Archive for June, 2010

Imperial Russian Literature Tour Begins Tomorrow

I thank all of you for your feedback. It looks like we’ll hold off on the Meiji-era Japanese tour until the fall so those who are tied up in August will still be able to participate.

In the meantime, however, we still have the White Nights on the Neva: Imperial Russian Literature tour beginning tomorrow! To try to simplify things, we will not be having weekly “This week in the tour” posts. I’ll make the main schedule for the Russian tour as a sticky post so if you you check this blog every day, you’ll be able to see the entire tour schedule and find the blogs that the tour is visiting. Also, see the button on the right side — that will also get you to the main schedule.

Happy Russian reading! I’m really looking forward to this great tour.

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Poll: August Japanese Classic Tour Participation

In the Northern Hemisphere, at least, it is summer and sunshine may be beckoning us away from the computer. Besides that, it seems many are becoming increasingly busy with Book Blogger Appreciation Week responsibilities and festivities and other online responsibilities. For these reasons, I’m pondering letting The Classics Circuit take a break until late September or October.

I had intended to open sign up this week for the Land of the Rising Sun: Meiji-era Japanese Literature tour. This tour leaves the West, where we have been, and gives us a glimpse of some classic Eastern literature, particularly that of 1868-1920 Japan. It include the classic and prolific novelist Natsume Soseki (of Kusamakura and I Am A Cat fame), poets like Masaoka Shiki, and short story writers like Naoya Shiga and Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

However, if this time of year is bad for you, then I’m happy to postpone the tour until a different time of the year, when more might be able to join in. Please take the one question survey below. If people seem interested, we’ll go ahead with the sign up later this week (probably Wednesday). If not, we’ll let The Classics Circuit have a little summer break.

(Note that after you answer the question, the survey asks for your name and email. This is a function of the survey plugin, and I do not know how to turn it off. Please do not fell any obligation to add your name to your answer; it does not matter to me!)

Survey ended

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The Golden Age of Detective Fiction in Retrospect

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in our Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour! Here’s a list of all the stops, so you can check out anything you missed:

May 17, 2010

Rebecca Reads Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

May 18, 2010 

Reviews by Lola Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Joyfully Retired Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

May 20, 2010

Staircase Wit The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

Tales of a Capricious Reader Death in the Air by Agatha Christie

May 21, 2010

Tell Me A Story Ngaio Marsh – Her Life in Crime by Joanne Drayton and Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

May 22, 2010

Bibliosue The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

May 23, 2010

A Few More Pages The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

May 24, 2010

BookLust A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

piningforthewest Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes

May 25, 2010

The Blog Jar Black Plumes by Margery Allingham

May 26, 2010

52 Annual Book Reviews Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes

Fleur Fisher Reads The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

May 27, 2010

Brown Paper The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth

May 28, 2010

A Work in Progress The Mystery of Hunting’s End by Mignon Eberhart

May 29, 2010

Life is a Patchwork Quilt Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie (autobiography)

May 30, 2010

book-a-rama Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie

May 31, 2010

Sparks’ Notes Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

things mean a lot The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

June 1, 2010

Notes from the North The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

an adventure in reading Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

June 2, 2010

Reading Through Life Reflections on whether it’s appropriate to teach an Agatha Christie novel (And Then There Were None) to inner-city high school students

June 3, 2010

The Zen Leaf And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

June 4, 2010

So Many Books The Ampersand Papers by Michael Innes

Time Enough at Last Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

June 5, 2010

Lizzy’s Literary Life The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Badgerish.net Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 6, 2010

Musings A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

June 7, 2010

Stiletto Storytime The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

In Spring it is the Dawn The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

June 8, 2010

Classic Mysteries Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly

June 9, 2010

My Friend Amy The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton

Books and Chocolate Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout

June 10, 2010

Bibliolatry The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Shelf Love Before the Fact by Francis Iles

June 11, 2010

justaddbooks Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

Linus’s Blanket Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie

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This Week in the Circuit

It’s the last week of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction tour. Here are the final stops for the tour. Thanks to everyone who participated, and we hope you’ve all enjoyed following the tour!

June 7, 2010 Stiletto Storytime The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

June 7, 2010 In Spring it is the Dawn The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

June 8, 2010 A Book Lover Whose Body and/or The Whimsical Christian by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 8, 2010 Classic Mysteries Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly

June 9, 2010 My Friend Amy The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton

June 9, 2010 Books and Chocolate The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr

June 10, 2010 Bibliolatry The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

June 10, 2010 Shelf Love Before the Fact by Francis Iles

June 11, 2010 justaddbooks Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

June 11, 2010 Linus’s Blanket Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie

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