During May we’ll be reading The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle for our Read-a-Long. A little mystery and intrigue to be finished in one month – after a long and thinky three month commitment. Who’s in?
Please note: I would greatly appreciate you reading through “How It Works” at the bottom of the page before signing on… it’s most helpful to me to have you do so.
Quick Facts About the Read-a-Long:
- You do not have to be a book blogger to join.
- We will be reading the book in May (five weeks), with the first discussion happening on Friday, May 3rd/ the book is roughly 170 pages (depending on which edition you read) so that’s roughly 34 pages a week; about 5 pages a day.
- Don’t be intimidated. We will be going at a slow pace and discussing the book throughout our reading. The discussions are quite fun, and make the reading process very enjoyable!
What is The Hound of the Baskervilles about?
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound.
In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s “best-loved novel.” (via Wikipedia)
About the author, Arthur Conan Doyle:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels…. more
Please let me know in the comments section of this post if you are interested! Hope you’ll join us, the more the merrier! Below is a break down of the reading schedule. Our first discussion will start THIS FRIDAY, May 3rd). Please take care to sign up with the EXACT name you are using for the rest of the read-a-long (meaning, you will be commenting using that name only for the rest of the read-a-long, see below in “How it Works” for information on why that is important).
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The following is the reading and posting schedule for this read-a-long. Please note, we will be reading roughly 34 pages per week (about 5 pages a day). Because it is always easier for us to stop at chapters (rather than on page numbers, because of different editions), I’ve had to round to the nearest chapter each week. Please look at the week’s page amount to best plan your reading in order to keep up.
Schedule:
Beginning Today and ending Friday, 31st.
READING SCHEDULE:
Week #/ Where to Stop (For example, in week one STOP and place your bookmark at Chapter IV.)
Week One/ Chapter IV
Week Two/ Chapter VII
Week Three/ Chapter X
Week Four/ Chapter XIII
Week Five/The End
POSTING SCHEDULE:
Post #/ date discussion post will be up on blog:
Start-Up Post/ Today!
Week One/ May 3rd
Week Two/ May 10th
Week Three/ May 17th
Week Four/ May 24th
Week Five/ May 31st (Final Review)
** Please don’t forget to come to this blog each week to share your thoughts in the comments section of the weekly Read-a-Long discussion (see below for more information).**
How it Works:
- Each week, on Friday, I will post my thoughts about the week’s reading. You will have from Friday through the following Thursday to post yours. If you are stuck on what to comment about, you can respond to my post or others’ comments. Regardless, you MUST check in each week (two weeks without a response and you will be taken off of the list — see below for details on why). You may have only one “off week” (which may not be the last week of reading for obvious reasons) and still be kept on the list, but you must let me know in the comment section by saying something like, “This is my off week — I am catching up!” Please note that, in order to be counted, your offering to the discussion must be about the current weeks’ reading, not about past weeks. ***For all week’s discussions please refrain from posting ahead, even if you have read ahead, as to not spoil the book for others***
- As these Read-a-Longs grow, so do the amount of people who participate – yay, all the more fun!!! Also, all the more keeping track of who is still reading. As you know – if you have been absent from discussion for two weeks, you will be removed from the list. However, now, in order to get back on the list, you need to a.) Have missed no more than two weeks of discussion, b.) Let me know you would like to be on the list again, and c.) Consistently be part of the discussion for the next two weeks after requesting to be put back on the list. Am I trying to be mean? Absolutely not! I LOVE having you all read a long. It is, however, a lot of work to keep track of who’s still reading. To keep taking names off and putting them back on the list becomes tedious. Most importantly though, consistency is good for the group; we tend to get to know each other through discussions and rely on the conversation to keep us reading. Since I don’t do these read-a-longs to gain followers (I do them because the benefit of reading certain books with a group of dedicated people is often superior to reading them alone), I prefer to have a committed group – even if it is smaller. Reading with undedicated people is worst of all, which is why I care less about numbers and more about dedication to the book and the discussions. (Bonus! At the end of each read-a-long, those who have completed the entire read-a-long are eligible to be entered into the giveaway that correlates to the book… another reason why it is important for me to keep up with who is reading.)
- If you are a blogger, feel free to post a link to your blog if you are posting about each of the each week’s reading. If I, or other readers, have extra time we will gladly try to visit your blog; however, you must make sure to share your thoughts here on this blog, and be part of the main conversation or your comment will not be counted. This is to make sure that our conversation is easily accessible to everyone who is reading, and also to keep it from becoming disjointed.
- Comments from the previous week’s reading will be closing Thursday afternoon (before the next discussion takes place on Friday). If you would like to be part of the discussion, please remember to comment before then.
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