Tori’s Comments (group member since Nov 25, 2016)

Tori’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

Looks like we have another tie in the polls this month! Our 5 top nominations for Octobers Modern Classics read are:
The Giver of Stars (388)
The Alienist (498)
Mexican Gothic (301)
The House of the Spirits (448)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (204)

Thank you to everyone who nominated and seconded these books!

Thank you everyone for your nominations and seconds! The 5 books going to the polls for October's Classics read will be:
Something Wicked This Way Comes (293)
Persuasion (249)
The Turn of the Screw (121)
Madame Bovary (329)
Inferno (347)

Tracking through message: 48
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
The Call of the Wild (172p) - 2
The Were-Wolf (156p) - 3
⭐Something Wicked This Way Comes (293p) - 12
Valley of the Dolls (442p) -1
⭐Persuasion (249p) - 9
⭐The Turn of the Screw (121p) - 12
⭐Madame Bovary (329p) - 5
⭐Inferno (347p) - 5
The Arabian Nights - 2
The Godfather (448p) - 1
The Crucible (143p) - 1

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for October 2021 in the CLASSICS category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1969 or before. For newer books, please make your suggestion on the Modern Classic/Popular Reads thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight August 16

Tracking through message: 44
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
The Nightingale (448) - 2
⭐Frankenstein (273) - 9
⭐A Gentleman in Moscow (462) - 9
⭐Wuthering Heights (464p) - 6
⭐A Man Called Ove (337) - 6
Life of Pi (460) - 2
⭐Slaughterhouse-Five (275) - 7
The Fellowship of the Ring (527)
The Haunting of Hill House (182) - 1
Neverwhere (370) - 5

These books have been re-read within the last 12 months and are ineligible to be nominated:

Lolita
Anne of Green Gables
The Kite Runner
Pride and Prejudice
Catch-22
The Bell Jar
1984
The Night Circus
Rebecca
A Christmas Carol
All the Light We Cannot See

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for October 2021 in the BOOKSHELF CATCH-UP category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

For this category, you can nominate any book that the group has previously read. For a list of books that the group has previously read and discussed, please see the Bookshelf HERE.

Books featured as a group reread within the last twelve months are not eligible. See Message 2 below.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end Midnight August 16.

Tracking through message: 40
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
Writers & Lovers (320) - 1
⭐Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (204) - 5
⭐The House of the Spirits (448) - 3
The Vanishing Half (343) - 2
⭐Mexican Gothic (301) - 5
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (404)
Shuggie Bain (430) - 2
A Visit from the Goon Squad (288) - 1
My Dark Vanessa (373) - 1
⭐The Alienist (498) - 5
⭐The Giver of Stars (388) - 3
House of Leaves (709) - 1
The Testaments (422) - 2

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for October 2021 in the MODERN CLASSIC/POPULAR category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1970 or after. For older books, please make your suggestion on the Classics thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight August 16.

July-September's theme is Around the world! Read 5 books set in a different country than the one you live in! You can choose to use the same country multiple times or really challenge yourself and read books set in 5 different countries!

Thank you Nell for suggesting this theme!

Tracking through message: 53
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
⭐The Woman in White (672p) - 10
David Copperfield (882p) - 3
Middlemarch (688p) - 6
The Scarlet Pimpernel (182p) - 5
⭐A Room with a View (119p) - 7
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (359p) - 6
⭐A Room of One's Own (112p) - 8
The Crucible (135p) - 2
The Three Musketeers (625p) - 2
The Swiss Family Robinson (345p) - 2
⭐To the Lighthouse (226p) - 11
Atlas Shrugged (1078p) - 1
The Day of the Triffids (228p)
The Hound of the Baskervilles(256p) - 1

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for August 2021 in the CLASSICS category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1969 or before. For newer books, please make your suggestion on the Modern Classic/Popular Reads thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight June 16.

Tracking through message: 52
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (269p) -2
The Road (241p) - 5
⭐Midnight's Children (647p) - 7
Atonement (351p) - 3
The Time Traveler's Wife (518p) - 6
The Giver of Stars (388p) - 5
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (230p) - 6
⭐Parable of the Sower (345p) - 7
The Four Winds (448p) - 2
The Year of Magical Thinking (240p)
⭐The Vanishing Half (343p) - 12
⭐The Song of Achilles (387p) - 14
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 (472p) - 2

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for August 2021 in the MODERN CLASSIC/POPULAR category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1970 or after. For older books, please make your suggestion on the Classics thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight June 16.

Tracking through message: 45
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
Ready Player One (374p) - 2
⭐Wuthering Heights (464p) - 5
⭐Anne of Green Gables (320p) - 9
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (491p) - 4
Anna Karenina (964p) - 3
⭐Pachinko (512p) - 12
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (381p) - 3
⭐1Q84 (925p) - 6

These books have been re-read within the last 12 months and are ineligible to be nominated:

The Kite Runner
Pride and Prejudice
Catch-22
The Bell Jar
1984
The Night Circus
Rebecca
A Christmas Carol
All the Light We Cannot See
The Haunting of Hill House
Dune

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for August 2021 in the BOOKSHELF CATCH-UP category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

For this category, you can nominate any book that the group has previously read. For a list of books that the group has previously read and discussed, please see the Bookshelf HERE.

Books featured as a group reread within the last twelve months are not eligible. See Message 2 below.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end Midnight June 16.

I just finished and I did like it. (or at least the second half) I felt the beginning was a little slow. Although I liked the initial concept, like many of you I would have preferred a deeper version of this story. But overall I enjoyed it, and it was thought provoking.

Like Amanda, I also felt strong The Alchemist vibes from this book, although the writing styles are totally different. That ever present message being right in your face was so similar!

I really liked that part in the book when Nora was a famous Rockstar and was in the interview. She says something to the affect of, living different lives is just different. It is not better or worse, there are hardships and happiness in every life. That is just another part of life. I agree with Susan that this was one of the best topics brought up in this book.

I've seen the musical live and watched the movie adaptation of it, but I am still excited to read the book for the first time! I know out of the handful of musicals I've seen live The Phantom of the Opera has been my favorite!