Nominations for the *June* 2010 book club

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Hi I noticed that we are halfway through May nearly ? Do we have a book suggestions for May ?

[margaine]

I was thinking that maybe we could just start off on nominations for June. Phantom, would it bother you if I changed the subject line of this thread to "June 2010 nominations" or something like that?

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Nope Feel Free :)

[KneD]

I remember picking Tsiolkas' The slap, but we encountered some availability problems. Guess what passed by on my twitter screen? Penguin released it. That surely must mean it will be available worldwide very soon:
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143117148,00.html

If we are going for new nominations: I would nominate the long awaited second novel by Yann Martell, author of Life of Pi. The new novel is Beatrice and Virgil, it came out in april.

(remind me: reply to book clubs I did read but never discussed)

[margaine]

I was wondering if we wanted to do a theme for June? Star has been coming up with some good ones, but I don't have any good ideas myself . . .

Thanks for the nomination though KneD - I'm sure even if we pick a theme, we can figure out a way to keep your nomination. Any ideas?

[Star_Anise]

I was wondering if we wanted to do a theme for June? Star has been coming up with some good ones, but I don't have any good ideas myself . . .



June makes me inclined to pick something seasonal, which is a problem, because winter and summer are very different...:)

So maybe something a bit more general - how about an off-beat love story? It might be 1984, or Fight Club, or anything that puts a new twist on the classic storyline.

[margaine]

So maybe something a bit more general - how about an off-beat love story? It might be 1984, or Fight Club, or anything that puts a new twist on the classic storyline.

Sounds good to me . . . I'm not sure if KneD's nomination works, aside from the reference to Dante's Beatrice. Read a few reviews, and I'm still not sure. It seems to be at least partially about a marriage, so perhaps that counts.

Does anyone else have any nominations around this theme?

[jeremy]

How about Bernard Schlink's The Reader?

[Star_Anise]

Sounds good to me . . . I'm not sure if KneD's nomination works, aside from the reference to Dante's Beatrice. Read a few reviews, and I'm still not sure. It seems to be at least partially about a marriage, so perhaps that counts.



We could always just throw it in despite the theme, given that it has won previously. The other possibility is to just carry it over as a winner from a previous month without having to enter voting again, but that may not suit everyone. What do others think? Should The Slap be nominated anew or can we assume it would be an appropriate choice for a club still?

[margaine]

We could always just throw it in despite the theme, given that it has won previously. The other possibility is to just carry it over as a winner from a previous month without having to enter voting again, but that may not suit everyone. What do others think? Should The Slap be nominated anew or can we assume it would be an appropriate choice for a club still?

Oh, I was talking about the other book KneD mentioned, Dante and Beatrice . . . but that too I guess.

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Id be interested in The Reader by Bernard Schlick as I know it does also cross into the book into film , but Ive read The Slap a while ago after we had a discussion on the site about it and ive been meaning to pick up The Reader but haven't gotten round to it yet,

[Phantom Paragrapher]

Id be interested in reading "The Reader" as Ive seen the movie but havent gotten round to reading the book yet , Ive already read The Slap as we had a huge discussion on the site about the book earlier this year -end of last.
Another Good Choice I nominate is The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffeneger .

[Star_Anise]

Oh, I was talking about the other book KneD mentioned, Dante and Beatrice . . . but that too I guess.

Ah, sorry, not paying close enough attentin - I carried KneD's thoughts over about The Slap, really. But, given that availability may take a while to trickle through, I am happy to carry the issue over to July and discuss it further then. For now, The Reader is certainly accepted as a nomination, and Dante and Beatrice even if it is a stretch, unless anyone objects:)

[neilgee]

No objection here.

I can't think of anything to nominate on this theme at the moment. How offbeat does an offbeat love story have to be and how new a new twist?:confused:

Would something like The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton be considered offbeat because it's about a love that doesn't run its natural course, but that was published in 1920 so it's difficult to present it as having a new twist. I'm just not sure what we are after here.

[KneD]

I would like to read The Slap, or The Reader, or Beatrice and Virgil.

So, I am ok with all of them. Don't know about the age of innocence but I am sure it will be a nice read as well.

I am a bit confused about the term off-beat as well :)

[Winifred]

I loved Age of Innocence, but so sad. The Reader was good, but so sad. Loved Life of Pi, but again, sad. Beatrice and Virgil sounds interesting, though the review at Amazon wasn't good. Time Traveler's Wife, sad again...The Slap sounds absorbing, but not exactly a love story?

Ok, I'll go read Go Ask Alice, now, and be quiet.

[margaine]

Is it okay if we hold off on adding The Slap to our list of nominations for this month? Especially since it is somewhat recently re-released, there might still be some difficulty getting it still (in my library system, for example, there is one copy of the book and 7 people waiting for it). If we wait another month or so, it might be a bit easier.

Phantom, I think we are going to try to keep it at one nomination per member (another reason to hold off on The Slap, though it was a past winner as well). So please indicate whether you would prefer to nominate The Time-Traveler's Wife or The Reader.

I could see The Age of Innocence working in the theme since it is about a love story that doesn't work out, although I'm not entirely sure. I gather that it's not a typical happily-ever-after plot, but it is a fairly straightforward representation of NY high society, and in that regard may not exactly be "off-beat." But I'll leave that one to Star, our theme-suggester . . .

[Phantom Paragrapher]

I go for The Reader by Bernard Schnick as Ive read the Time Travellers wife previously.

[Star_Anise]

I use the themes more as inspiration, than as a strict guideline. If something really doesn't fit, we can hold over on it until another month, but otherwise, if it has some angle that fits in (i.e., The Age of Innocence being about love's challenges), I am happy to accept it unless there are objections to it. So, I am happy to have the Wharton as a nomination:)

[neilgee]

What have I started...I didn't mean to nominate Wharton I was just using it as an example but if you want it as a nomination to flesh out the list abit I don't mind as I'm sure it won't win, I don't even think it should qualify because as Margaine said the social side of the novel is definitely not "offbeat" but that just shows that I'm not sure what kind of novel is being sought here and infact I've just logged in to say I'll probably give this month a miss.

[KneD]

Think it is a good idea to wait a month or longer with the slap.

Is Beatrice&co a nomination now, or should I try to find another book that suits the off-beat thing a bit better?

[margaine]

Is Beatrice&co a nomination now, or should I try to find another book that suits the off-beat thing a bit better?

I think it's fine for a nomination. From what I've read of reviews, I think it definitely counts as off-beat. Unless there's something else you'd rather nominate instead.

So I take it Neil isn't nominating The Age of Innocence . . .I'm sorry Neil, I didn't realize you weren't actually nominating the book, but then when I re-read your post I saw that it wasn't necessarily an actual nomination.

It sounds like as far as actual nominations go we have

Dante and Beatrice
The Reader

Did I miss something? Anyone want to add something who hasn't already nominated?

[KneD]

Dante and Beatrice

Well that sounds like a whole-year book club selection :D
I'd stick to Beatrice and Virgil...

Anyway, thanks for clearing stuff up margaine.

[margaine]

Well that sounds like a whole-year book club selection :D
I'd stick to Beatrice and Virgil...

Anyway, thanks for clearing stuff up margaine.

whoops!! well, you know what I mean. ;) beatrice and virgil (sorry, my right-side shift key is being annoying so I've given up on most capitalization for now)

[Jez]

What have I started...I didn't mean to nominate Wharton I was just using it as an example but if you want it as a nomination to flesh out the list abit I don't mind as I'm sure it won't win, I don't even think it should qualify because as Margaine said the social side of the novel is definitely not "offbeat" but that just shows that I'm not sure what kind of novel is being sought here and infact I've just logged in to say I'll probably give this month a miss.

If I wasn't so swamped with books already, I would be most interested in this book. :) Maybe next month!

[Winifred]

Since I was grumbling about doomed love, feel I should at least join the chorus. I nominate The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I've been wanting to read it.

[margaine]

Since I was grumbling about doomed love, feel I should at least join the chorus. I nominate The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I've been wanting to read it.

Oh wow I loved that book when it was assigned in high school.

[margaine]

last call for nominations . . . I'll set up voting tomorrow. No need to think of something just for the sake of nominating, though. I think 3 is a perfectly good number of nominations. But if anyone has a nomination they're burning to suggest, please do.

[neilgee]

I thought of one as I was drifting off to sleep last night, The Master and Margarita by Mikheil Bulgakov.

That must qualify as an offbeat love story?

[Star_Anise]

I thought of one as I was drifting off to sleep last night, The Master and Margarita by Mikheil Bulgakov.

That must qualify as an offbeat love story?

And was also a Book club some time ago...so has definitely had success in nomination before!

[margaine]

And was also a Book club some time ago...so has definitely had success in nomination before!

should we repeat nominations/books though?

[Star_Anise]

should we repeat nominations/books though?

That was the point I was trying to make, not very well - we have read it before therefore it cannot be nominated again.

[margaine]

That was the point I was trying to make, not very well - we have read it before therefore it cannot be nominated again.

haha. wow, maybe I just can't read properly today. ;)

Neil, please feel free to contribute to the past discussion on Master and Margarita if you want. It's on my to-read list as well, so I might contribute to that old discussion after I read it.

[neilgee]

And was also a Book club some time ago...so has definitely had success in nomination before!

Yes I knew that was possible. Sorry about that but it's my fave book of all time so would have loved to discuss it, but guess I'm too late.

[Winifred]

Yes I knew that was possible. Sorry about that but it's my fave book of all time so would have loved to discuss it, but guess I'm too late.

It's never too late! Just revive the link, and see who else will join you there, over time! I've never read it, but it's on my list somewhere. I'll try to bump it.

[neilgee]

It's never too late! Just revive the link, and see who else will join you there, over time! I've never read it, but it's on my list somewhere. I'll try to bump it.

Aw thanx Winifred, I'd have to read it again to really do it justice and I find it hard to get motivated for re-reading alone, but if you let me know when you're reading it I'll get it down from the shelf:good:

[Winifred]

Maybe you, margaine, and I - and anyone else interested, can add it to our summer reading. I'll be traveling part of July, with some long spells, that might be the time, for me at least!

[margaine]

I'll be reading it soon enough (maybe within a month or a bit longer than that), and I'll be sure to let you guys know. :)

[neilgee]

I'll be reading it soon enough (maybe within a month or a bit longer than that), and I'll be sure to let you guys know. :)

Okay great Margaine and Winifred I'll look forward to that.