Forgotten Classics and Other Lesser Known Books (or No One Has Read this but Me!) discussion

What should we read as a first monthly selection?

One book nomination per member please.

I always felt like Anne Bronte was a forgotten author because of her sisters, so I suggest The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or Agnes Grey!

Theresa wrote: "I always felt like Anne Brontë was a forgotten author because of her sisters, so I suggest The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or Agnes Grey!"

I agree in a sense (Anne being a "lesser" known sister), but interestingly the two books you mentioned are often selected/read here at Goodreads. Clearly all of the Brontë sisters have become part of the known/read tier of authors? For a good reason too - excellent novels!

I'll nominate The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.

I'll nominate Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis, first published in 1880. The GR bio identifies the author as the most important writer in Brazilian literature. I'm not certain that 10k ratings is consistent with "forgotten" status, but I'll cop to being unfamiliar with both the author and this novel, and would like to change that status. Plus, at only 236 pages, it doesn't ask the sort of commitment that many classics require.

I'm going to be a bit different and nominate something modern. I received When the Moon Was Ours from a Goodreads Giveaway, and it's stuck with me ever since. I've been looking for an excuse to reread it, even though I only read it last year. As of now it has 1,683 ratings.

You can see my review here.

I nominate Silence by Shūsaku Endō. 201 pages published in 1966. Winner of the Tanizaki Prize in Japan.

Marilyn wrote: "I nominate Silence by Shūsaku Endō. 201 pages published in 1966. Winner of the Tanizaki Prize in Japan."
That one is already on my physical to-read shelf, but it is getting a lot of publicity at the moment because of the film...

Hugh wrote: "Marilyn wrote: "I nominate Silence by Shūsaku Endō. 201 pages published in 1966. Winner of the Tanizaki Prize in Japan."
That one is already on my physical to-read shelf..."

Does that make it not a lesser known book?

No

Hugh wrote: "No"

Good. Thanks. It is on my TBR list because of the movie.

I think you said this on the 1 or 2 a month vote, but when are we going to vote on which book/s to read? I'm not trying to be pushy, just not sure of the goodreads routine :)

Just so you know, groups are free to set their own schedules and policies and Goodreads itself tries to stay out our business within them. So, it's not goodreads you're wondering about, but our moderator hosts, Luella and Hugh.

That being said, I have the same question. :)

So I'm going to propose that --since we have five excellent and varied nominations --and me and the rest of the natives are restless, may we close the nominations and proceed to a poll?

Signed, one of the riff raff

In case the nominations aren't quite closed, I nominate The Home-Maker.

Mindy wrote: "In case the nominations aren't quite closed, I nominate The Home-Maker."

This looks excellent --great find.

Silence has too many ratings to meet the requirement of less than 5000. I withdraw Silence and nominate Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr. It received the National Book Award for First Work of Fiction in 1984. The author was 74 years old.

Okay guys you voted and the results are in. I will comb through the nominations and see what fits:

Results are in guys!!

How unknown should a book be (per Goodreads): 5,000 ratings

What would you like the cut off for a Forgotten Classics book to be: 1967

What would you like the cut off for a Lesser Known book to be: at least 10 years old

How many books would you like to have featured a month? 1

We will stick to this for now. Unless there is much outcry for change and then we will have another vote.