You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

If the two chosen group reads don't take your fancy, feel free to read a book of your choice which is about an unconventional character. In the case of non-fiction, the book may be by or about an unconventional person. As stated in the nomination thread, animals do not automatically qualify as an unconventional characters unless they are unconventional for their species.

As this theme is open to interpretation, please let us know why your book qualifies and tell us a little about your unconventional character.

Please discuss your book in this thread.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during November 2015.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread.

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock.

There are also two buddy reads going on this month which have unconventional characters in.

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira -https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

So feel free to join in on those if you're interested.

I read a non-fiction called Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See. Why I feel he is unconventional because he is a blind man who lived like a sighted person. He fought for the right and became a crossing guard in school. He won gold medals in one Olympic and bronze in another for skiing. Held the speed skiing record amd possibly still does. Started multiple technology businesses. Just pushed to live. Then after 43years, I think, of blindness, he was blinded at age 3, he tried a new stem cell surgery and had his vision restored. He is one of 20 people recorded in history to have sight restored. It was interesting to hear how hard life was seeing. His eye worked but part of his brain woukdn't let him see in 3d. He couldn't distinguish faces, or see depth perception. Finally he learned to use his dog and cane and his blind senses to be able to see. It was all very interesting. Imagine being married for 12 years amd seeing your wife for the first time. He also had 2 boys who he had never seen. Got to see him mother, his friends, all these people he had been around for years and never saw.

I think I will stick with what I had in mind, namely A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary. I can't start it quite yet though, need again to run through a couple of other books because I need to return them to the library (will there ever be a time when I learn to get only a couple of books at a time from the library and not walk out of there with a dozen books in my bag, I wonder...).

@Travis, wow, sounds amazing. Added.

@Camilla, I suffer from the same disorder...

Sandra wrote: @Camilla, I suffer from the same disorder..."

How comforting that others suffer from the same! Just last week I was sooo happy to see that I had only 15 books from the library, of which one was for my older daughter and one for hubby. Then I just happened to wander past the larger library in Turku and woops, I had 8 new books in my bag...).

Wow, Travis! Great find and I have added it to my TBR list.

I read Circling the Sun, about Beryl Markham, who was a racehorse trainer, aviator, and writer. These things weren't ladylike activities in the 1920's. She was married three times, and had several affairs during those marriages. She was a good friend of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), but was in love with her 'boyfriend' (a story in itself). She flouted convention and was always the subject of some scandal or other.

Markham is known for being an adventurous non-conformist who was very independent. But in the book she was portrayed as being rather selfish, and much of her independence was obtained by taking advantage of others - especially men. She married her second husband because he promised her a ranch.

I just finished reading You. The narrator is a stalker and you are in his head throughout the book. It was a bit disorienting in the beginning, trying to get used to his way of thinking. Once you become accustomed to the narration, the book is interesting and creepy. my review

I'm really enjoying reading about all the unconventional characters.

@Travis - that must have been amazing for him to have his sight restored. The human brain is one complex thing. But sounds like he never let his lack of sight get in the way of a good life anyway.

@J'mom - I like the sound of Beryl! She sounds like she was ahead of her time. I know there are people who feel they were born in the wrong sex body but there are also people I feel were born in to the wrong era. I know a couple people who feel like old souls and the way they are would be much more suited to 100 years ago. But then Beryl sounds like she'd have fit in very well right about now.

jaxnsmom wrote: "I read Circling the Sun, about Beryl Markham, who was a racehorse trainer, aviator, and writer. These things weren't ladylike activities in the 1920's. She was married three times, ..."

Interesting, Jmom. I have marked it to read. I really admired her in the book she wrote West with the Night. We know a little about her from the movie "Out of Africa" and that Karen Blixen was jealous of her because Finch-Hatton took her flying with him.

Sarah wrote: "@J'mom - I like the sound of Beryl! She sounds like she was ahead of her time. I know there are people who feel they were born in the wrong sex body but there are also people I feel were born in to the wrong era. I know a couple people who feel like old souls and the way they are would be much more suited to 100 years ago. But then Beryl sounds like she'd have fit in very well right about now."

I don't know how accurate this portrayal is, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like Beryl. I didn't like her through most of the book, and it was hard not to let that affect my rating. I think the narrator's tone contributed to my unease. I liked the way she went after what she wanted as far as horses and flying went, but I was pretty disgusted at her disregard for other's personal feelings or how her actions would impact them.

jaxnsmom wrote: "Sarah wrote: "@J'mom - I like the sound of Beryl! She sounds like she was ahead of her time. I know there are people who feel they were born in the wrong sex body but there are also people I feel w..."

The book is listed as Historical Fiction. The question is how much is based on facts and how much is made up based on this. I have read Finch-Hatton's biography and there was no "love affair". They were friends and he got her interested in flying. He even rescued her once. She was much, much younger than Blixen and DFH and she was brought up pretty wild according to the other sources I have seen, but how unlikeable she was or wasn't, may be this author's own take on her. I certainly am no authority and I am anxious to read the book now. I have always been curious about the "Out of Africa" times and setting and people.

P.S. I asked the author a question about it too.

It's a shame she didn't come across as very likeable in your book J'mom. And yes, I guess it's hard to know whether that was the author's intention for the book or whether that was what she was like in reality.

Do let us know Cherie if you get an answer back!

It's really hard when it's a book about a real person, but is a fiction. There's no way to tell what's fact and what's improvised.

Cherie - I hope you get an answer! In Mary Lovell's book, Straight on Till Morning: The Biography of Beryl Markham, Beryl had an affair with Finch-Hatton and others not mentioned in Circling the Sun. It seemed most of her lovers were much older, daddy issues or power? She more or less raised herself. Her mother went back to England and her father was busy so she ran wild and spent a lot of her time with the Kipsigis.

Interestingly, near the end of her life Beryl was living in poverty in Kenya when ??(can't remember) read in one of Hemingway's his praise of her book. ?? got the book re-issued, which allowed Beryl to live her last few years in comfort.

Thanks for the other book notice, Jmom. Isn't it amazing to have done so much and fall so low at the end of your life and end in poverty? Wonderful of Hemingway to get her book republished though.

I will let you all know if I get an answer to my question. I have never submitted one before but I have had an author respond to a comment on a book review once. She wrote me a personal note even.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I read a non-fiction called Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See. Why I feel he is unconventional because he is a blind man who lived like a..."

Crashing Through sounds amazing. I'm adding it!

I'm having a hard time thinking of unconventional characters, probably because so many of the books I read are about them. Well, one I just thought of that I've been wanting to get to is Breq in Ancillary Sword. Hmm, I'll have to see how many others I can read about this month.

Yes I too thought of Breq, Lara. Pretty unconventional.

I've added Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See as well. I had thought of rereading The Story of My Life by Helen Keller for this challenge.

I have just started Middlesex, and I have a question I'm hoping someone whose read it can answer. The main character is narrating and talking about her older brother, whose name is coming up on my ereader as chapter eleven. Is this right or do I have a messed up ebook? I'm finding it really distracting, maybe I should try to redownload the book.

The Story of My Life is a great book, Kerri. It is a little slow, since Keller is not really a writer. But I enjoyed it in the overall.
And she is definitively an unconventional character.

Kerri wrote: "I've added Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See as well. I had thought of rereading The Story of My Life by [author:Helen Kell..."

I haven't read the book, but I used the 'look inside' feature on amazon and he is called chapter eleven on there too. The sample from Audible also calls him chapter eleven. I think you're book is accurate. I would hope there'd be an explanation for why he is called that in the book.

I've started A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary and quite like it so far (about 40% read). The guy gets invited by BAA to stay a week at Heathrow airport and write about what he experiences there. There's a fair amount of dry humor, and the text is also quite philosophical, at least to me as I'm not usually reading that genre. The author has apparently written some philosophical texts as well.
There are also interesting photos of the airport (he had a photographer with him). He gets to stay in an airport hotel and describes people he sees, things he experiences and impressions he gets. Quite enjoyable.

I'm reading My Name is Mary Sutter. Just started it today, but really enjoying the content. As a midwife it has so many meanings to me personally. :)

I'm planning to read The Rosie Project this month. But I think the book I just finished (Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke qualifies as well. So I'll discuss that here (in case I don't get around to reading the Rosie Project...).

I thought Maids of Misfortune a very good cozy mystery. It takes place in 19th century San Francisco, but reading about the life of a maid, makes me appreciate my grandmother more. Before she was married, in the 1930's, she was also in service. Now I realize how hard such a life was! Getting up early, doing all kinds of (hard) physical labor during the day and making long hours.
Why I think this fits the theme: Annie is a young widow (in her 20's). After her husband died and left her with so many debts that she had to live with her in-laws (who blamed her for his suicide). 'Luckily' Annie's aunt and uncle died, leaving her their house. She set that up as a boarding house, to make some money. And besides that, she is a clairvoyant (miss Sybil), who gives domestic and business advice. That alone might be enough to qualify as 'unconventional'. But when one of her clients dies, supposedly suicide, she starts work as a maid of service in the household of that client. That way she wants to snoop around to try and find the killer of Mr. Voss. That is not all she finds, she also realizes what a hard life the life of a maid is!
Really loved this book: 5 stars!

Camilla wrote: "I've started A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary and quite like it so far (about 40% read). The guy gets invited by BAA to stay a week at Heathrow airport and write about what he..."

That sounds quite enjoyable and interesting Camilla. Added to my wishlist.

Elsbeth wrote: "I'm planning to read The Rosie Project this month. But I think the book I just finished (Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke qualifies as well. So..."

Elsbeth, I just finished reading Maids of Misfortune yesterday, and started on the second in the series immediately. Really good books! I think Mrs. Fuller (Annie) definitely qualifies as an unconventional character.

Kristie wrote: "Kerri wrote: "I've added Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See as well. I had thought of rereading The Story of My Life by [aut..."

Thanks Kristie, it must be his name, weird, why would you call your son that? An avid reader who went into labour while reading chapter eleven of her favourite book? I sure hope there is an explanation.

Lanelle wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "I'm planning to read The Rosie Project this month. But I think the book I just finished (Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke quali..."

What a coincidence, Lanelle! :)
Yes, I agree, wonderful books! Happy reading with part 2!

Kerri - It's very strange. I hope there's an explanation. I'm curious why he's called that too.

Kerri wrote: "I've added Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See as well. I had thought of rereading The Story of My Life by [author:Helen Kell..."

Just go with it, Kerri. You will find out later. It is intentional and there is a reason. I remember when I was reading it and thinking something was wrong too. That is when I checked out the print copy from the library. :0)

I've just finished Puddle Jumping

I went into the book not really knowing much about it; just that it was a YA romance and a lot of my GR friends loved it. So I had no idea that this book would be suitable for this theme, having Aspergers.

My expectations were pretty high and it didn't disappoint. I can't quite believe how such a short(ish) book packed such an emotional punch. A beautiful love story with page after page of heart melting moments.

I loved this book so much (plus I love the cover too!)

I finished reading My Name Is Mary Sutter this morning and absolutely loved it. It seems the author did extensive research and I loved how she developed the MC.

Finished Hollow World. Thr characters fall ito unconventional in 2 ways. In regards to the story the normal human is unconventional going 2000 years in the future "darwins" no longer exist. But orobably more fitting to our theme is the rest of the population. As the apocalypse basically wiped out life as we know. The knew inhabitants have bioengineered a perfect race. There is no war. No sex. No sexes. They are neither male nor female. They have no hair no clothes. They don't die. If a rare occurance of violence haooens and a death occurs then they basically bake up a new one in a test tube to maintain the oerfect population. There is no money, no jobs. It is an interesting world. Book is good for a 3 star. Definitely some influence from Sullivan's past read books such as Animal Farm and the Time Machine

Travis of NNY wrote: "Finished Hollow World. Thr characters fall ito unconventional in 2 ways. In regards to the story the normal human is unconventional going 2000 years in the future "darwins" no longe..."

I've heard Michael Sullivan say that he was attempting to make the character(s) genderless. I think the subject came up in a discussion about Lock In.

Did you like the book? I have it on my Kindle waiting to be read.

I liked the book. It was my first by him but I'm going to dare say not to comoare it to the Riyria books. I don't think it is of the same caliber. Sullivan said ib the beginning to just enjoy the book and don't worry if the science or any of it isn't possible. He doesn't care that it is made up it is just supposed to be a fun work of fiction. I think it is exactly what he wanted but I coukdn't rate it any higher with a complete lack of how'd they do that. Through much of it I felt it was going to be a solid 4 star but it was lacking something for me. I'm not sure what but I'm sure if it was there I would have rated it higher. Then on my own pettiness the main caracter Ellis Rodgers was constantly referred to as Mr. Rodgers whuch annoyed me. Mr Rodgers wants to be your neighbor and wears sweater vests not flannel shirts. He also doesn't time travel although he does go to the kingdom of make believe

Hehehe! I'm a little nervous because I loved the Riyria books. I've heard lots of people were disappointed because they did compare them. But, they are different genres from what I understand and I'll try to put the fantasy series out of my mind when I start reading it.

Jmom - She answered my question!!!!!
Here is the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/5...

RE: Circling the Sun, Jmom - she answered my question!! here is the link...


https://www.goodreads.com/questions/5...

Yay Cherie! I thought she mostly used fact and added to the background, but wasn't sure how much gossip and rumor would be allowed to become fact.

That's interesting, Cherie. I'm glad you asked - and got an answer from the author herself!

Yes, Cherie, that's awesome!

So I'm about half way into Broken for You. I love the turns this book is taking even tho it's obviously a bit contrived. It's still fun and is a book with heart. I like that :)

I'm still reading Middlesex, only 3 chapters to go now and I'm determined to finish it today, it seems to be taking me forever.
I'm enjoying the story, though I found the first half of the book dragged on a bit. I was much more interested in reading about Calliope than her ancestors.
The book is full of unconventional characters, the main character, her parents, her grandparents and people she/he meets along the way.
I still don't know why her brother is called Chapter Eleven, I'm hoping to find out soon. Her first love was always called 'The Object' which drove me crazy as well, and we never did find out her real name.

Tejas Janet wrote: "That's interesting, Cherie. I'm glad you asked - and got an answer from the author herself!"

I agree!

I'm seeing a trend in the books I've read so far this month. A lot of unconventional characters.

The Little Paris Bookshop - The bookseller has a barge for a store. One of his neighbors is a man who wrote a very popular (and somewhat controversial book) and is now hiding from his fans and wears earmuffs all the time. They end up on the barge, loosing it from it's moorings and heading for < I can't remember the name>. The bookseller is known as the literary apothecary since he only lets people have the books that are for their souls. Another man joins them in their journey who has spent years looking for the woman he spent one night with but feels she is the only one for him. A little slow at times, but very enjoyable.

Another book added to my TBR, Jmom. :0)

Kerry, I swear that I remember telling why he called his brother Chapter 11. That is where he is talked about.

Finished Middlesex! It is only ever hinted at as to why he is called Chapter eleven, I checked a q&a link with the author. I totally missed it, as it means nothing to me being an Aussie. I found it distracting at first, but got used to it.
I would have loved to do this book as a buddy read, there were so many things happening at different times that I would have loved to have had others thoughts on. At one point I remember feeling shocked, sickened and horrified but sympathetic all at the same time. It was a great story, a little slow in parts and the ending was too sad, he didn't have to do that, there was enough in the story already. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a happy ending.

Kerri,
I think I pretty much went through all the same emotions too when I was going through the book. I read it all by myself too and do understand what you mean about talking things over. It may have been a little more enjoyable for me because I listened to the book mostly in audio. I did read some too though.

If I recall, the chapter 11 bit regarding his brother, when he first mentioned him, he was giving some updates about his family and indicated that there would be more on the subject in a later chapter regarding his brother and his finances. Chapter 11 is a type of financial filing that people can do to get out of debt when they cannot pay their bills. It is when they are in total financial ruin.

I think there is a very old thread about this book. I think it was a group read a long time ago. I am not sure I ever really looked it up. I am glad you liked the book and the ending. It made me happy too. It really was an amazing story, especially the way it was told and the way things were revealed. I had never read anything like it.