February Nominations

[Michelle]

I keep forgetting to get set up for the next month! :roll: It's open nominations this month.. let us know your suggestions...

[Kell]

I'd like to nominate The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad:
Two weeks after September 11th, award-winning journalist Asne Seierstad went to Afghanistan to report on the conflict. In the following spring she returned to live with a bookseller and his family for several months. The Bookseller of Kabul is the fascinating account of her time spent living with the family of thirteen in their four-roomed home. Bookseller Sultan Khan defied the authorities for twenty years to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the communists and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. He even resorted to hiding most of his stock in attics all over Kabul. But while Khan is passionate in his love of books and hatred of censorship, he is also a committed Muslim with strict views on family life. As an outsider, Seierstad is able to move between the private world of the women - including Khan's two wives - and the more public lives of the men. The result is an intimate and fascinating portrait of a family which also offers a unique perspective on a troubled country.

OR

Adeptby Robert Finn:
It's a strange kind of robbery: nothing is missing and the only damage done is to the criminals. David Braun, star investigator for an exclusive insurance firm, discovers the truth that the crime was intended to conceal. Behind it all, is a ruthless thief, who is intent on acquiring a priceless antique - an antique with a bloody history its owners would prefer to keep hidden. Susan Milton, an expert in exotic antiques, must unearth the object's past to make sense of the present. When she takes on the project she has no idea that her research will put her life in danger. As David and Susan learn to work together the pieces begin to fall into place, but the more they find out, the less they believe. Caught between powerful enemies and being hunted by a killer the police cannot catch, their only hope is to stay one step ahead. They know enough to put them in the worst danger of their lives. Will it also be enough to save them?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

If forced to choose between the two, I'll nominate the 2nd one, but I thought I'd mention them both, just in case either one caught someone else's fancy too...

[Sugar]

I'd second the Bookseller of Kabul, Kell. It's something that I've wanted to read for a while, but as with so much else, have never gotten around to. Please help give me a kick up the proverbial!

[Freewheeling Andy]

Same here with the Bookseller.

[Louiseog]

Can I third it as its on my tbr but not managed to get to it

[Kell]

Anyone want to nominate anything else too?

[princessponti]

I'm going to try again with Pulitzer Prize winning Maus by Art Spielgelman since there has been some discussion on graphic novels lately. I still really want to read this but I can quite get round to picking it up. They do have it libraries so it shouldn't be too hard for people to find!

..the blurb from Amazon.. (you can flick inside the book at Amazon too if you want a sneeky peaky!)

Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one.

Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew. This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679729771/$%7B0%7D) of this Pulitzer Prize (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/lists/awards/pulitzer.html/$%7B0%7D)-winning set. --Michael Gerber

[Purple Poppy]

I will second Princessponti's nomination!

PP

[Pilgrim]

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms and cliches of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience.
Opening with a terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945, it is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel, a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. With many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace, everything comes together and readers discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be -- but, in fact, much more.

Just to put another one out there.

[Purple Poppy]

I've never read any of Margaret Atwood. Was she the author of the Handmaiden (or some similar title)? Either way, I'd be happy reading one of hers, as a new experience.

PP

[Pilgrim]

Yes PP, that's her and I haven't read anything by her - the other's seemed good too - but this sounded like it had a touch of mystery along with the sf and fantasy:

Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939, and grew up in northern Quebec and Ontario, and later in Toronto. She has lived in numerous cities in Canada, the U.S., and Europe.
She is the author of more than thirty books—novels, short stories, poetry, literary criticism, social history, and books for children.
Atwood's work is acclaimed internationally and has been published around the world. Her novels include The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye—both shortlisted for the Booker Prize; The Robber Bride; Alias Grace, winner of the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy, and a finalist for the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize. She is the recipient of numerous honors, such as The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence in the U.K., the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature in the U.S., Le Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and she was the first winner of the London Literary Prize. She has received honorary degrees from universities across Canada, and one from Oxford University in England.

Too much information, I guess.

[Purple Poppy]

I had no idea that she was so highly aclaimed or that she had written in such quantity and diversity. I feel a few more titles moving onto Mount TBR!!

[Kell]

Not too much information at all, Pilgrim - it's all good. :) (Incidentally, I have The Robber Bride sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.)

[JudyB]

I've read The Bookseller of Kabul and it inspired me to go on and read The Kite Runner - both are excellent books that teach you something new.

[Polka Dot Rock]

(Incidentally, I have The Robber Bride sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.)

It's really good! I read it last year.

I love Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and Robber Bride are definitely some of the best novels I've read. (Handmaid's Tale is probably in my Top 10 favourite books EVER. Fact. :tong: ).

[Purple Poppy]

Thanks Amy. That seals it! Another one to go on the pile!!

Help! I'm drowning!

PP

[Wraith*]

Spent ages today trying to find Adept - Robert Finn but I could only find the sequal. Will have to look farther afield because it looks quite good.

[Polka Dot Rock]

In a bit of a dilemma, re: nominations...

See, I really want to take part in next month's reading circle but I'm torn between two proposed books to second etc.

I adore Maus (as I'm sure PP and PrincessPonti are fed up of hearing! :lol: ) and would love it to be introduced to more people, but I haven't read Atwood's The Blind Assassin and I'd really like to... :10_confused: What's a girl to do??

Any advice much appreciated...

[Polka Dot Rock]

Thanks Amy. That seals it! Another one to go on the pile!!

Help! I'm drowning!

PP

If you become bankrupt because of all the books you keep buying, you can't blame me, y'know!! :lol:

[dogmatix]

The Cave - Jose Saramago
(Amazon.com)
José Saramago is a master at pacing. Readers unfamiliar with the work of this Portuguese Nobel Prize winner would do well to begin with The Cave, a novel of ideas, shaded with suspense. Spare and pensive, The Cave follows the fortunes of an aging potter, Cipriano Algor, beginning with his weekly delivery of plates to the Center, a high-walled, windowless shopping complex, residential community, and nerve center that dominates the region. What sells at the Center will sell everywhere else, and what the Center rejects can barely be given away in the surrounding towns and villages. The news for Cipriano that morning isn't good. Half of his regular pottery shipment is rejected, and he is told that the consumers now prefer plastic tableware. Over the next week, he and his grown daughter Marta grieve for their lost craft, but they gradually open their eyes to the strange bounty of their new condition: a stray dog adopts them, and a lovely widow enters Cipriano's life. When they are invited to live at the Center, it seems ungracious to refuse, but there are strange developments under the complex and a troubling increase in security, and Cipriano changes all their fates by deciding to investigate. In Saramago's able hands, what might have become a dry social allegory is a delicately elaborated story of individualism and unexpected love. --Regina Marler --This text refers to

[Icecream]

Sounds good Dogmatix. Wouldn't mind giving Maus a go either.

[kernow_reader]

I find with Margaret Atwood I either really love her books or can't get on with them. My faves are Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Handmaids Tale.

I have a copy of The Robber Bride someone can have for free if they want it.

[Purple Poppy]

Amy deliberated;

What's a girl to do??


PP answered...stick to Maus!!

[princessponti]

O Dogmatix!! More Jose! :readingtwo: I want to read everything!!! Why o why o why do I have to work!!!!

[Polka Dot Rock]

Maus it is then :)

And if it ends up as Book of the Month, then I can torture you all by posting my essay I did on it :mrgreen: :lol:

[Purple Poppy]

Oh yes! That would be great. Even if it's not book of the month, I'd still like to read your essay...after I've read Maus of course.

PP:mrgreen:

[Icecream]

Yes, I would love to read it too, after the book of course..

[Louiseog]

I find with Margaret Atwood I either really love her books or can't get on with them. My faves are Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Handmaids Tale.

I have a copy of The Robber Bride someone can have for free if they want it.
I steered clear of Margaret Atwood as she was an A Level text!?! Read and adored Handmaids Tale and Oryx and Crake last year so am a convert but already seconded Kabul!!!

[dogmatix]

O Dogmatix!! More Jose! :readingtwo: I want to read everything!!! Why o why o why do I have to work!!!!

So you can buy book of course. (Silly girl!):tong:

[Kell]

If anyone else has any nominations, you have till tomorrow evening to make them, then I'll be closing up this thread & posting the poll for a week of voting, so we can all get hold of February's book in plenty of time. :readingtwo:

[princessponti]

So you can buy book of course. (Silly girl!):tong:

It's sooo counter-productive! There must be a better way!! Work to buy books. Work so have no time to read books. I want lots of free time and lots of books to fill it... how can it be done?!!

[Purple Poppy]

Win the lottery?;)

[dogmatix]

It's sooo counter-productive! There must be a better way!! Work to buy books. Work so have no time to read books. I want lots of free time and lots of books to fill it... how can it be done?!!

I'll let ya know when I figure it out:irked:

[Kell]

Closing the nominations thread now. Go & cast your vote in the poll, which will run till next Friday evening...