Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Announcing the Evelina Group Read

Gentle Readers,

I am very excited to make the long-await announcement for a group read of Fanny Burney's first novel which she published anonymously, Evelina, or a History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World.  The book was a big success and even an inspiration to Jane Austen.  Queen Charlotte liked the book so much she hired Fanny as a Keeper of the Robes, much to Fanny's chagrin.  But who can say "no" to the queen; especially when she is your fan!  Now it's our turn to find out if we enjoy Fanny's wit as much as Queen Charlotte (my money is on "yes") with the Evelina Group Read.


Book Editions
Our salons will meet once a week (every Thursday) here to discuss designated chapters but that doesn't mean you can't get a head-start now!  Many local libraries may just have this classic in their stacks.  Amazon also has many affordable editions of the book from Penguin Classic, Oxford World Classics, Norton, and Broadview (which I personally enjoyed).  GirleBooks has an ebook version for free.  Lauren even found an audiobook from SilkSoundBooks in which Judi Dench is one of the readers; doesn't that sound awesome?  Our group read will also offer participants and opportunity to win a copy of the soon-to-be treasured book!

Calendar
Mark your calendar, the tentative salon schedule is as follows:
2 June: Volume 1 Letters 1-20
9 June: Volume 1 Letter 21- Volume 2 Letter 6
16 June: Volume 2 Letter 7- 22
23 June: Volume 2 Letter 23- Volume 3 Letter 9
30 June: Volume 3 Letter 10-23

So who is with me?  The more the merrier I say!  Please don't let anyone miss out on your wit!  Sign up below via the Mr. Linky widgit (hit refresh if you don't see it below).  Stay tuned to the blog for more details.  I can't wait!




67 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of reading this for a while now! I'm surprised i'm the first to comment though.

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  2. Wow! That's exactly what I've been thinking about for a while now! I've just rediscovered Fanny Burney for myself and I wanted to start reading her books with someone.

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  3. Yay! I've been just itching to start!

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  4. Hurray! I'm glad my announcement was timely.

    @Farida, I'm so happy that you will be back for another group read!

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  5. I should read this book. Haven't so far, so this is a good time to start!!

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  6. As I told Laurel Ann, you'll fly through it due to your love of Austen. Their work (and wit) is so similar!

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  7. I'm in! I love group reads, it's such fun to talk to others reading the same book. Just a note to Apple users--if you have iBooks, I believe that Evelina is one of their free books.

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  8. PS Who is the beautiful girl on the cover of the book?

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  9. I'll do my best -- I'd been planning to read the book at some point, here's an excuse to start.

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  10. Oh dear haven't done a group read since Love In The Time of Cholera, six tortuous chapters with a clever hidden duplicate paragraph.
    Retro

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  11. Oh how I love, love, love this book. I've read Cecilia and Camilla and while good, neither compares to Evelina, her masterpiece.

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  12. I've been meaning to read this forever so thank you for providing me with an excuse!

    Also, thank you for pointing me to SilkSoundBooks! Or maybe not, when I come to think of it. I could easily spend faaaar to much money on there!

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  13. I have a bad habit of spreading my online spending addictions ;)

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  14. Been on my reading list for ages, lets go for it

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  15. I ordered the book as a result of reading Becoming Jane Austen and her letters. Also I am about to finish Georgiana where she was mentioned. I am excited to have found you and now the book reading.

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  16. I just got this from gurlbooks for Kindle- I am lookign forward to reading it! I haven't ever come across any of her books, although I have often heard her mentioned in historical fiction.

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  17. @Katherine Louise, Sorry forgot to answer you. It's Hoppner's Evelina which some think may have been a portrait of Burney herself

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  18. I bought my copy at a local bookstore when you first mentioned the group read a couple months ago. It's been sitting on the "read" pile ever since, tempting me to get started--so now I can!

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  19. I'm so excited for this! I love a good book, and I've been looking for a new one.

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  20. Me too! I'm glad to take part in another group read. Lovely picture of the cover!

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  21. I needed a new book on my reading list, so I definitely can't wait to start this one!

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  23. I'm in!!! I've been itching to read more 18th/19th century literature (outside of class, I mean) and this is the perfect opportunity to do so!

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  24. What a great idea! I'm definitely in. People may be interested in the free audio book from librivox, the link is here: http://librivox.org/evelina-by-fanny-burney/

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  25. Just ordered! Excited to read another of Fanny's works.

    I'll also share this on my blog!

    -H

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  26. I'd love to participate. I'll be out of the country for the first session but I think I can catch up. Thanks for doing this.

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  27. So excited! This sounds like it'll be lots of fun!

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  28. Yay! Yay! Yay! I am thrilled to have you all!

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  29. I think this is the push I needed to finally read it!

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  30. That picture doesn't look like the pictures of Fanny Burney that I've seen.

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  31. I read it in college and would love an excuse to read it again!

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  32. Really excited! I've been meaning to read it for some time and the group read would be just perfect!
    Ordering my copy tonight. :)

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  33. Hi. I'm on board! Can't wait for June book meetups. Hopefully I can download Evelina for free on my Nook. If not, then I'll get it from the library.

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  34. I'm so excited about this. I bought the book back when it was first mentioned and I read the first volume. I can hardly wait to re-read it and then finish the book with the group.

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  35. Hurray, you can't even imagine how psyched I am to have you all on board!

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  36. I've just discovered your blog and find it delightful. I ordered the Oxford version of Evelina, and to my surprise, sped all the way through it in just a couple of days! Looking forward to the discussion.

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  37. This sounds like so much fun! I've been wanting to read this for quite some time, and this is the perfect excuse.

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  38. Wonderful Heather. I will announce it on my blog next week. Not sure I can commit, but will try my best.

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  39. I'm on - I hope I make it thorugh all the chapters.

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  40. How perfectly marvelous! I've been looking for an excuse to reread Evelina (not that one is needed, really) and the timing is perfect.

    What a wonderful idea!

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  41. I am looking forward to reading this and hearing what everyone thinks. Thanks Heather!

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  42. Yes! Yes! Yes! I've been loving your blog and now that I have had a few minutes to spend more time here I stumbled across this and I'm so excited. what fun. I dashed out to my van and grabbed my Kindle and I'm ready to go.

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  43. Question: my copy of the novel isn't divided into volumes, so I'm having a bit of trouble with the letter numbers we're supposed to read to. If it would be too much trouble, could you tell me how many letters are in each volume? I could calculate things from there, I think.

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  44. Aha! I think I may actually be prepared for this. Which edition do you have and does it end with letter LXXXIV aka 84?

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  45. I have the Girlebooks version, and yes, the last letter I have is LXXXIV.

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  46. This is a re-read for me, but that's good because I've forgotten mostly everything!

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  47. Yay! This has been on my to-read list forever!

    And how cool is it that to post this comment my word verification is "minx"? ;)

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  48. That is cool! If I could have things my way Minx would always be the verification word of this blog!

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  49. As I've mentioned on the goodreads event page you sent, I'm really excited about this. Have been meaning to read it for a long while!:D

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  50. Once again, I can't stop saying how happy I am to have you all!

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  51. Really looking forward to this! :)

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  52. Looking forward to this...I will be in the middle of a move, but think I can manage! Thanks for the opportunity

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  53. Just finished volume one, surprisingly engrossed.

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  54. How did I miss this getting posted...so glad I saw it in time. Will begin my re-read today...so excited to see how other react to the book. Thanks for hosting!

    Courtney

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  55. Just the encouragement I needed to finally pick this one up!

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  56. Just added a link to the group read to my own blog here:

    http://marquise-elle.blogspot.com/2011/05/evelina-group-read.html

    This is a perfectly marvelous idea! I'm so glad you've put this together.

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  57. I just got the book last night! I am off to read, right now. :)
    Que fun!

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  58. Just stumbled upon this! I've been meaning to read Evelina for ages. Never done a group read, but it sounds fun. I shall see if I can get hold of a copy.

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  59. Back (after a hectic year of neglectfulness to the GG) and really looking forward to the salons

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  60. I think I might indulge in that silk sound reading. Yes, quite definitely...

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  61. I just bought it and so far it's been worth the money!

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  62. I have only just found this blog but would love to join in. I have not yet read Evelina so am looking forward to it.

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