Virago 50th Anniversary Reading Project 2023 - March
SnakVirago Modern Classics
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1kaggsy
2023 sees us celebrating 50 years of our favourite publisher, Virago!
We have set up a reading project to choose books from a section of the VMC catalogue in sequential order, and after some discussion on other threads, have decided to go for equal sections rather than trying to divide up the 50 years and fit books into this by publication date!
To aid us, we will be using our Virago Collection Tracker which can be found in the Group Wiki.
In March, our second month, we can choose from books numbered 71 - 140. These runfrom The Harsh Voice by Rebecca West to Miss Mole by E.H. Young. There are some excellent books in this section so it will be lovely to see what people choose!
This should be a fun way to explore our collections, reconnect with our Viragos and help celebrate the 50 years! We'll look forward to hearing what you choose to read, enjoy and share with us in the monthly threads! :D
2Sakerfalcon
Ooh, there are quite a few in this section that I'm looking forward to! I've wanted to read The corn king and the spring queen for ages, and it's quite a chunkster so that might take all month. But if possible I'd like to fit in The quest for Christa T and/or From man to man as well.
3kaggsy
There are lots of choices, aren't there? I read The Quest for Christa T quite a while back and thought it was excellent!
4kac522
Yes, lots of good ones in this group that have been patiently waiting on my shelves. The 75ers British Author Challenge this month is featuring Vita Sackville-West (https://www.librarything.com/topic/348887#), so my first choice is #110 All Passion Spent.
And if there's time, one of these:
#88 Mandoa, Mandoa!, Winifred Holtby
#135 Angel, Elizabeth Taylor
or a re-read of #83 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, one of my favorites.
And if there's time, one of these:
#88 Mandoa, Mandoa!, Winifred Holtby
#135 Angel, Elizabeth Taylor
or a re-read of #83 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, one of my favorites.
5kayclifton
I'm giving up on Plagued by the Nightingale and found a short review that expresses my opinion of it (from Goodreads):
A struggle to read. Boyle's writing is so larded with useless adjectives and overly dreamy language, I just wanted to put the book down and read something more straightforward.
My next read is Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick. I hope that it's an antidote to Boyle's book.
A struggle to read. Boyle's writing is so larded with useless adjectives and overly dreamy language, I just wanted to put the book down and read something more straightforward.
My next read is Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick. I hope that it's an antidote to Boyle's book.
7kac522
>5 kayclifton: I did finish Plagued by the Nightingale, but it wasn't a good experience--I felt a constant doom & gloom. Here's what I wrote at the time: From beginning to end this story was just oppressive...I'm glad I'm done with it.
8kaggsy
Yikes.... I'm now starting to think I'm glad I haven't got to Plagued by the Nightingale yet.... 😨
9kaggsy
Well, I have put Plagued back on the shelf, and have been through the tracker - have two possible titles for this month, both of which are quite appealing, if very different. They're Hunt the Slipper by Violet Trefusis and Women Against Men by Storm Jameson. Jameson in particular is a writer who's lurked on the TBR for too long...
10kayclifton
I've just begun reading Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick. It is part fiction and part autobiography and I like it so far.
11Sakerfalcon
I've started The corn king and the spring queen.I like Erif Der a lot; not sure about the rest of the characters yet.
12LizzieD
I wish very much that I could say for sure that I'm going to join you for this month's reading. I had pulled The Little Ottleys to read last year sometime and never got to it. I'll try again!
13surtsey
Planning to start The Three Sisters soon since I'm on a May Sinclair kick. If I have time, maybe I'll read Devoted Ladies, which was already on my list to read this year.
14LyzzyBee
I'm reading Kate O'Brien's The Land of Spices but I think that's too late, right?
15kac522
>14 LyzzyBee: Yes. That's #287. You can look it up here:
https://www.virago.co.uk/imprint/lbbg/virago/page/virago-modern-classic-collecti...
and it's scheduled for June:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348159#
https://www.virago.co.uk/imprint/lbbg/virago/page/virago-modern-classic-collecti...
and it's scheduled for June:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348159#
16LyzzyBee
>15 kac522: Thank you. Oh well!
17Sakerfalcon
I'm really enjoying The corn king and the spring queen. It takes you back 2000 years and immerses you in the world of the Black Sea, Sparta and Greece, among characters who have strange ways but who are very relatable. It's a looooong book but very worth the effort so far.
18kac522
I've just finished and loved #110 All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West. And I'm finishing up her little book (not a Virago) English Country Houses (1941), which was part of the Writers' Britain series of the 1940s.
19kayclifton
I intend to reread A View of the Harbor by Elizabeth Taylor. I'm not sure of its place on the VMC list.
20kac522
>19 kayclifton: #245
21kac522
April's thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/349784#
Some wonderful titles from #141-#210!
Some wonderful titles from #141-#210!
22SassyLassy
I also read All Passion Spent, and thought it was a lovely book, with an excellent Introduction by Victoria Glendinning.
23CDVicarage
I didn't do as well as I hoped: only part of The Little Ottleys. I'd meant to read all three stories but the characters irritated me so much I didn't go beyond the first one, Love's Shadow.
24kac522
>22 SassyLassy: Yes, the introduction was excellent and enhanced my understanding of the book.
25LyzzyBee
>23 CDVicarage: Oh no! I suppose they're a marmite couple ...
26CDVicarage
>25 LyzzyBee: Edith was fine but I couldn't see what she saw in the awful (and stupid) Bruce!