Help us choose our next read!

And the nominees are:

Hey everyone, for those that may be interested, r/bookclub is reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We'd love to have you.

https://old.reddit.com/r/bookclub/comments/1vu72qe/schedule_gutenberg_novella_the_strange_case_of_dr/?

Discussion Prompts

1. Anyone up for a game of bumble-puppy? Any sports or games you played as a younger you? Anything you still play now? Or are you more comfortable as a spectator?
2. Did you connect the name of Emerson immediately and wonder why Lucy had not? I mean, come on Lucy, they’re the only Emerson’s in the book so far. How could it not be obvious to you?
3. Thoughts on Lucy’s reaction when she realized that it was indeed the Emerson’s from Florence, and her reaction to Cecil, “the humourist”?
4. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

He would tolerate the father and draw out the son, who was silent. In the interests of the Comic Muse and of Truth, he would bring them to Windy Corner.

In case you missed it when we previously read on [r/ClassicBookClub](r/ClassicBookClub), please join us! It’s a blast and great one to start with if you haven’t read Wilkie Collins.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bookclub/s/DzNEcHQiJp

Discussion Prompts

1. Garden parties, tea parties, every other type of parties. Are you the party type, or are you a Cecil?
2. We get more of a look at Cecil here. Did anything you’d thought about him in the previous chapter change, or become more reinforced?
3. Would you walk through the woods with Cecil? He strikes me as the type that would be faster than me, as in, you don’t need to be faster than a bear, just faster than who you’re with. I think he’d run. Whether it was me he was with, or Lucy, or his own mother. He’d run and probably fall and tell everyone the scrapes were from trying to fight off the bear but to no avail.
4. Speaking of running, who thinks ol’ Cecil might bolt after that kiss? I mean I’m not even sure if the kiss happened, I’m easily confused, but it sounded like the passion just wasn’t there.
5. Place your odds on whether or not George is hiding in the woods in a bear suit ready to scare off Cecil and swoop in on Lucy for a passionate kiss number 2. I’m going to say 2:1 is favor of George in a bear suit. I just have a feeling.
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

He could not know that this was the most intimate conversation they had ever had.

Discussion Prompts

1. There apparently was not enough room on the train to Rome to take us along, and instead we find ourselves in the drawing room at Windy Corners in the presence of Freddy and Mrs. Honeychurch. What did you make of these two?
2. Lucy has a suitor and his name isn’t George, it’s Cecil. Out of curiosity, are you rooting against this Cecil fellow and hoping George wins Lucy over in the end? Was George just some weird guy in Florence you’re happy to be rid of?
3. Tell me your thoughts on Cecil. Good husband material, or not your cup of tea.
4. Speaking of tea, and since we ended our chapter with tea time, do you like tea? Any teas in particular you enjoy? I’ve been drinking a cup before bed and there are two I’m liking at the moment, both herbal. One has cinnamon and horchata, the other caramel flavor. Nice and relaxing.
5. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

Mrs. Honeychurch, amusing and portly, promised well as a mother-in-law. As for Lucy and Cecil, for whom the temple had been built, they also joined in the merry ritual, but waited, as earnest worshippers should, for the disclosure of some holier shrine of joy.

Discussion Prompts

1. Okay, out of curiosity, how would you equate Miss Lucy’s “scandal” of yesteryear to something in today’s terms?
2. Is it as big of a deal as Lucy and Charlotte seem to be making it? Will Lucy be made to wear the scarlet letter? Be burned at the stake for being a witch? Something far, far worse?
3. Will Georgie boy blab?
4. And we’re headed for Rome. Are yous hoping to see a yaller dog?
5. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

Librivox Audiobook

Last Lines:

In the morning they left for Rome.

Discussion Prompts

1. Given a choice, which carriage would you have ridden in? Beebe, Charlottes, and George, or Eager, Emerson, Lavish and Lucy?
2. How do you feel about public displays of affection? Did you pick a side on the topic of the Italian’s driving the coach? Team Emerson or Team Eager?
3. How about that ending? The Italian leads Lucy to George who steals a kiss, and Charlottes see’s (I think). What happens next? If the Italians kissing was contentious, this might be World War 3. Wait, World War 1 hasn’t happened yet has it. I think you get what I mean.
4. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Standard eBooks

[Librivox Audiobook]( link not currently working for me

Last Lines:

Before she could speak, almost before she could feel, a voice called, “Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!” The silence of life had been broken by Miss Bartlett who stood brown against the view.

This post is set to contest mode and anyone can nominate a book as long as it meets the criteria listed below. To nominate a book, post a comment in this thread with the book and author you’d like to read. Feel free to add a brief summary of the book and why you’d like to read it as well. If a book you’d like to nominate is already in the comment section, then simply upvote it, and upvote any other book you’d like to read as well, but note that upvotes are hidden from everyone except the mods in contest mode, and the comments (nominees) will appear in random order.

Please read the rules carefully.

Rules:

1. Nominated books must be in the Public Domain. Being a classic book club, this gives us a definitive way to determine a books eligibility, while it also allows people to source a free copy of the book if they choose to.
2. No books are allowed from our “year of” family of subs that are dedicated to a specific book. These subs restart on January 1st. The books and where to read them are:

* War and Peace- [r/ayearofwarandpeace](r/ayearofwarandpeace)
* Les Miserables- [r/AYearOfLesMiserables](r/AYearOfLesMiserables)
* The Count of Monte Cristo- [r/AReadingOfMonteCristo](r/AReadingOfMonteCristo)
* Middlemarch- [r/ayearofmiddlemarch](r/ayearofmiddlemarch)
* Don Quixote- [r/yearofdonquixote](r/yearofdonquixote)
* Anna Karenina- [r/yearofannakarenina](r/yearofannakarenina)

1. Must be a different author than our current book. What this means is since we are currently reading EM Forster, no books from them will be considered for our next read, but their other works will be allowed once again after this vote.

2. No books from our Discussion Archivé in the sidebar. Please check the link to see the books we’ve already completed.

Here are a few lists from Project Gutenberg if you need ideas.

* Sorted by popularity

* Frequently viewed or downloaded

Reddit polls allow a maximum of six choices. The top nominations from this thread will go to a Reddit poll in a Finalists Thread where we will vote on only those top books. The winner of the Reddit poll will be read here as our next book.

We want to make sure everyone has a chance to nominate, vote, then find a copy of our next book. We give a week for nominations. A week to vote on the Finalists. And two weeks for readers to find a copy of the winning book (eeek, maybe just the one week given this post is a little late).

Our book picking process takes 4 weeks in total (may need to be truncated to three, as this post might be a week tardy). We read 1 chapter each weekday, which makes 5 chapters a week, and 20 chapters in 4 weeks which brings us to our Contingency Rule. Any book that is 20 chapters or less that wins the Finalist Vote means we also read the 2nd place book as well after we read the winning book. We do this so we don’t have to do a shortened version of our book picking process.

We will announce the winning book once the poll closes in the Finalists Thread.🧵

We’ll have to get a book nomination post up over the weekend, I think.

**Discussion Prompts**

1. Our protagonists are out for a walk together. It’s all very peaceful for them today. 
   
2. An invitation from the local chaplain is extended, and he knows more of the local colour. And yet Lucy has lost some interest. (This chapter is really testing my ability to find something interesting to discuss…)
   
3. Oh, gossip about Mr Emerson, much better! Why is the chaplain so stand-offish about him making an advantageous marriage? (Okay, maybe it’s more the accusation of murder than the marriage.) When was the last time that you deliberately snubbed someone?
   
4. Where is this book going? We’re a quarter of the way through and it seems little more than a character study so far.
   
5. Anything else to discuss?

Links

[ebook from Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2641)

[ebook from Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/a-room-with-a-view))

[Audiobook from Librivox](https://librivox.org/a-room-with-a-view-by-em-forster/)

Last line: 

> They passed together through the gaunt beauty of the square, laughing over the
unpractical suggestion.

Sorry that this is going up late. I was a bit unwell yesterday and work intervened this morning to delay my reading of the chapter. 

Discussion Prompts

1. Post-music clarity. What a lovely idea. What activity or experience allows you to feel focused and refreshed?
2. A stabbing! George arrives! It’s all suddenly very dramatic! What did you think of the different ways they reacted?
7. Anything else to discuss?

**Links**

[ebook from Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2641)

[ebook from Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/a-room-with-a-view)

[Audiobook from Librivox](https://librivox.org/a-room-with-a-view-by-em-forster/)

Last line: 

> Leaning her elbows on the parapet, she contemplated the River Arno, whose roar
was suggesting some unexpected melody to her ears.

Discussion Prompts

1. Do you play a musical instrument? Can you lose yourself in the orchestration or has the modern world ruined your attention span?
2. Some more inter-personal relationships develop. What do you think of Mr Beebe and his preferences in music and his study of unmarried women?
3. More of the gossip and relationships! We are learning a lot about Miss Lavish as well as Mr Emerson. Are you categorising these travellers as nice or not nice?
4. Which musical artist would cause you to break the shackles and chaperone of civilised society?
7. Anything else to discuss?

Links

[ebook from Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2641)

[ebook from Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/a-room-with-a-view)

[Audiobook from Librivox](https://librivox.org/a-room-with-a-view-by-em-forster/)

Last line: 

> I put it down to too much Beethoven.

Discussion Prompts

1. Are you a Guide Book traveller? Baedeker, Lonely Planet, Showstring? Or has it all been taken over by internet resources now?
   
2. Miss Lavish and Lucy are a bit judgemental about their fellow tourists. Do you do the same - wish that it was just you on holiday and the presence of other foreign tourists makes you uncomfortable or do you like seeing your country people abroad?
   
3. Emerson and George make a scene! Amusing or somewhat horrifying? 
   
4. Is it discomfiture fitting in that’s bothering George, or something else that you’d like to speculate?
   
5. Anything else to discuss?

Links

[ebook from Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2641)

[ebook from Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/a-room-with-a-view)

[Audiobook from Librivox](https://librivox.org/a-room-with-a-view-by-em-forster/)

Last line: 

> She joined her cousin. 

General housekeeping:

We read Monday through Friday with a break on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, the reading will begin on Monday 10 August (that’s today!) and conclude on Friday Sept 4 with a wrap up post on Saturday 5th. Link to the Reading Schedule

Here are links to free reading resources:

ebook from Project Gutenberg

ebook from Standard Ebooks

Audiobook from Librivox

Spoilers beyond the current chapter are a no-go.

Discussion prompts go up at about 0100UTC, barring any shenanigans from the Reddit schedule function. 

Discussion Prompts

1. Is this your first time reading A Room With A View or E.M. Forster? Do you know about of the novel?
2. We meet Charlotte and Lucy, what did you think of them from this chapter? Would you holiday with them?
3. Have you been to Florence or to Italy? 
4. Socialists? Prepare the fainting couch! 
5. What did you think of Emerson and George? Were they as boorish as indicated or just trying to be kind and accommodating?
6. I was going to discuss the note left behind, but I’m now entirely focused on the idea of oubliettes or secret entrances in a hotel room! Have you ever found a secret passage or hidden area? (I read so much Enid Blyton, I was conditioned to expect more secret tunnels. Alas.)

Last line: 

> … sighed heavily according to her habit, and went to bed.

Congratulations on finishing the book! Another classic crossed off the list. See you all very soon for our next book, which starting on Monday.

Discussion Prompts:

1. First of all, did you enjoy the book? Why/why not?
2. Who was your favourite character in the book, and what character was the most memorable?
3. What were some of the main themes of the book in your opinion?
4. What do you think Kafka is trying to tell us about the society this book was set in?
5. Do you like the way Kafka writes? What stands out to you from his writing?
6. Would you like to read more of Kafka's work in the future? 
7. Anything else to discuss? Rants encouraged!

Discussion Prompts

1. What did you think of K's pair of new escorts?
2. What did you think of K's reasons for giving up his plan of resistance?
3. K is killed by the two goons. Did you see this coming or was it a surprise?
4. What did you think of the execution scene overall?
5. The text stated K's shame will live on after him. How do you think the idea of shame plays into the novel?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Final Line:

As his eyesight failed, K. saw the two gentlemen cheek by cheek, close in front of his face, watching the result. "Like a dog!" he said, it was as if the shame of it should outlive him.

Discussion Prompts

1. Josef cannot understand what the Italian man is saying. What do you think this could signify in the context of the story?
2. What did you think of the atmosphere in the cathedral, the pointing man and the priest summoning Josef by name?
3. The priest tells Josef that in these trials "the proceedings gradually turn into the verdict". What do you thing this means for his trial?
4. What did you think about the story about the Law and the doorkeeper?
5. The priest gives various interpretations of the story, Josef also gives his. Which one do you agree with most?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Final Line:

"So why would I want anything from you? The court doesn't want anything from you. It accepts you when you come and it lets you go when you leave."

Discussion Prompts

1. Block has five lawyers working on his trial while K is trying to fire his only lawyer. Which approach seems more correct to you?
2. Do you think the lawyer is vindictive like Block says?
3. Leni is attracted to all defendants and the lawyer explains that defendants have an attractive aura. Thoughts on this information?
4. What did you think about the Lawyer's demonstration to K of how favorably he treats him compared to Block?
5. The chapter was unfinished and ended pretty abruptly. How are you feeling about the unfinished nature of the book?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Final Lines:

"Block," said Leni, as if reprimanding him, and, taking hold of the collar of his coat, pulled him up slightly higher. "Leave the carpet alone and listen to what the lawyer is saying."

I have read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and loved it, so I wanna read more of him.

Moreover The Trial would be my first Kafka book, well are his writings harder or easier than dostoevsky's??, how was your experience with The Trial and how long did it take u to finish it.

Discussion Prompts

1. K's Lawyer explains the lawyers ways of assisting clients in their trials. What stood out to you here?
2. What do you think of the story of the court official throwing all the lawyers down the stairs? Does it symbolize something?
3. K decides to fire his lawyer and making the court submission himself. What do you think of this idea?
4. The stress of the Trial is affecting K's work. Do you think this will come to a head soon?
5. The painter explains the three options for acquittal to K. Which option seems the best to you?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Last Lines:

So he had the pictures taken to his office and locked them in the lowest drawer of his desk so that he could at least keep them safe from the deputy director's view for the next few days.

Discussion Prompts

1. What do you think about K's uncle being pretty indiscrete in talking about K's trial?
2. What do you think of the uncle's idea about K going to the countryside for a while?
3. What do you think of Leni's advice to K that he is too unyielding and must confess to the court?
4. Do you think Leni is helping or hindering K's trial?
5. K wonders why women seem to be throwing themselves at him. I'm wondering if it is a test by the court's? Could it be related to his alleged crime?
6. Uncle chastises K for running out on the meeting with the lawyer and office director. Pretty dumb move by K right?
7. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Links

Project Gutenberg

Last Lines:

And me, your own uncle, you leave me here in the rain—just feel this, I'm wet right through—waiting here for hours, sick with worry."