Oh! And @Mary13 , THANK YOU for leading this book club. And thank you to all the other contributors who continue to bring it!
I always think it, but I’m not sure I’ve gotten around to actually typing it out. 
Last month’s selection appealed to many, and there have been som newbies participating- it would be great to keep the momentum going.
While Middlemarch is something I should read, not sure if it would have wider appeal.
Recently, I read the nonfiction “the Library Book” which would appeal to many readers, book lovers, and Library supporters. It’s non fiction and I’m not sure there would be much to discuss, perhaps others would disagree and this should be considered !
Oh yes, we are doing The Library Book in my city book club. It sounds interesting
I tend to agree with SouthJerseyChessMom about Middlemarch being of limited appeal to the masses, but I’m keeping it on the list because you just never know. I think I read it in college–or at least I was supposed to–but I don’t remember anything about it and hope to tackle it again some day.
I do like the idea of a classic – we had good experiences with Jane Eyre, Far From the Madding Crowd, East of Eden and Pride and Prejudice – so bring on the suggestions if you have any.
Here’s the list at this point; I included Amazon links this time. If you want to veto or add, don’t be shy:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
https://www.amazon.com/Middlemarch-George-Eliot/dp/1420953184/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662089&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=middlemarch+by+george+eliot&psc=1
The Nix by Nathan Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Nix-Nathan-Hill/dp/1101970340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662225&sr=8-1&keywords=the+nix+nathan+hill
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+great+believers+by+rebecca+makkai&sprefix=the+great+believers%2Cfashion%2C156&crid=3PLKF5PYIKKVU
The Overstory by Richard powers
https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039363552X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544661805&sr=8-1&keywords=the+overstory+richard+powers
Educated by Tara Westover (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Educated-Memoir-Tara-Westover/dp/0399590501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662261&sr=8-1&keywords=educated+book+tara+westover
An American marriage by Tayari Jones
https://www.amazon.com/American-Marriage-Novel-Oprahs-Selection/dp/1616208775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662343&sr=8-1&keywords=an+american+marriage
^
…possibly paired with American Prison by Shane Bauer (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/American-Prison-Reporters-Undercover-Punishment/dp/0735223580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662414&sr=8-1&keywords=american+prisons
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Library-Book-Susan-Orlean/dp/1476740186/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662488&sr=8-2&keywords=the+library+book
According to Amazon, the shipping weight of Middlemarch is 1.9 pounds. And it’s 646 pages.
Yeah, I should read it too, but I’m going to veto it. Maybe in the spring.
I’m going to put Middlemarch as first choice because I haven’t read it and am unlikely to get around to doing so without the book club. Also I looked on my library site and they have it listed as similar to Pride and Prejudice and Far from the Madding Crowd both of which I loved. I honestly don’t know if it may be of limited appeal but sometimes our classics draw the biggest crowd.
As for second place: The Nix, The Great Believers, The Library Book The Library Book is nonfiction and shorter than the others but I trust @SouthJerseyChessMom’s recommendation.
Third place: The Overstory
Fourth place: Educated, An American Marriage, American Prison.
At least these are my feelings at the moment. I tend to scoot away from possibly political and/or depressing.
And not for consideration:
I looked this one up and it sounds really good. So it’s a yes for me though I know fantasy can’t crop up again so soon as a CC Book Club choice. I’m glad to know about the book though.
Well, darn. I see @VeryHappy vetoed Middlemarch for now. Oh well. ^:)^
I like vetoes, even when I want the book. It narrows things down nicely.
Along those lines, I admit to concern about An American Marriage and American Prison. I just am not quite ready to pull the veto card but be forewarned, I may.
“Maybe in the Spring” – it’s a nice motto for us. :). Middlemarch shall appear again, I promise. Like @ignatius, I will never get around to reading it without company.
If anyone is interested in (or at least open to) a romance classic, there’s plenty more to choose from. Wuthering Heights? Little Women? Anna Karenina? A Room with a View? Rebecca? Gone with the Wind? (That last one would actually be a controversial read and I suspect a very interesting discussion.)
I don’t favor another fantasy book, at least this close. Not my genre. I’m a newbie here at the CC book club, though so don’t feel I can veto anything.
Personally, I’d like a reading selection that allows for robust discussion, issue based or content based. I think this month’s selection allowed for very little dialogue around the book we all read. IMO, a good “book club book” allows for discussion and opinions, especially for a virtual book club where we don’t have the benefit of food and drinks.
I also admit to a preference for selections I can learn from whether it is characters and plot that give insights into human nature or the subject matter at hand.
If possible, I’d like something upbeat/happy. I can’t deal with dreary at this time. Thanks.
I’ve read a bunch of the suggestions in @Mary13 's list, but not yet The Overstory or American Prison or The Library Book. I guess all three of those are my first choice.
Among the classics mentioned–am I too new to veto?-- I really couldn’t stand to read Anna Karenina again but would still pop by to check out the discussion.
If not a book that’s new to me-- I’ll cast my vote for The Nix. It is a big smorgasbord, witty and ungainly and sloppy and full of heart. There is a LOT to discuss; some of it serious, but the prevailing tone is more goofy than somber. It contains the funniest scene I’ve ever read between a cheating student and a hapless professor.
It is huge-- 752 pages in paperback-- but that’s what we do in the winter, right? I highly recommend the audiobook for anyone who likes to read that way. It will keep you going through some tedious parts, and the narrator is great.
Excited to see what we all decide on!
@jollymama, no one is too new to veto! I won’t put any of those classics I mentioned on the list unless someone else is interested in them. I eliminated Middlemarch as discussed, and also American Prison, as I don’t think it’s what @HImom or @ignatius are looking for at this juncture.
The Nix is pretty hefty – might fall into the Maybe in the Spring category, but we’ll see what the feedback is.
Re Educated and The Library Book, do you think we can sustain a multi-day discussion with a non-fiction book?
The Nix by Nathan Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Nix-Nathan-Hill/dp/1101970340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662225&sr=8-1&keywords=the+nix+nathan+hill
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+great+believers+by+rebecca+makkai&sprefix=the+great+believers%2Cfashion%2C156&crid=3PLKF5PYIKKVU
The Overstory by Richard powers
https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039363552X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544661805&sr=8-1&keywords=the+overstory+richard+powers
Educated by Tara Westover (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Educated-Memoir-Tara-Westover/dp/0399590501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662261&sr=8-1&keywords=educated+book+tara+westover
An American marriage by Tayari Jones
https://www.amazon.com/American-Marriage-Novel-Oprahs-Selection/dp/1616208775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662343&sr=8-1&keywords=an+american+marriage
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Library-Book-Susan-Orlean/dp/1476740186/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662488&sr=8-2&keywords=the+library+book
The adjectives “ungainly”, “sloppy”, and “tedious” combined with 752 pages gives me pause.
I don’t mind long books - if well done (and maybe The Nix is). I find a lot of contemporary literature is short on needed editing these days. My favorite books tend to be those that are written tightly. To quote one of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett, “Writing that is clear, direct, and succinct is a great kindness to the reader.” She develops characters well while not losing succinctness.
^ Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors as well. We had a great CC discussion with State of Wonder. Patchett highly recommends The Overstory, by the way. I noticed that on the Amazon reviews.
“Autumn makes me think of leaves, which makes me think of trees, which makes me think of The Overstory, the best novel ever written about trees, and really, just one of the best novels, period.”
- Ann Patchett
I disagree with doschicos about the discussion, I thought it was pretty good, that said, I joined the bookclub years ago in order to read more stuff out of my wheelhouse. (Which is a lot of fantasy and sci fi.) Sometimes I think the best discussions are with books I never ever would have read on my own. I haven’t had a chance to look at all of Mary’s links yet - but so far I am intrigued by *The Nix * if we want to go long. We have till February 1st right?
I read Educated and absolutely loved it. I wouldn’t mind re-reading it at all.
I have no objection to re-reading (or reading for the first time) a classic. Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham was a favorite of mine in HS, and Jane Eyre is another one I loved. In fact, Jane Eyre might create an interesting discussion about women’s roles in society, which could be timely. Here’s what Amazon has to say about it:
(What’s proto-feminism?)
That said, I’m up for just about anything – but not Middlemarch!
Of the classics mentioned by @Mary13 I’d read Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, A Room with a View, Gone with the Wind? happily. I took out only Little Women and Rebecca. I recently read Rebecca for one of my real life book clubs - good discussion - and I read Little Women just for fun.
Can I add Pillars of the Earth? Long but it’s winter and we haven’t traveled that far back in time as a group.
I like @jollymama’s post about The Nix so agree with @mathmom about interest in it.
And another of my book clubs just chose a classic: The Wind in the Willows. I think it’s a fun idea though not suggesting it here.
And anyone can and should veto. I try not to though because I’ve learned thru four book clubs that I’ve loved books that I thought about vetoing. East of Eden was one. What was I thinking? What a mistake that veto would have been! (Though I thought about vetoing The Glass Room and regret holding back. LOL)
@VeryHappy, we read *Jane Eyre/I, and you’re right, it was an excellent discussion: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-and-jane-eyre-%C2%96-august-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html
@ignaitus, at 1008 pages, nope, you don’t get to add Pillars of the Earth. Maybe in the Spring. 
I think Spinning Silver delivered exactly what we were looking for this time around. What the group is in the mood for changes, of course, from month to month. Sometimes books that should generate meaty discussions are duds (The Meursault Investigation), while others that are quick-read bestsellers turn out to have surprising staying power (Before I Go to Sleep, for example). I can never predict.
I’ve subtracted and added to the list based on the posted comments–plus a little random cutting to pare things down to a manageable number. Random cutting is always difficult, but it’s a necessary evil.
There are now five very different selections-- in order of appearance: a 762 page tome, a bestseller with a lot of “buzz,” a romance classic, an award-winning novel that’s a little off-the-beaten-track, and a work of non-fiction. Go ahead and vote your top three and we’ll see what happens.
The Nix by Nathan Hill
https://www.amazon.com/Nix-Nathan-Hill/dp/1101970340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662225&sr=8-1&keywords=the+nix+nathan+hill
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+great+believers+by+rebecca+makkai&sprefix=the+great+believers%2Cfashion%2C156&crid=3PLKF5PYIKKVU
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
https://www.amazon.com/Room-View-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486284670
The Overstory Richard powers
https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039363552X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544661805&sr=8-1&keywords=the+overstory+richard+powers
Educated by Tara Westover (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Educated-Memoir-Tara-Westover/dp/0399590501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544662261&sr=8-1&keywords=educated+book+tara+westover