Virago 50th Anniversary Reading Project 2023 - March

SnakVirago Modern Classics

Bliv bruger af LibraryThing, hvis du vil skrive et indlæg

Virago 50th Anniversary Reading Project 2023 - March

1kaggsy
feb 26, 2023, 3:31 pm



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
feb 27, 2023, 9:01 am

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
feb 28, 2023, 6:10 am

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
Redigeret: feb 28, 2023, 11:10 am

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.

5kayclifton
feb 28, 2023, 1:39 pm

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.

6kayclifton
feb 28, 2023, 1:56 pm

>3 kaggsy:
I read her other book A Model Childhood and felt that it was memorable.

7kac522
feb 28, 2023, 2:35 pm

>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
mar 1, 2023, 4:00 am

Yikes.... I'm now starting to think I'm glad I haven't got to Plagued by the Nightingale yet.... 😨

9kaggsy
mar 5, 2023, 7:30 am

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
mar 5, 2023, 3:15 pm

I've just begun reading Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick. It is part fiction and part autobiography and I like it so far.

11Sakerfalcon
mar 6, 2023, 8:46 am

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
mar 8, 2023, 10:31 am

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
mar 9, 2023, 1:37 pm

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
mar 17, 2023, 3:44 pm

I'm reading Kate O'Brien's The Land of Spices but I think that's too late, right?

15kac522
Redigeret: mar 17, 2023, 4:25 pm

16LyzzyBee
mar 18, 2023, 9:44 am

>15 kac522: Thank you. Oh well!

17Sakerfalcon
mar 20, 2023, 9:21 am

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
mar 21, 2023, 12:11 pm

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
mar 27, 2023, 2:56 pm

I intend to reread A View of the Harbor by Elizabeth Taylor. I'm not sure of its place on the VMC list.

20kac522
mar 27, 2023, 3:05 pm

21kac522
Redigeret: mar 31, 2023, 8:28 pm

April's thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/349784#

Some wonderful titles from #141-#210!

22SassyLassy
apr 1, 2023, 9:46 am

I also read All Passion Spent, and thought it was a lovely book, with an excellent Introduction by Victoria Glendinning.

23CDVicarage
apr 1, 2023, 10:43 am

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
apr 1, 2023, 11:21 am

>22 SassyLassy: Yes, the introduction was excellent and enhanced my understanding of the book.

25LyzzyBee
apr 3, 2023, 4:04 am

>23 CDVicarage: Oh no! I suppose they're a marmite couple ...

26CDVicarage
apr 3, 2023, 6:17 am

>25 LyzzyBee: Edith was fine but I couldn't see what she saw in the awful (and stupid) Bruce!