Renata’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2019)

Renata’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

I nominate The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, 432 pages.

I nominate Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, 409 pages.

I second The Goldfinch and Brief History of Time.

This begins a group discussion of our Classic book selection, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, nominated by Renata.
Here you can comment, without spoilers, on any aspects of the book, either before, during, or after reading it.

This begins a group discussion of our Modern book selection, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, nominated by spoko.
Here you can comment, without spoilers, on any aspects of the book, either before, during, or after reading it.

This begins our 3rd group discussion of our Catch-Up book selection, nominated by Rae.
Here you can comment, without spoilers, on any aspects of the book, either before, during, or after reading it.

Andi wrote: "I nominate The Turn of the Screw, 121 pages, published in 1898."

Andi, this book was read by this group earlier this year. Any other classic to suggest?

Tracking through message: 59
🌞Poll Candidate

🌞Somewhere Beyond the Sea (416p) - 7
🌞Firekeeper’s Daughter (488p) - 7
The Tale of Despereaux (272p) - 2
The House on Mango Street (110p) - 6
Lonesome Dove (960p) - 3
A Confederacy of Dunces (394p) - 1
I Who Have Never Known Men (184p) - 5
Anxious People (336p) - 5
🌞Girl with the Pearl Earring (233p) - 9
The Frozen River (432p) - 6
Circling the Sun (366p) - 2
Angela’s Ashes (452p) - 3
Alias Grace (468p) - 4
The Wedding People (384p) - 2
Carrie (272p) - 4
Sunrise on the Reaping (387p) - 2
🌞My Brilliant Friend (331p) - 8

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for September 2025 in the MODERN/POPULAR category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1970 or after. For older books, please make your suggestion on the Classics thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catch-Up thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read, with at least 50,000 ratings, to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. Look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight PST July 16.

Tracking through message: 54
🌞Poll Candidate

🌞The Moving Finger (299p) - 8
Dangerous Liaisons (418p) - 4
For Whom the Bell Tolls (471p) - 5
Three Men in a Boat (185p) - 3
🌞Night (120p) - 8
Dr. Faustus (64p) -2
The Fountainhead (704p) - 1
Papillon (544p) - 1
🌞Mrs. Dalloway (194p) - 6
The Sound and the Fury (366p) - 1
Swann’s Way (468p) - 1
🌞Jude the Obscure (310p) - 6
The Plague (308p) - 3
Little Men (329p) - 3
🌞A Midsummer Night’s Dream (298p) - 7

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for September 2025 in the CLASSICS category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1969 or before. For newer books, please make your suggestion on the Modern Classic/Popular Reads thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read, with at least 50,000 ratings, to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight PST July 16.

Tracking through message: 48
🌞Poll Candidate

🌞The Goldfinch (771p) - 5
The Catcher in the Rye (277p) - 3
Crazy Rich Asians (403p) - 3
The Vanishing Half (343p) - 4
Watership Down (478p) - 3
A Brief History of Time (212p) - 2
The Awakening (195p) - 1
🌞Sense and Sensibility (409p) - 6
🌞Small Great Things (510p) - 6
1Q84 (944p) - 2
Memoirs of a Geisha (434p)
Project Hail Mary (476p) - 3
🌞The Joy Luck Club (288p) - 6
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (263p) - 3
The Hunger Games (374p) - 1

These books have been re-read within the last 12 months and are ineligible to be nominated:

The Alchemist
Northanger Abbey
And Then There Were None
The Princess Bride
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Pride and Prejudice
A Christmas Carol
The Midnight Library
Jane Eyre

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for September 2025 in the BOOKSHELF CATCH-UP category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

For this category, you can nominate any book that the group has previously read. For a list of books that the group has previously read and discussed, please see the Bookshelf HERE.

Books selected as a group reread within the last twelve months are not eligible. See Message 2 below.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end Midnight PST July 16

Regina wrote: "I nominate A Gentleman in Moscow, published 2016, 480 pages.

I second Tales from the Cafe."

Regina, your book nomination has already been read by this group, but it would be appropriate in the Catch-Up topic instead.

I second Life of Pi.

Pony wrote: "Renata wrote: "Elina, this book is actually Book #2 of the series. If it's okay with you, I will list Book #1, which is called Before the Coffee Gets Cold."

Renata, we read [book:Before the Coffee..."

Thanks Pony, missed that. So I'll list the book that Elina suggested, after all.

Elina wrote: "I nominate: Tales from the Cafe, Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 192p"

Elina, this book is actually Book #2 of the series. If it's okay with you, I will list Book #1, which is called Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

I second The Alchemist.

I nominate James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, 176 pages.

I nominate American Gods by Neil Gaiman, 635 pages.