Book of the Month - Sept to Dec 2003

[Darren]

We need some suggestions for books for the next four months.

Any suggestions?

[repairman_jack]

the tomb by f. paul wilson

it has one of the best characters i have ever read but the only bad thing is it might be hard to find

or False memory by Dean Koontz
great book thats very unpredictable

[Darren]

Any more suggestions?

OR should we scrap "Book of the Month" completely?

[Serene]

Damn. I was going to say Oryx and Crake, but it's not out in paper yet.

[Kaz]

What about One of the Anita Shreve or Nicci French books?

[murphyz]

There are way too many books to suggest, so I propose the following 'themes' to consider suggestions for.

Debut Novels - obviously this would be an authors debut novel, for which I will suggest Donna Tartt's 'Secret History'

Classics - (including modern) I suggest The Egoist by George Meredith of the fabulous Holes by Loius Sachar.

PG Wodehouse - so many to choose from.

And for December, Christmas - obviously I will nominate A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Mxx

[Serene]

Or Michel Faber's Under the Skin. It's controversial and very well-written.

[Kaz]

Murphyz, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens would be perfect for December. Great Idea.
Why not to have horror book in October to relevent with Halloween? What do you think?

[Martin]

If we're gonna go with the horror thingie, I've got a great suggestion. 'House Of Leaves' by Mark Danielewski. Fantastically original and very, very scary.

Cheers, Martin

[Idun]

Maybe something from classic? I know that a lot was written about such books, but it's always interesting to read a fresh view. Besides, since we are from different countries, there is a bigger chance that many people know the book. The more, the better.

Therefore, I'm for Christmas Carol.

[lies]

Originally posted by Darren Lewis
OR should we scrap "Book of the Month" completely?

I wouldn't do that. I think the main problem with it is that a month really isn't that long if you've got work and other stuff to do... Plus there are probably quite a few members that only come here a couple of times a month, which makes it even more difficult.

I know it doesn't sound as good as "book of the month", but maybe we should make it "book of the trimester" or something... at least that would deal with the time-problem.

Originally posted by murphyz
There are way too many books to suggest, so I propose the following 'themes' to consider suggestions for.

I like the themes-idea. It narrows it down a bit and... well, you can more easily get in the mood. I wouldn't mind reading a Halloweenish and Christmasish story at all.

Originally posted by Idun
Besides, since we are from different countries, there is a bigger chance that many people know the book. The more, the better.

I agree. Many of the novels and novelists talked about on the Book Forum aren't that "famous" yet over here (and probably in other places as well), and therefore hard to get by, library- and bookshop-wise, so "classics" would be a good way to go. On the other hand, a lot of people wouldn't bother to reread the book and discuss it because they've read and discussed it a lot already... be that in class or whatever.

[Fenrys]

Maybe for October we could read "Something Wicked this Way Comes", or "A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities" by Ray Bradbury.

Graveyard is about... "Hollywood, Halloween night, 1954. At a midnight party in a graveyard adjacent to the studio where he works, the sci-fi screenwriter/narrator glimpses the dangling papier-mache corpse (or real body?) of a film magnate presumed killed exactly 20 years earlier. Then a prop man (or his effigy) is hanged, or else is on the run, and another studio hand is murdered. A Beast is loose, attempting to instill panic on the set, perhaps to cover up what really happened two decades ago. Bradbury eventually ties up the loose ends in a loopy funhouse of a novel peopled with a monocled, imperious Austrian-Chinese director; Lenin's ex-makeup man, from the Kremlin; a gaunt, sermonizing actor named Jesus Christ; a feisty ex-movie queen who demands that "J.C." bless her; and other oddballs. Madness, blackmail, murder and mayhem spell tricks and treats as Bradbury toes the fine line between reality and illusion."

I haven't read it but it fits the Halloween theme =) and if it is like Bradbury's other books it should be good.

[laurenaefe]

the story of O
blindness by jose saramago
slowness by milan kundera
refugee nonfiction book by chuck palahniuk
survivor by chuck p

[Fenrys]

How bout Seabiscuit? The book is supposed to be great.

[laurenaefe]

i hereby announce the book of the month as being 'blindness' by jose saramago. join me on a trip to half price books/barnes and noble!