The Rory Gilmore Book Club discussion

Hey all! June is a modern book month, but because our second book will be a three month summer reading project, let's do try to keep the nominations to short books. For instance, Time Traveler's Wife would be too long, but Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is a very good length. Basically the longer your selection, the shorter the list of people who have the time to read it will be. So just be thoughtful in your selections! Two nominations per person from the list, please. Thanks & have fun!

*Nominations will close on the 22nd, as always, and voting will begin the following day.

Michele, maybe a page number limit would be a good idea? My first choice is 352 pages. Is that too long? My second choice is 240.

Hi, What is a 'modern' book and where is the list? are we picking two 'modern' books, one short and one long? Sorry...I'm confused. =(

Tina, we have decided to read one long book over June, July, and August. For those months we will also be choosing one short book each month. I believe the long book can be modern or classic. "Modern" and "Classic" have yet to be defined, but a good rule of thumb might be that a modern book was written in the last fifty years. The group list can be found in the group's "to-read" bookshelf.

Moderators, I hope you don't mind my jumping in here.

Thank you Sarah! I'm excited to be part of the nomination! =)

Tina - There is also a thread called "Original Book List" which has the original Rory Gilmore Book Club books. Those are the books you should use (not all the books on the bookshelf are "original" to the club. We have been adding books that are mentioned on the show as choices, but we're trying to get through the original 120 first).

I nominate The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse.

I have no idea if it's long or not, but it's a comedy and a lot of fun. And let's be honest, summertime is for fun, fun, fun!

The Kitchen Boy: The Novel of the Last Tsar

It's very short.

It gives a historical perspective on the Romanov family.

Oh, and did I mention - it's very short.

Oh! Now I see what we're doing. I was also going to nominate

The Kitchen Boy: The Novel of the Last Tsar.

It would go nicely with Anna Karenina or War & Peace if they win.

Meghan it does say in the initial post on this thread two books per person for the June nominations. "Two nominations per person from the list, please."

As for "modern" and "classic" we have had many discussions and while timelines for a modern/classic cut off have been put out there, in general we leave it to you to determine if it is a modern or a classic in your mind.

Regarding length, I think it'd be a little difficult to set down an absolute on the number of pages. I mean, What if the book is only 4 by 6 inches and is only twenty pages over the limit, while another book is 9.5 by 6 inches and one page under said limit? The former would in actuality be exceedingly shorter than the later, but the later acceptable and the former not.

Another thing is if it is difficult reading, whether because of language or subject. A book like that in my mind is considerably longer than say something like The Nanny Diaries or The Song Reader which both seem to me to be light, easy, fun reading but have more pages than some of the much shorter quite serious reads.

I honestly think we can trust your judgment in nominating. In the end everyone has the chance to vote so if others think it's too long then they can opt not to vote for it. Besides, if it is longer than some would like, there will be others that are grateful because they don't plan to do the summer reading.

Sometimes less structure is more.

By the way, I LOVE Meghan's nomination. That's exactly right in my mind!

I love your picture, Alison - very cool.

Michele, as always, I appreciate your common sense approach to running the group's nomination process.

Let the summer fun begin!

Meghan, Isn't 'The Code of Woosters' 2nd in a series?

Tina, you should ask Tom (Morfeus) about that! He LOVES P.G. Wodehouse! It is one in the midst of many books about Jeeves, but it is the one Rory read. These books apparently don't really have to be read in order, and this one is supposed to be if not THE best, then one of the best of the group of them.

But let's ask Jeeves - I mean, Tom. Hee!

Sera and Alison, you guys read my mind! I was going to nominate The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar.

And also Bel Canto.

The Thin Man
I think it'd be a fun, quick read.

I hope this is ok. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. yes? no?

Good choice, Tina. Was considering that one myself.

I support the nomination of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. It's modern, short and unique. Tina and Michele, you guys read my mind! Wait, that's repetitive. And redundant.

Oh Dini, I'm so excited you like my nomination!My daughter has autism, so this book caught my attention.I hope others agree with us! *crossing fingers*

Tina, I already own it! I've been tempted several times to read it but so far have fallen prey to other books! But if we do read it, there is one major flaw in in regarding autism that for the book's sake is easy to overlook, but perhaps notsomuch if you are a parent dealing with it...

Can I take a nomination back? Cause I'll be done with The Thin Man tomorrow likely! LOL!!

Thanks for the heads up. I own it too, but it hasn't made it's way to the top of the pile.

i vote for "the curious incident of the dog in the night time" too. even though i have already read it, i'd love to discuss it.

I love The Kitchen Boy nomination, and I think it would go great with the potential long book nominations, but since it'll get on the voting list without me, I'll nominate:

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, and

Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I don't know if it goes along with any of the summer reading nominations but I've been wanting to read it so I'm nominating Rescuing Patty Hearst

Whew, Joanie... just read the description... sounds really heavy. It's probably great - I mean after all Rory read it! - but having had a dear cousin with schizophrenia commit suicide, I just don't think I could handle it. Not that I'm discouraging y'all from voting for it when the time comes! I say go for it!

Sorry to hear that Michelle, I certainly wouldn't want you or anyone to wind up reading something that would be so painful.

My sister actually committed suicide too, it will be two years ago this June. She wasn't schizophrenic, just depressed (just-as if that's not enough) It's still really hard, we were really close. I don't know if you've heard about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) they do these Out of The Darkness walks, I'm doing the 20 mile overnight walk in New York in June. I did it last year too, it's hard but it's amazing. You walk from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM through the streets of New York. This year they're doing it in Seattle too. They also do smaller community walks in the Fall, those are 5K's and they're great too, lots of community support for those too. It's a great organization and it's definitely been something that's helped me and my family and friends heal from the loss of my sister. You can find out more info at www.theovernight.org or at www.afsp.org Again, sorry about your cousin.
Joanie

Thanks, Joanie. I'm so sorry about your sister. That has to be ten thousand times more devastating. My heart goes out to you. Thanks for the info... I think the walk sounds like fun and I like the symbolism of it... but if you have to raise money to do it I'm afraid I won't be participating for some time at least.

I did that for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with Team in Training and nearly lost it on the demands and stresses of fundraising - especially as I was working two jobs (about 75 hour weeks), training for an Olympic distance triathlon, and going every home hockey game (I'd made a commitment). Plus it was not long after my ex-boyfriend had stung me with financial ruin - I mean serious ruin - so I was already freaked about money... Anyway, I just don't have the connections for it right now. (Didn't then - parents had to bail me out! LOL)

Sorry, all. Getting into stories on the nominating thread... And I didn't mean to be depressing!

There is a fundraising committment for the 20 mile Overnight walk which is $1000, definitely a challenge. For the Community Walks there is no minimum, they suggest you try to raise $150 but you're not obligated if you don't and you can walk without raising anything. The Community walks are great for a whole family to do together since it's a shorter distance and no real fundraising obligation.

Sorry that you had such a bad experience with doing a walk in the past. It's hard when it becomes such a source of stress. If you or your family ever want more information about the Community Walks please feel free to contact me. Good luck!

I would like to nominate [The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters: A Novel]. It looks good and its at Border Books bargin bin for $3.99!

The Song Reader

Nominations are closed... go vote!