Classics

[close] Welcome to Written Gems, a discussion group devoted to the wonderful but often underappreciated works that form the roots of Fantasy and Science Fiction today. This will include such greats as: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, H.G. Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, and more—plus the occasional author you may have never read (but will be very glad you did). These authors not only influenced the development of their genres but are still frankly fun to read today. We want to explore these works together and seek out more. To that end, we offer our mandatory mission statement: MISSION STATEMENT Written Gems is a discussion group dedicated to uncovering little-remembered gems of Fantasy and Science Fiction literature which have influenced the genre and our culture. Each month we will explore a new work seeking to understand not only what made it fun in the past, but why it has endured. Most importantly, we want to know what it has to offer for audiences today. To lead us in these discussions, we have three co-moderators, Gilbert M. Stack, William L. Hahn and Chris L. Adams. Each are authors in the field and if you’re interested you can learn more about them in the threads named after them.

[close] Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, travel writing, or exploring the world through books, you have come to the right place! ATW80 began in 2009 as a challenge on TNBBC. The separate group was established in 2011. Anyone can join and participate in the challenges or readings at any time. Challenge participation is not a requirement of joining. Anyone who loves reading books from around the world is welcome here. The main purpose of this group is to travel the world through books, experiencing new authors and cultures along the way. Want to read about the world? We have close to 40,000 books cataloged by setting and more are added each month. "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” - Dr. Suess “There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough.” ― Irwin Shaw

[close] Welcome to the Roundtable Our passions include literary fiction, the classics, and serious non-fiction. In 2018 we've planned structured reads in the following categories: Classics, Author Reads, International Reads, Nonfiction, and Literary Prize winners. We’d love for you to participate in our “Roundtable Tournament” pitting our favorite books against each other to determine RT's "best book"! Or you can sign on for our yearly TBR reading challenge, the year-long International and/or Doorstop challenges, or revive the threads from past projects and group reads. The fine print: We're a smallish group, but active, and we'd like to have actively participating members. If you've been a member for more than four months without participating, we will assume that you are not interested in the group and you will be subject to deletion (one post after acceptance into the group is not considered active). This may take the form of participation in one of the structured features described above or something more free-form. While we've all got our guilty pleasures -- vampires in love, celebrity gossip, books from our childhoods -- these books don't fit with the group's vision and purpose. It's strictly "quality" writing for an adult audience; for us this means literary fiction, the classics, and serious non-fiction. We like to see a diversity of opinions about what we read and a strong passion for books is a plus. However, we ask that our group members keep it about the books; be respectful of others and refrain from the ad hominem. Finally, you'll see that we're a private group and you'll need to "apply" to join us. This means that we'd like a word from you about why you'd like to join and what you're hoping to get from a group. It also helps if we can see your shelves and your profile. If your profile is set to private, you will not be approved for membership in the group.

[close] Welcome! This is a group where we will read a classic novel each month and discuss what we liked and didn't like about it. Classics are important to our culture and education, and often times they provide a level of enjoyment that modern books cannot. So this group is here to appreciate artwork through out history! -Warren (Starry Night Reader)