As I mentioned recently, Facebook has a book club; not surprisingly, the first "meeting" did not go well, due largely to Facebook's algorithms, which did not display comments or questions in any kind of logical order. By the way, if the idea of online book clubs intrigue you, I highly recommend The Atlantic's version, 1Book140.

The American Scholar put together a list of neglected novels that ought to be considered "classics." I strongly agree with the Elizabeth Gaskell pick; just this week I read an essay in which Gaskell was carelessly tossed aside for being less great than Jane Austen. No one is as great as Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Gaskell was a terrific writer.

The Shortlist for the 2015 Tournament of Books has been announced (actually it was out a few weeks ago, I just wasn't paying attention). I've only read one book on the list, but I've got Elena Ferrante's first Neapolitan novel and Station Eleven on the Kindle. Winners will be determined in March.