The Woman in White Readalong Sign-ups:

I am pleased to announce that in January 2011 I will be hosting a readalong of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. I am extremely excited to be reading this novel, as I have heard so many wonderful things about it around the blogosphere.

I hope you will consider joining in on the fun and get a wonderful classic read at the beginning of new year (we all need some classic love in our lives).

I have never read anything by Collins before, so this will be a new experience. In fact, I don't have a copy of this title on my shelves yet! I asked for the beautiful Penguin clothbound edition for Christmas and I will be sure to go purchase it if need be. I am going to make my plans for this readalong based on the information I find online (I generally like to have the book by me when I plan these things, but I can't do that in this case).

If you are considering joining in, here is a little synopsis of the novel taken from Goodreads.com:

"The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.

Masterfully constructed, The Woman in White is dominated by two of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction: Marion Halcombe, dark, mannish, yet irresistibly fascinating, and Count Fosco, the sinister and flamboyant "Napoleon of Crime.""

Sounds like a wonderful read for a cold winter night, right?

The book is roughly 600 or so pages, so we'll divide it down the middle. I would recommend looking to see where there is a break around the 300 pages mark and calling it halfway. :)

There will be two times to post on the following days:

• January 14-17, 2011: This post will focus on the first half of the book (roughly 300 pages or so)
• January 28-31 2011: This post will focus on the second half of the book (roughly 300 pages or so)

Since I am hosting 2 other readalongs in January (War and Peace and Rebecca), I am making your posting dates a little spread out. I will do my very best to have my post up with my thoughts and observations on the first day.

If you decide to participate, here is what you need to do. First, you need to comment here letting me know that you want in. I will put your name below with a link to your blog so we can all come cheer you on. When it comes time to post, all you need to do is comment on my main post with a link to your own thoughts about the novel. I'll add links to the bottom of my page so other participants can visit your blog and comment.

I don't require participants to read everyone's thoughts, but it is more fun to visit and comment as much as possible.

I do ask that if possible you post a link on your blog somewhere promoting the readalong. I always say that the more participants, the better.

And everyone who succeeds in finishing the novel and makes their posts is eligible for a small prize, furnished by me.

So, if you are interested, comment below and let me know! I hope to see you joining! :)

Participants:
Kate
Christina
Zoe
Carey
April
Edie
Medical Librarian
Amanda
Tahleen
Liz
IndieReader
Denise
Aimee Burton
Jo
Andi