope that you will become active in posting on this and other B&N boards.

Even before we reach nominations, I for one would be delighted to hear suggestions from you and others about writers from other cultures and their works that are available in good English translations (I am not bi-lingual, let alone multi-lingual, unfortunately).  This chat room is a good place for those on this board.  Luckily, most of us read more books than we can discuss here.

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Melissa_W wrote:

Welcome!

Actually, we don't forget women of other cultures.  We read Assia Djebar, Jean Rhys, Nadine Gordimer, and Monica Ali.  The groups nominates and votes for the titles we read - I only break ties and do the organizing.  If there is an author you think we should read keep it in mind for the next round of nominations/voting in January and promote, promote, promote.

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wiltingdragonfly wrote:

How do you do? I love women's lit and I read quite a few of the titles on your list. I plan to read more george elliot and the rest. I noticed that you forgot to include women of other cultures. These are mostly british or american women, but there were women of other cultures writing in those time periods that would be great to compare intellectually dont you think?

I am a mother of two. I took a woman's lit course and an African American lit course at the same time. it was thrilling. I am looking to forward to some of the books you have suggested.

[wiltingdragonf…]

wow thanks for the list. I am only good with pointing out African American Authors and the typical classical literature women that are excluded from the cannon. I am searching myself for the obscure woman's literature that is just as delicious but not well known. I guess I will just have to keep stumbling upon it blindly like i have been doing.

[Peppermill]

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wiltingdragonfly wrote:
wow thanks for the list. I am only good with pointing out African American Authors and the typical classical literature women that are excluded from the canon. I am searching myself for the obscure woman's literature that is just as delicious but not well known. I guess I will just have to keep stumbling upon it blindly like I have been doing.

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WDF -- If you read African American female authors, I presume your list includes (?):

Toni Morrison -- dean of them all with her Nobel prize

Zora Neale Huston -- of course, Their Eyes Are Watching God is her classic; Jonah's Gourd Vine (1934) is one recently brought to my attention, I believe by a Silas House interview, although I can't seem to confirm that right now.

Ann Petry -- her The Street  is a "favorite" of mine.

Bebe Moore Campbell

Terry MacMillan - Waiting to Exhale  

Do suggest others of whom we should be aware.

If you want to play with "stumbling blindly" in finding female authors, some sources I use are:

Wiki's list of novelists by nationality -- you do have to figure out who is female (as for the others here).

Pulitzer Prize winners

Man Booker Prize contenders -- the entire site can bear browsing for ideas on writers and books.

Neustadt Prize winners

Nobel Prize in Literature

Michael Dirda's Classics for Pleasure  

I also like to fiddle with lists of 100 "best" novels for reading ideas.

Wiki does have other lists as well -- sometimes one has to play, i.e., stumble blindly, to find one that works for what one wants at the moment.

[Peppermill]

If searching for women writers, some of them relatively unknown, also consider:

Virago Press -- Try the list of authors by alphabetical groupings. 

NYRB Classics -- a publishing house with an objective of keeping worthwhile books in print.

As I was preparing this, I came across:

Modern Library and Radcliffe Publishing Course 100 best lists.