The Next Best Book Club discussion

Thats a great price Bnoir xx

I like the idea of a themed one and a regular one.

I voted the first day and thought Kafka on the Shore had a chance, but now it seems not. D;

"Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathon Safran Foer!!!!

Sabriel by Garth Nix

It looks like people are voting for the same book in both polls (which I thought was not allowed)...

Never underestimate the ability of people, myself included, to ignore directions.

Unfortunately, I cannot control the votes, only ask that people follow direction.

hmph... heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that jazz :P

haha, sorry Lori but we know that in the end everything will be okay. And it is fun.

Hi, I just joined the group (and just posted about what I'm reading now) and am looking forward to being part of this community. I'm the author of the novel MATRIMONY, which was a 2007 NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK, and I've participated in person, by phone, and online in over 80 book group discussions of MATRIMONY. There was a feature article in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer about my visiting book groups, which might be of interest to some of you. Here's the link. http://www.philly.com/philly/living/2... I don't know if this group would be interested in discussing MATRIMONY, but if you are, either in January or in the future, I'd be delighted to participate in the discussion--as a member of the group and also as the author of the book. In any case, it's a standing offer.

Joshua, in this group, we nominate books towards the middle of the month, and then vote on the ones we nominate ... The top two vote getters become our monthly reads.

I am flattered that you are offering to be part of an online discussion should your book be chosen for a group read.

Welcome to the group, and remember to read up on the important announcements..... New author members tend to get a little overzealous with their book pushing and fail to follow our simple rules.... and end up in (drum roll please)..... Spammers Hell.....

I have not been a member for very long but am very anxious to discuss books. I don't really know what to nominate though. I would like to read the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak but I am fine with anything. Maybe I'll get the hang of this as time goes by. I look forward to finding out about the January read.

Kathy, we read The Book Thief a few months back and have an ongoing discussion thread for it under GROUP READS... check it out if you decide to read it. In this group, even if the book doesnt become a group read, you are never short of people to read-a-long with!!

Also, nomination round is over, check out our polls (you can access them from the bottom of the home page, or by clicking POLLS on the right hand side of the main page as well) and vote for which ever two books seem the most interesting to you!

I believe the Book Thief was read by the group alread. It is under the Group Discussion Thread.

Thank you. I will do that. I look forward to reading with you.

Robin - I read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell earlier this year (it took most of October!) and loved it. It's not a book for everyone, though; my mother, who plows through books on a regular basis, couldn't finish it.

Susanna wrote: "Robin - I read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell earlier this year (it took most of October!) and loved it. It's not a book for everyone, though; my mother, who plows through books on a regular basis,..."

Thanks for letting me know Susanna

I also like the idea of a themed read on occasion - maybe romanceish for February? Or something scary for October.

Susanna, we did do theme reading for October... we had Dracula and House and Leaves.... so I do know that for certain months it works....

Romance-ish sounds cool for February...
maybe something revolving around Irish culture or written by an Irish Author for March??? We can discuss that more.... Im open for ideas!

hehe Lori, I am in for the irish thing:-)

Hmmm - married to an Irishman....so I should be able to come up with a few...

James Joyce
Jonathan Swift
Oscar Wilde

Was the movie "Far and Away" based on a book? I loved that movie - though not a Tom Cruise fan - I do adore Ron Howard.

I am wondering what is the theme for January reading.

Rosemary

In the poll section we can vote for two books and the two with most votes will be our january reads. Maybe we will have again one book for a theme read in february but it is up to Lori to decide about it.

Fiona, that would be the point of a duel poll. One for the theme and one for the regular....

but Im not sure how to work that yet. We could still end up with way too many books to vote on.....

And the Winners Are........


25 Votes:: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susan Clarke

35 Votes:: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer

Lori-Instead of giving people a certain amount of days to nominate, could you just have the first 25 nominations voted on?

The masses have spoken.
These are the group reads for the month of January. On New Years, I will create threads in the Group Read Discussion Folder so you can all ...uhm... Discuss!!!

I think we should have books seconded before they're added to the poll or something - to make sure that we don't have votes "wasted" on books that don't have a chance. If that makes sense.

Nooo...:-)
As I vowed to myself I will read all the monthly books that have been chosen if they have them in the library, I am curious about these two. I wouldn't have chosen them to read.....
The first one always makess me think about the Jekyl and Hyde story.

I respectfully disagree, selena. I think everyone deserves the chance to nominate something they like and think others would like to read. I can't tell you how many wonderful books I've read that I never would have tried otherwise if someone hadn't thrown them out into the world for me to see (or, you know, recommended them!) In my opinion, there is no such thing as a wasted vote. Just my two cents...

selena wrote: "I think we should have books seconded before they're added to the poll or something - to make sure that we don't have votes "wasted" on books that don't have a chance. If that makes sense."

I also respectfully disagree - I think more nominations are better - The votes will decide the winners anyway but don't limit the choices.

My my... whodathunk that group reads would have been such a hot topic.....?????

The how to's are not really going to change much. I will still accept all nominations without needing them seconded or third... (1) that would just be nightmare for me as the lucky one who would have to keep track! (2) as Katie said, everyones voice deserves to be heard.

I, too, have been introduced to quite a few novels here that I would never have considered for myself on my own... latest case in point: Extremely Loud and INcredibly Close! I loved that novel, but never would have picked it up on my own!

I agree with you Lori. I, too, have read many a book this year that would never have been on my list if not for GR members shouting their praises. ELIC being just one of those. Blindness another. Though I have tried to read Jonathan Strange more than once (no luck so far) doesn't mean it's not a good choice. The more books mentioned in these polls, the more to investigate and add to next year's list. Thanks to all who vote and expand my horizons.

I've tried Jonathan Strange a few times too but maybe this will be the time I make it all the way through and if I do, I get 25 points on the winter book challenge-yeah!!!

I just started Johnathan Strange-and I must say that it is slow to get going. Hopefully it will pick up soon ;-)

Had to reserve The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer from my local library. Should be here day after I come home from my hospital operation.

Can the January reads be put in a different thread? It's hard to find what they are without reading through all 203 posts!