user18: If we did start a book of the month club, we could use our Facebook page for coordinating. I'm currently the only admin, I think, but that can be easily rectified.
Those who are interested in such a venture, which book would you like to study? One book per answer, please; top voted answer can be our first book to be studied.
The tie in with SE is that the text should be one that will stimulate our question-asking faculties, which we then apply by asking questions about the book of the month on Buddhism.SE

user254: A book that most of you may have read already, but perhaps The Lotus Sutra (someone recommended Burton Watson's Translation).
It's quite long (book-length), one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras according to Wikipedia, one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, and I find a lot (too much) of it difficult to understand.
If I find it too difficult to understand then maybe it's not for me. But if it's popular and influential maybe other people have understood it, and maybe it would be good to study and ask questions about.

user157: I've been recommended A Seeing That Frees by Rob Burbea. It's a recent book about insight practice and emptiness. It's not free but the ebook edition is about half the price of the print version. I'd love to read it in a study group.

user18: In the spirit of Q&A, here's a good perennial favourite not biased to one tradition or another:
Good Questions, Good Answers by Ven. Dhammika

user143: Would anyone be interested in reading the classic "The Light of Asia" by Sir Edwin Arnold? Free download. :)

user143: Another in the spirit of Q & A: "Women in Buddhism - Question & Answers" by Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Ph.D. (Theravada tradition)

Ven. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh provides answers to questions often asked about women and the ordination issue and related topics. She responds to such questions as: In the Buddha's time what role did women play in Buddhism? Why cannot women become buddhas? What is the Buddhist attitude towards prostitution? What is an attitude of a Buddhist towards abortion? What is the unique characteristic in American Buddhism which might interest a feminist?

As far as I remember, the questions people have submitted on our site regarding women in Buddhism were relatively highly rated and viewed; so thought this might possibly also be of interest.  

user143: This would be a more ambitious undertaking at 438 pages. But it does look interesting. "What Buddhists Believe" by Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda. Non sectarian and free download.

user18: I just found out that the Abhidhammattha-Sangaha is available for free online... I don't know that this would be of interest to everyone on the site, but just to throw it out there:
A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma 

user18: I was recently gifted with Evolving Dharma, by Jay Michaelson, but haven't got around to reading it yet. This might be a good excuse to start?

user-1: I came across recently The Requisites of Enlightenment, by Ven. Ledi Sayādaw, which the editors say to be "one of the most helpful expositions of Dhamma which we have been privileged to publish in The Wheel series". It's pretty small also. But I haven't read a single page of it yet and wouldn't know how a good choice it would be.

18: <p>If we did start a book of the month club, we could use our Facebook page for coordinating. I'm currently the only admin, I think, but that can be easily rectified.</p>

<p>Those who are interested in such a venture, which book would you like to study? One book per answer, please; top voted answer can be our first book to be studied.</p>

<p>The tie in with SE is that the text should be one that will stimulate our question-asking faculties, which we then apply by asking questions about the book of the month on Buddhism.SE</p>
 254: <p>A book that most of you may have read already, but perhaps <strong>The Lotus Sutra</strong> (someone recommended <a href="http://nichiren.info/buddhism/lotussutra/" rel="nofollow">Burton Watson's Translation</a>).</p>

<p>It's quite long (book-length), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Sutra" rel="nofollow">one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras</a> according to Wikipedia, one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, and I find a lot (too much) of it difficult to understand.</p>

<p>If I find it too difficult to understand then maybe it's not for me. But if it's popular and influential maybe other people have understood it, and maybe it would be good to study and ask questions about.</p>
 157: <p>I've been recommended <a href="http://seeingthatfrees.com/" rel="nofollow">A Seeing That Frees</a> by Rob Burbea. It's a recent book about insight practice and emptiness. It's not free but the ebook edition is about half the price of the print version. I'd love to read it in a study group.</p>
 18: <p>In the spirit of Q&amp;A, here's a good perennial favourite not biased to one tradition or another:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/gqga-5ed.pdf" rel="nofollow">Good Questions, Good Answers by Ven. Dhammika</a></p>
 143: <p>Would anyone be interested in reading the classic <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/lightasia2.pdf" rel="nofollow">"The Light of Asia"</a> by Sir Edwin Arnold? Free download. :)</p>
 143: <p>Another in the spirit of Q &amp; A: <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/qanda-women.pdf" rel="nofollow">"Women in Buddhism - Question &amp; Answers"</a> by Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Ph.D. (Theravada tradition)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Ven. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh provides answers to questions often asked about women and the ordination issue and related topics. She responds to such questions as: In the Buddha's time what role did women play in Buddhism? Why cannot women become buddhas? What is the Buddhist attitude towards prostitution? What is an attitude of a Buddhist towards abortion? What is the unique characteristic in American Buddhism which might interest a feminist?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As far as I remember, the questions people have submitted on our site regarding women in Buddhism were relatively highly rated and viewed; so thought this might possibly also be of interest.  </p>
 143: <p>This would be a more ambitious undertaking at 438 pages. But it does look interesting. <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf" rel="nofollow">"What Buddhists Believe"</a> by Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda. Non sectarian and free download.</p>
 18: <p>I just found out that the Abhidhammattha-Sangaha is available for free online... I don't know that this would be of interest to everyone on the site, but just to throw it out there:</p>

<p><a href="http://store.pariyatti.org/Comprehensive-Manual-of-Abhidhamma-A--PDF-eBook_p_4362.html" rel="nofollow">A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma</a> </p>
 18: <p>I was recently gifted with <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17262504-evolving-dharma" rel="nofollow">Evolving Dharma, by Jay Michaelson</a>, but haven't got around to reading it yet. This might be a good excuse to start?</p>
 -1: <p>I came across recently <a href="http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh171.pdf" rel="nofollow">The Requisites of Enlightenment</a>, by Ven. Ledi Sayādaw, which the editors say to be "one of the most helpful expositions of Dhamma which we have been privileged to publish in The Wheel series". It's pretty small also. But I haven't read a single page of it yet and wouldn't know how a good choice it would be.</p>
