I am all up for the next few months. THanks for being proactive TabbyT and doing this. I was remiss in posting for Dorian Gray, not being able to comment as much. I have "Three Men in a Boat" and will get started on it asap, and will still comment on Dorian Gray despite it being June if that is alright.

You've selected a good mix for us there, thanks Tom. I know that "David Copperfield" would probably be a very popular choice, and I'll happily go along with it if everyone else is in agreement, but as we've already tackled a couple of Dickens' books may I suggest "Mary Barton" by Elizabeth Gaskell as a possible alternative.

Or we could try going for something completely new, like Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". I've not read it yet myself but, according to the reviews, there seems to be plenty of discussion fodder in that one, and I've been wondering if we might get a few more members joining in if we chose some newer titles occasionally.

I'm pretty sure that I still have a very old copy of Beowulf somewhere here, but does anyone happen to know if there's a good modern translation with plenty of helpful notes that could be recommended?

Sebastiancat, thanks for your timely reminder that "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K Jerome is our book of the month for June. I also look forward to your further participation in the discussion about Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

For "Three men in a boat" i found two websites that you can read the book online:

http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/boat/boat.htm

http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/222/2445/frameset.html

and the author website also:

Jerome K. Jerome

Beowulf

If you’re curious to know what the original looks like as well,this site has the original Old English (Anglo-Saxon) text and a fairly literal translation.

Many thanks minkpenny, that's just the sort of helpful information I was looking for. I do hope that you'll join us in the book discussion, your invaluable input would be most welcome.

I've checked out some reviews and it certainly seems to be very highly praised. I found an excerpt of Seamus Heaney's excellent translation of Beowulf at
www.bookbrowse.com should anyone wish to compare it to the translation Tom linked to in the previous post.

You're very welcome, izzi!!

I'll definitely join the book discussion I'm sure it will be very interesting. July is coming soon!