Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Middlemay!

Hi Everybody,

My copy of Middlemarch, by George Eliot, finally arrived!

I have gone through and flagged off weekly goals with post-its. Yumm. Thank you, Ms. Eliot, for kindly dividing your book into 8 sections of about 100 pages each. These, I think, are very, very convenient weekly reading breaks.


So, for anybody else who is ready to do Middlemay with me (that is, read Middlemarch over the month of May and some of June--like it? I'm very proud), I'd like to suggest we "gather" here every Monday at our leisure to check in and chat. That will give us the weekend to try to do a block of reading.

Here's my proposed schedule:

Monday, May 4: Book I: Miss Brooke
Monday, May 11: Book II: Old and Young
Monday, May 18: Book III: Waiting for Death
Monday, May 25: Book IV: Three Love Problems
Monday, June 1: Book V: The Dead Hand
Monday, June 8: Book VI: The Widow and the Wife
Monday, June 15: Book VII: Two Temptations
Monday, June 22: Book VIII: Sunset and Sunrise

I feel that 100 pages (give or take) is a good sched. If you want to read faster (God bless and help you) you can always talk about it ex post facto, and if you fall behind, other people's words of encouragement may inspire you!

Sound good?

26 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds great to me! I'm in!

Emily Cross said...

Yeah, i'm happy with this too :) i'll finally get something off my list. yay!!

Bee said...

Sounds good to me, im in too!

PurpleClover said...

Looks good. But I must admit, I got my copy yesterday and I read the first chapter. I LOVED it. I feel like I'm cheating.

Promise I won't read more!

*crosses fingers*

The chapters aren't long at all. I just wanted to get a sense of the writing. But I definitely think it will take a while to read...so your schedule looks good to me.

moonrat said...

please, PC! read away!! a head start never hurt anybody!

PurpleClover said...

I think I may need the headstart since my schedule in June is going to be CRAMMED with clinical. Bunch of vaginas (petticoats and corsets are looking good here) and screaming babies...not sure I'll have time to crack open the book while researching UTI's and projectile emesis.

sigh.

PurpleClover said...

And by va-jay-jays and screaming babies I hope everyone deduced I'm in a maternity clinical rotation next semester. lol.

moonrat said...

oh, i just assumed you had interesting hobbies ;)

Andromeda Romano-Lax said...

Gotta buy my copy. Thanks for the motivation.

Andromeda Romano-Lax said...

Oh and yes -- "Middlemay" is a great name for this reading goal. I wonder if "Middlesex" by Eugenides (which I HAVE read) has any parallels with Middlemarch, beyond just the titles. To be discovered soon!

PurpleClover said...

Well I read it today (wrote it yesterday) and LOL'd. Sounded a little weird if no one knew that was what I meant.

Etoiline said...

I had a friend recommend Middlemarch to me last month. Perhaps I should finally get around to reading it...

Gina Black said...

I just want to report that I survived my trip across cyberspace without too many distractions or digressions and have arrived here in one piece. I'm in for Middlemay!

I_am_Tulsa said...

May I join too?!

CT said...

This is a fantastic idea! Now I just need to figure out if I want a hard copy or e-book. Decisions, decisions.

Becky said...

Sounds good to me :)

Jolie said...

Me me me! I recently added this book to my TBR list, so maybe now it will actually get read.

Captcha: notall. Ironic, since I'm 5'11".

Linda said...

Yep, I'm off to B and N for a copy this weekend. It was on my 50 list anyway. Yay! I've never been in a 'book club', so all of this is very exciting! peace, Linda

Jen A said...

I'm in. My copy just came in the mail this week; I hope to finish the other book I'm working on this weekend and start on Middlemarch!

moonrat said...

wow, at least 15 people! this is really really cool. i'm trying to hurry up and finish MIDDLESEX so i can start MIDDLEMARCH this week (this was not done intentionally... but it has made me really, really want Greek food).

Etoiline said...

I went to the book fair here in town and found an old copy of Middlemarch for a dollar. Win! So count me in for sure.

Anonymous said...

I'm not doing the 100 book project since I can't stand to be told what to read even by myself, but I picked up Middlemarch from the library yesterday. I'm 14 pages in and hooked. May I join ya'll?

moonrat said...

yay!

Unknown said...

I'm game!

Mel u said...

Looks like a great project-count me in-

00 Pisces said...

I just picked up my copy. I'm in.