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Roman Clodia wrote: "I love the idea of sequential but am never quite that organised in real life. I started with a re-read of The Portrait of a Lady which I loved even more this time round, and have mov..."

Hmmm, good to know, Roman. I have a Delphi Classics compilation on my Kindle, but I am a sucker for "real" books. However, the digital realm is helpful considering how many books he wrote (including short stories, essays and travel sketches). Especially so since my bookshelves have no more room! Nooooooo!!!!

Hi all, I'm Svalberd. I am definitely looking forward to exploring the realm of 20th century literature in all its aspects with the rest of you. Literature is brimming with enlightenment and imaginative thought, and most often I find myself thinking after a read. I favor more complex wording and sentences over the simple, so literature is a vast source of this. I most certainly need to read more literature, as I find my to-read pile growing by the second!

I have started to grow a stronger interest in history and the major events and movements in the 20th century, particularly the wars that took place. Overall, I am open to most history-oriented books. I enjoy both Russian and European literature a great deal, as there is much adventure and pensive thought involved in the novels.

I have an obsession with birds and birding, and very much love the natural realms that surround us. I am interested in conserving these realms in order for a better future.

Thanks for creating the group. I look forward to voyaging forth with the rest of you. :)

Ivan wrote: "Natalie wrote: "Greetings. My name is Natalie. I really love modernist poetry, such as TS Eliot and Yeats. For the Americans I like Frost and Wallace Stevens.
My favourite fiction writers include ..."

I love Pym as well

Hi to all our new members - so pleased to see so much interest in our new group. I am sure that, in future, we can have a poetry section and 'buddy reads,' for people to suggest anything they may wish to suggest reading with other members. One of the reasons why we did not set up too many topics yet was to respond to suggestions from members, so that's great. Tell us what you want to see and we will try to include it.

Welcome, Svalberd - good to meet you, and looking forward to voyaging forth too.

There is a new poetry thread open, for all you poetry lovers, plus a 'Buddy Read,' thread, should anyone wish to look for some reading company for a particular author, book, poem, etc.

Hello! I'm Pip - originally a Bristolian who's lived in northern Spain for more years than are healthy to remember ;-)

I read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, and am looking forward to discovering some more 20th C literature, especially from the first half of the century. Looking forward to getting to know you all, and to some interesting discussion!

Welcome Pip. Great that you joined us :)

Susan wrote: "Welcome Pip. Great that you joined us :)"

Thanks, Susan! It's great to be in at the start of a new little community - here's to its success :-)

Thank you, Pip!

Hello from Manhattan... so good, they named it once. I'm stumbling in from Nigel's Patrick Hamilton Group.

I work as an art director at Warner Bros, and since 1998, have juggled a career as a rock musician, which has taken me around the world, most recently spreading mirth, joy and partial hearing loss amongst the youth of Europe and Japan.

My areas of literary interest, in general, focuses on English fiction from the Interwar era, as well as late 50s - early 60s kitchen sink, grim up north sort of fiction. Not a big fan of American writers, apart from Nelson Algren, Hubert Selby Jnr and Raymond Chandler.

Hi Mark - how wonderful to be a New York rock musician who loves 'grim up North' angry young men novels! Welcome to the group :)

Welcome Mark, great to meet you. I'm sure we will be reading some kitchen sink books here!

Judy wrote: "Welcome Mark, great to meet you. I'm sure we will be reading some kitchen sink books here!"

Thanks, Judy... nice to meet you, as well.

I've got a feeling that I'm probably either wrong [at worst] or very liberal [at best] when I use the term "kitchen sink"... but you've got to commend me for not claiming to have "a sinking feeling" about it.

The past couple of years I've been picking up whatever I can find by writers like Alan Sillitoe, John Braine, Nell Dunn, Stan Barstow and a few others. I've just scooped up a battered old Pan paperback of Cathy Come Home by Jeremy Sandford. If it stacks up against Ken Loach's adaptation for the BBC, I'll be quite pleased.

Away from the sink, I've also been ravenously consuming anything and everything that I can find [without jeopardising rent] by Keith Waterhouse and Frank Norman.

Thanks, all! Glad to be welcomed. Let's begin this thoughtful journey!

Good morning,
Unlike most people I've met in writing/reading groups, I was never born into a literary heritage. When in education I played sport too much and chased girls too much to become an academic. I wrote my first novel in 2012 () and within three months it was optioned for a $30 million film. It never made it to the big screen because of distribution. Nonetheless, I did receive five-thousand pound for the five-year rolling option! I enjoyed the journey of country-wide Waterstones book signings and a live prime television slot.
I carried on writing spy, murder, mystery novels, novellas and short stories and last month, at the age of sixty-eight, I signed a new publishing contract. My books were under the name of--Danny Kemp but now they are under the name of Daniel Kemp.

Hi Daniel, welcome to the group. We do have a discussion thread for promoting books, so please feel free to post there.

Ah, thank you, Susan! Should I not have put that link to my book in the above post?

It's fine, Daniel, but I am sure we'd all be interested to know more, so feel free to post the details in the thread for all our members who are authors. well done on your success so far too, let's hope your book gets optioned :)

Thank you once more,
I'll force myself to write some flattering drivel on your promotion page. (lol)

Hope you enjoy the group, Daniel.

If they are all as welcoming as you, Susan, then I'm sure I will.

Sorry to be a pest but in the self-promotion page--Promote your book, there's a message saying the page is frozen.

Ah, sorry, Daniel! We are a very new group! I think I have un-frozen it now, but let me know if you still can't post.

I will, thanks.

It worked, Susan, thank you.

Good to hear, Daniel. Thanks for letting me know.

Thanks again for your help, Susan.

As the group is off to such a flying start, we thought it might be a nice idea to have a buddy read for next month. So, in November, if anyone would like to join in, we are planning to read The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

This novella length (127 page) read is a great introduction to the writing of Evelyn Waugh.

Synopsis: Following the death of a friend, British poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday. There, Dennis enters the fragile and bizarre world of Aimée, the naïve Californian corpse beautician, and Mr Joyboy, the master of the embalmer's art...

A dark and savage satire on the Anglo-American cultural divide, The Loved One depicts a world where love, reputation and death cost a very great deal.

The thread for The Loved One will open in November. We hope lots of you join in and, even if you don't get the chance to read along, then come and join in the discussion anyway!

Looking forward to this, Susan. I've read a few books by Waugh, but this will be a new one for me.

Hi everyone,

My name is Farrah from UK and I was kindly invited to the group by Susan.

I read all sorts. Comfort reading often takes me back to Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Greek mythology. I am currently reading 20th century authors Steven Kings IT and Amy Tans Joy Luck Club.

I am rereading IT after 18 years. I loved the TV movies and recently went to the cinema to watch it. It was wonderful and made me want to throw myself back to Derry.

My last 20th century 5 stars went to Daphne du Mauriers My Cousin Rachel. It was brilliant and engrossing and I can’t gush about it enough. I’m going to give Jamaica Inn a go. I liked Rebecca a lot.

Anyway- hello!

Hi Farrah, welcome to the group :)

Welcome Farrah, good to meet you. I also like Daphne du Maurier, especially Rebecca.

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier is one of my favorites.

Frenchman's Creek for me - you can't beat a sexy French pirate!

I have Frenchman’s Creek actually. Maybe I can try that one next and let you know how I get on.

Just to let everyone know that I have opened a new, general chat thread. I hope that Pip doesn't mind, but I have moved her comment over there. Then we have somewhere to chat about general stuff and can keep this thread to welcome new members.

Farrah wrote: "Hi everyone,

My name is Farrah from UK and I was kindly invited to the group by Susan.

I read all sorts. Comfort reading often takes me back to Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Greek mythology. I am c..."

A fellow Eb fan- what fun!

How many of us are readers due to Enid Blyton, I wonder, Lady?!

Susan wrote: "How many of us are readers due to Enid Blyton, I wonder, Lady?!"

A lot I think :) May be you could set up a thread where we discuss our favourites. I've been toying with the idea of reading all teh findouters books - in order- never done this before.

Have you seen the new EB cookbook that someone's just released?

Yes, looks fun. By the way, I opened a new 'General Chat,' thread, Lady, so we can talk about things, just like this :)

Farrah wrote: "Hi everyone,

My name is Farrah from UK and I was kindly invited to the group by Susan.

I read all sorts. Comfort reading often takes me back to Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Greek mythology. I am c..." Hello there, pleased to make your acquaintance, Farrah. I read Jamacia Inn whilst at school, and as that was a million years ago I have forgotten it! We also read Conrad's The Rover so I guess our Lit tutor came from Cornwall.

Hello,
CQM here, here being a very wet South London.
I love fiction ranging from the Victorian period through to the 1960's although that doesn't mean books from before or after that time are ruled out.
Occasionally read non fiction but it becomes rarer by the year.
My other great passions, beer and family aside, are films from the silent period up to the 70's and music from the silent period up to the late 90's.
Rock on!

CQM wrote: "Hello,
CQM here, here being a very wet South London.
I love fiction ranging from the Victorian period through to the 1960's although that doesn't mean books from before or after that time are rule..." Hello CQM, I'm on the south-east edge of London just into Kent where it's drizzling slightly. I hope you find what you're after on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

Greetings CQM. Greetings everyone else who has popped up to say hello.

Overcast here in Good Old Sussex By The Sea

Raining in North London too, CQM :) Welcome to the group.

Hi, I’m Linda. I’m American (half Norwegian though) and an avid reader. I was a children’s book editor living in NY for 30 years.

Things I have in common with all of you in this thread:

I want to read more fiction and history from the twentieth century.
I tend to fade away when a book discussion turns to movie versions.
I like the mystery genre but avoid romance and horror.
I am currently (and briefly) obsessing about Henry James.
Wodehouse and Agatha Christie have been favorite authors since my twenties.
In anyone’s house, I gravitate to the bookcase.
I hail from California (but the best bagels and cream cheese are in NYC.
My favorite fiction writers include Iris Murdoch and Virginia Woolf.
I love old black and white movies from the 30s and 40s.
I’m looking forward to learning of new books here.

Welcome, Linda and CQM - glad you have both joined. Linda, that's an intriguing selection of facts - I gravitate to the bookcase too.

LindaH wrote: "Hi, I’m Linda. I’m American (half Norwegian though) and an avid reader. I was a children’s book editor living in NY for 30 years.

Things I have in common with all of you in this thread:

I want to..."

Welcome to both CQM and Linda

Hi everyone new,

I’m bookcase hoverer too :) It’s really interesting to see what types of books people read and how it ties into their personalities.