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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Cranford Read-a-long: Let's Begin

Welcome to the September Read-a-long of Elizabeth Gaskell's CRANFORD.

Participants

Amateur Reader @ Wuthering Expectations - Suey @ Its All About Books - Ruth @ Booktalk and More - Amanda @ The Life and Times of a "New" New Yorker (she was a maybe - are you in Amanda?) - anyone I missed, or who still wants to join?

UPDATE: We've got more participants! Meghan @ Medieval Bookworm - Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews - mel u @ The Reading Life

Reading Schedule


I plan to read one chapter per day. With 27 chapters, that should allow me to finish the book just before the end of the month. You can read at whatever pace works for you though.

Update: I'm not sure why I thought this book had 27 chapters ... I must have been delusional that day! In point of fact there are a mere 16 chapters. I'm reading online at Gutenberg.org but according to Amazon.com the most common version of this book has only 266 pages.

Posting Schedule

My review will go up on 9/29 and will include links to all your reviews. Feel free to post your review any time this month, just be sure to send me the link when it goes up.

I'll do a check-in post around the middle of the month to see how everyone is coming along.

Discussion Suggestions

Despite a lengthy search I was unable to find any "official" discussion questions for this book. If you know of any please let me know. I did find a summary of the themes that sounded interesting though. Click here and scroll to the "Major Themes" section (there are spoilers in some of the other sections). If you like, you can include your thoughts on the themes in your review.

Other Ideas?

Since I have not yet read this book I don't know what to expect. If you have questions you'd like to pose to the group or topics you'd like to discuss please suggest them in the comments.


Happy Reading!


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14 comments:

Lezlie said...

Have fun, ladies! I so loved this book. I can't wait to see the discussions!

Lezlie

Meghan said...

I want to be in on this! Here's my problem though, the book is in my fiance's flat and I won't be there until the 21st! I will read it that last week of August, though, and join in the discussions then. I didn't have any trouble getting into North and South, so I imagine if I devote some time to Cranford I'll be able to get through it quickly!

Meghan said...

I meant September!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Lezlie - feel free to comment or ask questions too!

Meghan - No problem! I'll add you to the "official list" - just chime in whenever you can.

Rebecca Reid said...

Oh I'm tempted! I'll have to see how my other reading goes this month. I may be able to pick it up at the end of the month, but then, of course, I've missed the read-along....

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Rebecca - That's ok, Meghan isn't joining in until the end of the month either!

Unknown said...

I am IN...and I'm already behind! YES!!! :P Thank goodness a long weekend is coming up!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Ruth - No worries, the chapters are pretty short - you'll be able to catch up in no time. :)

Amateur Reader (Tom) said...

Well, I've started already. It's Cranford, all week at Wuthering Expectations.

Perhaps people reading along should stop by when they're done. I don't exactly try to give things away, but I also don't worry about it much.

Summary: I absolutely loved the book.

Suey said...

Oh my word...I totally forgot about this! I guess I should find the book, huh? :)

Anonymous said...

this looks like great fun! i hope you enjoy it!

Becky said...

I'd love to join in on this!

Mel u said...

I am half way through "Sylvia's Lover's"-my first Gaskell work ever-the Oxford Classics edition I have says it is her masterpiece-
I think I can finish it and still have time to read Cranford by the end of September

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Suey - It's available on Project Gutenberg :)

jp - thanks!

Becky & mel u - glad to have you both, I'll add you to the list now.

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