Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club discussion
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Tamara
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Apr 27, 2013 03:38PM
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Hi- I'm Amy in Rochester NY. I wasn't thinking of joining a book club tonight. I was just looking for a new book and I like reading prize winners. Your post got me though. Love Atwood and Peter. I already read A Visit from the Goon Squad though. It's very good. Finishing my masters now. I'll participate more after May 18.
Mod
Hi Amy! So glad you could join us. :) Feel free to nominate something else you'd like to read from the Pulitzers. Or you can wait til your semester is over. I totally get that. I'm at the end of my semester too and it's rough goings! Good luck with your last few weeks.
Hello! My name is Chantal, I'm 30, married and live in an apartment in Medford, MA with my husband and our combined book collections. I have never really belonged to a book club before, but I'm looking forward to it!
Mod
Hi Elspeth! We will be choosing the first book by everyone nominated a book they'd like to read from the Pulitzer Prize bookshelf. https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
You can comment with you nominations on this post. The nominations will close on May 4th at 11:59pm (EST). You can nominate ONE title per round.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
After everyone has nominated, I will make a post with all the nominations and each member can vote for TWO books that are not their nomination. That will last for about a week and then the choice with the most votes will be the book we read. This will happen for each book choice.
You can read all about the nominations and voting process in the group info. :)
Thanks for joining, welcome, and happy reading!
Hi my name is Ashley and I'm 27 and live in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with my boyfriend and 2 cats. I belong to one other "book club" on Goodreads but I haven't been too thrilled with the book selection. I came across this group and thought it would be right up my alley! I have an e-reader and a decent shared collection of books. My favourite author is probably Margaret Atwood.
Mod
Hi Chantal! We are happy to have you. Hopefully you will enjoy this as your first every book club. :)
Mod
Hi Ashley! I too find the book selection not so great in a lot of other goodreads book clubs, and figured prize winners was a great way to go, because at least there's some guidelines as opposed to ALL THE BOOKS. Plus, I feel smarter when I read prize winning books.
Atwood is my favorite author too! She has a few books that have been shortlisted for Man Booker that I'm looking forward to reading in the Side Reads section!
Atwood is my favorite author too! She has a few books that have been shortlisted for Man Booker that I'm looking forward to reading in the Side Reads section! I think I have read most of her books minus her poetry (not a fan of poetry) but most were read so many years ago it would be nice to read them again.
This is a great idea for a group! My name is Sheila and I live on Cape Cod, MA. My favorite author would probably still have to be Steinbeck mostly because of his writing style. If I'm going to be stuck in an elevator though, I'd rather be in there with someone really entertaining like Janet Evanovich.
Hi, I'm Laurie from Alexandria, VA. I actually suggested the prize winner approach to my current (offline) book club, but it didn't take! Love those gals, but am psyched to find this group to join as well. I read Visit from The Goon Squad last year and agree with a lot of what's been posted here. I look forward to the next selection.
Mod
My name is Mark and I live in St. Pete, FL. I'm a huge fan of Visit from the Goon Squad and look forward to seeing what's posted here about it.
Hi, my name is Julie and I live in Chicago, IL. Okay really I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, so if a city dweller heard me say I am from Chicago, well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty... I was thinking of starting a multi-year project and read all the pulitzer prize winners, but then I saw this group and thought this was more my style. reading and having no one to discuss it with = boring. I haven't read for awhile, except grad school texts, so I am really looking forward to digging in. Looks like I have a new train read for the week already!
Mod
Mark, I'm glad you've found our Goon Squad discussions!
Julie, I agree, no one to discuss books with = boring! Hopefully you will find plenty to talk about here.
Tamara wrote: "Welcome, Mark and Julie! Glad to see our membership growing. :)Mark, I'm glad you've found our Goon Squad discussions!
Thanks, Tamara!
Hi my name is Natalie and I live in Napier, New Zealand with my husband, three children and 3 legged cat. I love reading and love to discuss books as soon as I've read them as I tend to forget they even exist within a few days of finishing them. I tend to get lost in books to the point that one time I was reading on a hillside and didn't notice my 4 month old had rolled to the bottom of the hill while I was reading! (He was fine - don't panic). My favourite book of all time is Captain Corellis Mandolin (& worst movie ever!).
Mod
Hello and welcome, Natalie! I also don't remember books too long after I've read them, even my favorites, and then I have to try and explain why I love it so much. The mental image I have created of you and your son reading and rolling down a hill is hysterical! Thanks for introducing yourself. I look forward to seeing you around the discussions.
Hello! My name is Laura I'm 26 and I just moved to Ithaca, NY to study at Cornell. I left my real-life book club in Iowa, so I'm looking forward to having an online community to chat with about what I'm reading! I would love to read all the Booker prize winners, so I was very happy to find this group! My favorite authors are W. Somerset Maugham, Saul Bellow and Margaret Atwood.
Hi my name is Trudie and I just decided to see if GoodReads had any bookclubs devoted to prize winners and so I found you !. I live in Auckland NZ and belong to one real life book club as well, however I do love book discussions - it is just unfortunate I find it hard to keep up with all the reading I would like to do. Some of my favourite authors are David Mitchell, Atwood, and currently reading and loving Isabel Allende.Looking forward to joining the discussions
Mod
Trudie, I also find it hard to keep up with the amount of reading I would *like* to do, but we do the best we can, right? It's also very cool that we have our second Kiwi (who has introduced herself).
Please feel free to be as active as you want in the group and read only what you want, but do keep in mind the participation points for the voting system!
Again, I am so glad to have you both. :)
Thanks for the welcome! I am in Chile at the moment and finding it really fun to read a classic Latin American novel in the country it is set in. As to the final book in the MaddAdam trilogy would very much be up for a read along.
Mod
Hi Laura Jean! Welcome to the group! It sounds like you are quite a reader, which is awesome! Anything you're reading that was on the Man Booker Short List you can start a thread for in the side reads and others can read along with you! I'd be curious as to what you're reading from that list by way of the side reads section. I'm not familiar with the End of Your Life Book Club. I wonder if there's a goodreads group for that?!
Looking forward to having you in discussions!
Hello all! I live in Chicago, the actual city not the burbs. ;) My literary crushes are Peeta from The Hunger Games and Mike from The Man of My Dreams. I'm not sure which book I would take to a desert island. As for being stuck in an elevator I'm not sure I'd want anyone there. They would mess with all that great reading time.
Mod
Thank you for the warm welcome Tamara! I'll be interested in what you think of Man of My Dreams. I really liked it, but a lot of people can't stand the main character. It reminds me of Olive Kitteridge that way. I look forward to reading with you. :)
I'm Mary, and I live in Toronto. I signed on for this book club because of the word "literary" -- I am a bit of a literary snob when it comes to reading. I often use the awards you have listed here as a way of finding interesting new writers, and it'll be great to have someone to talk to about what I've read. You've already done me a great favour, as I hadn't heard of Olive Kitteridge and I'm loving it so far. So thank you. I'm also an author, but I haven't won any major awards (yet) so I won't have to worry about conflicts of interest. ;)
Laura, my son did his PhD at Cornell and I love Ithaca. On our way to a festival in PA this past September we stopped in so I could revisit the Johnson Museum and the Uris Library, as well as taking a stroll to view the gorgeous gorges. I'll bet it's beautiful now with the fall colours. Enjoy!
Mod
I'm so glad you're enjoying Olive Kitteridge so far! It's been on my shelf for ages so I'm glad it got voted for the current selection. I'm excited to hear your thoughts. :)
I believe you are the first person to introduce themselves as an author to our group. SO COOL! I used to think I would love to be an author but it turns out I much prefer reading than writing.
I'm so glad you've decided to join us and I'm looking forward to reading some literature with you.
Hi there, I've just joined the group and am finding out what it's all about. My name is Liz, I'm 36 and live in Rotorua, New Zealand with my husband and two dogs. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts about the books we read :)
Mod
Tamara wrote: "Hi Mary! So glad to have you. I also consider myself a bit of a literary snob which is part of the reason I created this book club. Granted, I love a good light read every now and then, but literat..."Thanks for the welcome, Tamara! I've read all but the last two stories in Olive Kitteridge, and I look forward to discussing it.
Hi, I'm Candy, I'm old and live in a glass tower in Skokie, IL.. I wanted to reach out to Elizabeth from New Zealand - I just finished (although I'm not "done" with) The Luminaries - Booker prize winner - which is set in New Zealand. Perhaps you could invite the book group to a meeting at your house!!! The book is daunting, to say the least. Does anyone have anything to say about the short-listed fiction titles for this year's National Book Award? I just read that James McBride won the prize. Didn't I read something he wrote many years ago - semi-autobiographical?
Candace wrote: "Hi, I'm Candy, I'm old and live in a glass tower in Skokie, IL.. I wanted to reach out to Elizabeth from New Zealand - I just finished (although I'm not "done" with) The Luminaries - Booker prize w..."Candace & Elizabeth -- The Luminaries also just won one of the top prizes in Canada, the Governor General's Award, for which the author was eligible because she was born in Canada -- although she only lived here for a few years.
Hi Candy and Mary, yes I'm looking forward to reading The Luminaries. We had a big debate at my real life book club about reading it, but everyone decided it was too long. Then we decided to read The Gold Finch... also 800 or so pages so go figure. Would love to invite you all to a bookclub meeting at my house lol Most expensive bookclub ever lol
Hi I'm Rick. I am married (to a voracious reader) and live in northern New York State. I teach psychology and I am on a quest to read good literature!
Hello all! My name is Josh and I live in The Deep and Dirty South, specifically in Northeast Arkansas. I'm 31 and enjoy reading anything that I can get my hands on. My (current) favorite book is The Forgetting Room. As for the author I'd like to be stuck in an elevator with, it would have to be Mark Twain, just to hear his famous wit. I love the idea of rotating the award winners and am ready to begin.
Hi all, I'm Jennifer -- a native of Alabama who currently lives in Decatur, Georgia. I hold two very different master's degrees in anthropology and computer science, and my reading tends to reflect my split personality. :) My reading meanders greatly and I wanted to join this group to bring a bit of structure/discipline to it. I've read quite a few Man Booker and other prize winners, so I'd love to set some goals to read more. I finished Olive Kitteridge a few weeks ago (loved it!) and will be starting Gilead shortly (anyone else intrigued by Gilead also being the name of the Republic in The Handmaid's Tale?).
I'm an avid e-reader user and I also listen to many audiobooks, but I completely understand why so many folks have a deep love of paper books. I know e-books aren't for everyone. :) I usually have one regular read going and one audiobook. My fictional reads/listens range from literary to mystery to spy to young adult to dystopian. It's very much all over the map, which is why I want to make sure to throw in some award-winners. Nonfiction reads/listens range from science to history to adventure/survival (mountaineering being a favorite topic) to biography.
I like books that I often return to in my mind -- almost remembering them like physical places I've visited. Some current reads that do that to me are Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, as well as Doc by Mary Doria Russell.
Not sure if I can name a favorite author, since my mind just doesn't work that way. Michael Chabon is a favorite, and I'm also a new admirer of Margaret Atwood, who I read for the first time this year. After reading Olive Kitteridge, I will definitely be picking up more Elizabeth Strout. Old favorites from a while back include Alice Walker and Toni Morrison and Carson McCullers. James Ellroy should could also be thrown in there somewhere.
I think I'd like to be stuck in an elevator with someone like Truman Capote or Tennessee Williams. No doubt great conversationalists, and they probably would each have a full flask of something to help us pass the time. :)
P.S. Sorry this is so long! :)
Mod
Jennifer - I am a huge Margaret Atwood fan so am glad you are getting into her work! And what an interesting parallel between the title Gilead and the Gilead Republic in The Handmaid's Tale! Great observation. I think it's great that you are so eclectic in your reading.
Josh - Mark Twain is a good one! I'm sure he would be quite the conversationalist, if I could ever stop taking notes!
Rick - The best quest of all!!
My name is Lisa Russo and absolutely love books. I say I'm a born-again book lover because like all milk of consciousness, I only read outstanding books like the firm, and bridges of Madison county. I loved Sidney Sheldon and fat 80 reads, still do. But as my illness progressed and television always left me empty and drained, I needed something to fill in the void and began to remember my mothers passion for Danielle Steel. I loved her books after I came to my out of city for the first time and really knew no other fufulling thing to do. So,competitive as I am, I ticked off Danielle steels list who I hated in high school. Then one day, I fell in love with reading and the whole idea of it. My mind opened up to just beyond New York Times listings, which I generally eschew, and found my nitch after Curtis sittenfeld "American Wife". I loved it and even nested the whole time including literary finds before I knew I loved them. Then came the popularity of Jodi Picoult. Had to own every book she wrote. I must've read "Harvesting the Heart" a zillion times along with "Salem Falls". I reread her books twice as a rule, giving it a year to forget details and then I entered a club in Connecticut through a literary store called R.J.Julia's , "Just the right book". It was a joke because they couldn't match book to you, even though they knew the genre I enjoyed, literary, and would send India books. So I gave them a list and told them to surprise me. Once a month, I received a hard back, then a soft back for a flat fee of$30.00. It was kinda of a rip off because they say they would pick the book and if you returned it once, they became fed up and it came down to me submitting my desire for a book, per program. I enjoyed it nonetheless, fun mail as I like to call it.
As far as a born-again book lover, I do believe God did give me a desire for books like Emma and even books I eschewed before and saw totally different. Illness causes you to have time on your hand as you heal.
I desire greatly this book club because these are the types of book I read and desire a push if you will to get going and just do it as Nike says. I picked up Gilead and have the round house registered as my 150+ books to read for 2014. I love the story and look like a fast read. I didn't get any mail in reference to this book club because my settings were
Not opened , sorry for the lack of non-response. I genuinely feel I have a lot to contribute to this club and look forward to an intellectual discussion on my ultimate favorite type of books, prize-winning books.
Starting Gilead in 1/2 an hour. Lisa Russo
As far as a born-again book lover, I do believe God did give me a desire for books like Emma and even books I eschewed before and saw totally different. Illness causes you to have time on your hand as you heal.
I desire greatly this book club because these are the types of book I read and desire a push if you will to get going and just do it as Nike says. I picked up Gilead and have the round house registered as my 150+ books to read for 2014. I love the story and look like a fast read. I didn't get any mail in reference to this book club because my settings were
Not opened , sorry for the lack of non-response. I genuinely feel I have a lot to contribute to this club and look forward to an intellectual discussion on my ultimate favorite type of books, prize-winning books.
Starting Gilead in 1/2 an hour. Lisa Russo
Hi,My name is Kamil. I'm a law and political science graduate working in finances. Since my everyday life is a lot numbers oriented I miss humanities. Books are my escape from a corporate life. (It's not as sad as it sounds:).
I live in Warsaw, Poland. Even though Polish is my mother tongue (I guess you've already noticed that it's not English:) majority of the books I read are in English. I buy them from UK and thanks to that I can read then long before the Polish translation is out, not mentioning I have big reservations regarding reading translated works.
I was looking for some Booker Prize group since I love good literature. (I don't want to sound like a snob, but is there any better way to select a good book from this see of reads that are being printed nowadays, than to chose one that was listed by any of relevant books award committees?) That is how I came across this group. I like the selection a lot.
Tomorrow I'll try to buy myself a copy of Gilead to be up to date with the current discussion.
Kamil
Mod
YES! There are so many books out now it seems like a good choice to read the ones that have been chosen but committees (if not winners then long and short lists). Or at least a good place to start, like if you decide you really like a particular author. I also, for some reason, trust the recommendations of people who read a lot of award winners and literary books more than people who don't read that style.
I'm glad you like our selection of books! It will be fun trying to get through them.
I'm not sure about English books translated into Polish, but some of my absolute favorite books were written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami in English translation. I think while translated works are obviously not perfect, they do offer good insight into other cultures that we wouldn't get in our mother tongue. I am in awe of you being so fluent in another language that you can read great works of literature!
Tamara wrote: I'm not sure about English books translated into Polish, but some of my absolute favorite books were written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami in English translation. I think while translated works are obviously not perfect, they do offer good insight into other cultures that we wouldn't get in our mother tongue. I absolutely agree, by reservation I meant that when I'm able to read the language the book was written in, I'd rather do exactly that than go and risk something was lost in translation.
BTW: I like Murakami too, and I do not read Japanese either.
Mod
That makes total sense. I keep hoping that Murakami will win the Nobel Prize for literature or something! He's one of my favorite authors of all time.
Hi there,My name is Hildegard Königk, and I live in Pretoria,
South Africa. My mother tongue is Afrikaans, but I mainly read in English.
I have been looking for a good book club to join for some time, and eventually thought to search for a Man Booker book club.
I think I'll nominate the South African Man Booker winning author J.M Coetzee in the nominations discussion. He has won two Man Booker prizes, the first person to have done so. Since then, Hillary Mantel & Peter Carey have also won two each.
Mod
I really enjoy Coetzee's work. I've read a few of his and am looking forward to reading more. I haven't read any Peter Carey but did read Mantel's Wolf Hall earlier this year and am planning on reading the sequel.
So glad you could join us! It seems many of our international readers come to find us by way of searching for Man Booker winners. I will say that is my favorite prize as I think their standards for judging are the ones I can most relate to and agree with.
Tamara wrote: "Kamil wrote: "I absolutely agree, by reservation I meant that when I'm able to read the language the book was written in, I'd rather do exactly that than go and risk something was lost in translati..."I am just now reading The Elephant Vanishes. I am a huge Murakami fan too! The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is still my favourite, but I loved IQ84. Reviewed both of them on my occasional blog http://marywwaltersbookreviews.wordpr...
Mary wrote: I am just now reading The Elephant Vanishes. I am a huge Murakami fan too! The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is still my favourite, but I loved IQ84. Reviewed both of them on my occasional blog http://marywwaltersbookreviews.wordpr..."
I started with Norwegian Wood and probably because the first love is the one the evokes the warmest feelings, it's still my favorite of Murakami's books.
Kamil wrote: "Mary wrote: I am just now reading The Elephant Vanishes. I am a huge Murakami fan too! The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is still my favourite, but I loved IQ84. Reviewed both of them on my occasional blo..."NW is a good one, no doubt. I read it after The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, so your theory is probably correct. :) Turns out one of the stories in the Elephant Vanishes is the first chapter of The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. It brought back memories.
This is most likely my first comment in any goodreads forum thread. I joined the group because I aim to read more prize winners. A number of books I've read have won various awards (mostly Hugo, I bet), but I want to be a little more intentional about reading "big award" winners on the assumption that they will be guaranteed to be at least good. Sydney
Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club
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Richard Flanagan (other topics)Haruki Murakami (other topics)
