The Quasi-Official February Book Reading Game

[NogDog]

^^^ @imalbs:

ALOL (almost laughing out loud) -- I got to the end of your post thinking, "doesn't she realize she's repeating herself?"

Much appreciated by someone who's sister got him a T-shirt for Christmas this year that says:

National Sarcasm Society
Like We Need Your Support

[Luvmy4brats]

I'm done!
The Book Thief was excellent.  I wouldn't have had choosen this book if this hadn't been selected for me. 
Why?
1.  I'm 50 and I don't shop in the Young Adult section but now I'm open to this idea.
2.  It's a very emotional book and I couldn't detatch my emotions from the characters.  I physically felt their sorrow and laughter.  I think the characters I could most empathize with were Rosa and Hans.  I hope that I could be like them when facing similar situations.

I'm looking foward to March! 

Jody, I'm so happy to see you enjoyed the book. This is one of the few books that I've purchased in paperback so that I can loan to friends (I actually have 2 copies now). It was never intended to be marketed as a Young Adult book, that was a decision made by the American publisher.   

[geko29]

Ok geko29, I've chosen Dhampir by Barb and JC Hendee for you. It is the first in a multibook series that was suggested to me by a friend and I really enjoyed it and I hope you do to. It's a little bit of everything on your preferred list, and adds some Scifi in too.

I'm not generally a fan of fantasy, but I did enjoy this one.  Very well-written and different.  I haven't decided yet if I'll continue the series, but I'm definitely not sorry I read it.

[geko29]

PS: To Gecko29, please to not take this as a put-down of your taste in books. We're all different -- especially me. I mean, lots of people love Stephen King and have made him a rich man, yet I have never gotten past the first couple chapters of any of his books. I figured, though, that my honest opinion was better in the long run, in order to get valid data for this "experiment." Vive la différence!

Not at all.  It was the "escapist" aspect of it that appealed to me (and the reason I recommended it, saying it was "just fun, nothing serious").  As you said, everybody has different things they're looking for in terms of entertainment and that's what makes life interesting.  So no, I'm not offended in the slightest, though I do of course wish I had chosen something you enjoyed.

[Geoffrey]

I just finished my assigned book Ruled Brittannia by Harry Turtledove and I found it to be a most enjoyable "alternate history".  The book is set in England in the time of Wm Shakespeare, the main character.  The premise is the Spanish Queen Isabella is ruling a Catholic England, in which Queen Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower.  There is much intrigue, plotting, etc. by the English to free their queen and reinstate their Protestant faith. Shakespeare and Spanish poet Lope de Vega are the two main characters, but they are supported by the likes of Christopher Marlowe among others.  I don't want to give too much away, I will just say that Shakespeare does what he does best

Looking forward to next month's assignment

I'm so glad you liked it.  I wasn't sure about giving a book with so much poetry in it - that's not really everyone's thing.  I've read the book 3 or 4 times in pbook form.

[Geoffrey]

Jody, I'm so happy to see you enjoyed the book. This is one of the few books that I've purchased in paperback so that I can loan to friends (I actually have 2 copies now). It was never intended to be marketed as a Young Adult book, that was a decision made by the American publisher.   

I may have to take another look at this book.  I rarely read YA and usually stop looking into a book at all once I see it is listed that way.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Andersonville Volume 1 A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy:

a bit dry but fascinating..i read it while I was at the National BBQ Conference this past week in Memphis so i even had a bit of Civl War atmosphere..
thanks for the suggestion

[NogDog]

Not at all.  It was the "escapist" aspect of it that appealed to me (and the reason I recommended it, saying it was "just fun, nothing serious").  As you said, everybody has different things they're looking for in terms of entertainment and that's what makes life interesting.  So no, I'm not offended in the slightest, though I do of course wish I had chosen something you enjoyed.

You, know, as I think back on it (ouch, my brain hurts!), I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more when I was in my 20's and 30's. Back then I read a lot of action-oriented sci-fi, fantasy, military, and techno-thriller novels that I probably would not care for nearly as much now. As I move into my 50's, I find that I've become more character-oriented and less plot-oriented. I'm not saying that plot is no longer important, but rather that it's not enough. I have to care for the characters, and they have to be believable and not overly stereotypical. I also find myself demanding more from authors in terms of the actual word crafting. Mind you, I still enjoy the action, but by itself it's not enough. If I were really clever, I could tell you why my priorities have changed. I'm sure part of it is just the way we all change over the years (or at least should), plus perhaps a "been there, read that" sort of thing. (Curiously, though, as I read Riptide I kept thinking it could make a very enjoyable movie pretty much as it was, so I guess my taste in movies hasn't changed as much as my taste in books. )

Anyway, thanks for playing, and I'm still looking forward to next month's installment.

[Luvmy4brats]

I may have to take another look at this book.  I rarely read YA and usually stop looking into a book at all once I see it is listed that way.

You should. To be honest , I think that the only reason it's considered YA is because the main character is a young girl. The story itself though, is very rich.

[Geoffrey]

You should. To be honest , I think that the only reason it's considered YA is because the main character is a young girl. The story itself though, is very rich.

....hmmm that reason makes sense from the perspective of a marketing person who doesn't actually read books .... I've read a lot about of books about teens that weren't marketed as Y, and read mostly non-YA when I was one ... on the other hand I could just be a snob.

[welshcorgi]

I'm so glad you liked it.  I wasn't sure about giving a book with so much poetry in it - that's not really everyone's thing.  I've read the book 3 or 4 times in pbook form.

Actually, I am planning to reread in a more leisurely fashion at some point, as I did enjoy the poetic passages, but may have glossed over them to get back to the "action"    Again I thank you for recommending it!

[sem]

Finished reading "White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke" and must say that I enjoyed it. Historical fiction is not something that I would have picked for myself but I will be more open to it in the future. The author developed the characters in such a way that I became invested in their futures and I certainly disliked the villains! Would recommend this book.

Thanks, welshcorgi, for suggesting this book. I am looking forward to next months game.

[Margaret]

I finished Consider Phlebas last night.  It was definitely outside of my comfort zone, which was, I guess, the whole point of this reading game.  I am usually attracted to a book because of the characters.  I like stories about people that I can relate to in some way.  This book was driven more by plot and ideas than by character.  There was plenty of action to hold my interest, but I don't feel that I got to know or relate to any of the characters.  Considering the ending of the novel, that may have been a good thing.  I am happy that I was given this book to read.  It is one that I would have never chosen for myself, but it made me think and gave me a bit of a challenge. I also got to use the dictionary feature of my Kindle for the first time.  Please count me in for the March game.

[Cora]

I finished The Alchemyst this evening and really enjoyed it. As mentioned earlier, I was struggling finding an emotional connection with the characters. As I got farther along it became easier as the relationships between the characters became more fleshed out. It's definitely not a stand alone book (YA series books almost never are) but I am planning on reading the next book (I need to finish Under the Dome, which I put on pause to participate). Typically I'm more hesitant to read YA fantasy that I'm not familiar with, but I'm glad that this was suggested to me. I have enjoyed a good amount of YA fiction (it's nice to read some fantasy that isn't drowned in politics, because that isn't what I want from my fantasy at all!) and this book is definitely something I'd suggest to others.

[jaspertyler]

This looked like a lot of fun.  I think I will participate next month!!!

[RiddleMeThis]

I'm not generally a fan of fantasy, but I did enjoy this one.  Very well-written and different.  I haven't decided yet if I'll continue the series, but I'm definitely not sorry I read it.

They series/saga definitely gets even better as it goes IMO.


I started A Thousand Splendid Suns tonight, and so far (About 30% of the way through) I am really enjoying it!

[Geoffrey]

One Third of the way into the month, and the posted results look like this:


Participant          Book Picked by      Selected Book
akagriff                 luvmy4brats            The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
                                                            FINISHED - "I physically felt their sorrow and laughter"
Cora                     Malweth                  The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
                                                            FINISHED - Enjoyed it and found her emotional connection
Fuzzy Dunlop       sem                          Andersonville Volume 1 A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy
                                                            FINISHED - dry but fascinating
Geemont              Megs                       The Briar King by Greg Keyes or Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
                                                            Leaning toward Briar King
geko29                RiddleMeThis            Dhampir by Barb and JC Hendee
                                                            FINISHED - Very well-written and different 
Geoffrey               pomlover2586         The Notebook Nicholas Sparks
                                                            FINISHED - Emotional but pleased with book
imallbs                  Lynn                        Watchers by Dean Koontz
                                                            33% finished - Ingtriguing but repetitious
luvmy4brats         Fuzzy Dunlop           Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen
                                                           
Lynn                     Susan in VA             One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
                                                            FINISHED - Enjoyed it a lot
Malweth               akagriff                    The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson or Radium Halos by Shelley Stout
                                                           
Margaret              Geemont                 Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
                                                            FINISHED - Outside comfort zone but glad she read it.
Megs                    imallbs                     #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
                                                           
NogDog                geko29                    RipTide by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
                                                            FINISHED - Cannot recommend; reads like an escapist movie script
pomlover2586      Cora                        The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood   
                                                           
RiddleMeThis        Margaret                  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
                                                                   
sem                      welshcorgi               White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke by Paul Clayton
                                                            FINISHED - Really enjoying it."Would recommend this book."
Susan in VA          NogDog                   The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
                                                           
welshcorgi            Geoffrey                  Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove
                                                            FINISHED - found it most enjoyable

[Margaret]

Geoffrey, thank you for sorting through all the replies and posting these summaries.  It is nice to be able to see everyone's opinions in one place.

[Geoffrey]

I was thinking about the game .... I'm planning on doing sign up for March in a week or so  (I thought 10 days from the 17th to the 26th - is that too long?)  So, for those of us who are playing this first round, I have a simple question:  Do I need to tweak the game?

The only thing I thought different this time was to maybe have a separate thread to sign up and for the game itself .....

[Margaret]

I think that separate threads would work very well.  The only complaint (if you call it that ) that I have about the game is that the thread is a bit unwieldy.  I really am interested in hearing about how everyone is responding to the books, so that I try to read everything that is posted.  On some days that was a lot of reading, especially when you add in the posts from people who were just commenting on the game, those wanting to join next time, those suggesting books for their partners, those making a selection, etc.  Having a separate sign-up thread should make things a bit more manageable. 

[NogDog]

Hey, Geoffrey, just wanted to point out that you can use the forum's table tags to handle the tabular layout:

Participant	Book Picked by	Selected Book
akagriff	luvmy4brats	The Book Thief by Markus Zusak FINISHED - "I physically felt their sorrow and laughter"
Cora	Malweth	The Alchemyst by Michael Scott FINISHED - Enjoyed it and found her emotional connection
Fuzzy Dunlop	sem	Andersonville Volume 1 A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy FINISHED - dry but fascinating
Geemont	Megs	The Briar King by Greg Keyes or Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman Leaning toward Briar King
geko29	RiddleMeThis	Dhampir by Barb and JC Hendee FINISHED - Very well-written and different
Geoffrey	pomlover2586	The Notebook Nicholas Sparks FINISHED - Emotional but pleased with book
imallbs	Lynn	Watchers by Dean Koontz 33% finished - Ingtriguing but repetitious
luvmy4brats	Fuzzy Dunlop	Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen
Lynn	Susan in VA	One for the Money by Janet Evanovich FINISHED - Enjoyed it a lot
Malweth	akagriff	The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson or Radium Halos by Shelley Stout
Margaret	Geemont	Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks FINISHED - Outside comfort zone but glad she read it.
Megs	imallbs	#1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
NogDog	geko29	RipTide by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child FINISHED - Cannot recommend; reads like an escapist movie script
pomlover2586	Cora	The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
RiddleMeThis	Margaret	A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
sem	welshcorgi	White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke by Paul Clayton FINISHED - Really enjoying it."Would recommend this book."
Susan in VA	NogDog	The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
welshcorgi	Geoffrey	Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove FINISHED - found it most enjoyable

(Just click "Quote" on this post to see how I marked it up. You could even put the results into a 4th column if you wanted. )

[Geoffrey]

D'Oh!!!!   I couldn't figure out an easier way to do it so I guess I suck.      Thanks Nog

[RiddleMeThis]

I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns last night.
 
It was not a book I would have picked up myself, and I absolutely LOVED it. The characters were incredibly rich and I found my self unable to stop reading about them and how their life stories would play out. I even teared up a few times throughout the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

[NogDog]

D'Oh!!!!   I couldn't figure out an easier way to do it so I guess I suck.      Thanks Nog

Nah...we each have our strengths and weaknesses, and by sharing our strengths...ummm...I don't know: good stuff happens? I guess my strengths do not include creating motivational sayings.

[Geemont]

I'm at 46% in The Briar King.  Enjoyable, so far, not too far outside my comfort zone, but I probably never would have read it otherwise, even though I'd snagged it as a free download last year.  Once I'm finished, I'll probably move on to book two in a month or so.  Fairly traditional fantasy elements, characters, and plot, but overall it is a good pick.