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Here is a place to announce upcoming buddy-reads, or suggest a book you'd like to read with a buddy.

Currently planned buddy-reads:

A Tale of Two Cities: June; Hayes, Geevee, Kim, Marialyce, Laura, MichelleCH, Dawn, Jemidar, Margaret, Jeannette, Catie, Sylvia

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life: August; Marialyce, Laura, Geevee and Ron.

The Master and Margarita: September; Hayes, Chris, Laura, Jeannette

Vanity Fair: Thanksgiving/November; Marialyce, Sera, Kate, Jeannette, Dawn, Chris

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: January 2013; Catie, Hayes, Jeannette, Geevee, Ron, Chris, Jeannette, Kate, Marialyce

I'll definitely read A Tale of Two Cities with you but I don't have those other two books and I'm not sure when my next shopping spree will be so I'll have to count myself out on them.

Margaret, If you have an ebook device, Vanity Fair is available for free. It can be found on amazon and Project Gutenberg.

Jeanette, I would like to join in on A Tale of Two Cities and I will "lurk" on The Master and Margarita. I read it and think I probably missed half of its message....but, I don't know if I could read it again!

Jeanette, thank you for being so organized. I, for one, greatly appreciate it since I do plan and list my reads on a monthly basis, which will help me to get through my Mount TBR Challenge.

Thanks, Sera! Truth is, I was getting confused about who was in and which book when, so I thought I had better "write" things down. Now if a certain person (who shall remain nameless) will stop encouraging me to read book bricks the classics....

Lurkers are encouraged to join the discussion, Marialyce. :)

Free e-books can be read on your laptop, too, Margaret. There are lots of classics in the Public Domain.

And, this thread is for anyone to request a reading partner, not just for the 3 big group reads.

I'll join the M&M read.

Jeannette wrote: "Now if a certain person (who shall remain nameless) will stop encouraging me to read book bricks the classics.... "

*fingertips to chest, confused look on face*

Moi?

LOL :P

Tale of Two Cities for me please - thanks for organising Jeanette it'll help me finally read, and I hope finish a Dickens book.

Sorry guys but the reason I don't own or use an e-reader is because I am protesting their existence. I fear the extinction of real life books because of those things. I have recently debated making certain allowances *only* for the new and (quality) self published authors but outside that e-reading is a NO NO NO for me. But don't worry, I have lots of friends who use those things and I *almost* never give them heck for it. ;-)

Geevee wrote: "Tale of Two Cities for me please - thanks for organising Jeanette it'll help me finally read, and I hope finish a Dickens book."

Dickens is getting quite a following here! :)

Margaret wrote: "Sorry guys but the reason I don't own or use an e-reader is because I am protesting their existence. I fear the extinction of real life books because of those things. I have recently debated making..."

I like my Kindle, and I love my books. It certainly will make trans-Atlantic flights easier. No way I can lug more than 2 or 3 books around the airport.

Have you flown since you've had the Kindle, Jeannette? (I can't remember how long you've had one!) I think that having the Kindle for travelling is fantastic. It's meant not lugging a pile of books with me everytime I go somewhere and I can also purchase and download a book wherever I happen to be. However you can't use it during those "switch off all electronic devices" periods of the flight. When we flew home on Sunday I made sure I had a food magazine with me to fill in those moments.

I can see that Margaret has not yet reached the Age of Glasses. I will never give up real books, but I find it increasingly difficult to read at night in bed. (See those 4 pairs of glasses in my avatar?) I use that enormous font and I am a happy camper!

It must be an age thing, because not only do I appreciate my Kindle's font size but I also love how light and easy to hold it is. I have trouble holding up chunksters and hardbacks in bed. My hand aches and my partner complains when I prop them up against him! I will never give up real books (I actually don't know anyone with an e-reader who has!) but there are times when an e-reader is definitely convenient.

d) All of the above!

The Kindle is incredibly easy on the eyes, even though I still use my reading glasses, with an only slightly larger font. It is very lightweight, easy to hold and "drive". I really appreciate the built-in dictionary, too.

My first flight with the Kindle is coming up, Kim, this June. As silly as it might sound, I actually enjoy reading the in-flight magazine! So, I'll have something for take-off, and it's free! My only worry is that my husband will try to appropriate my Kindle on the trip!

An added bonus: My daughter is taking a sci-fi class at the university, and two of the books were public-domain: The War of the Worlds and Herland. I put them on the Kindle for her.

It's my son's birthday on Saturday and I've bought him his own Kindle as a present. I think he's going to rather enjoy all the free books out there :-).

He shares a birthday with my kid! How old will he be this year? It's the big 18 for Lea. :D

Darcy is 19. Almost twins! :-).

Cool! I thought they were pretty close in age. Wish him a happy birthday from us!

I would like to join you on The Tales of Two Cities Jeanette.

Sorry I missed you, Laura! :)

xoxox

Jeannette wrote: "Cool! I thought they were pretty close in age. Wish him a happy birthday from us!"

Will do :-).

Jeannette, sorry I wasn't here to help launch this with you but you know I've been busy with tax season and a couple of furry little babies, besides our own furry ones. It just seemed to make sense to have a central area to keep track of these buddy read. Dickens will be huge with fast and *ahem* slow readers, but it should be fun.

I'm glad to see it getting such a response already so I will take it one step further and see if generates any other buddy reads. Are any members looking forward to reading a particular book or author, or maybe in finding readers interested in certain genres that they would like to share with someone else. I'll throw in a couple to maybe get things started; David Liss's The Whiskey Rebels, Michelle Moran's Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution, Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance: A Mystery or Jasper Fforde's The Well of Lost Plots. For genres, historical fiction, historical mystery, Austen retellings, YA and UF. Ron likes sci-fi fantasy, UF, historical fiction (mainly ancient or American) and non-fiction.

J & J, how neat is that that your kids share the same birthday only a year apart! Hope they both have a wonderful birthday weekend and glad Lea gets to share this big birthday at home with you, Jeannette.

I would be interested in Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance: A Mystery.

Jeannette wrote: "I would be interested in Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance: A Mystery."

sounds great Jeannette.

Another historical figure turned sleuth, but this one appears to be based on fact.

That one does sound good.....I would join in on it.
I really like non fiction and have been drawn to it a bit this year so could I maybe add Benjamin Franklin: An American Life to the list as well as the new David McCullough book?

Marialyce wrote: "That one does sound good.....I would join in on it.
I really like non fiction and have been drawn to it a bit this year so could I maybe add Benjamin Franklin: An American Life to the list as well ..."

another interesting reading Marialyce, you may count on me.

Marialyce wrote: "That one does sound good.....I would join in on it.
I really like non fiction and have been drawn to it a bit this year so could I maybe add Benjamin Franklin: An American Life to the list as well ..."

I'd be very happy to try this one too, it sounds compelling about a man that I know of but have read nothing.

Oh great.....any month a good one for everyone?

Marialyce wrote: "That one does sound good.....I would join in on it.
I really like non fiction and have been drawn to it a bit this year so could I maybe add Benjamin Franklin: An American Life to the list as well ..."

Fabulous book!

Okay, so it's Jeannette, Laura and Marialyce for Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance: A Mystery? I didn't realize they were based on fact but I've heard they are well written. I was so excited when this first book came out years ago so it will be fun to read with others.

Let me know if anyone is interested in my other books, in my above post, or have any similar suggestions.

Ron may be interested in the Benjamin Franklin book if our library has it since it appears to be one he doesn't have.

Marialyce wrote: "Oh great.....any month a good one for everyone?"

Not May please as I already have 2 buddy/GRs lined up.

I was kind of thinking June or July or maybe August.....

Any of those for me Marialyce - happy to fall in with you and anyone else who is thinking of joining in.

Jeannette
Were you planning on reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? I think I saw that somewhere but can't find it. Anyway if you do, do you fancy a buddy read? I'm currently listening to The Ladies of Grace Adieu: And Other Stories and really enjoying the short stories but I've tried twice before with the big book and drifted off. But reading with others might help keep me on track. Anyone else want to read this one?

I think I must have just added it to my tbr last night, it's been off and on, and you saw it in my update feed. Let me think about it.....

I started that and put it down and have it on my "try again" list. It's so long, though. I don't know if I can read Suitable Boy and Jonathon Strange in the same year. I just don't have the strength.

I feel for you! That might be too much to ask of any one...

Next year! I'm marking it for January of 2013... I have to get it off my shelves. It's taking up too much room!

ETA: I wish I'd bought the ebook... It hurts to hold it, it's so big.

That never helps. I've actually got it on audio as well but still tend to drift off about quarter of the way through.

Well, Catie, how does January 2013 sound? I might be able to get through it in the winter.

Hayes wrote: "Next year! I'm marking it for January of 2013... I have to get it off my shelves. It's taking up too much room!

ETA: I wish I'd bought the ebook... It hurts to hold it, it's so big."

I love e-books for this very reason, but there is something cool about lugging out a huge book that you've been reading in front of others. It screams "look how smart I am!" Especially, if it has a title that they haven't heard of before.

Jeannette wrote: "how does January 2013 sound? "

Sounds good to me. It has the benefit that I can feel virtuous because I have scheduled the read without actually having to do anything about it for absolutely ages...