The Quasi-Official November Book Reading Game

[Geoffrey]

OK, I'm late - although it is technically still the first ....

It's time to play the game ... as  reminder of selectors and selectees, here's the list again:

Selector	Selectee	Genres	Dealbreakers
Angela	Annalog	Science Fiction; Mystery; Fantasy, I have an account on Goodreads	No Deal Breakers
Annalog	ciscokid	Horror, Paranormal/Supernaturl Thrillers, Apocalyptic fiction, Some Sci Fi...my taste in books is actually pretty broad....these are just my favorites. Here's the link to my Goodreads page.	Homosexual romances, short story anthology(I like long, involved books), anything political I'd like to set a price limit of under $5.
Berrytastic	Angela	Mystery/Suspense/Thriller; Sci-Fi; Fantasy; Young Adult; Christian Fiction	Gay/Lesbian; Excessive sex and/or violence; Politics; Anti-Christian; Romance novels of any kind
ciscokid	kaotickitten	Christian Romances, YA fantasy Science Fiction, Fantasy	Erotica, M/M Romances
djgross	Geoffrey	Science Fiction; Fantasy; Alternate History; gay themed books.  You can find me on goodreads here.	No Deal Breakers  -  I would love one of your favorite, go-to comfort reads
drenfrow	fadedrainbows	Paranormal Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Chick Lit My Goodreads	No Deal Breakers
fadedrainbows	Leslie	Here's a detailed profile	I'll be honest, I am super, super busy so probably a shorter book is better for me than a long one.
Geoffrey	SinCityReader	Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery & Suspense. Goodreads	Fantasy, Horror (I'm kind of scared of the dark ) Romance & Religion
imallbs	djgross	Mystery, suspense My Goodreads account	No Deal Breakers
Jeff	Berrytastic	crime book reader and have recently discovered historical fiction such as pillars of the earth.	apart from a barbara cartland style romantic novel i am prepared to try most things .
kaotickitten	imallbs	Mystery/Detective; American and Western European History This is supposed to be a link to my Goodreads list but I'm not promising anything.	Horror (no that's the same), Fantasy (no that's the same), Romance (aha, there's the new one)
KingAl	Tuttle	Fantasy, Science Fiction (primarily classic science fiction)	Love triangle as primary plot element, extremely depressing Other notes: I cannot commit to reading a book costing me >$5 on my current lack of income. Feel free to list options that cost more than $5, and I'll buy them if they're interesting enough after the sample, but please list at least one book that costs no more than $5.
Leslie	KingAl	Sci-fi/fantasy, Mystery/thrillers.  Here's my Goodreads  (except this month, I'd prefer a book that is not super long, as I am currently reading a whopper for this month's game.)	Romance
Moppet	Jeff	biographies, non-fiction, fact-based fiction or historical novels. Goodreads.	I'm not crazy about books that don't have any real world connection. No erotica, please.
SinCityReader	drenfrow	Mystery, Fantasy/Sci Fi, Science/History of Science	extreme violence/gore, extreme sadness, horror/scary stuff, You can check out my books on Goodreads: Donna's Books
Tuttle	Moppet	Fantasy and SciFi, with occasional forays into Historical Romance	less than $5, okay?  Other than that I'm game for anything.

[Geoffrey]

SinCityReader,

Welcome to the game and I have 3 very different choices for you so hopefully one will work out well.  The First is an alternate history and is set in an England where the Spanish Armada was successful, Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove




The next one is science fiction, the aliens and different planets kind, but not the Rayguns and teleporter kind, The Fresco by Sherri S. Tepper




And your third choice is the story of a boy making a cross country trip by bus, Greyhound by Steffan Piper.

[Leslie]

I have KingAl, a bit of a challenge....looking at your Goodreads and other books, I have come up with an eclectic choice of three books for you. In order of what I hope you will select:



This was a book I stumbled upon from some review site. It's very good (I think I have recommended it here before and I know Geoffrey has read it). A guy's mid-life crisis story. Not too long and it's a fast read since I couldn't put it down.

Number two choice:



Historical fiction and a mystery....sort of reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. This might be enough in your comfort zone but out a little bit to be enjoyable. I liked the story a lot.

This would be my weakest choice for you:



Looking at your Goodreads list, I saw you had Shanghai Girls on your list. I haven't read that but I have read this. It's very good but definitely a woman's novel. Not sure if you'll like it but I'll throw it out there as a weak third choice. I hope you go with number one or two, or at least sample them, before choosing this. But, at the end of the day, it's a very good book and worth reading.

Let me know what you choose!

L

[SinCityReader]

Hi drenfrow,

I have picked 2 books for you:

Shutter Island,

Me & Emma


I have read both books and I enjoyed them.  If you don't like these let me know and I will try some more.

[SinCityReader]

I pick

SinCityReader,

Welcome to the game and I have 3 very different choices for you so hopefully one will work out well.  The First is an alternate history and is set in an England where the Spanish Armada was successful, Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove




The next one is science fiction, the aliens and different planets kind, but not the Rayguns and teleporter kind, The Fresco by Sherri S. Tepper




And your third choice is the story of a boy making a cross country trip by bus, Greyhound by Steffan Piper.

[Moppet]

Jeff!  Since you like books relating to history, but I am specifically barred from giving you historical fiction OR non-fiction, I choose...

An Oblique Approach (David Drake and Eric Flint.)  It starts with a completely accurate historical setting, and then veers wildly into the realm of fantasy.

BUT!  It's not available commonly anymore.  So, first check your library and see if you can get it.  If not...

Northworld (also by David Drake).  Little bit of science fiction, little bit of fantasy, whole lotta Norse Mythology.



And, if it turns out you hate David Drake, and everything he stands for, then get back to me.  I'm sure I can come up with something else.

[djgross]

Greetings Geoffrey!

You asked for comfort reads.   The books I return to when I'm feeling under the weather or stressed are a motley group.   I would have included Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris in this list, but you've read it 

In no particular order....



Because the bad guys remind me of characters from the movie Fargo 



Miss Marple sends an Oxford graduate undercover to prove her friend (Mrs. McGillicuddy - my copy is so old, it has the original title What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw) witnessed a murder on a train



David's sister wrote a hilarious (and useful) book on entertaining 

   
If none of these appeal, I have three more queued up to suggest.

DJ

[Jeff]

Jeff!  Since you like books relating to history, but I am specifically barred from giving you historical fiction OR non-fiction, I choose...

An Oblique Approach (David Drake and Eric Flint.)  It starts with a completely accurate historical setting, and then veers wildly into the realm of fantasy.

BUT!  It's not available commonly anymore.  So, first check your library and see if you can get it.  If not...

Northworld (also by David Drake).  Little bit of science fiction, little bit of fantasy, whole lotta Norse Mythology.



And, if it turns out you hate David Drake, and everything he stands for, then get back to me.  I'm sure I can come up with something else.

Thanks for the recommendation but I'm not interested in reading a paper book.
Berrytastic,

My favorite books all seem to be old. Here are two of them - both historical fiction:



Exodus is the story of the formation of modern Israel. The Winds of War deals with the time leading up to WW-II.

[Geoffrey]

Thanks for the recommendation but I'm not interested in reading a paper book.

An Oblique Approach is available as an ebook on Baen Books' Webscription.net.   AND, just to make it juicier, it's part of their free library:  http://www.webscription.net/p-300-an-oblique-approach.aspx.

[Geoffrey]

DJ, I actually already have Amy Sedaris' book - I bought it, put it on my TBR list and then never touched it again.  I LOVE her insane characters whenever she's on TV so I think I'm going to take that one and decrease by backlist by a book ....   Thanks for the reminder.

[Jeff]

An Oblique Approach is available as an ebook on Baen Books' Webscription.net.   AND, just to make it juicier, it's part of their free library:  http://www.webscription.net/p-300-an-oblique-approach.aspx.

Thank you, Geoffrey. I read the preview and I don't think I want to read it. Please modify my deal breakers from "I'm not crazy about books that don't have any real world connection." to "No fantasy, please."

[Moppet]

Hmmm... this is more difficult than I had anticipated.  Never fear, I shall persevere.

Try this one:

[Jeff]

Hmmm... this is more difficult than I had anticipated.  Never fear, I shall persevere.

Try this one:

Please tell me what made you "love and adore" this book.

[KingAl]

Tuttle:

I'm not sure if you have read this, but my first selection for you is a dystopian Young Adult book (soon to be a movie). It is lendable, so I can lend it to you if you want.



I love all the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock  Holmes books. This is my favorite one.


My third selection (which is a little bit outside your price range) is a Ken Follett historical fiction book set in 12th century England. (It is the first book in a 2 book series.)



Let me know if none of these work for you.

[Moppet]

Please tell me what made you "love and adore" this book.

I loved the book because I've lived in Nicaragua, and the stories seemed, to me, to be faithful to life there.  

[fadedrainbows]

So Leslie,

I have two fantasy choices for you. When I found out I got you for this month, I worried a little and then the first book came to mind.

I'm not sure how you will feel about it, but it is one of my top (if not top) fantasy series that I've read.



It is a little darker, but it has an interesting take on magic that I truly enjoyed.

And my second choice for you is:



I have also read this series multiple times. It is high fantasy in the likes of R.A. Salvatore, but done slightly differently. I really enjoyed this series as well. So much, that I went and bought a second trilogy of hers, which I also read multiple times.

I hope you enjoy these two picks from me this month. As always, if you do not like one, let me know. I will be happy to choose others.

[Jeff]

I loved the book because I've lived in Nicaragua, and the stories seemed, to me, to be faithful to life there.  

The sample is very poorly formatted and the writing strikes me as amateurish. Having said that, if you really think that the balance of the book will be worth my time and money, I'll read the whole thing.

[Moppet]

If you don't like the sample I wouldn't read any farther.  I found the way the prose is written to be very similar to the speech patterns used in Nicaraguan Spanish, but if it gets on your nerves now it will continue getting on your nerves.

I wanted to have you try Little Women, but you've already read it.  Are you game for Children's Fiction?

[Tuttle]

Tuttle:

I'm not sure if you have read this, but my first selection for you is a dystopian Young Adult book (soon to be a movie). It is lendable, so I can lend it to you if you want.

Have in fact read this - for a previous month in fact.

I love all the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock  Holmes books. This is my favorite one.

I've read enough Sherlock Holmes that I feel bad using this for the reading game. I'll look to see if I've read that one though.

My third selection (which is a little bit outside your price range) is a Ken Follett historical fiction book set in 12th century England. (It is the first book in a 2 book series.)

This is actually one of the books that I've been meaning to read for years (I was given it for Christmas 2008 by my boyfriend's mom as a must read) but haven't gotten around to because I own a paper book and have been finding paper books so much more awkward than kindle books to read. However, as kindle library books now exist and my local library has a copy available, I can download it and finally read it.

[Tuttle]

Moppet,

I'm going to be weird and only post one suggestion, though of course you can ask for more.  This is because I had an immediate response to choosing for someone with such similar tastes and requirements to myself.

[Leslie]

Well, fadedrainbows, it looks like Jeff and I are back to being our old curmudgeonly selves this month.

So Leslie,

I have two fantasy choices for you. When I found out I got you for this month, I worried a little and then the first book came to mind.

I'm not sure how you will feel about it, but it is one of my top (if not top) fantasy series that I've read.



It is a little darker, but it has an interesting take on magic that I truly enjoyed.

I read the description on Amazon, some Amazon reviews, and some Goodreads reviews (some from friends who opinions I trust). When people say that a book makes them sick to their stomach, includes rape, pedophilia, and lots and lots of brutal sex--sorry, just not going to go there. One of my deal breakers is ultra-violent and this sounds like it veers enough into that category that it's not for me.

And my second choice for you is:



I have also read this series multiple times. It is high fantasy in the likes of R.A. Salvatore, but done slightly differently. I really enjoyed this series as well. So much, that I went and bought a second trilogy of hers, which I also read multiple times.

Again, looking at reviews, this one doesn't sound like it has the violence (one reviewer even called it a "cozy fantasy") but when I see words like "trite," "cliched," "predictable," "stilted dialogue," and so on, I just know this story is not going to work for me. I'm not much of a fantasy fan to begin with and if I can find something to criticize, I will, and will stop reading. Plus, at 384 pages, I wouldn't call this a short book (note my request this month). So, sorry, I'm not even interested enough to look at the sample.

I hope you enjoy these two picks from me this month. As always, if you do not like one, let me know. I will be happy to choose others.

Yes, let's try again...please something short and I'm really not in a fantasy mood...

L

[fadedrainbows]

Leslie,

I understand how the first book could seem a lot worse than it is. The themes and ideas are difficult to explain.

I did not notice the request for a short book this month. D'oh!

I have two new choices for you! We read such different subjects that it is difficult for me to think of books, but luckily I read a variety and just had to do a little more searching

The first book is by far one of my favorite war novels. It is a book that blurs the line between memoir and fiction. I had to read it in high school and it has left an impression on me still. It is less than 300 pages.



The second book is about the last princess of Hawaii. It is a biographical piece and covers parts of Princess Ka'Iulani's life as well as history of the United States from when we annexed Hawaii. I found it to be interesting and well-written. And it is less than 200 pages, so it is a fairly quick read.



I hope one of these books strikes your fancy. Again, if neither of these are right, let me know and I can try again

[drenfrow]

Hi drenfrow,

I have picked 2 books for you:

Shutter Island,

Me & Emma


I have read both books and I enjoyed them.  If you don't like these let me know and I will try some more.

Ugh, I hate to be in the curmudgeon camp.   I looked at both of these and while I enjoy this game for getting me out of my comfort zone, I just really don't want to read either of these.  Can I get another recommendation, pretty please?

[KingAl]

This is actually one of the books that I've been meaning to read for years (I was given it for Christmas 2008 by my boyfriend's mom as a must read) but haven't gotten around to because I own a paper book and have been finding paper books so much more awkward than kindle books to read. However, as kindle library books now exist and my local library has a copy available, I can download it and finally read it.

If your library has a long waiting list, let me know and I'll come up with some more selections. Thanks.

[KingAl]

I have KingAl, a bit of a challenge....looking at your Goodreads and other books, I have come up with an eclectic choice of three books for you. In order of what I hope you will select:



This was a book I stumbled upon from some review site. It's very good (I think I have recommended it here before and I know Geoffrey has read it). A guy's mid-life crisis story. Not too long and it's a fast read since I couldn't put it down.

Number two choice:



Historical fiction and a mystery....sort of reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. This might be enough in your comfort zone but out a little bit to be enjoyable. I liked the story a lot.

This would be my weakest choice for you:



Looking at your Goodreads list, I saw you had Shanghai Girls on your list. I haven't read that but I have read this. It's very good but definitely a woman's novel. Not sure if you'll like it but I'll throw it out there as a weak third choice. I hope you go with number one or two, or at least sample them, before choosing this. But, at the end of the day, it's a very good book and worth reading.

Let me know what you choose!

L

I downloaded the samples for the first two books and will probably decide tonight. They both sound really interesting.