I've been thinking about this because I don’t usually do much research before reading. So I’m curious, how do you approach a new story? I hope it's not too many questions😅

• Do you usually do research about a book before reading it? For example, do you look into the author's intentions, deeper meanings and so on? → What's your goal or intention when you do that kind of research?

• How do you avoid spoilers? I personally hate spoilers and I'm always afraid of accidentally coming across one while researching. That's probably the main reason I don't really do it.

• Do you maybe do your research after finishing the book instead?

• How do you know if it's recommended to learn more about a book before reading it?

A bit of context: I saw a club post from AFlockOfFuries (“What's your book discourse pet peeve?”) and noticed some interesting discussion points (which were completely valid) that made me wonder how much you should know about a story before going into it. I'm not criticizing at all — I'm genuinely curious and would love to hear your perspectives and maybe learn a thing or two☺️

If there's already been a discussion about this (not about researching an author), please point me to it — I might've just missed it or searched with the wrong keywords.

this is possibly the first cold morning here before an absolute fuck ton.

do you guys have any books or genres you tend to reach for the first autumn/winter morning?

Much has been said about Euripides' relationship with religion, both in his own time and in modern scholarship. But I find the imagine of a quasi- or literal atheist who is hostile to his gods to be unfounded, if funny when Aristophanes presents it. But he criticises them - Artemis' words to Aphrodite in Hippolytus is so cold and cruel, for example - and I think this is where this idea comes from. Personally, however, I detect a different sort of relationship between the gods and Euripides. In his work, in his constant thematising them, in his unwillingness to let go I detect a yearning to believe in a divine power that cares, that doesn't just use and abuse simply because it can. No wonder, then, why he sets the titular character of Orestes up into a situation where nothing sort of divine intervention can help: this is what he longs to believe in. Then, shortly before his death, the Bacchae. Iphigenia in Aulis. Need I say more? I don't think he found what he needed, but these last plays give me the sense that he made peace with Zeus and co, all the same. He must have hoped they made peace with his continuous criticism, which he kept up to the bitter end, too. But to me, his work occasionally feels like that one song, Like A Stone. He did indeed wait for them there, alone.

Those of you who use substack, what are your favourite literary publications? Personally I'm a fan of Classics Education, and I also follow The Spinsters' Book Blog, but I'd love to see if you know of any other good substacks to follow

Does anyone prefer hard cover, I personally like paperback it’s cheaper, I can hold the book easily, I don’t have to worry about a dust cover. But hard covers do look really nice idk, anyone have a specific preference?

Who's your favourite poet and which poems of theirs would you recommend to someone who wants to get into their work?

I'm usually a slow reader. I enjoy it that way, too. But sometimes one needs to read faster. Do you have any tips for that? How do you manage a better reading speed?