Muriel Spark: A Far Cry from Kensington - Groups

Overview: Groups

24 Book Challenge + Chat 677 books / 100 members / 2383 posts The 24 Book Challenge group is currently at full capacity; thank you for your interest.

"In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.", Mortimer Adler

*This is a group for book lovers who prefer to take an under-promise and over-deliver approach to their reading. It's also for those of us who quake at the thought of "committing" to read 50 books in a twelve month period.

The challenge: Set a goal for yourself to read and enjoy 2 books each month.(If 1 would be a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal for you, that's great too! If you crave more than 2, go for it. It's your challenge :-)

If you have been keeping track of all that you've read since January 2008, feel free to include those books towards your goal. If you haven't been keeping track, simply begin now.

How it works: Put your name in the subject line of a new post, and start to add your book list. From that point on you can add to your list by replying to the first post in your thread. If you prefer to keep your thread free of others' questions or comments then you may want to include this request in your original post title (e.g. "No comments please"). If you would like questions or comments within your thread, why not include "Comments welcome" in the title? If you feel inspired to write mini-reviews or comments on any book in your list, please do. Whatever feels right for you!

The group shelf:You are also invited to add your 24 + books to the group shelf. If you did write a comment or review please also add this to your book on the shelf. In an effort to keep things simple, we're only using the "Books We've Read" shelf.

Please drop us a note if you have any questions or suggestions for improving the group. We'd love to hear from you!

Across The Pond 282 books / 238 members / 2381 posts The United Kingdom of Great Britain (Wales, England, Scotland) and Northern Ireland.

~PLEASE CLICK ON THE BLUE "MORE" ICON BELOW FOR ALL OF THE GROUP UPDATES, INFORMATION & ACTIVITIES!~

Welcome to Across The Pond!

Do you ever find yourself suddenly walking silly walks or humming a certain Lumberjack tune? Do you scurry to the kitchen at noon for ladyfingers and herbal tea? Do you read literature from or about Tudor or Regency periods? Are you constantly flipping to BBC America to check for new episodes of Dr. Who, Robin Hood, or MI-5? Did you love Braveheart, Pride and Prejudice, or the Harry Potter movies? Do you ever suddenly find yourself speaking in a British accent using the words "bloke" or "codswallop" from time to time? Or maybe you just feel you were born in the wrong country? This group was made for anyone who feels a special connection to the geography, history, culture, and traditions of the U.K. Discussions are open to everyone and can be about anything from English literature, your favourite Beatle, or how you spent your summer vacation touring famous castles. Whether the discussions are serious and thoughful or silly and playful, have fun! *For any Shelfarian who has stumbled upon this group out of curiosity, please feel free to join us (especially you Brit's!)!*

What are you reading? 2467 books / 5857 members / 13976 posts This group is for anyone, of any background or age group, who is interested in talking about...Books.

Books you want to read, have read, are reading, books you have heard of and not yet read.
Books of any genre.
You are welcome to ask for recommendations or opinions.

Anglophiles Anonymous 569 books / 82 members / 8915 posts

Please note: This is a private group, mainly to keep out lurkers and tittlebats. If you’d like to join, please do not email the group administrator. Instead, do leave your card with Mrs. Danvers, along with a note on her page, explaining why you’d like to gambol amongst us and what you’d bring to the conversation in terms of your obsession with all literary things Angl-ish.

Much Prized: The ability to write a coherent sentence, a sense of humour, an appetite for stimulating intercourse and a deep and abiding love of British literature. The possession of a ridiculous British alias is much admired.

Much Frowned Upon: Lurking.

A Message from The Most Hon. The Marquess of Manleigh:

“I must ask anyone entering the house never to contradict me or differ from me in any way, as it interferes with the functioning of the gastric juices and prevents my sleeping at night.” -- Posted at the entrance of Renishaw Hall, home of Sir George Reresby Sitwell

Dear Besotted Reader of British Literature,

Allow me to introduce you to our little circle, an oasis for those of you out there who suspect you’ve been born in the wrong country. You pale, lost souls who wish you could pepper your prose with spellings like “civilised” and “sense of humour” without eliciting raised eyebrows. You who stare at the clock wistfully at 3 pm and bemoan the fact that no steaming pot of tea and scrummy comestibles are nigh. You know who you are. You find yourself spending inordinate amounts of time reading Brontë, Austen, Dickens, Eliot, Woolf, Waugh, Mitford, Wodehouse and basically any other writer with a British accent. You curse fate because you weren’t a member of the Bloomsbury group. To your chagrin, you’ve never found a body in your library. You long to find others of your ilk, soul-mates with whom you can prattle on about British literature, poetry, cinema and telly without receiving blank stares in return. My dears, you are not alone.

Step into the drawing room and tell us all about it. Would you like one lump, or two?

Yours cordially,

Terence ("Tinky") Egbert Ethelred Edward George Kitty Carlisle
1st Marquess of Manleigh, 14th Viscount Manleigh, KQHB (Knight of the Queen's Handbag)
Manleigh Hall, Studleigh-Under-Dureth, Sussex

Current Group Read:

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

Our Group Reads (To Date)
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
Atonement by Ian McEwan
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Shelfari: The Site for Books & Readers

A Far Cry from Kensington

by Muriel Spark

Overview: Groups