Hello bookworms, So you are all no doubt familiar with the Mod Pick reads we have here at r/bookclub. In case you are not, basically the mods pick a book based on statistical analysis, number crunching and vigorous surveying of....ok, ok we pick 'em cause we wanna read 'em. It's a perk of the job...this sub doesn't run itself ya know ;)

Anywho a few years ago we wanted to mix things up a bit and give you folx more say in the next Mod Pick. Well it was super successful, and with all things successful here, lets do it all again, and again, and again. So each of our lovely moderators have picked a book that they want to read with all of you. Meet the mods below and head to the comments of this post for their selections and corresponding Goodreads blurbs. Upvote the one(s) you will read with us if they win.

The highest 2 upvoted win, and will be run in due course. Later in the year we will do it all again, and our wonderful Read Runners will get the chance to introduce themselves and put forward a book of their choosing. Lovely!

Let's meet the readers behind the sub.

• u/fixtheblue - ravenous consumer of books I'll read anything and everything as long as I haven't read it before. I always try to read all the books, I am always behind and I don't care one bit 'cause I am living my best reading life. Incase you didn't know I'm the one behind the scenes juggling this and that, keeping the monthly book menu up to date and generally spending too much time making sure r/bookclub remains a well oiled machine of booky beauty (i.e. bossing everyone around and nagging the incredibly devoted team of amazing Mods, Read Runners and boffins). My pet project is the Read the World challenge. I used be an avid traveller (47 countries, 10 of which I worked and/or studied in). However, since having a family, however, galivanting is restricted to the pages of the novels we read and actually that is perfectly fine with me 📚

Selection - The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett. Why? - I have a little fondness for vikings and I love, love, love big books. Plus Ken Follett can spin a pretty great yarn (pun intended - if you've read WWE you know). This is a Knightsbridge prequel so no need to have read the other Knightsbridge books, but also no problem if you have. I think this will be a great Mod Pick so join me for some Middle Ages mayhem by giving this book an updoot below.

• u/bluebelle236 has always been a bookworm but after getting back into reading, is now making an effort branch out into reading other genres, so these days, anything goes, as long as it has a good story.

Selection - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Why? - I have heard good things about this one and I am keen to read it with the sub.

• u/DernhelmLaughed - I love sci-fi, especially cyberpunk. Also a sucker for a clever mystery and graphic novels with pretty covers. Intend to open a cyberpunk detective agency one day.

Selection - The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler Why? - I love the premise, and I want people to read with and discuss this book. Also considering having super smart octopi guard my super villain lair

• u/miriel41 has always had a love for fantasy and thrillers. But she likes to mix it up and will read almost anything, be it historical fiction, sci-fi or non-fiction. She also likes to discover different countries through literature and reads books by authors from around the world.

Selection - The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino Why? Let me start by explaining what honkaku is, it's a genre of Japanese mystery fiction where you have all the clues to solve the crime. Well, my flair already tells you I love such books (I enjoyed reading the House Murder books by Yukito Ayatsuji with bookclub last year) and I think it's just more fun to look for clues with a group. And you know which book won the Honkaku Mystery Award in 2006? Yes, the Devotion of Suspect X!

• u/dogobsess has always had a soft spot for fantasy and historical fiction. Consuming a steady diet of manga and romance, and recently learned to love short fiction. Anything with great characters or big plot twists is up their alley!

Selection - Birds of America: Stories by Lorrie Moore Why? A couple years back I read an amazing story by this author, "How to Be an Other Woman," and it is still one of my favourite stories I've read. I've been itching to read more of her stories ever since.

• u/lazylittlelady is very concerned we’re not reading enough classic works in German literature and proposes to ameliorate that with a big book!

Selection - The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann Why? “The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death”-according to Goodreads! Who does like a pre-WWI novel?

• u/nopantstime just loves stories and will read pretty much anything. A sucker for a short, tightly edited novel but also loves the long, winding ones too. First loves are lit fic, historical fiction, classics, and romance, but has also been getting really into thrillers, fantasy, and sci-fi lately. Loves anything weird and unique.

Selection: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Why? Even though mystery/thriller isn't my number one fave genre, I love reading and discussing them with others. Spitballing theories and comparing is so fun. This book sounds doubly interesting given its narrative structure - learning about a serial killer through the stories of women associated through him - and the underlying statements and critiques of our society.

• u/espiller1 is an eclectic reader who loves everything from Adams to Zevin, with a special soft spot for cozy mysteries; unreliable narrators; multi-generation stories and anything space related. When she's not active with the club, she's often off galavanting around the world ✈️. Emily dabbles in being a book-voyant (term coined by u/fixtheblue) by predicting a bountiful of r/ bookclub reads. Her corgi pup Archie 🐶 frequents her posts, as he's always interrupting quiet reading time!

Selection - Papillon by Henri Charrière 🦋 Why? After a lot of back and forth, I've decided to pick this title for a few reasons. Okay, now to convince you all to read along with me (this feels like highschool gym class). First: Papillon sounds like such an interesting story and I was craving an autobiography. Secondly, I've enjoying read running books that I've previously read like The Martian or East of Eden but, I've found that it's more enjoyable experience for me when it's a new book for me too! I haven't read Papillon, but I've read good reviews from a couple of my friends. Thirdly, I already own this book so that made it an easy choice as it's in one of my many stacks of owned & unread books 👀.

• u/Superb_Piano9536 likes his books long, dark, and dreamy... or short, bright, and energetic... or, honestly, anywhere in between. Mostly, they need to be smart and engaging with the kind of spark that makes him want to get between the covers.

Selection: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin.
Why? We read Giovanni's Room last year and it just wrecked me. The story was tragic and the characters unsympathetic, but Baldwin's gifts as a novelist lured me in, knocked me around, and left me brooding for weeks. I'm hoping for the same with Go Tell It on the Mountain. "With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935."

• u/inclinedtothelie loves a good story, regardless of the genre. Recently, short story has been a prominent feature, but she always makes time for a SciFi or Fantasy novel. Her favorite thing is reading in the sunshine, preferably by a lake!

Selection - Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely Why? The reason is I bought a book in the series for my grandmother and now I want to read the series. Also, he's a black author writing mystery. Not a lot of black mystery writers out there. Not that this needs to be included. It's just why I got it for my grandmother.

• - u/Joinedformyhubs is a recently rehabilitated, now ravenous reader. Down to read most genres with a particular love of historical fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi. Anything that can read while cuddling two fuzzy dogs.

Selection The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck Mutiny and Murder Why? It's a murder mystery, that takes place on a ship, wrapped up in a study of human behavior. Topped off with the fact that it REALLY HAPPENED!!!

Happy upvoting and happy reading folx 📚

*(The post is open for 72 hours and winners will be announced Monday)