[Synamon]

If you assume that only those who voted for a particular book will read it, then yes increasing initial voting is worthwhile. I read books that I didn't nominate or vote for because I want to participate in the bookclub when I can. Anyway, without discussion there isn't much of a bookclub to participate in.

The Bat was in the foreign category, not mystery.

I'm not convinced that the categories matter that much, there is always plenty of overlap and variety. I agree with sun surfer that classic / public domain / semi-literary books are being chosen because those participating are choosing them. The only way to force that to change is to change the selection criteria to eliminate those books from the club and by extension to discourage those participants. I'll step aside now, good luck going forward.