I really enjoyed our Howard's End discussion, and it got me to read a book I'd not heard of before.  If anyone's interested I'd love to do another book group.  Here are my suggestions, some are from the last voting round:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

OMG OMG OMG!!!! THE BLACK TULIP!!! THE BLACK TULIP!!! THE BLACK TULIP!!!

lol, I've read it before and it's my 3rd favorite book! It's actually my favorite book that I've read as an adult. count my vote for that :)

p.s. I also enjoyed the discussions on Howard's End. :) I'm not quite done but I will most likely finish it today.

I was also thinking about what to read next...

SISTER CARRIE by Theadore Dreiser (over 40 copies on PBS.) Great book written around 1901 about a young woman who tries to make it on her own in Chicago.  Dreiser who was known as a pioneer in the "naturalism" movement of American literature. Read it years ago, and I think it would make a great "discussion" book.

LITTLE WOMEN by Lousia May Alcott (over 10 copies on PBS.)  Yes, a known classic.  I suggest it because it does begin on Christmas Eve, and as we are getting closer to the holidays it might be fun.  It is also an easy read, when people are really busy.

I also like your suggestion of THE MILL ON THE FLOSS  (11 copies available.)  Always wanted to read it.  Never heard of THE BLACK TULIP.  I take by Hannah's reaction it is worth checking out.... (I don't see any copies available on the website. Should we keep to books that are available?) 

Also, I would like to quietly add that GONE WITH THE WIND is very, very, long.  With the holidays coming up, it may be too much for some readers.  Perhaps we can put that off until 2009?

My two-cents....

Deb

P.S  Thanks for starting the discussion!

That's true Deborah, I hadn't thought of that.  But I think Brideshead Revisited, Black Tulip, Scarlet Pimpernel & Mill on the Floss aren't too long.

hmmm well Deb does have a good point. The Black Tulip will be difficult to find. I found it by chance in a Borders. And I've sense looked for other copies (I HATE penguin classics) and I've not been able to find it at all at a lot of places and when I have found it it's only been in the dreaded Penguin edition.

Hannah,

Which edition (aka English translation) of THE BLACK TULIP would you recommend?  I can put it on my Amazon wishlist for Christmas. 

Well I've only read the Penguin one. I just don't like Penguin because of their notes and stuff. They totally suck if you've never read the book before because they always give away major plot points and there are too many of them so you are constantly flipping between the actual story and the notes. Its the same with most Penguin books. Like Jane Eyre is truely atrocious. So that's the only reason I'm anti-Penguin. If you can not read the intro/notes the first time you read it it should be fine.

But I prefer books that have foot notes as well as end notes because the foot notes are what usually explain what a word/thing is and the end notes go deeper into themes and stuff. I like the Barnes and Noble Classics but I don't think the Black Tulip is there.

I will say this for Penguin, you can't beat their selection. I think they have something like 8,000 titles in their "Classics" series. EDIT: so I'm dyslexic or something. It's over 1000 titles for just under $8000 that I was thinking of. http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Classics-Library-Complete-Collection/dp/0147503078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225935723&sr=8-1

Oh and Vanessa, you're right about length. The Black Tulip and Brideshead aren't too long. Brideshead is a little longer. I don't remember the Mill on the Floss though.

I also prefer the Barnes and Noble classics.  I found the footnotes very helpful with Main Street and The Bostonians.   I looked at my bookshelf at home.  I guess most of the classics I have are Bantam or Signet editions. 

I think The Mill on the Floss is over 500 pages but not nearly as long as GWTW. 

P.S.  I was thinking of posting something in "Club members thoughts" about letting others know we are trying to start a classic literature book club.  Maybe other people are interested but do not know where to look.  Let's see what happens.....

I saw your post at CMT, Deborah, thanks for directing me here. I'm so sorry I missed out on the Howard's End discussions! I scroll down through the other forums from time to time, but not regularly, so I appreciate the head's up at CMT.

I've actually never heard of The Black Tulip. I think if I had to pick one from your original list, I'd choose The Pickwick Papers simply because it's a Dickens book I haven't read yet. But I'm certainly open to anything. The Mill on the Floss is another classic I've always meant to read and never have, and it shouldn't be hard to track down.

Please everyone, add more suggestions too, I love having new books to check out!

What about The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde?

I was wondering how you go about joining this book club?  I would love to participate. 

Just keep checking back on this link.  You can lick on "watch this topic" and it will send you an email to let you know when someone new has posted to it.  We will decide as a group what to read and when to start the discussion from here.  Christal, do you have any book suggestions?  Just post them here!

Vanessa and Hannah, did you want the group to choose a book by the middle of next week?

Deb

Its really relaxed, informal and lots of fun.  Last time there was a thread where people could suggest a possible book, then we voted and the number #1 book was Howards End.  So we allowed about 3 weeks I think for people to get the book, then set up a thread for each quarter of the book. 

Deb- I was hoping somemore people would suggest books & that we could get a tally of the most popular pick, maybe we should give it a little longer.

Okay by me!

Deb

I think a little more time would be good, but setting a date would also be good. That way we know when to check back for those that don't come on the boards very much.

Here are a few more I have on my stack that I've not read yet:

-Gulliver's Travels

-The Moonstone

-Nana (I started this and only read a chapter before I had too much school work)

-The Ambassadors

-Main Street

It's kinda hard because there are so many Classics to pick from.

I love the idea of Little Women.   It would be great for Christmas time reading.  Dr. Zhivago would also be good reading for the cold weather to come.

oh, I meant to add Cakes and Ale to the list too

/pokes her head in

Can I join? 

I'd love to do some group reads on Classic Lit. I have a 101 in 1001 list and it includes reading 10 classics. 

I don't really care what we read but I would prefer not to read Gone with WInd (Scarlet just grates my nerves lol).   Can I get a list of your recent reads so I don't bother suggesting those any time soon. :)

ETA: I just read the Wiki page on The Black Tulip. Sounds interesting!

Sure! 

The only books I know of are Howard's End  and Madame Bovary. 

If you have any suggestions, please send them to the board!

Deb

I would possibly like to join. (= I don't want to read Gone with the Wind either though. =p I just read Picture of Dorain Gray recently too. All the others sound good though. I am up for anything. I need to get inspired to read some more classics. I have been so busy lately with my first year of teaching that it has been hard to read anything. I will watch the thread to see what you guys decide. I am not too picky. (=

I stopped by due the the thread on CMT, so thank you for posting, Deborah!  I'd like to join the group.  Otherwise, I'm not too motivated to read a classic w/out a discussion group. 

I have a copy of The Mill on the Floss and it's 486 pages of teeny tiny print.  I'm game though.

I've always wanted to read My Antonia or O Pioneers!, both by Willa Cather.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is also on my TBR pile.

I'll actually go with whatever the group decides.

ETA...I see another thread on Willa Cather, so I guess her books have already been read by several members.  Ooops. 

I would like to join your group. I like most of the suggestions that people listed, though I"m not a George Eliot fan. I would probably lean more towards The Pickwick Papers, but just because I've read Charles Dickens before and enjoy his books. I'm up for anything, though since they would all be new to me.

All that we've read so far has been Madame Bovary and Howard's End. So pretty much anything is game I think.

Vanessa is running this one though :)

It's nice to see so many people getting interested!