Welcome to the Book Nook!  This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism. 

This week’s recommended discussion:  We’re all familiar with required reading from our school days.  It’s great for establishing common cultural references, but some books have been common pain points.  Which books would you replace – either with a pick from the same author, or a book with the same topic or theme.  My choice is Ethan Frome.  It’s a great book, but kids should not read it by force.  I think a far superior Wharton for young minds is The Custom of the Country, which has a lot of historical and social complexity.  And America might be a different place if kids were encouraged to examine some ugly truths about our attitudes toward money and other cultures.

Because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone.  The OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread. Images related to a post are fine, though.

upcoming topics:

10/21:  trick or treat (h/t MisterSplendiferous)
10/28:  masters of horror (h/t MisterSplendiferous)
11/4:  no topic due to U.S. elections (please VOTE by 11/3 if you can)

Book Nook posts every Wednesday at 8:15 AM Eastern.