Hey readers!

This month we will be reading Shōgun by James Clavell, as a part of our Runner Up Read category. u/eternalpandemonium, u/Neutrino3000, u/fixtheblue, and I are so excited to co-run the discussions of this major best-seller and can't wait to discuss it with everyone. (Announcement post here)

A synopsis of Shōgun :

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.

Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shōgun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shōgun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read--you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Shōgun.

The book is around 1200 Pages, and we will be reading around 90 pages each week

The schedule of our read is as follows :

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May 3 - Prologue to Ch. 4

May 10 - Ch. 5 to 9

May 17 - Ch. 10 to 16

May 24 - Ch. 17 to 22

May 31 - Ch. 23 to 28

June 7 - Ch. 29 to 32

June 14 - Ch. 33 to 37

June 21 - Ch. 38 to 41

June 28 - Ch. 42 to 46

July 5 - Ch. 47 to 50

July 12 - Ch. 51 to 54

July 19 - Ch. 55 to 59

July 26 - Ch. 60 to End

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See you soon everyone !