It's time to nominate for the August group read. This time the nominations don't just have to be British authors. So long as the book was published between 1837 and 1907 then all nationalities are welcome for nomination.

One nomination per person please and feel free to try and sell your nomination to others by putting a little paragraph about why you want to read it / what it's about etc if you want.

Nominations close on 5th July and then voting opens for 5 days.

Happy nominating!

Okay, I'll be the first and nominate The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton.

I'll nominate Middlemarch by George Eliot. I am sure many have already read it; some may not have read it and we can certainly all participate in a discussion about this great book.

Otherwise, I will second Lee's nomination of The Custom of the Country by Wharton.

I second lee's and wanda's suggestion of Wharton's The Custom of the County> I haven't read much of Wharton's work and would like to.

Well I would be really happy to read either one of those so yay for us!

Wanda I was thinking about nominating Middlemarch but thought that most people had read it already. I'm glad you did it.

Lee wrote: "Well I would be really happy to read either one of those so yay for us!

Wanda I was thinking about nominating Middlemarch but thought that most people had read it already. I'm glad you did it. "
I haven't read either one. I enjoyed Wharton's Summer and would be happy to read either one.

I'll second the nomination of Middlemarch. It's a fantastic book.

I read Custom of the Country with a discussion group about two years ago, and frankly didn't enjoy it that much, though others in the group did. Though it didn't generate as much discussion as some of the other books the group had read.

I'd be happy with either Wharton or Eliot, since it seems like a lot of people in this group are huge fans of both. But what about Tolstoy's Anna Karenina? People might prefer something shorter after Villette, but I think AK would make a fantastic group read (if not now, perhaps later) since it is such a huge, complex book. It might be especially fun, though, to read it either right before or right after Wharton's The Age of Innocence, since the two books share so many themes.

The novel has a very complex plot, so I won't try to summarize it here, but in short it is the story of several interconnected families of the Russian aristocracy. The novel opens with a very basic thesis: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." From there, the novel traces how these different families either find or lose happiness. It is set against a backdrop in which the feudal, agricultural system is coming under assault by Western European ideas about democracy and a classless society, so much of the novel is also a political discussion about the future state of Russia.

Just as a teaser, here's an excerpt of one of the first descriptions of Anna:

"Anna was not in lilac, as Kitty had so urgently wished, but in a black, low- cut, velvet gown, showing her full shoulders and bosom, that looked as though carved in old ivory, and her rounded arms, with tiny, slender hands . . . Kitty had been seeing Anna every day; she adored her, and had pictured her invariably in lilac. But now, seeing her in black, she felt that she had not fully perceived her charm. She saw her now as someone quite new and surprising to her. Now she understood that Anna could not have been in lilac, and that her charm was precisely in that she always stood out against her attire, that her dress could never be noticeable on her. And her black dress, with its sumptuous lace, was not noticeable on her; it was only the frame and all that was seen was she - simple, natural, elegant, and at the same time gay and animated."

I'm going to throw in a strange one I ran across recently, just to mix things up a bit. It's called Uncle Silas and it's by J.S. LeFanu who was Anglo-Irish. It's described as a "terror" novel. Maybe it would be good for October (for Americans anyway). I haven't read it and have no idea if it's any good, but it's just another option.

Darcy, I would love to read Anna Karenina with the group. Was that an official nomination? I have a copy here waiting for the right moment.

Andrea, Uncle Silas looks quite creepy and has a lot of good reviews. Even the cover is scary looking.

Some great nominations so far! I'd be happy to read any of those. I haven't nominated myself yet - I'm still thinking about it.

I would like to nominate Lady Audley’s Secret written in 1862. It was one of the most widely read novels in the Victorian period and is known as a sensation novel as it features a beautiful criminal heroine, an amateur detective, blackmail, arson, violence, and plenty of suspenseful action. To its contemporary readers, it also offered the thrill of uncovering blackmail and criminal violence within the homes of the upper class. The novel makes trenchant critiques of Victorian gender roles and social stereotypes, and it creates significant sympathy for the heroine, despite her criminal acts, as she suffers from the injustices of the "marriage market" and rebels against them. Mary E Braddon, the author, was a prolific writer and churned out many titles - I remember my grandmother (born 1899) reading her avidly. Sadly, she has fallen out of favour recently although Lady Audley's Secret was recently dramatised on BBC's Radio 4 and I think was on the London stage a while ago. In fact, I'm off to research a bit more.

I'm new here, so I don't know what books have been chosen for group read before.
As I haven't read that many British Victorians, I'd prefer to read the major works of that era first, and then slowly working my way through some of the minor works. I would like to read Vanity Fair by Thackeray with this group, if it has not been read before.

I also love the Russian Victorians, and if enough people are interested, I suggest War and Peace by Tolstoy.

Quote from War and Peace :

"Prince Andrew understood that this was said of him and that it was Napoleon who said it. He heard the speaker addressed as Sire. But he heard the words as he might have heard the buzzing of a fly. Not only did they not interest him, but he took no notice of them and at once forgot them. His head was burning, he felt himself bleeding to death, and he saw above him the remote, lofty, and everlasting sky. He knew it was Napoleon- his hero- but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant creature compared with what was passing now between himself and that lofty infinite sky with the clouds flying over it."

Imho, the best novel ever written and not that difficult to read, really --- just long.

Clare, Lady Audley's Secret was read as a group back in March, sorry. It got really good reviews though and the group discussions can still be found on Previous Group Reads thread so if you do read it you can still post and chat with people. Great suggestion though. Do you want to pick something else instead?

Sandybanks, neither Vanity Fair or War and Peace have been discussed here yet. Which one would you prefer to nominate?

Many excellent suggestions: I would second "Middlemarch." Eliot is always worth reading and discussing. As to Tolstoy's novels, the problem I have with groups reading non-English novels is that translations often differ radically. Sometimes we are really discussing different translators, rather than the novels themselves.

Boof wrote: "Clare, Lady Audley's Secret was read as a group back in March, sorry. It got really good reviews though and the group discussions can still be found on Previous Group Reads thread so if you do ..."

Boof, my first preference is for Vanity Fair, since I haven't read it. But if we are going to read something Russian, I prefer that we read W & P.

I have read W & P with another group and although we used two different translations, it was not really a big issue. Of course, it would be better if everyone could use the same translation for the sake of uniformity.

Middlemarch is a great choice, and would be an interesting book to discuss. Oh, how about The Mill on the Floss? Since some us are planning to read that in mid-July, is it possible to nominate it too?

I dont mind re-reading The Mill on the Floss. I loved it and would really like to have a discussion on that. My other suggestion is Vanity Fair. I've been wanting to read that book...

You can nominate whatever you like so long as it's one nom each and it falls in the victoiran period.

As to Mill on the Floss , Lee are you still planning on reading that mid-July? Even if we do it doesn't mean that it can't go into the group vote for August so that's fine to nominate.

So far we have:

The Custom of the Country - Edith Wharton
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Vanity Fair - W M Thackeray
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Mill on the Floss - Geaorge Eliot

A nice little selection there. Anyone want to add anything else?

Sandybanks wrote: I also love the Russian Victorians, and if enough people are interested, I suggest War and Peace by Tolstoy.

I read _War and Peace_ for the fifth time a year ago, but I'm always ready to read it again.

I'd like to add a neo-Victorian, if that's an option? I've been meaning to re-read Possession A Romance after having read some of Christina Rossetti's poetry earlier this year and in hopes of finding a copy of Browning's The Ring and the Book. I love the Victorian poets and Possession is a fantastic take on both the sensibilities of Victorian England and an analysis of its poetry. It's also a great critique of professional scholarship. It also won a Booker prize and the Victorian portion is told entirely through the "primary sources" of the Victorian era characters. I think it would be great to discuss the book with a group that is so well versed in real Victorian literature.

Side note, does Custom of the Country count as Victorian? It was published in 1913.

I'd like to nominate Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo.

Oooh, I'd been psyching myself up to read Les Mis in the next 2 months. This is getting interesting!

OK, unfortunately we can't include Custom of the Country as Elizabeth pointed out that it was published in 1913. I'm afraid that in this case we can't include Posession A Romance for the same reason (not being published in vicotorian times).

HOWEVER:

Does anyone want to have a neo-Victorian group vote in a month or so (once we've done with the August read)? Either that, or we could plan a little read of it for all those who want to. I read a book of Christina Rossetti poems back in January and I loved her work so I, for one, would be up for that.

Also, Lee, I'm up for a read of a Wharton again soon if you are. I've only read Summer and Ethan Frome and loved both so just name the book and the day.

I would like to nominate Germinal - it's an 1885 novel by Émile Zola and is considered to be one of the best novels ever written in the French Language. Widely available to purchase from all the usual sources and a stonking good read.

There is a goodreads group just for Edith Wharton if you're really interested in reading more of her books. There hasn't been a lot of activity recently but if you're all interested in joining, I'm sure it would become very active.

If not Possession (which I'd still be up for reading - that's a great suggestion, Boof), then I'm all for Germinal, which I've always meant to read, or something by George Sand. I've read Horace, which I thought was just fantastic. I'd love to read something else. What about Elle Et Lui? (Ever see the film Impromptu?)

Thanks for the tip about the Wharton group - I'm going to hunt that down and join :o)

So many good books. I want to read Germinal too. I have only read one Zola so far but I have 2 more at home and they have been calling me.

This is going to be a really tough call.

Boof, if Mill on the Floss doesn't win the vote, I still want to read it whenever you and Sandybanks are ready.

May I please nominate Jane Eyre?

I know quite a few of you will have read it but I'm hoping there might be some newbies out there like me that haven't :)

Susanna wrote: "I'd like to nominate Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo."

Les Mis is a strong contender for reading and discussion by the Classics and the Western Canon group later this year. It probably should be read in only one group, and those interested from whichever group isn't reading it as a scheduled read can visit the group that is.

Mayor of Casterbridge. Hardy Think it would be great for dicussion

I'd love to do a neo-Victorian book, especially since we have such a nice list of them on another thread!

Lee, if Mill on the Floss doesn't win then I'm still for reading it this month anyway.

Mandy, I heart you for nominating Jane Eyre my all time favourite (I heart you anyway!) :o)

Lee wrote: "Boof, if Mill on the Floss doesn't win the vote, I still want to read it whenever you and Sandybanks are ready."
Lee, Sandybanks and Boof, I am also ready to read it.

Laura wrote: "Lee wrote: "Boof, if Mill on the Floss doesn't win the vote, I still want to read it whenever you and Sandybanks are ready."
Lee, Sandybanks and Boof, I am also ready to read it.

"

Count me in too.

Yep, me too!

Laura wrote: "Lee wrote: "Boof, if Mill on the Floss doesn't win the vote, I still want to read it whenever you and Sandybanks are ready."
Lee, Sandybanks and Boof, I am also ready to read it.

"

And I. I've read Middlemarch more recently than Mill.

Sandybanks wrote: "I'm new here, so I don't know what books have been chosen for group read before.
As I haven't read that many British Victorians, I'd prefer to read the major works of that era first, and then slow..."

I second vanity fair

I vote for any George Eliot book...I am just reading Middlemarch and plan to read The Mill on the Floss next. I love Middlemarch! What a genius GE is!

It sounds like a lot of folks are interested in George Eliot's "Middlemarch". One can hardly go wrong with that. There's a lot of scholarly analysis and criticism out there that could make for some pretty interesting discussions here too.

An author that no one has mentioned (I don't believe) is Anthony Trollope. I might suggest that Trollope's "He Knew He Was Right" or "The Way We Live Now" be given consideration.

As I haven't the foggiest what has been done in previous group reads, I'd also like to suggest that Elizabeth Gaskell's "Wives and Daughters", Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", or Charlotte Bronte's "Villette" be considered.

No matter what book is chosen I look forward to actively participating. This is precisely why I am here on goodreads.com

Hi Christopher, thanks for your suggestions. We are discussing Villette at the moment but all the others you have mentions are great nominations. We are only allowed one nomination each though so do you want to pick one from those?

Yikes! I apologize that I missed that you're reading "Villette" now; my bad!

Well, for the sake of making things interesting, I'll put forward Trollope's "He Knew He Was Right".

Cheers! Chris

I'd like to read He Knew He was Right. Wives and Daughters and Tenet of Wildfell Hall are two of my all time favorites. It would be great to read those again.

Hey Boof, could you add Uncle Silas by LeFanu to the list of nominations?

Nominations are now closed.

Voting starts today and ends on 10th of July. The group read will then begin discussions on 1st August.

Thanks for everyones votes. It's going to be hard to pick from this little lot.

Christopher wrote: "As I haven't the foggiest what has been done in previous group reads,..."

Assuming that Boof is keeping the bookshelf up to date, all you have to do is go to the menu on the right side of the page, click on Bookshelf, and if it isn't already open, click on the "read" (which is the past tense of the word, not the future tense, ain't English fun!) shelf, and you'll see all the books that the group has read, and the dates they were started and finished.

And the winner is............

Middlemarch by George Eliot *and the crowd goes wild*

Well, it was definitely the battle of the Eliots this month. Middlemarch won with 17 votes, closely followed by The Mill on the Floss with 16!

The group disucssion for Middlemarch opens on 1st August so that gives us plenty of time to buy or borrow. Looking forward to discussing it with you all.

For those who wanted to read Mill on the Floss there are a few of us who were planning on a read soon anyway (we were just waiting to see what happened with the votes). If you want to join in we will open a discussion on the General Book Discussions thread as it is not an official group read but all are welcome to join us :o)

Terrific on both counts! I may try and hang with you guys on TMOTF, but surmise I will only be able to do justice to Middlemarch. I have a two-week trip to Montana coming up through the end of July; so, it'll give me time to get started on Middlemarch. Boof, I also want to thank you for taking the time to organize, monitor, and arrange all of this for us, it is greatly appreciated! Cheers! Chris

Thanks Chris, that's really kind of you to say :o) Enjoy your trip to Montana. I have read a few books set in Montana and they always make me want to go. I love wild, beautiful and remote places. Will you be taking photos? Can you post the link when you get back; I'd love to see them.

Boof wrote: " For those who wanted to read Mill on the Floss there are a few of us who were planning on a read soon anyway (we were just waiting to see what happened with the votes)."

Or maybe the Mill should be the September book so more of us whose summer reading time is limited could also participate?