Menewshan Book Discussion Group

This is a group dedicated to reading and discussing books. Our goal is to read one book, voted on by members, every month. Anyone is welcome to join.

We've had a lot of great suggestions for our first book, so I've closed recommendations and put up a poll. Everyone vote for the book they'd most like to read first. Because of the large number of suggestions, I chose to remove those books that have already been read by multiple members. Perhaps we can do a re-reading month next month?

May/June book suggestions (Any topic):
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs
White Oleander by Janet Fitch.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
Death In the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The Shadow of the Wind by Calors Ruiz Zafon.
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan.
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.
Magic Kingdom for Sale-- Sold by Terry Brooks
Fall of a Kingdom by Hilary Bell
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
One for Money by Janet Evanovitch

sounds kinda cool- if it was every month i could do it- as long as there was enough time to read the book- i'd do it ^_^

That would be absolutely wonderful! I'd love to be involved-- that is, of course, if it's open to everyone?

I love literature, but my friends are usually quite busy with schoolwork. I'm the only one with a bit of spare time on hand, mainly because my spare-time is enforced by family. Most of the time, I spend it with my nose in a book. :angel:


What kind of books were you thinking of?

Yes, it would be open to anyone. I haven't gotten much of a response yet, but we'll see if we can get something started. I was hoping to do all sorts of books, like a different genre or topic every month. That could change depending on what members want to do.

I think this sounds like a great idea! Members could suggest books and then everyone can vote once a month for the book they want to read that month. And there could be themes if you wanted...like October would be a horror novel or something like that.
I'm in.

I think that's three who'd like to do it, and one maybe?

While we're waiting to see if more people are interested, maybe we could pick a category/theme, and suggest titles? That might generate more interest. :)

I would love to join. I always read the same kind of books so I would like to try something new.

I know how that feels. I tend to go into kicks and read all one genre, author, whatever.

Lately the only thing I read is Mercedes Lackey and now I'm so tired of her. I just can't seem to finish the last book from her. I think it would be so much fun to read something totaly different. Have you decided what genre we will start with?

No, we haven't. I think everyone who wants to participate should choose a book to start with, and we can vote on it. I can anything to start with. My suggestion is the Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. It's a mystery about a female detective who apprentices under Sherlock Holmes.

After we've decided on a book (it needs to be readily available in libraries/bookstores), we can set a date to begin discussion.

Are we limited to submitting one book for suggestion? I'm torn between the possibility of two. They're both fairly contemporary-- one is more pleasure reading, simple, and deals with the nature/nurture element of dysfunctional family systems. The second probably has more literary merit, and is a twist on an old fairy tale-- very well written.

Without giving the titles, which sounds better?

(The titles may bias.)

My suggestion is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. It is one of my favorite books. The reading level on it is a lot lower then yours but I think still think it's a great read. It's about a hatt makers daughter named Sophie Hatter. There is magic and all kinds of good stuff. There are 448 pages.

Edit: I think the second one sounds better Niamh. I want to know the title so I can read it. I love remakes on fairy tales.

@Lilith: Reading level is not an issue. I read a lot of children's and young adult books, and Dianna Wynne Jones is one of my favorite authors. Thanks for the suggestion.

@Niamh: Pleasure reading can be just as important as literary merit. That was an important lesson my AP English teacher taught me when told her I was "just" reading Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. Suggest both. We can always recycle old suggestions, too.

I love Diana Wynne Jones too.
I love Dealing with Dragons. It's a great series.

Edit: Well I'm going to bed. I've got two finals in the morning.

The books I was talking about were:

Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs.
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire.

(For those who have read Wicked and were disappointed with the lack of conclusive ending, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister definitely did not suffer the same fate. The entire book has a consistent, well written, and circular storyline.)

---


I've heard of both The Beekeeper's Daughter and Howl's Moving Castle, and would be glad to read either. Though I've never read it, I have a copy of Howl's Moving Castle. I'm a fan of Dianna Wynne Jones, and I purchased a lot of her books during a sale at Barnes and Noble.


Good luck with your finals, Lilith!

It sound like a neat idea.
Is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire i read of few of his books and diddn't like them. Mybe diffrent tatste or confessions of an ugly stepsister is just one of his good books.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is by Gregory Maguire. I think everything he writes is a little different. I wasn't disappointed by the ending of Wicked, but it's definitely different.

Originally Posted by heartpoint

It sound like a neat idea.
Is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire i read of few of his books and diddn't like them. Mybe diffrent tatste or confessions of an ugly stepsister is just one of his good books.

Actually, I think it's his only good book-- which is perfectly fine, because it's well worth the read.

I've read (once each) Confessions, Wicked and Lost. The latter two did not really impress me. Wicked's plot did have potential, but I didn't like the way Maguire wrote it-- the musical came out after I read it, and that interpretation of the plot is a much better one. I didn't like the ending of the novel mainly because it didn't feel like there was any sort of closure for the storyline. It depressed me.

You might actually like Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I haven't read it in around 4 or 5 years, but it I remember it being a good read.



Joie-- have you read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister? If you have, then we can probably cut it out of the options. It would probably be best to choose a book that most of us haven't read, or at least haven't read in awhile. :)

Unfortunately, I've read both Confessions and Howl's Moving Castle. I agree that it's best to try something people haven't read. I think I'm going to wait a few days and see if we get some more suggestions, then put up a poll. We're getting feedback already on who's read or heard of the suggestions. If it seems like a suggestion has been read by a lot of us, I'll consider taking it off the list.

However, it has been four years since I read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I remember enjoying it, but not much else. I liked it best of what I read by Maguire, I think. I haven't read Lost, but I tried his Mirror, Mirror--the one with the Borgia's--and I couldn't really get into it.

@Niamh- I've read Confessions but it was a while back. I thought it was good. And reading a book twice is no problem for me. I've read a lot of books many many times. One book I've read 57 times.
And thanks for the luck.

i totally love any and all books- so my recommendations could go on forever- i'll leave the choosing to ya'll if someone wouldn't mind PMing with the result ^_^

You should still post some books. I love a lot of books too.

Some books on my shelf that I'd like to read and haven't yet:

White Oleander by Janet Fitch.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
Death In the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The Shadow of the Wind by Calors Ruiz Zafon.
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan.
the Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.

If one sounds interesting to you guys and you'd like me to share what I know of it, I can. It's good to note that Terry Pratchett is a hilarious and talented author.

If you'd prefer not to have one of those on the list, or have read one already, then we could cut it off.

Some that I read and really enjoyed simply for the sake of reading:

Magic Kingdom for Sale-- Sold by Terry Brooks
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

I've yet to meet anyone who didn't enjoy reading either of the first two Ender books. Either book would be a good candidate (note that they can stand alone)-- they're both enjoyable, and contain topics that are ripe for discussion.

Magic Kingdom for Sale-- Sold sounds extremely corny when it's described, but is quite good. It's one that I recommend to a lot of people, and I haven't had anyone dislike it so far. The book opens with the view a rich lawyer, who recently lost his wife and child, depressed and skimming through a magazine for the sake of laughter and derision. The magazine is filled with a panoply of ridiculous things that a few exceedingly rich and ridiculous people are inclined to buy. In it, he sees a "Magic Kingdom" listed, and immediately declares the advert preposterous, thinking that only an idiot would make such a purchase.

The only logical progression from there is for him to purchase it.

Many interesting things ensue.

Told you it sounded tacky.



Anyone have other book suggestions? We likely won't get anywhere soon if we're all shy about it. :P

Oh! I've been interested in reading a Terry Practchet book, I'd be interested in that. Also i've been wanting to read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.... uh but ones to recommend. Well I've read Howl's Movign Castle too and i loved - other books.....hmmm.... i love all the books of Tamora Pierce i love the Wild Magic Set- so i'd recommend book one: "Wild Magic" or maybe "Fall of a Kingdom" by Hilari Bell, i started it and it was really good but i got distracted and didn't finish it..... or maybe "Beka Cooper" also a Tamora Pierce book.... oh "Gone With the Wind" is amazing but its really long.... a good contemporary crime thriller series is the Stephanie Plum eries: first book is really funny "One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich.... i really like charles dicken "A Tale of Two Cities" but thats like a school book so i feel wierd putting it up for a vote.... thats all i can think of at the top of my mind.
But whats said already i vote for McGregory's (sp?) book i guess ^_^

@Niamh- I have Dracula by Bram Stoker too. I got it at a garage sell and haven't read it yet.
Magic Kingdom for Sale-- Sold sounds like it could be a good book.

@Tsubasa Rose- It doesn't matter if it is like a "school" book. We're trying to read something new. I've wanted to read A Tale of Two Cities for awhile. I love Tamora Pierce too. I can't wait till the next Beka Cooper book comes out. The Wild Magic series is one of my favorite.