April Nominations

[Kell]

I guess it's time to start the nominations for the April Reading Circle choice. Please feel free to second any nominations that are made, if you fancy a book already mentioned, as books that are seconded are more likely to make it to the poll (however, if you second multiple books, it doesn't guarantee they'll all make it to the vote!).

The nomination thread will run till the evening of Sunday 18th March, then the poll will be opened and run for a week to give people a chance to get hold of the winning book.

[Kell]

I'd rather like to nominate Perfume by Patrick Suskind:

Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets of Paris as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in all the city. Yet, there is one odour he cannot capture. It is exquisite, magical: the scent of a young virgin. And, to get it, he must kill. And kill. And kill...

[Gyre]

I would like to nominate (following my enthusiasm over 'A Handmaid's Tale'

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

In 1843, a 16-year-old Canadian housemaid named Grace Marks was tried for the murder of her employer and his mistress. The sensationalistic trial made headlines throughout the world, and the jury delivered a guilty verdict. Yet opinion remained fiercely divided about Marks- -was she a spurned woman who had taken out her rage on two innocent victims, or was she an unwilling victim herself, caught up in a crime she was too young to understand? Such doubts persuaded the judges to commute her sentence to life imprisonment, and Marks spent the next 30 years in an assortment of jails and asylums, where she was often exhibited as a star attraction. In Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood reconstructs Marks's story in fictional form. Her portraits of 19th-century prison and asylum life are chilling in their detail. The author also introduces Dr Simon Jordan, who listens to the prisoner's tale with a mixture of sympathy and disbelief. In his effort to uncover the truth, Jordan uses the tools of the then rudimentary science of psychology. But the last word belongs to the book's narrator--Grace herself.

:D

[Renniemist]

Since I have Alias Grace on my TBR pile, and because I too enjoyed A Handmaid’s Tale, I would like to second Alias Grace.:)

[Laramie]

I'd like to nominate Black Beauty by Anna Sewell...

Here's a story told by a horse, in his own words. It is a story of how he was treated with affection and respect when he was a young and healthy horse, but how he fell into illness and despair as he was passed from one set of careless hands to the next.
As a very young foal, the beautiful Black Beauty receives some very sound advice from his mother:
She told me the better I behaved, the better I should be treated, and that it was wisest always to do my best to please my master; 'but,' said she, 'there are a great many kinds of men; there are good, thoughtful men like our master, that any horse may be proud to serve; but there are bad, cruel men, who never ought to have a horse or dog to call their own. Beside, there are a great many foolish men, vain, ignorant, and careless, who never trouble themselves to think; these spoil more horses than all, just for want of sense; they don't mean it, but they do it for all that. I hope you will fall into good hands; but a horse never knows who may buy him, or who may drive him; it is all a chance for us, but still I say, do your best wherever it is, and keep up your good name.'
This piece of advice lays down the plan for the book. Black Beauty does indeed pass through the hands of all kinds of men - good, cruel and foolish.
At his first place, the local squire's hall, Black Beauty meets other horses who all have stories to tell about men and the ways they treat their animals. Black Beauty is very happy with Squire Gordon, but the household is eventually closed down when the squire goes to live abroad and all the horses are sold on. Squire Gordon makes every effort to find Black Beauty a good place, and indeed, does so, but no amount of effort can guard a horse from stupidity.
He is ridden carelessly by a drunk servant one night and falls because he has a broken shoe. The drunkard is killed, but Black Beauty is not blamed for that. They know it was the rider's fault. Nevertheless, Black Beauty now has scarred knees from his fall and is no longer fit to be in a gentleman's stables:
... the black one, he must be sold; 'tis a great pity, but I could not have knees like these in my stables.'
It is the beginning of the downward spiral for Black Beauty. No longer fit to be a gentleman's horse, he is sold on, to work for his living. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, Black Beauty is proud and happy to work for a good master, but cannot work well if he is not cared for properly.
Read the book to see how Black Beauty enjoys the many kindnesses and survives the terrible mistreatments. Although this book is sad, I don't think you will find it too sad to read. Black Beauty is a very understanding and forgiving horse, and it does all end happily ever after.
This book is almost a collection of short stories, as each chapter relates a different episode in the life of Black Beauty and other horses who he meets along the way. A good book to choose if, perhaps, you prefer to read in short sessions.

[lovesreading06]

I second Black Beauty by Anna Sewell... Its looks a good read and i like to read about horses

[Purple Poppy]

I have to say, that I'd quite like to read Black Beauty again. I read it when I was about 12, but it really is a classic. I won't second it yet, but will wait and see what else comes up, but it might also be good to have something like this, that was once considered a children's classic, but which can be read by anyone and enjoyed for it's own value.
Good choice DWMG:)

[Polka Dot Rock]

I'd like to nominate The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney :)


It is 1867, Canada: as winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township - journalists, Hudson's Bay Company men, trappers, traders - but do they want to solve the crime or exploit it? One-by-one the assembled searchers set out from Dove River, pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape home only to wild animals, madmen and fugitives, variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for 17 years, a Native American culture, and a fortune in stolen furs before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good. In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney deftly waves adventure, suspense, revelation and humour into a panoramic historical romance, an exhilarating thriller, a keen murder mystery and ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, one of the books of the year.


I was planning on reading this soon, so I was wondering if anyone would care to join me? ;)

[Michelle]

Ooh.. I have that one on my TBR pile too, so I'll second it. :)

[Polka Dot Rock]

Ooh.. I have that one on my TBR pile too, so I'll second it. :)

Yay! *attempts a Mexican wave. Badly*

Oh... I assume you mean The Tenderness of Wolves, Michelle? Or else I've just committed an even lamer attempt at a Mexican wave... :lol:

[DaddysGem]

I would really like to read Black Beauty again, but i am going to second Alias Grace as it looks like the type of book i would want to read.

[Lilywhite]

I was going to second Alias Grace but I do have The Tenderness of Wolves on my TBR shelf. Mmmmm choices... I may leave this decision up to you guys because I can never make my own mind up :lol:

[wrathofkublakhan]

I'd like to nominate The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney :)


The paragraph looks good. So I'll second that choice!

Most of the nominations have some historical context -- so I won't be unhappy with the final choice.

Do we all read together? How does it work? Did I miss the important posting? Am I clueless as usual? Where are my socks? Why are you staring at me? I swear, the book mark is a paper straw wrapper!

[Michelle]

I've moved the rest of the discussion to the 'How it works' thread (http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1303), so we can stick to nominations here.

[Kell]

Any more for any more? THis thread will close tomorrorw night and the poll will be opened, so if you have any last minute nominations or seconds to make, now's the time to do it. ;)

[Purple Poppy]

Well I guess it's decision time...so...(oh this tough!)
I'm going with Black Beauty.

I think I'd quite like to re-read it. Plus, some of our younger readers might like to read it too. I will probably cry all the way through, but...

Pp:)

[~V~]

am i too late?

if not, may i put forward 'the observations' by jane harris?

it caught my eye, yet isn't my normal kind of book.

from the back:

Scotland, 1863. In an attempt to escape her past, Bessy Buckley takes a job working as a maid in a big country house. But when Arabella, her beautiful mistress, asks her to undertake a series of bizarre tasks, Bessy begins to realise that she hasn't quite landed on her feet. In one of the most acclaimed debuts of recent years, Jane Harris has created a heroine who will make you laugh and cry as she narrates this unforgettable story about secrets and suspicions and the redemptive power of love and friendship.

[Purple Poppy]

It does sound good 'V'. If you read it will you do a review? I think I might enjoy it too.(OMG that rhymes!)
Pp

[~V~]

It does sound good 'V'. If you read it will you do a review? I think I might enjoy it too.(OMG that rhymes!)
Pp

yes - but i may contain it in my blog list thingie. according to the blurb, it's quite funny.

[lovesreading06]

All the books on here sound fab.

[Angel]

I wouldn't mind The Observations either as I have it on my TBR pile

[Kell]

The nominations thread is now closed. Please go to the poll thread to cast your vote for the April reading circle.