Thoughts for Thursday

Have you seen the Long List for the 2011 Orange Prize?

One of our 2011 picks is on the list!

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi
Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
The London Train by Tessa Hadley
Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson
The Seas by Samantha Hunt
The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna
Great House by Nicole Krauss
The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin
The Swimmer by Roma Tearne
Annabel by Kathleen Winter

About the Orange Prize:

The Orange Prize for Fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a 'Bessie', created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.

Read more here.

Barbara Kingsolver won last year for The Lacuna.

Which of the 2011 long list nominees have you read?

Thoughts for Thursday

Have you seen the March '11 Indie Next List yet?

There are so many interesting books on the list this month. This one in particular is at the top of my to-read list:

A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic

"In his powerful, wrenching debut, Lelic takes a sadly familiar crime and delves into the equally familiar menace at its root: bullying."

In this riveting debut novel about sexism, bullying, and the horrific effects of random acts of violence, Detective Inspector Lucia May investigates a school shooting in which a teacher has killed three pupils, another teacher, and then himself-a tragedy that could not have been predicted. It should be an open-and-shut case. Yet as Lucia begins to piece together the testimonies of the various witnesses, an uglier and more complex picture emerges, calling into question the innocence of others. Brilliantly interweaving the witnesses' accounts with Lucia's own perspective, A Thousand Cuts is a narrative tour de force from a formidable new voice in fiction.


A Thousand Cuts is also known as Rupture in the UK.

I love this book cover!

Which pick for March is at the top of your list?

Thoughts for Thursday

If you read The Hunger Games trilogy, did it make you want to read more young adult books?

I loved The Hunger Games trilogy! It's like nothing else I've ever read before. If Suzanne Collins writes more I would definitely try it. I'm not sure I'm going to get into young adult reading in general, though. Karen did mention a new trilogy that might be interesting. Have you heard of it? The first book (Nov 2010) is called Matched and the second (Nov 2011) is called Crossed. The third (Nov 2012) is still Untitled.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Thoughts for Thursday

What were the NY Times best sellers on your birthday?

Go to BiblioOz.com to find out! (You have to list the day of your birth before the month.)

The top fiction and non-fiction best sellers on my birthday were...

Princess Daisy by Judith Krantz

She was born Princess Marguerite Alexandrovna Valensky. But everyone called her Daisy. She was a blonde beauty living in a world of aristocrats and countless wealthy. Her father was a prince, a Russian nobleman. Her mother was an American movie goddess. Men desired her. Women envied her. Daisy's life was a fairy tale filled with parties and balls, priceless jewels, money and love. Then, suddenly, the fairy tale ended. And Princess Daisy had to start again, with nothing--except the secret she guarded from the day she was born





The Brethren by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong

The Brethren is the first detailed behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court in action. Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong have pierced its secrecy to give us an unprecedented view of the Chief and Associate Justices -- maneuvering, arguing, politicking, compromising and making decisions that affect every major area of American life.


Bob Woodward has written numerous other books including his latest about Obama.

Thoughts for Thursday

Now that 2010 is just about over...what's the best and the worst book you read this year?

There are a few candidates for the best. I loved (5 hearts) Columbine, To Kill A Mockingbird, Shanghai Girls, The Help and The Hunger Games. Overall, though I have to go with Columbine. It's a must-read book!









My worst would probably be My Stroke of Insight. It wasn't that it was that bad, it's just that I was expecting it to be so much better. Her unique perspective was very interesting, though.

Thoughts for Thursday

Are you anticipating the release of any new books for 2011?

Jodi Picoult's new one, Sing You Home, comes out in March. It deals with infertility, gay rights, and music therapy. Read an excerpt on her website. It amazes me how much research and writing she can do over the course of one year!

Thoughts for Thursday

What's at the top of your to-be-read pile?

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins! I have to finish the trilogy by December 20th in order to complete the Fall Challenge (and so we can have our special book club meeting to discuss them)!

Thoughts for Thursday

From BTT today...Do you have (or want) any first editions?

I don't have any first editions but I'd like a Jane Austen if they weren't going for $25,000+!

Thoughts for Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

What book are you thankful to have read this year?

I'm so glad the book club decided to read To Kill A Mockingbird this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary! Even though we've all read it before, I think it was even better the second (or third) time around. It was our favorite book of the year!

Thoughts for Thursday

Thoughts for Thursday

It's Veterans' Day today! In honor of the troops, do you have any favorite military books?

I just ordered The Good Soldiers by David Finkel.

It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. It became known as "the surge." Among those called to carry it out were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.

Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home — forever changed. The chronicle of their tour is gripping, devastating, and deeply illuminating for anyone with an interest in human conflict. With The Good Soldiers, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Finkel has produced an eternal story — not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

Finkel spent over a year with the American infantry battalion, the 2-16 Rangers (whose average age is 19), as they deployed from Fort Riley in Kansas to one of the most dangerous, war-ravaged areas of Baghdad. Carefully detailing the experiences of the 2-16 and its commanding officer, Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, Finkel has crafted a wartime account so visceral and so emotionally wrenching that it will leave many readers stunned.

This sounds like an amazing story! Listen to Finkel speak about The Good Soldiers here.

Thoughts for Thursday

Scholastic says you are what you read. What's your bookprint?

A Bookprint is the mark that a book leaves on our lives, shaping who we are and who we become. It is our textual lineage as described by Dr. Alfred Tatum, professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Our textual lineage is a reading and writing autobiography which shows that who you are is in part developed through the stories and information you’ve experienced.

You can visit the Scholastic website and make your own bookprint...and then you can pass it on.

The 5 books in my bookprint are

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Night by Elie Wiesel
(I wanted to add Columbine but for some reason it's not listed in their system.)














Go make your bookprint!

Thoughts for Thursday

In honor of Halloween this weekend...what is your favorite tale by Edgar Allan Poe?

It's a tough choice, but I have to go with The Cask of Amontillado. This tale is interesting because we don't know why Montresor kills Fortunato. Why do you think he did it? I think he was insane. Here's how it starts:

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. AT LENGTH I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled -- but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

You can read the entire tale online at Read Print.

Thoughts for Thursday

What book are you most hoping to read for book club next year?

Right now I would probably say Cutting for Stone, but that could change over the next week. I'm trying to finalize my list of selections! Is your list ready?

Thoughts for Thursday

Barnes and Noble has published a list of the top 100 bestsellers of 2010. How many of them have you read? Have you read the #1 book? Go find out.

I've read 8 from the list:

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay (have it, will read this month)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher in the Rye
The Shack
Have a Little Faith
The Lovely Bones














Three book club books are on the list!

I have not read the # 1 book, have you?

Thoughts for Thursday

The BTT post today is fitting for me since we're traveling this weekend.

When you travel, how many books do you take along? Has this changed since ebooks have become available?

It depends on how long the trip is. We'll just be gone for the weekend so I'll only take one, Little Bird of Heaven. I'll probably also take my Kindle just in case I have time to read something else. I'm reading The Hunger Games on it right now.

I would say it's probably changed a lot since ebooks came along because you can store so many books--that counts as taking them along, right?

Thoughts for Thursday

Do you want to join in 31 Shots of Shock for October?

See post below for details! The original idea is from Rob Around Books.

Thoughts for Thursday

Have you finished any must-read memoirs lately? Are there any interesting ones on your to-read list?

It's actually been awhile since I've read a memoir. I came across one recently that I definitely want to read: Half a Life by Darin Strauss.

“Half my life ago, I killed a girl.”

So begins Darin Strauss’ Half a Life, the true story of how one outing in his father’s Oldsmobile resulted in the death of a classmate and the beginning of a different, darker life for the author. We follow Strauss as he explores his startling past—collision, funeral, the queasy drama of a high-stakes court case—and what starts as a personal tale of a tragic event opens into the story of how to live with a very hard fact: we can try our human best in the crucial moment, and it might not be good enough. Half a Life is a nakedly honest, ultimately hopeful examination of guilt, responsibility, and living with the past.

Thoughts for Thursday

Thought this was kind of an interesting topic from BTT today:

“I couldn’t sleep a wink, so I just read and read, day and night … it was there I began to divide books into day books and night books,” she went on. “Really, there are books meant for daytime reading and books that can be read only at night.”
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera



Do you divide your books into day and night reads? How do you decide?

I don't think I've ever reserved certain books for day or night, but I do like to read in general more at night than during the day. I don't really know why, though. Maybe because I like to read in bed.

Thoughts for Thursday

What's on your nightstand (or end table) right now?

I've got The Hunger Games on Kindle, plus To Kill A Mockingbird for book club and A Good Indian Wife (from the spring challenge that was over months ago!).