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Welcome to the discussion of No Name. My edition (Penguin Classics) is 610 pages so 12 weeks should be enough - a start date of 16 October means finishing at the end of the first week of January.

Who will be joining us? And have you read Collins before? (I haven't).

I will be reading, I voted for it. I have read The Moonstone and The Haunted Hotel, I like his writing.

I started The Woman in White two times but, it’s big and I usually can’t read big books on my own.

It’s good we are starting in October, September turned out to be unusually and unexpectedly busy, sending my reading at priority number 4 ( which is always 3).

This book will be a journey through the Victorian Era . Looking forward to this read.

Sounds good! I have only read the moonstone.

Perfect Schedule! I thought this read might spill too far into January and I wanted to finish reading this in 2022 to include its 800+ pages in this years page count in My Year in Review. With this schedule, I can finish it on New Year's Eve and still be able to remember what I read when I post of New Years Day.

I nominated this and it will be my 4th Collins. I like how he writes, more clearly and more interestingly than Dickens, but I haven't given his other three above 3 stars. I liked The Moonstone and it was a 4 star novel until I ran into the resolution which, while likely quite plausible to Victorian readers, I found laughable and it lowered my rating. The Woman in White was good and 4 star worthy most of the book but toward the end it started going on too long past the point where I thought it should end, so that reduced it to 3 stars. Basil just was overly dramatic even for a sensation novel, but it was an early effort while Collins was still honing his craft. In my review, I called it "a very readable 2-star novel though."
But some respected GR friends really like this one and I thought the plot sounded good and there shouldn't be any silly resolution or over-prolonging of the dramatic events to interfere with Collins writing. As I said in my Basil review: "Collins is a good storyteller, and his writing is page-turningly smooth."

Really helpful information, thanks Brian!

Nidhi wrote: "I started The Woman in White two times but, it’s big and I usually can’t read big books on my own."

You are not alone Nidhi. This will be my 4th Wilkie Collins novel and ALL have been read as part of a Group read. While I wanted to read No Name, I wanted to read it in a group setting, especially one with weekly threads. If it had lost the poll, I would have held out a few more years and hoped that some group would have it as a Group read.

I will try to read this with the group. It will be my first Wilkie Collins book, although I think I may own a copy of The Woman in White?

I've got the book coming from the library. Surprisingly there is apparently only one copy in the entire library system (and it's a large one!), and the copy is currently in central storage, not even on the shelf at one of the branches. I'm looking forward to diving into another classic chunkster. I've been reading all mostly new releases this summer.

I started, I’m listening to the audio. A Collins chunkster is the perfect ‘comfort read� for long autumn walks.

Good idea Jen! I'm starting my copy today.

I will have to start quite soon to get the chapter summaries started.

I have now read 14 chapters - just need to type up my notes and I'll be ready for the first two weeks.

I am starting this book today.

I feel nervous whenever I start a big book because smaller books come in between and I forget who’s who in the big book, here group reads are good, they keep you on schedule and discussions keep up with the plot.

Sorry - I should have posted the week 1 thread by now - will do that later today.

Popping in to say that I'm still hoping to join in this read, but I haven't started yet. How is everyone else doing so far?

As I nominated this book I both want to and am morally committed to particiate. I had planned to start by now but I have been delayed by health concerns and actually did not read at all for 2 weeks. Before this I can't think of a day I missed reading at least one chapter of a book over the past several years. It is almost an obsession for me to do some fiction reading a day. But the types of books I enjoy reading cannot be read and enjoyed when the brain cells aren't all triggering corrrectly.

I will start in a few days and plan to catch up, though it looks like I haven't missed any discussion yet. Guess I'll have to say something stupid to encourage responses - that is a skill within my wheelhouse.

The first two discussion threads are up. Would be nice to see some comments there.

Brian E wrote: " I had planned to start by now but I have been delayed by health concerns and actually did not read at all for 2 weeks. "

Sorry to hear this, Brian. I hope things are better now and you are able to get some reading in soon.

I'm hoping to start this weekend, but I've been very slow in my print reading since the school year started and I've been on the go with various activities with the kids. It's taken me nearly a month to read a single short, light book and meanwhile October just flew by.