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It is time to post nominations for our November main group discussion. If you would like, we can continue in the direction of Books We Have Been Saving for Autumn, which would simply indicate novels that may invoke a feeling of Autumn in some way. That means different things to different people, so propose if you like. If there is simply a Victorian novel you have in mind to share in discussion with the group, regardless of the theme, please nominate.

Check our "Read" shelf here on Vics to see if we have discussed recently because we do avoid repeating them too often.

Nominations will be taken through Oct. 10.

Not at all autumn based but the Alice books or Treasure Island or Kidnapped might be fun on these dark nights to read.
I guess that is three nominations...sorry!

This looks interesting!Lady Windermere's Fan

Clari wrote: "Not at all autumn based but the Alice books or Treasure Island or Kidnapped might be fun on these dark nights to read.
I guess that is three nominations...sorry!"

Thanks, Clari. We do usually take one nomination from each member to be fair. Which is your pick?

After reading dozens of synopses, I'd like to nominate Lady Audley's Secret just to see what all the fuss was about.

I'd like very much to read The Return of the Nativeby Thomas Hardy.

I'll nominate Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886, 228pp) so Clari can be free to nominate one of her other two suggestions. I'd love to tackle this one, in a nice illustrated edition, and then discuss it here!

"...remains one of the classic coming-of-age stories for children and young adults today. After the death of his father, David Balfour sets out to meet his uncle and claim his inheritance. This adventure takes him through the highlands of Scotland where he embarks upon a long journey back from treachery and deceit..." Reed Business Information

Diana wrote: "I'd like very much to read The Return of the Nativeby Thomas Hardy."

I have wanted to read that one for a while, thought about nominating it myself, so I am going to go along with that one.

Silver wrote: "Diana wrote: "I'd like very much to read The Return of the Nativeby Thomas Hardy."

I have wanted to read that one for a while, thought about nominating it myself, so I am going to go along with th..."

A strong book, but have done it too recently to revisit just yet, so will pass if selected. But if the interest exists, enjoy! A hint to other nominators: (view spoiler)[The Hardy that does entice from my TBR is Under the Greenwood Tree, an earlier and lighter work than Hardy's later masterpieces. (hide spoiler)]

Have we ever read any Conrad? If so, it was before my time (and hasn't made it to the "read" shelf in our bookshelves). Maybe it's time, so I'll nominate Heart of Darkness.

I like Dickens in the autumn - I'm not sure which of his books I'm in the mood for, though. Maybe The Pickwick Papers.

Thank you all for the incoming noms. Please limit this thread to your actual nomination that you are putting forward though. It is hard for the moderators to go back and sift through the thread to make the voting list if a lot of other titles are mentioned that aren't nominations.

Thank you for your help!

SarahC wrote: "Thank you all for the incoming noms. Please limit this thread to your actual nomination that you are putting forward though. It is hard for the moderators to go back and sift through the thread t..."

Oh, hope you'll find my little modification to 10 a way to keep it easier for the moderators and still allow us the fun of encouraging each other to bring enticing possibilities to the table, or, in a slightly different vein, even when we are like some who are interested in an author but would probably go along with someone else's specific.

Not a nomination, Sarah may ignore for that purpose.

Lily wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Thank you all for the incoming noms. Please limit this thread to your actual nomination that you are putting forward though. It is hard for the moderators to go back and sift throu..."

Perhaps we should have a thread for short book review/recommendations (limited of course to Victorian books) where we have particularly enjoyed a book and want to suggest it to others. That way we can keep the nominations threads clean but have a good place to go and suggest books with a short (non-spoiler) comment on why we think the book would be of interest to others.

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell

a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town. England is at war with France, and press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their victims is a whaling harpooner named Charley Kinraid, whose charm and vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia’s devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself and, in order to win her, deliberately withholds crucial information—with devastating consequences.


Paperback, 528 pages, by Penguin Classics published 1863

I second Lady Audley's Secret. I just bought a copy and am really looking forward to reading it.

SarahC wrote: "Clari wrote: "sorry, Sarah, seeing Lily has kindly gone for Kidnapped, I'll nominate Treasure Island."

I would like to propose Rachel Ray, as I haven't read anything by Trollope yet.

Everyman wrote: "Not a nomination, Sarah may ignore for that purpose.

....Perhaps we should have a thread for short book review/recommendations (limited of course to Victorian books) where we have particularly enjoyed a book and want to suggest it to others. ..." Bold added.

Don't know the solution, Eman, but, as in my f2f book club experiences, it seems as if part of the challenge is to do the brainstorming, let the ideas generated feed each other, and then in turn, as in good brainstorming practice, do the assessment to determine enough mutual interest at the same time (and place) for a good discussion. Maybe the moderators are our practical ones -- do straightforward nominations, vote on them, then re-vote on the leaders. (And they carry the heavy lifting for us.) But part of me wants some wandering, clustering, or branching of possibilities and some whys and wherefores and why now discussion.

Thanks for the continuing nominations -- I am loving them! Some new ideas and works from favorite authors that we haven't tried before.

Thanks Everyman and Lily, your additional suggestions are much appreciated. We have several places within Victorians group where you can recommend authors and give summaries about books you have read, and encourage chat about them. That's half of what Victorians! is about. Please go to those threads throughout the group if appropriate to your idea, or there is the alternative of opening a thread for short reviews if that is needed -- we kind of do that anyway in the other discussion threads as a book is mentioned. But please customize as needed.

The ideas generated in those other threads can be brought to our Nomination thread here for a simple, straightforward nomination that is easy for all other members and moderators to see.

We do try to get the nominations done fairly quickly and easily, so we can get on with choosing the book and allowing members to obtain it by the start of next discussion of course.

Can I nominate Armadale by Wilkie Collins. Nothing like a good suspense novel for those dark autumn evenings!

I second "Armadale" by Wilkie Collins

North and South. by Elizabeth Gaskell

Lady Audley's Secret or Wuthering Heights

Some good titles! I don't think I'l add anything more; I wait for the poll to vote for one of them - and it'll be difficoult to decide!

Moderator note:

We have read North and South within the past two years, and Wuthering Heights already this year I believe. With so many choices in Victorian literature, I would like to avoid repeating titles too often in our main group discussions. Kara and Jenny, if you would like to nominate something else, please do. (Jenny, also Lady Audley was already nominated above in this thread.)

Tomorrow in the last day to post nominations for the November discussion.

SarahC wrote: "Moderator note:

We have read North and South within the past two years, and Wuthering Heights already this year I believe. With so many choices in Victorian literature, I would like to avoid repe..."

I agree. So often Victorian book groups keep cycling among the best known works, but I really cherish when this group selects a lesser known work, such as The Odd Women, which generated a great discussion, perhaps in part because most of came to it with no knowledge of the book and therefore no sense that we already knew what it was about or had discussed it, sometimes to death, in other groups or courses.

Add another one to the list in favor of reading Lady Audley's Secret!

Thank you, E-man, for your comment #29. I agree that finding and sharing the less common works yields so much for me.

I was thinking that perhaps in January, we could enlist discussion leaders from the membership, who are both interested in nominating a commonly known Victorian title AND assisting in leading the discussion of it. That would give fresh perspective on works that several of the moderators have already discussed. Because, to be frank, I have already discussed some of the better known works, such as Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, for example, in this in other of my groups -- I am afraid I would be a pretty stale leader to bring it back out again into group discussion. I am not an expert on Gaskell to begin with, although I am kind of studying her now, but the amount of knowledge I have to offer on her is limited. To to illustrate my point.

So, please take that suggestion as an invitation everyone -- that gives you a couple of months to think about it: A Shared Discussion Leader kind of month for January.

I would like to nominate The Diary of a Nobody because until I came across it in a list of 1001 books that chart the evolution of the novel, I had no idea it existed. It seems like it could be a bit enjoyable, and I think everyone needs a laugh around the holidays.

And while I do love Lady Audleys Secret and Gaskell, I would love to cycle through some of the lesser known authors. The era was so prolific and we've barely touched the surface. I always find it fascinating to read authors that, at the time, were very popular but seem largely forgtten by todays standards.

Becky wrote: "I would like to nominate The Diary of a Nobody because until I came across it in a list of 1001 books that chart the evolution of the novel, I had no idea it existed. It seems like it could be a b..."

Sounds interesting!

I nominate Three Men in a Boat. I am glad to see that Diary of a Nobody was also nominated... I downloaded both of these books free to my Kindle recently, and I would be happy if either of them were chosen.

Everyman wrote: "Have we ever read any Conrad? If so, it was before my time (and hasn't made it to the "read" shelf in our bookshelves). Maybe it's time, so I'll nominate Heart of Darkness."

The secret sharer is good too by Conrad.

I'm not going to nominate because there's tons of great titles out there already ;=)

Deborah wrote: "The secret sharer is good too by Conrad. "

Published a little late - 1910.