Author Topic: Suggestion Box for Future Book Discussions ~ (Read 283076 times)

JoanP · « **Reply #840 on:** August 06, 2012, 07:05:48 PM »

OCTOBER BOOKCLUB ONLINE DISCUSSION:

The Tempest, a comedy
By William Shakespeare

*************************************************

Sky of Red Poppies by Zohreh Ghahremani

More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

The Technologists by Matthew Pearl

FOUNDING RIVALS; MADISON VS. MONROE by Chris DeRose

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

THE SWERVE; HOW THE WORLD BECAME MODERN by Stephan Greenblatt

FROM ETERNITY TO HERE; THE QUEST FOR THE ULTIMATE THEORY OF TIME

PatH · « **Reply #841 on:** August 06, 2012, 07:37:24 PM »

The other Matthew Pearl books we read made for good discussions.

JoanP · « **Reply #842 on:** August 06, 2012, 07:47:52 PM »

Marcie, you're right, our discussions of Charles Dickens' novels have been rewarding. I have to say I had forgotten the power of his writing...so many films and tv productions can impress with the plot, but the written word is what Dickens is all about...

Are you sure you want to nominate Hard Times? Would it make a difference that we discussed this when we were SeniorLearn?...This was quite a while ago. I went to the Archives to see just how long ago it actually was. Would you believe it was 1998!? - This was the first year of our book discussions...Hard Times - SeniorNet discussion - 1998.
It was a stroll down Memory Lane -

marcie · « **Reply #843 on:** August 07, 2012, 12:24:35 AM »

I hadn't checked the archives, Joan, and had forgotten that some people discussed Hard Times. I'm fine talking about ANY of Dickens books. If anyone else is interested in another of his books, please feel free to suggest it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #844 on:** August 07, 2012, 08:02:34 AM »

I have not read Hard Times, but if anyone wants to read another Dickens other than that, I'd like to read PickWick Papers which was nominated previously. Either one is okay with me. While Hard Times considers some important social issues, I like the idea of reading what sounds like a bunch of humorous (?) vignettes and caricatures in Pickwick Papers.

Babi · « **Reply #845 on:** August 07, 2012, 08:11:54 AM »

"The Pickwick Papers" is much less serious than most of Dickens' books. As I recall, there were
humorous bits that I didn't quite 'get', but talking it over here with some of these fine, insightful
readers would make it even more enjoyable.

marjifay · « **Reply #846 on:** August 08, 2012, 09:40:38 AM »

I have a book to suggest: FOUNDING RIVALS; MADISON VS. MONROE; THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND THE ELECTION THAT SAVED A NATION by Chris DeRose. It was recommended in another group and sounded interesting.

An Amazon reader says "Founding Rivals tells the previously unreported story of Madison and Monroe's involvement in the Revolutionary War and the earliest days of our republic, the tough financial times brought on by war and rebuilding, a Congress in complete disarray (sound familiar?), and an election that would determine if the Constitution would be scrapped altogether and if the addition of a Bill of Rights would happen. The race bears many of the hallmarks of today's political scene, complete with mud-slinging, intense partisanship and a result achieved by the narrowest of margins."

Marj

marcie · « **Reply #847 on:** August 08, 2012, 11:09:38 AM »

Marjifay, that sounds like an interesting book. I looked up Chris DeRose and the first link I clicked was his twitter account at http://twitter.com/chrisderose/. At the top of the page it says:
Author of Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation. Political strategist, relapsed attorney, Christian.

On other sites that share his bio information the term "Christian" is left out. I'm wondering if his religious affiliation -- or political affiliation -- has had any affect on his book.

JoanK · « **Reply #848 on:** August 08, 2012, 03:42:00 PM »

"relapsed attorney, Christian"

Could they mean "attorney, relapsed Christian"? Or is this a comment on his feelings about the law?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #849 on:** August 08, 2012, 03:55:06 PM »

His facebook page says nothing about his religion but says he practices law and lives in Phoenix Arizona and he was Director of Election Day Operations at Virginia Victory / Virginia, Republican Party - but then do we only read authors that share our individual viewpoint - it does sound like a book that Ella may want to use in the history discussions.

ANNIE · « **Reply #850 on:** August 09, 2012, 08:56:35 AM »

Hey, JoanK,
Does relapsed mean lapsed twice?? ::

I think that Ella actually gave me her copy of this book but I looked for it just now and couldn't find it.

JoanP · « **Reply #851 on:** August 10, 2012, 12:52:13 PM »

Pickwick Papers, it is. This was Dickens' first novel - much lighter, more humorous than those that followed. We will soon see if our readers are up for a third Dickens to round out this year of celebrating his 200th birthday! Amazing - 200 years and none of his works have ever gone out of print!

Marjifay, I've also entered Founding Rivals for consideration in October. However, the September discussion is The Presidents Club - our readers may be looking for fiction by then. But we'll see what Ella and Harold may think of leading this discussion some time in the future. Annie, do you remember what Ella said of this book when she gave it to you?

I have one more suggestion to add to the list before we will have to vote to pare down the list. Do you have anything else to add to make the slate an even 10?

Will be right back!

JoanP · « **Reply #852 on:** August 10, 2012, 01:45:21 PM »

Has anyone here heard of - or read Adriana Trigiani's The Shoemaker's Wife? I came across it on one of the lists posted in the Library last week - I think it was one maryz put up. It sounded intriguing, the reviews were all great. In another discussion Fry pointed out that the paperback will be coming out next week - which surprised me because the book just came out in April. Here's a link to the reviews - http://www.amazon.com/The-Shoemakers-Wife-ebook/dp/B006ICVOUO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Would like to hear from someone who has read the book before nominating it...

marjifay · « **Reply #853 on:** August 10, 2012, 05:30:44 PM »

Here's a couple more suggestions, both nonfiction:

FROM ETERNITY TO HERE; THE QUEST FOR THE ULTIMATE THEORY OF TIME by Sean M. Carroll

Per book description: "Twenty years ago, Stephen Hawking tried to explain time by understanding the Big Bang. Now, Sean Carroll says we need to be more ambitious. One of the leading theoretical physicists of his generation, Carroll delivers a dazzling and paradigm-shifting theory of time's arrow that embraces subjects from entropy to quantum mechanics to time travel to information theory and the meaning of life.

From Eternity to Here is no less than the next step toward understanding how we came to exist, and a fantastically approachable read that will appeal to a broad audience of armchair physicists, and anyone who ponders the nature of our world." (438 pp, 2010)

THE SWERVE; HOW THE WORLD BECAME MODERN by Stephan Greenblatt

Per book description: "One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it.

Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius—a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions.

The copying and translation of this ancient book-the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age-fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson. 16 pages of color illustrations." (356 pp, 2011)

(If that's too many, just forget it and I'll suggest them sometime in the future.)

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #854 on:** August 11, 2012, 08:38:47 AM »

Both books sound great, MARJ. I wonder if I still have the brain power to grasp and learn. Things don't stick in my memory the way they once did.

JoanP · « **Reply #855 on:** August 11, 2012, 09:34:44 AM »

Marjifay, I'm going to enter those two titles in the vote for October discussion, but as I said about the Founding Rivals, the October discussion will follow The Presidents Club, and the readers may be interested in alternating that non-Fiction with fiction. I could be wrong though. If your suggestions are passed over for October, you may wish to resubmit them for a future discussion.

marjifay · « **Reply #856 on:** August 11, 2012, 09:45:14 AM »

You wouldn't have any trouble reading them, Babi. The book, From Eternity to Here is not a quick read, tho.' You pretty much have to stop and think about it as you gp along. But I'm reading it now and finding a lot of things I've never thought about--very interesting.

Marj

marcie · « **Reply #857 on:** August 11, 2012, 01:38:40 PM »

Both books sound very interesting, Marj. I've requested them from my library.

JoanK · « **Reply #858 on:** August 11, 2012, 02:00:47 PM »

I read "The Swerve" and really liked it. But I'm into books like that.

ANNIE · « **Reply #859 on:** August 11, 2012, 10:45:47 PM »

No, JoanP, I don't remember what Ella said about the fathers but I will give her a call tomorrow.

A good read was "Run" by

??. Back to the games. We have watched many contests and have enjoyed the whole two weeks!

Babi · « **Reply #860 on:** August 12, 2012, 08:38:47 AM »

I rather think, from what has been posted, that "From Eternity to Here" goes into some
ideas that have risen in my own mind from scientific findings of recent decades, MARJ. I
believe I would find it very interesting. I've checked, and my library doesn't have it.
I'll widen my search a bit. My fear was not that I wouldn't find it interesting, but that
what I could learn from it would not stick as thoroughly as it once would.
I have arrived at that somewhat embarassing age where I forget things all too easily.
Like, between one room and the next! [What did I come in here for? Uh, hmm,..oh, yeah.]

Ah, something I remember! "Run", by Ann Patchett, ANNIE.

ANNIE · « **Reply #861 on:** August 12, 2012, 12:48:16 PM »

Thanks, Babi, for the author's name. Yes, we do forget the darndest things. Sometimes, I look at where I am, which room, and I look for what else needs doing. Eventually I remember my initial foray intentions.

I talked to my 95 year old Aunt last night when she called to tell me that she has been offered an apartment in a home for the elderly, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, where she volunteers weekly doing repairs of the clothing that the nuns and patients wear. She has been living alone since my uncle died in 1995. And she still drives and goes to the YMCA to lap swim 3 or 4 times a week.

JoanP · « **Reply #862 on:** August 13, 2012, 05:17:37 PM »

I've just added one more entry suggested in the Library for consideration in October - Shakespeare's "The Tempest" - a comedy of friendship , repentance and forgiveness. Will add it to the heading. We'll start with a preliminary vote on Wednesday or Thursday.

Did you see the opening or closing ceremonies for the Olympics? At both of them, there was a reading from the Tempest - Kenneth Branagh at the opening, and Timothy Spall, dressed as Winston Churchill...

Dana · « **Reply #863 on:** August 14, 2012, 12:02:06 PM »

Hi, I will be travelling and deliberately computer- etc-less, so put me down as a vote for The Tempest!

ANNIE · « **Reply #864 on:** August 14, 2012, 01:06:17 PM »

JoanP,
I talked to Ella on Sunday and she doesn't think that she liked "Founding Fathers" because we had already read and discussed "John Adams" by David McCullough back in 2002 and it pretty well filled us in on the founding fathers.
That's her story and she's stickin' to it!

JoanP · « **Reply #865 on:** August 14, 2012, 01:49:07 PM »

Since that would be Ella's to lead, perhaps we'd better take it off the list - we've got a pretty full slate as it is. Thanks for talking to her about it,
Annie.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #866 on:** August 14, 2012, 02:40:33 PM »

All the suggestions are winners but to me there are only two I would love to do - The Tempest and Pickwick Papers - with the holidays on top of us in November and we like to do a short December what a perfect time for Pickwick Papers even if we have another current bit of fiction going at the same time - but then can we do Tempest in a Month? Well that is where I am coming from and we have not even had a vote yet.

JoanP · « **Reply #867 on:** August 14, 2012, 08:39:08 PM »

Okay Barbara - that problem is solved - you can vote now - see the link to the Survey VOTE in the heading at the top of this page!
Post here if you have any questions or difficulty voting, okay?

Babi · « **Reply #868 on:** August 15, 2012, 08:27:46 AM »

Done!

Hmmm... I don't think Pickwick Papers is a short holiday read, The "Tempest"
is only a fraction of the length of the Dickens, at least. It might be better to save
Pickwick for after Christmas, when we have a slow,cold Jan.-Feb ahead of us. We can joint
the Club for their holidays, as a kind of extension of the holidays.

JoanK · « **Reply #869 on:** August 15, 2012, 03:13:17 PM »

Having trouble making up my mind. I liked "The Swerve", but it's very much m7y kind of book: I don't know how mabny others would like it.

I'm reading "Travels with Horodedus" and absolutely loving it. Thanks to whoever recommended it It makes me see travelling and geography in a whole different way. But I don't know if we could get a quorum.

So, I'm tempted by the Tempest. Hmmmm.

And by Founding Rivals. I'm fascinated by that period. So much of the foundation of our country was laid then.

Too much good stuff, as the ad says.

Babi · « **Reply #870 on:** August 16, 2012, 08:25:52 AM »

I'd like to read "Travels with Herodotus", but my library doesn't have it and I'm avoiding adding
anything to my 'permanent' bookshelves. If it does get picked, I'll put in for an inter-library loan.
Meanwhile, I made two other choices that I'm eager to re-read and discuss.

JoanP · « **Reply #871 on:** August 16, 2012, 09:52:34 AM »

There are some wonderful titles to chose from, Babi - I agree. JoanK, you may have noticed since you posted, that Founding Rivals has been removed from the mix.

pedln · « **Reply #872 on:** August 16, 2012, 09:53:51 AM »

So many books up there (above) to choose from. I've just been looking at reviews and comments about Travels with Herodotus, JoanK, and it comes so well-recommended from so many. This Polish author has lived through so much, and I see he has written several other books. ( I just posted a letter in Library, from a 14-yr-old Polish girl -- her capability in English just blows me away.)

ANNIE · « **Reply #873 on:** August 18, 2012, 12:50:17 PM »

Babi,

I looked at my library online and it said Herodotus wasn't there! But, instead of asking for the title, I put in the author and then they had 5 copies. I have now reserved it as it really sound enticing. And wouldn't it be in non-fiction? For October, maybe not a possibility, as Ella and Harold will have just led The Presidents' Club in September. Well, I still want to read it!

Frybabe · « **Reply #874 on:** August 18, 2012, 03:19:11 PM »

Bummer! I tried your suggestion to look up the author name instead of the book title, and it still came up a no go for the Herodotus title. It did, however, come up with two other books the author wrote: Imperium (Russia) and The Shadow of the Sun (Africa after the colonial era).

ANNIE · « **Reply #875 on:** August 18, 2012, 08:33:00 PM »

Hey, Frybabe
Did you ask when your library was going to order it?

Frybabe · « **Reply #876 on:** August 18, 2012, 09:29:15 PM »

No, Annie, but the library website has where I can request it through an inter-library loan. It appears that the Hershey area library system has two copies. World Cat lists four or five college libraries in Central/Eastern PA. I'll wait to see if it is picked though; there are too many other books in my TBR stack, including The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories edited by Robert B Strassler.

Babi · « **Reply #877 on:** August 19, 2012, 08:35:39 AM »

I also plan to put in an inter-library loan request for the Herodotus if it's chosen. Having that
kind of access to millions of books makes me feel so wealthy.

ANNIE · « **Reply #878 on:** August 19, 2012, 08:56:47 AM »

We are wealthy when it comes to books in the US. Hope you both get a copy if we choose it to read. You can buy a used copy on Amazon as low as 6 cents but you have to pay $3.99 for shipping.

Babi · « **Reply #879 on:** August 19, 2012, 09:06:13 AM »

I could live with that, ANNIE.

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Author Topic: Suggestion Box for Future Book Discussions ~ (Read 283076 times)