Archive for category Future Tours
Paris in the Spring: Emile Zola on Tour
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on March 4, 2010


Beginning Monday, April 5, 2010, Emile Zola will be going on a virtual tour of the blogosphere. Check out these participating blogs where you’ll find reviews of a number his works, as well as general information posts about this classic author.
We have two buttons for this tour. The first is taken from the painting called Paris Street: Rainy Day and painted in 1877 by Zola’s contemporary Gustave Caillebotte (see Wikipedia). The second, possibly more fitting, button is taken from an early cover of Zola’s novel Germinal (also used via Wikipedia public domain).
Tour participants should feel free to use the buttons to promote the Circuit on their blog; please download to your own computer first.
April 5, 2010 The Blog Jar Thérèse Raquin
April 5, 2010 Heidenkind’s Hideaway Nana
April 6, 2010 The Zen Leaf Germinal
April 6, 2010 Rebecca Reads The Masterpiece
April 7, 2010 Shelf Love Thérèse Raquin
April 7, 2010 Badgerish.Net Le Rêve [The Dream]
April 8, 2010 pages turned Germinal
April 8, 2010 Bibliosue Zola and the Dreyfus Affair
April 9, 2010 Bibliolatry Thérèse Raquin
April 10, 2010 Sparks’ Notes The Ladies Paradise
April 11, 2010 Reviews by Lola Nana
April 12, 2010 Pining for the West Germinal
April 12, 2010 Literary Lolita Thérèse Raquin
April 13, 2010 Books and Needlepoint Thérèse Raquin
April 14, 2010 Tales from the Reading Room Zola and Naturalism
April 14, 2010 Stiletto Storytime The Ladies’ Paradise [Au Bonheur des Dames] and Nana
April 15, 2010 Musings Thérèse Raquin
April 15, 2010 Good Books & Good Wine Germinal
April 16, 2010 BookNAround Nana
April 17, 2010 Lakeside Musing The Ladies’ Paradise
April 18, 2010 Medieval Bookworm Germinal
April 19, 2010 Wuthering Expectations Thérèse Raquin
April 19, 2010 A Striped Armchair The Ladies’ Paradise
April 20, 2010 Tell Me A Story Nana
April 20, 2010 Books and Chocolate The Belly of Paris
April 21, 2010 Caribousmom Thérèse Raquin
April 22, 2010 Paperback Reader Thérèse Raquin
April 22, 2010 The Reading Life Germinal
April 23, 2010 Evening All Afternoon Germinal (French edition)
April 24, 2010 Moored at Sea Comparison of Zola’s “L’Ouevre” and Huysman’s “A rebours”
April 25, 2010 BookLust The Fortune of the Rougons
Please note: If you are participating in this tour and the information above is incorrect or you need to make a change to your tour day, please let us know by leaving a comment or emailing classicscircuit[at]googlegroups[dot]com. Someone from the Committee will update the schedule.
If you missed sign up and you would like to be added to the schedule at this late point, let us know and we can still fit you in.
Zola (April) Classics Circuit Sign Up
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on February 18, 2010
The Classics Circuit is pleased to announce that your vote for Paris in the Spring authors was a tie! Since both Emile Zola and Alexandre Dumas are well worth reading and discussing, both French authors will tour the Circuit this Spring. Although you can sign up to read and then invite both authors to your site, don’t feel obligated to do so: the two tours will be slightly overlapping, so keep your own reading schedule and abilities in mind.
Today begins sign up for the Emile Zola tour, which will begin April 5 and run until April 23 or April 30, depending on the number of interested tour participants. Once sign up closes for this tour, we will open sign up for the Alexandre Dumas tour. The tours will be overlapping by a week or so (again, depending on the number of tour participants).
When you indicate that you want to participate, please keep in mind that we will assign you a date during the tour on which you should post. If you are unable to meet your assigned date, let us know and we can reassign you: otherwise, we’ll take you off the schedule. Please let us know when you sign up your preferred and/or unavailable days during the month.
Zola Circuit sign up will be open until the evening of Sunday, February 28. Sign up is now closed. If you would still like to join the tour, send an email to the tour leader at classicscircuit@googlegroups.com as soon as possible.
Information compiled by Rebecca of Rebecca Reads, Teresa of Shelf Love, Nicole of Linus’s Blanket, and Chris of book-a-rama.
Georgette Heyer on Tour: March 2010
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on February 6, 2010
Beginning Monday March 1, 2010, Georgette Heyer will be going on a virtual tour of the blogosphere. Check out these participating blogs where you’ll find reviews of a number her works, as well as general information posts about this classic author.
March 1, 2010 One Librarian’s Book Reviews Review: Frederica
March 1, 2010 Austenprose Review: Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester
March 2, 2010 Enchanted by Josephine Review: Beauvallet
March 3, 2010 Books and Chocolate Review: Behold, Here’s Poison
March 3, 2010 Michelle’s Masterful Musings Review: Devil’s Cub
March 4, 2010 Sparks’ Notes Review: Friday’s Girl
March 5, 2010 Tales from the Reading Room Review: The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge
March 6, 2010 BookNAround Review: The Grand Sophy
March 7, 2010 Windy Ridge Books Review: Why Shoot a Butler?
March 8, 2010 A Striped Armchair Review: The Unknown Ajax
March 8, 2010 A Book Lover Review: The Convenient Marriage
March 9, 2010 First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Review: The Black Sheep
March 10, 2010 Bibliosue Review: The Unfinished Clue and Royal Escape
March 11, 2010 Fleur Fisher Reads Review: No Wind of Blame
March 12, 2010 Reviews by Lola Review: Frederica
March 12, 2010 Reading, Writing, Working, Playing Review: Envious Casca
March 13, 2010 Life Is a Patchwork Quilt Review: My Lord John
March 14, 2010 Jenny’s Books Review: The Grand Sophy
March 15, 2010 Booklust Review: Penhallow
March 16, 2010 Carol’s Notebook Review: Cotillion
March 16, 2010 Musings Review: These Old Shades
March 17, 2010 Reading Adventures Review: Devil’s Cub
March 18, 2010 Blog Jar Review: Royal Escape
March 19, 2010 Reading, Writing and Retirement Review: Friday’s Child
March 20, 2010 Staircase Wit Review: The Grand Sophy or Devil’s Cub
March 21, 2010 Medieval Bookworm Review: Cotillion
March 22, 2010 Bibliolatry Review: Footsteps in the Dark
March 22, 2010 Linus’s Blanket Review: Frederica
March 23, 2010 Laura’s Reviews Review: The Foundling
March 24, 2010 Kay’s Bookshelf Undecided Heyer
March 25, 2010 Queen of Happy Endings Review: Arabella or Friday’s Child or The Grand Sophy or Cousin Kate
March 26, 2010 A Few More Pages Review: The Nonesuch
March 27, 2010 A Reader’s Respite Review: The Conquerer
March 28, 2010 Tell Me a Story Review: Faro’s Daughter or The Grand Sophy or Devil’s Cub or Arabella or The Talisman Ring
March 28, 2010 Stephanie’s Confessions of a Bookaholic Review: Footsteps in the Dark or Why Shoot a Butler?
March 29, 2010 Sasha & the Silverfish Review: Arabella
March 30, 2010 Becky’s Book Reviews Review: Venetia or Sylvester
March 30, 2010 Shelf Love Review: A Civil Contract
March 31, 2010 book-a-rama Review: A Lady of Quality
Please note: If you are participating in this tour and the information above is incorrect or you need to make a change to your tour day, please let us know by leaving a comment or emailing rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com or the Committee member who initially emailed you. Also, if you would like to be added to the schedule at this late point, let us know and we can still fit you in.
Compiled by Chris at book-a-rama.
March Classics Circuit Sign Up: Georgette Heyer
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on January 20, 2010
In March, we will be welcoming Georgette Heyer to the Classics Circuit!
Georgette Heyer wrote a number of different kinds of novels, so we are excited to celebrate her talent. While she is known for her romances, she also wrote historical novels and mysteries/thrillers. We hope you can find something that you’d like to read! Estella at Estella’s Revenge wrote about her multiple forays into Georgette Heyer’s novels. If you are looking for where to start, her article might help you figure out which way to go.
We’d love if you did decide to join us in March for the Heyer tour, but if you aren’t interested Heyer, go ahead and read the author you’d voted for on your own. We’re all about celebrating any kind of classics around the blogosphere!
The March Georgette Heyer tour will run daily from March 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010. Please make a note on the sign up of any days that you cannot participate or any days that you prefer so we can assign you a day that will work for you.
A great big thanks to Teresa at Shelf Love, Eva at A Striped Armchair, Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews, Kay at Kay’s Bookshelf, Chris at Book-a-rama, and the entire Classics Circuit committee for helping get this tour off the ground!
Sign Up is closed.
The Harlem Renaissance on Tour: The February 2010 Circuit
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on January 13, 2010
Beginning Monday February 1, 2010, The Harlem Renaissance will be going on a virtual tour of the blogosphere. Check out these participating blogs where you’ll find reviews of a number of works, as well as general information posts about classic authors that influenced the era.
February 1, 2010 Shelf Love The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
February 2, 2010 Evening All Afternoon Cane by Jean Toomer
February 3, 2010 Daily Words and Acts Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
February 4, 2010 Paperback_Reader Passing and/or Quicksand by Nella Larsen
February 4, 2010 BookNAround The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories by Charles Chesnutt
February 6, 2010 Moored at Sea Overview: Negritude and the Harlem Renaissance
February 6, 2010 Joyfully Retired His Eye is On the Sparrow by Ethel Waters (autobiography) and the life of Ethel Waters
February 8, 2010 Sparks’ Notes Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset
February 9, 2010 The Zen Leaf Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston
February 10, 2010 Books and Chocolate Passing by Nella Larsen
February 11, 2010 Laura’s Reviews Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
February 11, 2010 Musings The Ways of White Folks: Stories by Langston Hughes
February 12, 2010 Bibliosue Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
February 13, 2010 Rebecca Reads Black No More by George Schuyler
February 14, 2010 eclectic / eccentric Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance by Bruce Nugent and an overview of African-American homosexuality during the Renaissance
February 15, 2010 Nonsuch Book Harlem Renaissance poetry from Fire!
February 16, 2010 Notes from the North The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
February 17, 2010 Becky’s Book Reviews Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
February 17, 2010 Notorious Spinks Talks Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance by Bruce Nugent and the movie Brother to Brother
February 18, 2010 The Things We Read Passing by Nella Larsen
February 19, 2010 Reviews by Lola Passing by Nella Larsen
February 20, 2010 Gimme More Books! The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher
February 21, 2010 book-a-rama Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
February 22, 2010 Michelle’s Masterful Musings When Washington Was in Vogue by Edward Christopher Williams
February 23, 20101 BrownGirl BookSpeak There Is Confusion by Jessie Fauset
February 24, 2010 Wuthering Expectations The Conjure Woman by Charles Chesnutt
February 25, 2010 Linus’s Blanket Stories by Zora Neale Hurston
February 26, 2010 My Friend Amy Quicksand by Nella Larson
February 26, 2010 things mean a lot Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
February 27, 2010 Bookgazing Gentleman Jigger by Bruce Nugent
February 28, 2010 BookLust The House Behind the Cedars by Charles Chesnutt
Please note: If you are participating in this tour and the information above is incorrect or you need to make a change to your tour day, please let us know by leaving a comment or emailing rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com or the Committee member who initially emailed you. Also, if you would like to be added to the schedule at this late point, let us know and we can still fit you in.
February 2010: Harlem Renaissance Introduction and Sign Up
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on December 16, 2009

Yesterday, we introduced the historical background of the Harlem Renaissance. Today begins the sign up for that tour! See below to sign up. Sign up is closed.
Some people have expressed worry that they don’t know much about the options for this tour: the Harlem Renaissance is not something that they are incredibly familiar with. To tell you the truth, we aren’t experts either.
However, we have taken some time to pull together what we feel is a rather comprehensive list of writers, philosophers, and artists, that we think would make this tour fun. Although we haven’t read most of these works, we’ve done research through Wikipedia and other websites, found quotes from readers on what they liked about each author’s works, and tried to cover a variety of territory. We have list for the beginning of the movement, the poets, the fiction, and other options for the tour.
Harlem Renaissance: Other Options
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on December 16, 2009
If you’d like to go a different direction for this Classic Circuit Tour, you can try something other than reading one of the author’s books. Here are some ideas to help you, from reading general information about the movement to studying about the visual artists and musical artists behind it.
Harlem Renaissance: Fiction
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on December 16, 2009
Although Zora Neale Hurston is probably the most recognized novelist to come out of Harlem, she began her writing career with folktale studies, and her novels reflect that. Jessie Redmon Fauset and Nella Larsen wrote novels focusing on middle class women. Wallace Thurman ’s The Blacker the Berry looks at discrimination among black people, and Walter White’s novel looks at the discrimination in the South.
Harlem Renaissance authors wrote in every genre. Randolph Fisher wrote a Harlem-based mystery novel. George Schuyler wrote dystopian science fiction. Arna Bontemps wrote historical fiction. Claude McKay’s novels captured the “gritty” side of life in Harlem, from alcohol and murder, and Richard Bruce Nugent was the African-American to write about open homosexuals, focusing on life in Harlem in the 1920s.
In short, in addition to the lesser-known short story and drama writers, there are plenty of fiction options to choose from in the Harlem Renaissance!
Harlem Renaissance: Poets
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on December 16, 2009
Once African-Americans had an audience through periodicals and the community in Harlem, poetry flowered. It’s important to note that most of the individuals we consider “poets of the Harlem Renaissance” also wrote fiction (novels and short stores) and nonfiction or anthologies. The Harlem Renaissance created all sorts of writers.
Langston Hughes is probably the first poet people think of, since he was an active writer and social activist during the Renaissance. His novels, stories, and plays are also notable. Claude McKay was already a published poet when he moved to Harlem, and he also contributed some novels to the movement. Jean Toomer’s poetic novel Cane (1923) was also a milestone for African-American literature in the 1920s.
Countee Cullen and Arna Bontemps were also noted poets, the later a great friend of Langston Hughes. Both also wrote children’s literature after the Harlem Renaissance ended. A few less well-known poets and writers also made a significant contribution.
Harlem Renaissance: The Beginning of the Movement
Posted by Rebecca Reid in Future Tours, Tour Schedule on December 16, 2009
The Harlem Renaissance began because African Americans were thinking about race relations in America.
W.E.B. Du Bois wrote some nonfiction before, during, and after the Renaissance that helped shape some of the political thought, such as his The Souls of Black Folk. In the early years of the century, James Weldon Johnson’s poetry became a “national anthem” for African-Americans, and his semi-autobiographical The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, was a landmark, although it was published anonymously because of Johnson’s race; it’s telling that just 15 years later he could republish it fully claiming his identity.
Add Charles Chesnutt’s early novels and political leadership with the NAACP, some less well-known social activists and writers, and the 1925 anthology of African-American writing edited by Alain Locke, and the Harlem Renaissance was well underway.



Recent Comments