August Book - Nominations

[Michelle]

What would you like to see discussed during August?
Please nominate your book of choice here...

[Kell]

I'd like to nominate Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

A brief synopsis:
To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor’s wives. When she is chosen as a lower-ranking concubine she enters the erotically charged and ritualised Forbidden City. But beneath its immaculate façade lie whispers of murders and ghosts, and the thousands of concubines will stoop to any lengths to bear the Emperor’s son.

Orchid trains herself in the art of pleasuring a man, bribes her way into the royal bed, and seduces the monarch, drawing the attention of dangerous foes. Little does she know that China will collapse around her, and that she will be its last Empress.

[Janet]

Could I please nominate The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - if it hasn't already been discussed. :)

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the approval of his father and resolves to win the local kite-fighting toumament, to prove that he has the makings of a man. His loyal friend Hassan promises to help him? for he always helps Amir? but this is 1970s Afghanistan and Hassan is merely a low-caste servant who is jeered at in the street, although Amir still feels jealous of his natural courage and the place he holds in his father's heart. But neither of the boys could foresee what would happen to Hassan on the afternoon of the tournament, which was to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return, to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

[steffee]

The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam

Stolen from Amazon.

Synopsis
Eliza Peabody is one of those dangerously blameless women who believes she has God in her pocket. She is too enthusiastic; she talks too much. Her concern for the welfare of her wealthySouth London neighbours extends to ingenuous well-meaning notes of unsolicited adviceunder the door. It is just such a one-sided correspondence that heralds Eliza's undoing. Did her letter have something to do with the woman's abrupt disappearance ? Why will no-one else speak of her? And why the watchful, pitying looks and embarassment that now greet her?

[Janet]

The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam
That sounds like an interesting read. :)

[Michelle]

A few extra points...
1) Feel free to 'second' a nomination, if it's one you'd like. That all helps us pick the ones for the vote.
2) You can re-nominate your book the following month.
3) If you have time, you could find a quick synopsis for your nomination, as it might help people to decide to 'second' it.
:)

[Janet]

A few extra points...
1) Feel free to 'second' a nomination, if it's one you'd like. That all helps us pick the ones for the vote.
2) You can re-nominate your book the following month.
3) If you have time, you could find a quick synopsis for your nomination, as it might help people to decide to 'second' it.
:)
Thanks for the extra clarification.

I've added a synopsis of my suggestion. :)

[Lilywhite]

I'd like to nominate Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

I would like to second this one, been looking at it a couple of times now.
The others also sound very interesting too.

[MonkeyCatcher]

I'd like to nominate Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
I'll third this suggestion - I love reading historical fiction set in Asia

[Louiseog]

Can I fourth it?

[Kell]

Anyone else like to nominate a book to vote on for the August Reading Circle? Another week to nominate before voting begins...

[yin/yang]

I'd like to second empress orchid by Anchee Min. i'm coming to the end of this book myself and as i have just joined the forum it would be lovely to have a conversation piece that is fresh in my mind. hello all btw. :)

[Lilywhite]

Oooh would like to second the Kite runner too ( if I'm allowed :) )

[Acesare*]

I'd like to get in on the action and nominate:

Sick Puppy - Carl Hiaasen

Hiaasen at his riotous and muckraking best. When eco-enthusiast Twilly Spree spots someone in a Range Rover dumping litter onto the freeway, he decides to teach him a lesson - only to discover that his target is Palmer Stoat, one of Florida's cockiest and most powerful political fixers, whose current project just happens to be the 'malling' of a Gulf Coast Island...A quick spot of dognapping later and the pathologically short-tempered Twilly finds himself embroiled in a murky world of singing toads, bogus big-game hunters, large vet bills and in the company of an infamous ex-governer who's gone back to nature with a vengeance. With Sick Puppy, Carl Hiaasen unleashes another outrageously funny tale that gleefully lives up to its title and proves yet again that Hiaasen is master of the satirical thriller.

I'm only nominating because I haven't before - I've already placed and eBay bid on Empress Orchid - £3 including p&p! You must be so proud, bit of a change for me, but the words 'erotic', 'murders' and 'ghosts' intrigue me. (I'm facinated by ghosts at the moment - maybe a bit too facinated!)

[Kell]

Ooh,sounds interesting, Jo - I've only read one Hiaasen so far, but I really enjoyed it.

[linda321]

I'd like to second Empress Orchid for the fifth or sixth time!! I have it on my bookshelf to read.

[Michelle]

Nominations have gone well, so we'll start the vote very soon. So, if you have any other nominations, please get them in soon. :D

[Michelle]

Thank you for your nominations. If your book wasn't chosen, or doesn't win the vote, you can try again next month. :)

Time to vote please....
http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1439