Hey folks, much to my surprise (and glee) my post about my first pick from the book jar being The Wings of the Dove led to two wonderful readers – Pam at Travellin’ Penguin and Lisa at Bluestalking – offering to give the first fifty pages or so a go along with me so we could support each others and share thoughts. I hadn’t really thought about this as a potential synchronised read but just in case there’s anyone else who fancies tackling this one with us I am going to throw the offer out there…

Looking at my secondhand Penguin edition it looks like the best natural reading break to give the book a fair attempt to woo the reader is the end of Book Two which is page 70 in my edition.

Copies of TWOTD are cheap and plentiful secondhand, your library probably has a copy or two and it’s up on Project Gutenberg etc. I already have a secondhand copy, Pam has a Kindle copy loaded up and I think Lisa is securing a copy in the next day or two so I’m going to suggest starting on Monday (18th) and I’ll put up a post on Friday (22nd) to capture thoughts on that opening chunk. Even if no one else joins us this time around it’ll be fun to compare notes from three readers from England, Tasmania and the USA!

Anyone who’s recently tackled the book is very welcome to chime in and offer thoughts – positive or negative. It’s worth pointing out that although I am a little nervous of James’ elaborate style the thing I love most about book blogging is seeing other perspectives – if you’re a Henry James fan you’re just as welcome here as those who have struggled with him. How else do we learn if not by questioning our opinions? :)