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Nice banned book mural
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3
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112
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October 11, 2025
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Kirkus finalists announced!
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14
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200
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October 9, 2025
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The Nobel Prize for Literature goes to
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0
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58
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October 9, 2025
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What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10-02-2025)
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17
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238
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October 9, 2025
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Quilty makes his first onstage appearance at The Enchanted Hunters, yet rumors and allusions precede him. Does the revelation of Quilty's identity come as a surprise? Is it the true climax of Lolita? How does Nabokov prepare us for this revelation?
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2
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22
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December 26, 2025
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Lolita abounds with games. How does the novel itself resemble a vast and intricate game? Is Nabokov playing with his readers or against them? Do its game-like qualities detract from its emotional seriousness or actually heighten it?
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5
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38
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December 26, 2025
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How does the character of Lolita combine mythology and entomology? What are some of this novel's themes of enchantment and metamorphosis as they apply both to Lolita and Humbert, and perhaps to the reader as well?
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2
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16
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December 26, 2025
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BookBrowsers ask Graham Watson
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58
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382
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October 9, 2025
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Humbert is not only Lolita's debaucher but her stepfather and, after Charlotte's death, the closest thing she has to a parent. What kind of parent is he? How does his behavior toward the girl increasingly come to resemble Charlotte's?
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11
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86
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December 26, 2025
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Why might Nabokov have chosen to name his protagonist "Humbert Humbert"? Does the name's parodic double rumble end up distancing us from its owner's depravity? Is it harder to take evil seriously when it goes under an outlandish name?
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4
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66
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December 26, 2025
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America’s burgeoning fleet of book bikes
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0
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36
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October 8, 2025
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Can Humbert ever be said to "love" Lolita? Does he ever perceive her as a separate being? Is the reader ever permitted to see her in ways that Humbert cannot?
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7
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71
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December 26, 2025
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According to Humbert, Lolita initiates their first sexual encounter, yet later he admits that Lolita sobbed in the night. Do you think that what began as a game for Lolita became an inescapable reality or has Humbert been lying to us from the first?
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20
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405
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December 26, 2025
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Did you suspect Nick’s connection to the Forest Strangler, and if so, at what point in the story? Did this change the way you viewed his relationship with Anna?
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16
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107
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December 19, 2025
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Dr. Richardson offers Anna the choice to open her memory vault, try to reseal it, or deal with things as they come up (p. 66). Which would you have chosen, if you’d been in Anna’s shoes?
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11
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65
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December 19, 2025
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Anna’s home is decorated with items she collected, like the skull of an opossum and the bones of a pigeon (p. 28). What did you make of this? Why do you suppose she kept such artifacts?
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10
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67
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December 19, 2025
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Do book awards influence whether or not you choose to read a book?
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23
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240
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October 5, 2025
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What's your favorite biography?
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8
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116
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October 5, 2025
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What's your favorite banned book?
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13
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122
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October 4, 2025
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Book Trade
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6
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94
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October 4, 2025
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We also learn that Humbert is mad – mad enough, at least, to have been committed to several mental institutions. Is his madness an aspect of his sexual deviance or is it something more fundamental? Can we trust a story told by an insane narrator?
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11
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48
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December 26, 2025
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Humbert's confession is written in an extraordinary language. Is this an extension of Nabokov's own language or is Humbert's language appropriate to his circumstances and motives? What does Humbert's prose hide, and where does it reveal?
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8
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38
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December 26, 2025
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What are your favorite 21st century science fiction or fantasy books?
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6
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266
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October 2, 2025
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2025 Booker Shortlist announced
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11
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483
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October 2, 2025
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For what audience would you recommend Mercy? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar style?
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7
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77
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December 26, 2025
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Were you surprised by the ending? Which characters do and do not receive "mercy"? Do you think the book treats forgiveness as something one has to earn or deserve, or something given freely?
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14
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127
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December 26, 2025
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What do you make of Ivan's pivotal choice? Do you understand where he's coming from? What would you have done differently?
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14
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117
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December 26, 2025
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Nini is forced to return to the United States before she can witness the naming ceremony for an infant. She later learns the child died before the rite could be held. What did you think of her reaction? What lasting impact do you think this had on her?
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9
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49
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December 26, 2025
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Ivan follows AA's 12-step program, yet he leaves his behavior toward Eddie out of the process. Do you feel he cheated on the 12-step program, and do you agree with his assessment, that his sobriety is "fraudulent"?
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10
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63
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December 26, 2025
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Did you enjoy the setting of New York City in the 70s/80s? Do you think the same story would have been possible elsewhere?
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15
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88
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December 26, 2025
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