Hello, reading friends! I’m here with a double announcement of our winners for the Quarterly Non-Fiction and the Discovery Read!  

For the summer Quarterly Non-Fiction (Any), the winner is:

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

2nd place - A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson**
3rd place - The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

For the July-August Discovery Read (Booker Prize), our winner is:

Flesh by David Szalay

2nd place - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje**
3rd place - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

***The 2nd place books will be added to the Wheel of Books for a chance to become a Runner-up Read in the future!

And if you’d like to start thinking about what you’ll nominate next time, here are the topics for our future votes:
- Quarterly Non-fiction (Autumn - voting in October):  Philosophy
- Discovery Read (voting in August): Book to film

Will you be joining us for one or both of these amazing books? Discussions will start sometime around the 21st of July, so look out for schedules soon.  Now, get yourself to a library or bookstore and find a copy to read along with us!

Hello, readers!  The voting posts for both the Discovery Read and the Quarterly Non-Fiction are full of amazing selections. We are now down to the last 24 hours, so be sure to head on over and make sure the one(s) you wanna read are upvoted.

Discovery Read - Booker Prize Winners

Quarterly Nonfiction - Any

Remember you can (and absolutely should) upvote all and any of the books you would read with r/bookclub if they win. The second place on both posts will be added to the Wheel of Books for the chance to become a Runner-up Read in the future.

Happy upvoting 📚☑️

Welcome to the marginalia for our poetry Discovery Reads, Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2). Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters like this spoiler lives here

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Here is the full schedule and looking forward to seeing you in the first discussion next week!

Hello all you wonderful readers!

There are lots of great poetry nominations for next Discovery Read. We now have 24 hours left before the winner is announced so be sure to head on over and make sure your faves are upvoted!

• Discovery Read - Poetry Collection

Remember you can (and absolutely should) upvote all and any of the books you would read with r/bookclub if they win. The second place book will be added to the Wheel of Books for the chance to become a Runner-up Read in the future.

Happy reading upvoting 📚

Welcome to our next discussion of The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman!  This week, we will discuss Chapters 20-23. You can find the Schedule here and the Marginalia is linked here.  

References to the books we've read so far in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust will not be considered spoilers.  Please use spoiler tags to hide references to other books/media or anything from later in this book such as chapters we haven't read yet. You can mark spoilers using the format > ! Spoiler text here ! < (without any spaces between the symbols themselves or between the symbols and the first and last words). 

Discussion questions for this week’s chapters are in the comments below. Feel free to add your own questions or thoughts, as well! In case you need a refresher, here is a recap of our reading for this week! 

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

20 - Lyra arrives in Prague, prompted by a memory with Pan and perhaps the secret commonwealth. A man named Vaclav Kubicek stops her on the street and he also doesn’t have a daemon. He tells Lyra he was expecting her and that there’s a man who needs her help. Vaclav says there is a whole group of people whose daemons have left them and he can give Lyra the names of some along her journey. 

He takes Lyra to his house and introduces her to Cornelis van Dongen who is…made of fire? Cornelis wants Lyra to help find his missing daemon, Dinessa. Cornelis’ father, a natural philosopher, did an experiment where he assimilated their central selves to the elements fire and water. A magician then came and paid to take Dinessa away. Cornelis tells Lyra he knows she can help because her name is famous in the world of the spirits. Lyra finds the name and address of Dr Johannes Agrippa in her clavicula notebook and they all go to the address. 

Lyra finds a lab downstairs with Dinessa in mermaid form. Cornelis bursts in, he and Dinessa reunite which causes them to disappear into steam which powers a strange engine. Agrippa claims he is Cornelis’ father and this was his plan all along. Agrippa tells Lyra she’ll find Pan but “not in the way she thinks” and that she should look in the calvicula to tell her which way to go next. She finds more words telling her to go south and Agrippa says Makepeace wrote them. Agrippa also tells Lyra there are other, easier ways to read Dust, including a pack of cards with pictures. He knows where the Blue Hotel is but says it will take great pain, difficulty and sacrifice to leave with Pan. And finally akterrakeh is actually Latin for aqua terraque which means by water and by land, the ways a human and their daemon need to travel to reach the red hotel. Vaclav helps get Lyra to the train station and points out a woman from the clavicula Lyra should contact in Smyrna. 

21 - Delamare is pissed at Bonneville and sends the CCD after him. Meanwhile, Bonneville is still using the alethiometer to watch Pan and realizes he’s right outside. Bonneville catches him in a net, but is then arrested.

Malcolm and Karimov set sail in Mignonne. Karimov tells Malcolm about the rose oil he was commissioned to bring back for Delamare. He claims the men from the mountains didn’t destroy the entire research station at Tashbulak because they were forced to flee by the Simurgh, a monstrous bird from Jahan and Rukhsana. Karimov thinks Delamare knows a lot about the men from the mountains and was pretending the information was new. A massive storm comes and they are forced to dock in a forest - Malcom finds a cave. 

Bonneville is questioned by the police and somehow convinces them they got their orders wrong and he’s actually helping Delamare. They go to talk to Pan and find he’s escaped through the window. Bonneville now wants to find ‘Matthew Polstead’ - the man who killed his father. 

22 - Lyra arrives in Constantinople and spends her time trying to be inconspicuous and feeling lonely. She decides to go watch the celebrations to honor St Simeon, the new president of the Magisterium. 
St Simeon is having a bath and complaining to his eunuch, Kaloumdjian, that his usual boy is missing and the rose oil for his bath is inferior. Simeon is then dressed by Brother Mercurius. They are attacked and Kaloumdjian and St Simeon are killed. Brother Mercurius escapes through a door and as the council is also attacked by the assassins, he decides the best thing is to return to the body of the Patriarch to be discovered praying over him. 

Outside, Lyra and the crowd hear rumours about the assassination. Brother Mercurius comes out and an English speaking woman tells Lyra he’s a shameless opportunist. She invites Lyra to coffee and we learn her name is Alison Wetherfield and she worked as a teacher in Aleppo. She tells Lyra about the rose panic, where rose growers are being persecuted and their gardens burnt by the men from the mountains. She knows Lyra is seeking the blue hotel and says she will need to find a guide. The Magisterium elects Delamare unanimously as their new president and he immediately increases his power. 

23 - Lyra gets the ferry to Smyrna and spends time reflecting on her distance from Pan and her own beliefs (or lack thereof) in the secret commonwealth and imagination. Suddenly, the ferry hits a boat full of refugees. Lyra helps bring people onto the ship and finds that Alison Wetherfield is also on board and is taking charge of the situation. She gives Lyra a girl named Aisha to look after. Lyra takes her to the deck and wraps her in a blanket and Aisha’s daemon cuddles with her. She dreams of the cat again. The next morning, Alison gets off the boat to help with the refugees and tells Lyra to visit Father Joseph in Aleppo. 

Welcome to the marginalia for Gilead and apologies it was posted late! This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2). Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters like this spoiler lives here

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Here is the full schedule and looking forward to seeing you in the first discussion soon!

It's the first of the month which means it's time to choose our next Discovery Read and this time is all about POETRY. 

A Discovery Read is a chance to read something a little different than the award winners, bestsellers, and trending titles you might be seeing just about everywhere. With the Discovery Reads, we get to branch out and explore the huge catalog of books that might not be as well-known. So dig out those TBRs, ask your favorite librarian, or browse the aisles at a local bookstore for some inspiration, and get nominating in the comments below!

Voting will be open for four days, from the 1st to the 5th of the month. A reminder will be posted 24 hours (+/-) before the vote is closed and the winners will be announced asap after closing the vote. Reading will commence around the 21st of the month so you have plenty of time to get a copy of the winning title!

Nomination specifications:

• Must be a collection of poetry (can be by a single author or a compilation of various authors)
• Any page count
• Any genre/style of poems
• No previously read selections

Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. You can also check by author here.

Please check the previous selections to determine if we have read your selection. You can also check by author here. Nominate as many titles as you want (one per comment), and upvote for all and any you will participate in if they win. A reminder to upvote will be posted on the 4th, so be sure to get your nominations in before then to give them the best chance of winning!

Enjoy Nominating and Voting!   

Note - The mod team does not constantly review nominations so if you suspect that a nomination does not fit the specifications you are welcome to report this and note that it "Does not fit Specifications". The mod team will review it and approve or delete accordingly. Any comments on the validity of other users' nominations will be removed immediately. Winning nominations are always confirmed to fit specs before the winners announcement is made

Welcome to our FINAL discussion of Leviathan Falls and the end of The Expanse series. What a journey it's been and I certainly teared up at the end. You can find the full Schedule to catch up on past discussion dates and the Marginalia if you have any other musings.

SUMMARY:

41 - Jim, Tanaka, Teresa and Miller enter the station. Tanaka worries about Jim’s condition with the protomolecule. Tanaka takes the lead on finding Duarte and Miller warns Jim he may need to shoot her again. 

42 - Naomi, Alex and Amos repair the Roci and get it ready for battle. The hive mind impulse is getting stronger and whole ships have been taken over.  Naomi wants to Roci parked just outside the ring station to give Jim as much time as possible. 

43 - Jim suggests they use heat to track Duarte like they did on Eros. He asks Miller what it will be like when the protomolecule fully takes him over. Tanaka tells Teresa she’ll make the approach to her father. They come across sentries and Jim/Miller disable them. They find Duarte. 

44 - Teresa is worried about Jim as she hears him speak to “Miller” on their journey through the station and realizes the protomolecule is killing him. Tanaka privately tells her there may come a time when she needs to kill him. Duarte tells her the protomolecule creators were too fragile, but humans will be able to take over the universe with a hive mind. He’s too far gone to listen to Teresa and as she tries to rip the web holding him, he tries to kill her. The group are surrounded by the alien sentries. 

45 - Naomi and crew continue to fight the hive mind ships until the Whirlwind comes through. There’s a strange moment and the hive mind is ended, but the threads of black attack the ship. 

46 - Tanaka goes independent and starts attacking the sentries/Duarte. She sacrifices her armor and continues to go for Duarte until she smashes his heart and kills him. She’s fatally wounded from the fight and in her final moments wishes she could kill Jim and “shoots” him with her fingers. 

47 - Jim realizes he has to connect himself to the protomolecule web to be able to save everyone. He can see the black threads an pushes against them. Miller explains that the hive mind could allow humans to truly defeat the threads, but Jim doesn’t want to. Jim ‘speaks’ to Amos and says to tell Naomi to order everyone out of the ring space so he can destroy the station and the gates. He clears a path out of the station for Teresa. 

48 - The Roci crew gets ready to depart the ring space and Alex decides he doesn’t want to go to Sol, but to Nieuwestad to be with Kit. The rest of the crew join the Falcon and he takes off alone. 

49 - Teresa gets out of the station and reunited with Amos and co. Jim and Miller blow up the ring gate. In Sol, Naomi and Amos discuss the situation and Naomi claims humans will find their own way to traverse the different systems. 

Epilogue - In the future, Marrel transits for 31 days from Dobridomov to Earth. On Earth he meets…AMOS! 

Hello bibliophiles! It's nearly time for our next Discovery Read - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

This is a short one so will only be two check ins.

Discussion Schedule:

June 2 - Start to the end of page 122, with the paragraph that ends "He'll get a laugh out of that." with u/Vast-Passenger1126

June 9 - Paragraph starting with “Young Boughton came by again this morning, with some apples and plums from their trees.” to the end of the book with u/nopantstime

The Marginalia is here in case you read ahead or just want to note down your thoughts ahead of our discussions.

See you soon friends!

Welcome to the marginalia for Morning Glory Milking Farm. This is a communal place for things you would jot down in the margins of your books. That might include quotes, thoughts, questions, relevant links, exclamations - basically anything you want to make note of or to share with others. It can be good to look back on these notes, and sometimes you just can't wait for the discussion posts to share a thought.

When adding something to the marginalia, simply comment here, indicating roughly which part of the book you're referring to (eg. towards the end of chapter 2). Because this may contain spoilers, please indicate this by writing “spoilers for chapters 5 and 6” for example, or else use the spoiler tag for this part with this format > ! SPOILER ! < without the spaces between characters like this spoiler lives here

Note: spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Here is the full schedule and looking forward to seeing you in the first discussion soon!

Hello all you minotaur lovers!

I’m sure we’re all getting excited to start our next mod pick. After some reviewing (thanks you u/sunnydaze7777777), we've decided to adjust the schedule for just two check-ins instead of three. We think it’ll be a relatively quick read, and this way we can make sure there’s plenty to milk out of each discussion 😉

The updated schedule is below. The good news is you’ve now got an extra week to get hold of the book and get started.

Discussion Schedule:

May 25: Chapters 1-9 with u/Joinedformyhubs

June 1: Chapters 10-17 with u/sunnydaze7777777

Marginalia is here if you need to share all your sexy thoughts ahead of our check ins. See you soon!

Welcome aboard the Rocinante for our fourth discussion of Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey, the 9th and final novel in The Expanse series!The full Schedule has all the info you need about other discussion dates and the Marginalia is here if you read ahead and want to jot down any of your musings.

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 25 - Tanaka is interviewing the Captain of the Preiss about the event and he said he experienced someone else’s memory. Trejo wants her to focus on finding Duarte via Teresa. She goes to the bridge and sees Botton whose memory she experienced during the event and panics thinking someone has seen inside her. The head to Bara Goa where they think the Roci is. 

Chapter 26 - Jim and Alex talk about the change in the gates. Alex thinks it’s all too big for humans to comprehend or access. They connect to the Falcon and worry if they’ve been compromised. They board and are greeted by Elvi and Fayez. 

Chapter 27 - Elvi tells Harshaan her plan to work with the Roci and he agrees to go ahead, which gets the rest of the crew on board as well. Elvi fills the Roci crew in on the newest event and that the ring gates are more than a transport system - they’re also a communication network. The good news is that no other bad events (loss of consciousness, death, etc.) have happened since, but Amos brings up the point that the protomolecule people couldn’t stop their enemies so what chance do they have? Elvi shares that lots of people saw Duarte during the event so wants to dual dive with Cara and Amos to try and talk to him. 

Chapter 28 - Bara Goa is a dead end for Tanaka. She invites a young bartender back to her room but he flinches when looking at her scarred face which sets her on a spiral. She continues to remember other people’s memories and makes a medical appointment. After her face is repaired, she speaks to Chief Byrd who was severely injured (and the rest of his crew killed) by an attack from the underground. When the dotor comes in, she asks about Byrd and is dismissed which causes Tanaka to attack the dotor in rage. She schedules a psych evaluation.

Chapter 29 - Teresa and Xan play with Muskrat on the Roci. Fayez shows Jim the catalyst and they discuss the ethics of what they’re doing. Amos and Cara prepare for the dive. 

Interlude - Cara and Amos begin their dive with the usual protomolecule show and tell, but then they become disconnected from the BFE and Duarte appears. He tells Elvi a collective human consciousness is the only way to defeat the protomolecule enemies. 

Chapter 30 - Everyone in the room saw Duarte (unlike protomolecule Miller who only Jim could see) even though he didn’t appear on any cameras. They discuss whether a human hive mind is possible and if it would make humans ants or neurons. Naomi wants to share the news with the underground and Elvi wonders how she can pass the info along to Laconia without revealing she’s working with the Roci. Amos later visits Elvi and threatens her to end the experiment. 

Chapter 31 - Tanaka visits the psychiatrist who thinks she’s been running from trauma all her life. Tanaka confesses to having other people’s memories in her head and the psychiatrist describes this as an intimate assault. She gives Tanaka pills and suggests she keeps seeing her. Ochida sends her a message with an image of a ship at the ring station - it’s Duarte! 

Chapter 32 - Kit is also having overwhelming memory experiences. They’re getting worse to the point of losing any sense of self. Bakari has a medical incident with odd activity in his insular cortex. The doctor says he’s supposed to report to Laconia but knows who Kits father is so decides not to. Rohi wonders if it would be better to give I to the collective consciousness. 

Hello all you wonderful readers!

There are lots of great Pulitzer Prize winning nominations for next Discovery Read. We now have 24 hours left before the winner is announced so be sure to head on over and make sure your faves are upvoted!

• Discovery Read - Pulitzer Prize Winners

Remember you can (and absolutely should) upvote all and any of the books you would read with r/bookclub if they win. The second place book will be added to the Wheel of Books for the chance to become a Runner-up Read in the future.

Happy reading upvoting 📚