Virago 50th Anniversary Reading Project 2023 - November

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 November, our ninth month, we can choose from books numbered 631-700. These run from Aunt Sass by P.L.Travers to The Collected Stories by Grace Paley. This is again a potentially interesting month (ahem!) as there is a lot of children's literature involved, from the aforementioned Travers to L.M. Montgomery, Susan M. Coolidge, E. Nesbit and Frances Hodgson Burnett! However, there's more Patricia Highsmith and tons of Angela Thirkell, so it could be a real month of contrasts!

However, as always, it will be wonderful to hear what you choose to read, and please do share your thoughts in the monthly threads! :D

I'll be re-reading #675 Anne of Green Gables. I didn't get to last month's list, so hope to read #579 Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede either this month or next.

>2 kac522: Both excellent books!

I'm planning to read Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell, crossing my fingers she's in good form for this one.

Thanks for setting us up Karen!

I will choose from Edith's diary, The serial garden, and Miss Bunting.

>3 NinieB: I also intend to read Peace Breaks Out.

I finished Edith's diary which is a less dramatic and much sadder book than others that I've read by Highsmith. Now I'm reading Miss Bunting which doesn't have much plot but is fun.

I finished my re-read of #675 Anne of Green Gables. When I first read it many, many years ago, I quickly identified with Anne and found Marilla exasperating. Now that I'm even older than Marilla, I feel a certain amount of sympathy and understanding for her, suddenly having an emotional pre-teen upending the household. I'll always love Anne, though....