March Nominations

[Kell]

It's that time of the month again where we all start nominating books for the next month's reading circle.

Got something on your shelf you think everyone else might like to read? Or a burning desire to get other points of view on a particular book? Now's your chance! Nominate it here, giving the title, author & a little info about it (yes, you can nominate more than one, but please don't offer up twenty - LOL!). Or, if you like the sound of something already in the mix, you can second a nomination, which will make it more likely to get into the vote in a couple of weeks.

Let the nominations begin!

[Kell]

I'd like to nominate The Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni:
THE VINE OF DESIRE is the story of Anju and Sudha, two young women far from Calcutta, the city of their childhood, and who after a year of living separate lives are rekindling their friendship in America. The deep-seated love they feel for each other provides the support each of them needs. It gives Anju the strength to pick up the pieces of her life after a miscarriage, and Sudha the confidence to make a life for herself and her baby daughter, Dayita - without her husband. The unlikely relationships they form with men and women in the world outside the immigrant Indian community as well as their families in India profoundly transform them, forcing them to question the central assumptions of their lives, especially when they must confront the deeply passionate feelings that Anju's husband has for Sudha. THE VINE OF DESIRE is a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity. Through the eyes of people caught in the clash of cultures, Divakaruni reveals the rewards and the perils of breaking free from the past and the complicated, often contradictory emotions that shape the passage to independence.OR

The Separation by Christopher Priest:
THE SEPARATION is the story of twin brothers, rowers in the 1936 Olympics (where they met Hess, Hitler's deputy); one joins the RAF, and captains a Wellington; he is shot down after a bombing raid on Hamburg and becomes Churchill's aide-de-camp; his twin brother, a pacifist, works with the Red Cross, rescuing bombing victims in London. But this is not a straightforward story of the Second World War: this is an alternate history: the two brothers - both called J.L. Sawyer - live their lives in alternate versions of reality. In one, the Second World War ends as we imagine it did; in the other, thanks to efforts of an eminent team of negotiators headed by Hess, the war ends in 1941. THE SEPARATION is an emotionally riveting story of how the small man can make a difference; it's a savage critique of Winston Churchill, the man credited as the saviour of Britain and the Western World, and it's a story of how one perceives and shapes the past.

[Amanda1]

I'd like to nominate Atlas Shrugged by Ann Rand. It's a book I read last year which keeps coming back to me and I really want to discuss it with people becuase I find the philosophy of it confusing. It can be read as a love story but it has very strong currents of politics, money, capitalism, etc. Here's the Amazon synopsis:-

"Ayn Rand's epochal novel, first published in 1957, has been a bestseller for more than four decades as well as an intellectual landmark. It is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies but against those who needed him most--and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world's motor--and the motive power of every man? Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life--from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad...to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels. Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's masterpiece. It is a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller. "

Its a long book, so it may not be suitable for a montly book read but i'll nominate it all the same to see what the response it

[Gyre]

I would like to nominate 'The Mammoth Cheese' by Sheri Holman :D

When Manda Frank gives birth to an astonishing eleven babies, the world descends on her home town of Three Chimneys, Virginia. Beneath the intense media spotlight the town begins to give up its long-held secrets: from the unrequited love of August Vaughn, the town's avid Thomas Jefferson impersonator, to the more dangerous and subversive passions of Mr March, the local history teacher. Meanwhile, cheesemaker Margaret Prickett decides to highlight the plight of the rural community by creating 'The Mammoth Cheese' - a 1,235-pound wheel of Cheshire which she plans to parade all the way to Washington - while failing to notice the plight of her own teenage daughter Polly, who is caught up in the dangerous romance of rebellion, and veering precariously towards tragedy..

:readingtwo:

[Wraith*]

I'd like to nominate:

Guilty Pleasures - An Anita Blake Tale. Laurell K Hamilton

Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law--as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees--with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting--to help figure out who and why.
Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along--yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters--both dead and alive.

[Kell]

I'd like to nominate:

Guilty Pleasures - An Anita Blake Tale. Laurell K Hamilton
Your nomination has reminded me of something, Wraith - if anyone is planning on nominating a book that's part of a series, please ensure that it's either the 1st in the series or is a stand-alone book. We had a bit of a limited success / disaster with a reading circle book that came from about half-way through a series where only a few of the members had read the previous novels.

[Wraith*]

See, I am good for something :)

It is the first though, I remembered just in time before I nominated the third.

[Icecream]

Oooh, what a choice. The Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mammoth Cheese, and Atlas Shrugged by Ann Rand all look great, and I wouldn't mind taking a look at Guilty Pleasures either.

[Maureen]

I would like to nominate Mind's Eye by Paul McAuley. On the back this is described as a Science Thriller, and it looks interesting........
have a look at the Synopsis
When he chances upon a strange piece of graffiti daubed on the walls of a north London restaurant, the violence of his reaction takes Alfie Flowers by surprise. The thorny circle of dashes and zigzags seems to reach right inside his brain - and provokes a flashback to a terrifying childhood incident. The incident Alfie has spent his life trying to forget. Convinced the graffiti artist possesses the clues to his past, Alfie sets out to track down the elusive 'Morph'. His search will lead him to the mysterious Nomads' Club and a secret history of espionage, culminating in the disappearance of Alfie's father over twenty years before. But the real secret of the graffiti patterns - or 'glyphs' - is to be found amidst the chaos of post-war Iraq. There, within the shadowy depths of an ancient network of caves, Alfie will uncover the powerful and disturbing truth behind the rituals of a strange, prehistoric society. But there are others seeking the source of the glyphs. People with sinister and dangerous motives - and if they were to succeed in their aims, the consequences would be too horrible to contemplate...

[JudyB]

I would like to nominate 'The Mammoth Cheese' by Sheri Holman :D

When Manda Frank gives birth to an astonishing eleven babies, the world descends on her home town of Three Chimneys, Virginia. Beneath the intense media spotlight the town begins to give up its long-held secrets: from the unrequited love of August Vaughn, the town's avid Thomas Jefferson impersonator, to the more dangerous and subversive passions of Mr March, the local history teacher. Meanwhile, cheesemaker Margaret Prickett decides to highlight the plight of the rural community by creating 'The Mammoth Cheese' - a 1,235-pound wheel of Cheshire which she plans to parade all the way to Washington - while failing to notice the plight of her own teenage daughter Polly, who is caught up in the dangerous romance of rebellion, and veering precariously towards tragedy..

:readingtwo:


I like the look of this - spotted it in the library today and brought it home.

[Michelle]

I'd like to nominate The Interpretation of Murder - lots of info here (http://www.readingcircle.co.uk/).
THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER is an inventive tour de force inspired by Sigmund Freud's 1909 visit to America, accompanied by protégé and rival Carl Jung. When a wealthy young debutante is discovered bound, whipped and strangled in a luxurious apartment overlooking the city, and another society beauty narrowly escapes the same fate, the mayor of New York calls upon Freud to use his revolutionary new ideas to help the surviving victim recover her memory of the attack, and solve the crime. But nothing about the attacks - or about the surviving victim, Nora - is quite as it seems. And there are those in very high places determined to stop the truth coming out, and Freud's startling theories taking root on American soil.

It's just been reprinted because it was selling too well, and as a bonus, I'm about to announce a competition with ten copies on offer! ;)

[Kell]

Ooh, actually, I'll second that one, Michelle, as a) I have a copy & b) I think it looks really good & I'm very much looking forward to reading it myself, so I'd love to be able to discuss it properly with other folks who are also reading it!

[Jeannette]

Hello all! I haven't been posting much...:blush:

Can I second (or is that third) two books? They all look good, actually, but I'd be into these two in particular:

The Vine of Desire
or
The Interpretation of Murder

Since reading Shantaram I'm on the lookout for books that go a bit into indian culture...and I love a good psychological mystery. :D

[Purple Poppy]

Can you tell us a little bit about The Vine of Desire, Jeanette, please?

[Purple Poppy]

Oops...missed first page, sorry!

[Maureen]

Wow this month!!

[Kell]

Well, I'm figuring if we let this thread run for the weekend, we can open the poll on Monday & let it run for a week, which would give everyone plenty of time to get hold of the book that wins it. So, if you have any nominations to make, or would like to second a nomination, now's the time to do it...

[mrstrecool]

Ooh, actually, I'll second that one, Michelle, as a) I have a copy & b) I think it looks really good & I'm very much looking forward to reading it myself, so I'd love to be able to discuss it properly with other folks who are also reading it!


Here, here. I'd like to third this nomination!

[scottishbookworm]

this is my nomination for march

The title is called

home to big stone gap by adriana trigiani


Synopsis
Seismic changes are about to take place in Ave Maria's life. Her daughter, Etta, barely eighteen, is married and living in Italy; the health of her husband, the gorgeous and ever-dependable Jack Mac, is failing and she has scarcely noticed; friendships she has enjoyed forever are under threat. And then to town comes a mysterious stranger, revealing a long-buried secret. Her world shaken, Ave Maria must face up to the past in order to build a new life for herself and for Jack.
From the Inside Flap
Written with humor, emotion and power in Trigiani's trademark style, HOME TO BIG STONE GAP is a true homecoming event.

(http://astore.amazon.co.uk/thebookclub-21/detail/074349590X/026-2816410-5163637)

[dogmatix]

I third Interpretation of Murder.:mrgreen:

[Maureen]

I think we don't need a poll! :lol:

IofM has been "fifthed"

[Kell]

We'll still have the poll - sometimes people change their minds when it comes to the punch - I know I do! :lol:

[scottishbookworm]

kell was my nomination ok?:lurker:
:readingtwo:

[Kell]

All nominations are absolutely fine. It just makes it easier to choose ones for polling if some of them have been seconded. It's always difficult to choose a few from the others, whether seconded or not, as they always all sound so fantastic - I know that there are several more books to add to my wishlist every time we open a nominations thread!

[dogmatix]

I love to check out all the nominations. If only there were enough time to read them all.

[Kell]

The nominations are now closed and three books have been selected for the poll. Thanks to everyone who nominated & seconded. And don't forget, even if the book you nominated doesn't go into the poll this time, you can always suggest it for a future reading circle. :)