January
Classics - none
Reading List - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

February
Classics - Anna Karenina (translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky if possible)
Reading List - Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins

March
Classics - Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reading List - Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa

April
Classics - Giovanni's Roomby James Baldwin
Reading List - Out by Natsuo Kirino

May
Classics - none
Reading List - Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

June
Classics - Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Reading List - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Looks good, Sherry! Thanks to you and Ricki for all of your hard work. And I'm up to 167 in the library queue for Edgar Sawtelle!

Thanks, Sherry!

Robt

Yes, thank you Sherry and Ricki!

Great, thanks!
Can't wait for March (Tarzan) and May (Midnight's Children) ;)

Sherry,

You might want to post who nominated each book so that we know who is supposed to start the discussion each month.

Jane

I guess this is the place for me to admit I always forget what I nominated.

R, slinking around the corner

Good idea. I'll have to go check.

Here are the nominators:

Karey Shane, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Philip, Evidence of Things Unseen
Al, Midnight’s Children
Whitaker, My Name is Red
Capitu, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
Yulia, Out

I'm so pleased we'll be discussing The Story of Edgar Sawtelle in January. I hope I'll know how to start the discussion. I'll look in past discussions to observe how the pattern goes.

Thanks for posting those, Sherry!

Karey,

Some people post more than others, but I think you can decide what you want to do. Some people post a couple of thoughts or questions and then the discussion takes off from there.

Jane

Thanks, Jane.

A friend of mine suggested I can find some a few good questions from online book groups. I'm feeling just fine about it now. I know I have a few questions of my own I want to ask.

Karey

I can't wait for a lot of these! So many of these books are either on my GR or my mental TBR shelf. Now I have extra motivation to read them. Can it be January yet? :)

I've just requested my library to reserve _The Story of Edgar Sawtelle_ for me. I hope it will be available.

I am amazed! I am actually at #1 in my library queue for Edgar Sawtelle! I'll bet they bought more copies after it was chosen for the Oprah Book Club!

Hey everybody - I don't think I will be reading this month's book, Gilead, due to the fact that I am already reading quite a few books at the moment anyway. However, I do look forward to starting fresh next year. I can't wait to read Edgar Sawtelle. I've been wanting to read that book for quite sometime now, and look forward to discussing it with you all next month. :)

Gilead is really worth squeezing in, if you can do it. I loved it.

I'm sure I'll pick it up and read it sometime, even if it's not this month. I just have so many books checked out from the library that I still haven't read yet, but if I have time near the end of the month I might be able to squeeze it in. I don't think it's too terribly long.

The wait for Sawtelle at my library is 3 months. So unless someone gives it to me for xmas, I guess I'll have to spring for it.

You think I'd like Gilead, Sherry? I've been assiduously avoiding it.

I liked it, but it might not be your cuppa. It's about a old preacher writing a letter to his young son. It's religious in a way, but mostly it's about a good man and his way of dealing with an interesting life. It's not preachy, even though it's about a preacher. It's mostly about his inner struggles and his life. The characters are wonderful. I liked it better than Housekeeping, which I loved.

I reserved the Sawtelle book at my library last night, online. Today it was already being held for me. So now I have it and have started reading it. Meaty reading. Descriptive detail from the very beginning and the details seem to be effortlessly knitted into the action. I admire that kind of writing skill. Don't know how they do it. I often wonder if the words just flow out of the writer or if the writer has to labor over them.

Sherry wrote: "I liked it, but it might not be your cuppa. It's about a old preacher writing a letter to his young son. It's religious in a way, but mostly it's about a good man and his way of dealing with an int..."
Hi Sherry -- I loved Gilead too and found the simple poetry of the writing drew me into the book. I think when I re-read it or glance through it again I might copy some of the lines and phrases and paragraphs that were so evocative and save them in my copy of the book. For some reason, though, I'm in no hurry to read "Home".

Sylvia, - I copied 4 pages of quotes from _Gilead_. (That's both sides of two pages of 9&1/2" x 6" looseleaf paper.) I'll follow the discussion and perhaps mention some of the quotes which resonated with me and which I thought were lovely or well-said. Mostly, I'll be reading what others have to say. :)

When others are saying how much they loved a book, I hate to jump in and say negative things. Not that the book wasn't good, but there were times when...

Well, I'll wait for the discussion and see how I feel. :)

I am 155 out of 245 on my library's waiting list for Sawtelle. However, I have put the book on my Christmas list, so I have hopes that I will be able to join the discussion in January.

Being a relative newbie, I don't understand what the reading list is for. Do people read and comment on books on the list each month or what?

Ed

Sylvia wrote: "Sherry wrote: "I liked it, but it might not be your cuppa. It's about a old preacher writing a letter to his young son. It's religious in a way, but mostly it's about a good man and his way of deal..." Joy, I'd love to see your quotes -- it would be like revisiting the book again!

Sylvia wrote: "Joy, I'd love to see your quotes -- it would be like revisiting the book again!"

Thanks, Sylvia. Tomorrow is the big day, the day that the discussion begins. I'm waiting with bated breath. Hmmm, here in NY it *is* tomorrow... past midnight anyway.

I'll try to pick out some quotes which I think will resonate with most people... but that may be a tricky thing to do. We're each so different.

Ed, every 6 months we vote on 2 lists of books, Reading List(6) , and Classics Corner(4), and then have discussions starting on the 1st and the 15th of each month.

But we also talk about lots of other books, films, music, art, short stories, poetry...

Ruth wrote: "Ed, every 6 months we vote on 2 lists of books, Reading List(6) , and Classics Corner(4), and then have discussions starting on the 1st and the 15th of each month.

But we also talk about lots of..."

Thanks for the info, Ruth. Who votes? BTW, I've been active on a few of the topics and find this group one of the most stimulating on the whole Goodreads site.

Ed, the vote takes place during a prescribed time, and voting's finished for now. We'll start the whole nomination and voting process when the January through June, 2009, list is about two books shy of being finished. I think the Orientation section talks about the voting in more detail. Everyone votes if they want to.

Yipee! I won a book on a blog giveaway this week and I could pick any book I wanted to receive - soooo, since I am 1 of over 300 people waiting for "Edgar" at my library, I selected it as my giveaway selection. Should be shipped to me shortly and I am in business to discuss in January - looking forward to it!

Hi All,

I just want to say a few things:

-I love this selection of books, and I can't wait to read and discuss them!
-It's so wonderful that the list goes so far into the future.

Thanks!

I am still waiting on the free book that I won and selected as "Edgar" to receive! But my library came through last weekend and my turn finally came up. So I am on my way to reading "Edgar" and looking forward to discussing in a few weeks with everyone!

Hi,
I am thrilled to see Anna Karenina on the list! I hope you constant readers don't mind that I'll be following your posts, but I'll be listening to this one on audio book.
In the last week or so, I have "come out" if you will as being dyslexic. I am tired of the struggle and tired of hiding it.
I have even starting blogging about it and I already feel much better.
Life it too short--The bottom line is: I LOVE books, I love what they do to me, how they make me feel, where they take me, how they can split my mood in an instant. I can fall in love and in the next moment absolutely loathe a character.
I can't read well, I can't write or type well & spell check is my best friend.
So there you have it.
My name is Sinder, I am dyslexic, I love books and I'd like to ride the Anna Karenina train with the lot of you. :)

Sinder, good for you! Some of the most intelligent people I know are dyslexic and went through school (especially if you were born before 1980 or so) thinking that they were stupid. I am a lover of audiobooks and they must be even more of a godsend to you. What is particularly wonderful is that you still love books. Many dyslexics don't because books feel like the scene of the crime--the place where they have felt most inadequate.

Oh, and let us know what you think of the audiobook production you are using. I frequently revisit the classics that way.

Divine Intervention----That's what I think of audio books and spell check!
School was difficult, that's for sure. I used to use an index card under each line of a book. Sometimes I had to use a card above AND a card below a line of text. That was frustrating, but not enough to make me quit.
Thanks for the support!
Sinder

Good for you, Sinder. I can sense the relief you are feeling, having made this decision and acted upon it.

As for the Anna Karenina discussion, don't just follow the discussion. Chime in yourself occasionally. The more contributors, the merrier. . . .usually.

Thanks Steve! I'll do it!
Thanks for the invite!
Sinder :)

Welcome Sinder. More power to you. We're delighted you're here.

I'm new to the group but I'm looking forward to a lot of these books! I've already read Anna Karenina and Out.. I'm actually really glad to see Out on there because I thought it was a great novel and I hope to read more of Natsuo Kirino in the future!

Welcome, Leah. We're glad you found us. The AK discussion will start on Feb. 1.

Ruth wrote: "Welcome, Leah. We're glad you found us. The AK discussion will start on Feb. 1.

"

Thank you and I plan to check out the discussion!

Sherry:

I am not sure if you are in charge of managing the new "home page" but there appears to be an error. Out is listed for April 1, when that should be Giovanni's Room.

I'm only aware because I recently checked the schedule and got the needed books out of the library - I'm leaving on vacation this week for a while and wanted to have the necessary books with me.

Thanks,
Al

I'll fix it. I'm sure I wrote something down wrong. Thanks for alerting me.