...and the winner of the "Next classic" is...

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.

The votes break down as follows:
Out of 25 total votes:
Count of Monte Cristo -- 11 (44%)
Lord of the Flies -- 9 (36%)
Captain Blood -- 3 (12%)
Our Man in Havana --2 (8%)

Admittedly, Word Nerd is not as thrilled that this book won. She loves Graham Greene (Our Man in Havana), thinks pirates are cool (Captain Blood) and feels like she really missed out on something by never having Golding's book assigned in school (Lord of the Flies.)

There was a moment as the votes clearly started to favor "Monte Cristo" when Word Nerd thought perhaps voting on her blog was like voting in Florida. Perhaps "Monte Cristo" could win the popular vote and then the electoral college (of one) would pick "Lord of the Flies." But, she thought, "No. That would disenfranchise the voters. They might stop believing in the process."

So "Monte Cristo" it is.

And since it was by popular vote that Word Nerd is reading this book, she's inviting you to join her. Find a copy and dig in to this tale of revenge. Word Nerd's going to try to finish this book by June 15. So on that date, she'll post her review and welcome comments from other readers.

If you're following along at home, that means reading about 12 chapters a week. (The first 12 chapters are less than 100 pages.)

Welcome to the club.