The Quasi-Official March Reading Game

[Geoffrey]

Welcome to the Quasi-Official March Reading Game.  I’ve taken our preferences and deal-breakers and have matched everyone up.  Now it’s time to pick something you love for your selectee.  Last month, some gave a choice and a back-up choice.  Feel free to do so or not as you see fit.  I’m easy.  

I tried using tables as NogDog mentioned in the February thread, but I kept getting lost, so I gave it up.  

There are 30 of us playing, and here are the first 15.  Enjoy!!!


edit: I redid the list as a table.  I hope it works better

Participant	Picking For	Preferred Genres	Deal-Breakers
akagriff	Margaret	Murder Mysteries, Historical Fiction, Fluffy Romance Novels (Jane Greene, Sophie Kinsella, etc.), Best Sellers	Political or Religious - if intended to convert or intolerant of other viewpoints, Gratuitous or graphic violence
Annalog	Dana	Religious, Comedy, Romance, Southern Lit, Self-help, Inspirational, Nicholas Sparks, Little House on the Prairie series (Yes, I love sap.)	Extreme Horror (a little spooky okay), Anything intolerant of faith or ridiculing Christians, Liberal politics, Deviant sexual behavior (Pedophilia and anything else illegal), Anything that a Lit professor would be forced to read.  Most classics would be fine. Under 10k locations preferred
Basilius	jaspertyler	Paranormal Romance, Mystery, Horror	Nonfiction, Religious, western, Books that take a ton of work to read
Belindach	Annalog	Science Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Historical, Scientific Nonfiction, Biography	Political or Religious - if intended to convert or intolerant of other viewpoints, Gratuitous violence
Bernie	Cora	Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror (Stephen King and Dean Koontz type stuff)	Religion, Politics, Non-Fiction
Cora	Hoosiermama	fiction, historical fiction, romance	political, sexual, horror
Dana	akagriff	I'm ok with anything except those listed on my deal breaker list.	Paranormal anything, R rated and X rated sex, Scary horror which includes body parts cut off
DoubleDog	Thalia the Muse	Literary fiction, Gothic horror and          spookiness , That amorphous genre they call "narrative nonfiction", Popular science for ignoramuses, Popular history	"inspirational" fiction or nonfiction; Anything really badly written and/or formulaic, Conspiracy theories and political screeds, Chick-lit, unless it's extremely well done
dpinmd	geko29	Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Action/ Adventure	Religion, Romance (genre), >600 pages in print or 10k locations
eldereno	Belindach	Scifi, Fantasy, Mystery, Religious, Action	Horror, Politics, Erotica
Geemont	Sparkplug	Contemporary Fiction, "Chick Lit", Historical Fiction	Horror, Fantasy, Very technical sci-fi
geko29	luvmy4brats	Historical Fiction, Romance, Urban fantasy	Religion, Politics, Horror
Geoffrey	luvmyBOB	Romance, Historical fiction, Mystery	Hard core religion, Non-fiction, Political, Horror
Hoosiermama	Geoffrey	Fantasy, Science Fiction, Alternate          History	Non-fiction; Religious\Political Fiction, Romance
imallbs	sem	No Preferred Genres	No Deal-Breakers

[Geoffrey]

... And not to be left out, here are the next 15 ...

Participant	Picking For	Preferred Genres	Deal-Breakers
jaspertyler	NogDog	Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fact (esp. physics), Military Fiction /History	Romance (the genre), Anything that assumes one        particular religious or political viewpoint is correct, Gratuitous, graphic violence and/or sex, Full of stereotyped characters I don't care about
KindleGirl	dpinmd	Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, contemporary fiction	Religion, Politics, Really technical or science-y" science              fiction, Self-help, Harlequin-type (formulaic) romance
Leslie	KindleGirl	Drama, Mystery/thrillers, Contemp. fiction	Non fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy, War
luvmy4brats	Geemont	Science Fiction, Mystery, Horror	Media Tie-In, Romance, Religious, Children's, Young Adult.  Anyone can check out my Goodreads below for better information
luvmyBOB	Ottie	Fantasy, Horror, Thrillers, Urban Fantasy	Romance, Science Fiction, History
Margaret	Basilius	Science Fiction, Fantasy, Military History	Religion, Celebrity Biographies, True Crime
NogDog	Bernie	Cozy Mysteries - If its a series, please make sure its the first one. *lol*, Historical Fiction, Comedy, History, Chic Lit	Religion, Politics, Sci Fi
Ottie	imallbs	American and Western European history, Science Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction	Horror, Romance, Religious themed books – fiction and nonfiction, A huge book. I would like to keep it to less than 10000 locations. Dean Koontz (please not 2 months in a row)
RiddleMeThis	eldereno	Contemporary Fiction, Drama, Family Saga	Religious Fiction, Political, War
sem	Tripp	historical fiction, chick lit, family saga, drama, suspense, thrillers, religion is OK if it is presented culturally, not to convert. I don't usually go for fantasy, but if written well, I will be willing to try it.	science fiction, horror, NO vampires (even if it is a love story), romance
Sparkplug	welshcorgi	History, Non-Fiction, Long reads ok	Fluffy romance, Way out there sci-fi
Susan in VA	Leslie	Historical fiction (all types, including      military), Contemporary m/m romance    (not m/f), Non-fiction for subjects I am interested in	Science fiction, Horror, Stephen King, Vampires, anything ultra-violent, Christian fiction
Thalia the Muse	RiddleMeThis	Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Murder/Crime Mystery	Religion(allusion is ok, but no books who's story line is trying to save my soul), Politics, Non-fiction, And if it is a series it must be the first one in the series
Tripp	Susan in VA	No Preferred genre	Graphic violence (against people or animals) or gore, Horror novels (no Stephen King, please), Anything heavily and intolerantly pushing a particular branch of religion.
welshcorgi	DoubleDog	Adult contemporary fiction, historical fiction, suspense/thrillers, Nonfiction, fantasy	Science fiction, Romance, Politics

[Tripp]

Hi Susan,  The novel I picked for you is "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim.  It is a pre-World War I classic.  I hope you like it. 
If you have already read this, let me know and I will pick another one for you.

[jaspertyler]

Hi NogDog

I've picked the following books for you.  I wanted to give you a choice because the first one is very long (although it would be my first choice!)



or



If you have already read these, let me know.  I have a list of other ideas   I hope you enjoy!!

[Susan in VA]

Tripp, I haven't read this and look forward to it.  

Geoffrey, just FYI.... your list looks great on wide screens but is difficult to decipher for anyone using a 4:3 screen.  (I have one of each.)    Maybe those tables are worth playing around with some more for next month?

Anybody who has a 4:3 screen, and is having trouble reading it:  Click on "reply" as though you were going to post...  then scroll down to the existing posts, and the smaller print there makes the formatting come out just as Geoffrey intended!  

Leslie...  hmmmm...   gotta give this some thought.

[Tripp]

Tripp, I haven't read this and look forward to it.

I'm glad you haven't read it.  I didn't provide a link because it is public domain and I figured that you could pick the edition you wanted. 

[welshcorgi]

For DoubleDog, and I hope they are not too far IN your comfort zone  

Radium Halos


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack


Let me know if I need to choose something else ok?  Otherwise I hope you will enjoy one of these

[imallbs]

Sem, you are very brave.  I hope I don't make you regret it.
I thought The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America was an interesting book.  I look forward to hearing what someone else thinks about it.

[Geemont]

For Sparkplug:

1. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard.


Or
2. In the Woods by Tana French.

[RiddleMeThis]

Ok eldereno I too am giving you two choices
Your first, and the one I recommend the most is Darkfever, the first in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.


The second is Dark Lover by J.R. Ward


Both books are SciFi/Fantasy. The first has a few bits of romance in it and the second one is a bit heavier on the romance.

[Geoffrey]

Tripp, I haven't read this and look forward to it.  

Geoffrey, just FYI.... your list looks great on wide screens but is difficult to decipher for anyone using a 4:3 screen.  (I have one of each.)    Maybe those tables are worth playing around with some more for next month?

Anybody who has a 4:3 screen, and is having trouble reading it:  Click on "reply" as though you were going to post...  then scroll down to the existing posts, and the smaller print there makes the formatting come out just as Geoffrey intended!  

Leslie...  hmmmm...   gotta give this some thought.

Yeah, I thought about sizing and whether it would mess up for others .... I guess I will have to play with tables more ... I set up the table first then tried to insert the data and kept sticking in the wrong spots ... maybe I shouldn't try so hard to be organized. 

[Geoffrey]

luvmyBOB, the novel I chose for you is The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper - a novel set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia



I've read it 2 or 3 times.  I hope you like it.

[geko29]

luvmy4brats, I've selected the following for you:



or

[Leslie]

Good morning everyone,

I went to bed early last night so I didn't see the posting. Susan is picking for me! And KindleGirl, I'm thinking a bit here. Back with a rec in a little while.

L

[akagriff]

oh good,  Dana is choosing my book.  I like her book lists that she has posted throughout kindleboard.

[Leslie]

Okay, KindleGirl, here goes...I went through your book recommendations, top ten list for 2009, etc., to get an idea of things you like to read. I noticed that many times you mentioned enjoying a fun, happy book after reading something serious. So, here is a fun, happy recommendation for you. It is written in epistolary style which gives it a bit of a twist. If you pick this one, I hope you love Travis and Craig as much as I do! This was my number one favorite book of 2009.



I also see from your posts that you are a football fan, so that made me think of this story, which features a high school quarterback as the leading character. It's young adult but well written and a great story. One of my top reads for 2009. I have gotten friendly with the author on Facebook and he is a really nice guy, so I am pleased to be able to recommend his book to you.



Let me know which one you choose. Enjoy!

[akagriff]

Margaret, 

I picked Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. 
I had Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury but it's no longer available on Kindle. 

(hmm,  my picture didn't work but if you click on the x it will take you there.)

[Dana]

akagriff, I did the same thing with reading your book lists    We do like similar books, so I'm not sure my selection will be THAT different from your preferred genre....  This one does not have graphic sex, but there are some sexual encounters in the book.  If you want zero sex, or if this is not far enough away from your preferred genres, then just let me know and I'll come up with something else.    This is by far my favorite book I've read since buying my Kindle.

The Misguided Souls of Magnolia Springs

[Geoffrey]

My Kindle Wishlist is growing again.  Y'all's taste in books is expensively good....

[akagriff]

ok thanks dana    I think I have a sample of this already.  
I'll start this after I finish the Princess Bride.  

[Margaret]

Akagriff, I just noticed that the match-ups were posted (Thanks, Geoffrey.)  I am looking forward to starting the book you have picked for me.  I don't usually gravitate to biographies, but I have enjoyed many that I have read.  Also, I am reading an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream with my eighth grade students, so your choice fits right in.

[Margaret]

Good morning, Basilius!  The book I have picked for you is The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard.  I hope that you enjoy it. I thought you might like the West Point and the Edgar Allen Poe tie-ins.
 

[DoubleDog]

for Thalia the Muse: I'll give you a couple of choices

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by  Atul Gawande





or

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (paperback link)



Please let me know if either of these will be OK.... or I can pick something different.

Glynda

[DoubleDog]

Welshcorgi... I'm having a hard time picking. They BOTH look great!!

[KindleGirl]

Leslie....thanks for the picks. Both look good and I have sent samples to myself to see which grabs me first.

dpinmd.....I am thinking and I will get back to you with my picks for you.