April Nominations

[Kell]

The nominations thread will remain open till the evening of Friday 14 March, after which a selection will be chosen for the poll.

Let the nominations begin!

A Note on Nominating and Seconding
If a book has already been mentioned here, then it has already been nominated and you need only second it (books with the most seconds get put through to the poll). To second a book, all you have to do is say, "I second {Name of book}"

Nominating is slightly different. If the book you would like to see chosen has not already been mentioned, you can nominate it. Please give the title of the book, the name of the author and a brief synopsis (usually fromthe back of the book) in this case. It can then be seconded by other members.

Please note this is not a voting thread - a poll will be set up after this one closes.

Thank you.

~~*~~
- Please only make nominations and seconds here, rather than discussing the books nominated or going off-topic.

- Bear in mind that having hundreds of nominations makes it more difficult, so please limit yourself to a maximum of two nominations per person, although you can second as many as you like.

- Please also remember to post a synopsis of the books you nominate as it helps people to know what they're seconding!

- Please make sure the books you nominate are readily available in paperback (as we don't want to make it prohibitively expensive for members to take part in the reading circle).

- If the book you're nominating is part of a series, please make sure it is either the first one or a stand-alone (or the sequel to one already read by the reading circle).
~~*~~

NOMINATIONS:
1. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
2. Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones
3. Footprints in the Sand by Sarah Challis
4. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

[Kell]

I'd like to kick off the nominations with the following two books:

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne:
Nine year old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no-one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. Bruno's friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.

Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones:
'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' It is Bougainville in 1991 - a small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of "Great Expectations". But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns.

"Mister Pip" is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished.

[Esiotrot]

I second them both as I have both on my must read list!
Kx

[Michelle]

I'm going to nominate Footprints In The Sand (http://www.readingcircle.co.uk/footprints.html)..

When Emily Kingsley arrives at the church for her eccentric Great-Aunt Mary’s funeral , she is still grieving for her broken relationship with the vain, mean and unfaithful Ted, and has little sorrow to spare. At the wake afterwards, she is dismayed to learn the contents of Mary’s will. Emily and her cousin Clemmie must go to Mali, where they are to travel by camel into the Sahara Desert to scatter her ashes.
Clemmie, fanciful and rootless, is thrilled at the chance of adventure. Emily is not. With immense reluctance, she agrees to travel to Mali, and find Timadjlalen, a place in the desert that no one has ever heard of. Why Mary chose it as her final resting place she cannot imagine, and the thought of a hot pointless trip is almost too much to bear. But once Emily and Clemmie set foot on Saharan sand, and begin to uncover Mary’s sixty-year-old secret, they come to understand why they must complete her journey.

[Gelfling]

I would like to nominate "Geek Love," by Katherine Dunn.

Geek Love
Lil Binewski, born a Boston aristocrat, was in her time the most stylish of geeks. That is to say she made her living by biting the heads off live chickens in front of a carnival audience. This she gave up for doting motherhood, because she and her fairground-owning husband had a money spinning idea. Throughout each pregnancy Lil gobbles pesticides, experiments with drugs and douses herself with radiation to ensure that she produces infants grotesque enough to keep the turnstyles clicking. She does. Arturo the Aqua Boy is a limbless megalomaniac, Electra and Iphigenia are musically gifted siamese twins with a penchant for prostitution and Fortuno is possessed of strange telekinetic powers. Their story - by turns shocking, tender, touching and cruel - is narrated by their sister Olympia. She is a bald, hunchbacked albino dwarf.

[madcow]

I'll second Footprints In The Sand

[Louiseog]

I'll second Footprints In The Sand
Thirded!

[JudyB]

I would like to third The Boy in Striped Pyjamas as this is on my tbr list.

[lovesreading06]

I would like to secend/ third these two

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones

[scottishbookworm]

I second "Mr pip"

[Renniemist]

I would like to second Mr Pip.

[Gyre]

I third 'Mr Pip' :D

[Kell]

Two more days for nominations. Any more for any more?

[LucyD]

Oooh yes, me, me - Mr Pip!
I am just reading Great Expectations in preparation...swotty eh?? ;)

[Spooncat]

I second footprints in the sand ;)

[Kell]

This thread is now closed. Please cast your vote in the poll thread. :)