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October Non-Fiction Group Read Nomination Thread (closed)
That is true. I too loved some of the nominations. Now I am Waiting!!!!!!!!!
Here is our overview again:Travels by Michael Crichton
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir by Clint Hill
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
My Grandmother: A Memoir by Fethiye Çetin
The books with the most mentions will move into poll by next week.
Too bad about the Rita Levi Montalcini book. Since October is the month that Nobel Prizes are generally announced, it would have been nice to read about one of the very few women who have won a science Nobel.
Ok, so when will you choose the winner?
Paige wrote: "Ok, so when will you choose the winner?"Since we already have quite an impressive list of nominations we will be setting up the poll tomorrow and will send out a little reminder for it. Very curious about our first non-fiction winner ;)
Lara wrote: "OK sure I'll go for The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey"Thanks Lara, let's keep an eye out for a possible re-print of "The Praise of Imperfections", hopefully we'll see it again in another nomination-round.
And while I am at it: I would like to second Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie, I've heard really good things about it.
I'd like to nominate the The Freedom Writers Diary. I just saw the movie Freedom Writers recently and it was a pretty good film which was based on a true story and they made a book of it too. I'd love to read that one.
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I decided as part of my 2013 challenges to read a biography a month. I just fell in love with reading biographies and I ended up reading more than one a month. They are so fascinating!
Alannah wrote: "This thread has made me start to think about my 2014 challenges and I think I would like to add a couple of biographies, everyone's suggestions are giving me wonderful ideas.":) I started making some notes for my 2014 challenges too.
Leslie wrote: "Alannah wrote: "This thread has made me start to think about my 2014 challenges and I think I would like to add a couple of biographies, everyone's suggestions are giving me wonderful ideas.":) ..."
I don't want to think about 2014 yet!!
OK, since we already have so many brilliant nominations this thread is closed to new nominations as of now!However: feel free to second a book that you think should move into poll, a maximum of 10 books will in total, the first comes first rule applies.
The poll will come up shortly and we'll send out a little reminder once it is up.
So in advance: vote away!
Here is our list of nominations again:
Travels by Michael Crichton
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir by Clint Hill
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
My Grandmother: A Memoir by Fethiye Çetin
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey by Ernesto Guevara
The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell
Elsewhere by Richard Russo
I would have LOVED to read "Rosalind Franklin - the Dark Lady of DNA" but find it is not available in either Large Print or Kindle. I don't yet know about the others.Can I make a plea to the moderators? PLEASE before making the final list can you check that they're available in accessible formats? Even an abridged audio book would do at a pinch.
If you agree, maybe we could all check before nominating a book? :)
Hi Jean, I hadn't thought of that yet, but I think you are not the only member of the group that might have that problem so it is a very valid question. We have checked availability so far, so if a book is out of print and really expensive second hand we removed it. The problem with ruling out books because they are not available in large print or audio is a bit tricky in so far as this group has so many members with different reading preferences from so many different countries. The challenge for me for example will be the availibility of group reads in my library, since I am living in Germany, so unless I buy every book we read - which I couldn't afford - I am dependening on it being available in my library which is obviously harder if books haven't been translated, or very very cheap second hand availabity. But to check every book to match these standards would be quite a job.
This is not to discard your question at all, just to say that I don't have a quick anwer to that at the moment. I will check with Rowena.
Another thing that just came to my mind: Rowena and I where thinking about chosing either the first two books to win the poll both as group reads to add some choice, or to open readalongs for other books that had lot's of votes but didn't win. So if it so happened that the winner of the poll was not available in large print - if you checked availability for the books you'd be interested in, there is always the option of gathering some people together to read another book of your choice as a readalong.
I hope that wasn't too much of a ramble ;) Let me know what you think.
Jenny - thanks for responding so quickly and thoroughly! Yes, I hadn't thought of the accessibility of books written in English, in countries where English is not the first language. That is an additional consideration. I do know that other readers will have problems with the text though, to varying degrees, so felt it was a valid request as you say.So thanks for taking it on board. This group seems to be exploring lots of new ideas and options. :) I think your suggestions are great (the readalong thing) so will look forward now to seeing what all the moderators decide.
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Can I make a plea to the mode..."
I do know Girl, Interrupted is available on audible.
Jenny, I like the idea of having the flexibility of two choices, or readalongs, especially if the vote is very close. I was thinking of suggesting the same for the fiction read, if it is a close run thing.
I'd like to second Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal - I read this last year and have been raving about it ever since so would love to see everyone else's opinion!
Yes, I think the idea of a choice of two books is potentially a very good idea. It would be good to try it out
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Can I make a plea to the mode..."
Thanks for your comment, Jean. This has definitely been a learning curve for Jenny and I and we so appreciate your input:)We will definitely take on your suggestion and hopefully future books that are nominated will be available in all formats.
Rowena - thanks for that. I personally am really enjoying the new group and think lots of people must think that way if you look at the rate of membership growth! You're evidently all working really hard to make it a fun place to be, and we do appreciate it. :)
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That would be a great idea and if people really want to they can read both.
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Thank you so much, Jean :)
I am enjoying being a part of this online bookclub too. ^_^ This is the first one I've been apart of online.
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We're very happy to have you here, Amber :)
Thank you guys for all your input, I hope by offering more choice by means of either two non-fiction group reads or readalongs we will make sure everybody has a chance of joining in.The poll is up as of now, featuring the 10 most mentioned books in this nomination thread. So go and vote! ;)
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That is great to hear.
I voted for Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad. I saw the movie a few years ago and would like to read the book. My mom read Girl, Interrupted and was not a fan. I plan to read Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman at some point but I can't get to an 652 page book right now.
None of the picks are on my TBR list. I think I am going to wait and see which book wins and if I think it's really interesting I'll join. Otherwise the TBR list is just going to get longer and longer. The books all look very interesting just nothing that really grabs me at this point in time
I've voted, excited to see which book/books win :)
Glad to hear it Jean. I've read the Rosalind Franklin book and it is an excellent read. She was a marvellous scientist and massively overlooked
Yes I hope the Rosalind Franklin book comes on Kindle eventually. I remember "The Double Helix", so it would be nice to read the "other side" of the story! I voted for "Girl Interrupted" but some others may be in accessible formats too.
Jean wrote: "Yes I hope the Rosalind Franklin book comes on Kindle eventually. I remember "The Double Helix", so it would be nice to read the "other side" of the story! I voted for "Girl Interrupted" but some o..."
Oh sorry. I thought you meant you had found the Rosalind Franklin book. Now I've just made it worse that you can't read it yet!
Girl Interrupted does look good, I might be tempted by it if it wins
Oh sorry. I thought you meant you had found the Rosalind Franklin book. Now I've just made it worse that you can't read it yet!
Girl Interrupted does look good, I might be tempted by it if it wins
Out of curiosity I've checked amazon (.com) and I found the rosalind Franklin book for Kindle...
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It's tied with Girl, Interrupted now. Interesting to see what wins.
Elisa - I think you'll find that's "My sister Rosalind Franklin" by Jenifer Glyn, and not the one in this shortlist "Rosalind Franklin - the Dark Lady of DNA" by Brenda Maddox.Heather - lol There are thousands of books I want to read - no rush.
Hi AllI have voted. I nominated "Catherine The Great" but, I can understand if some don't have time to read a 574 page book.
Hi Jean. The book I voted for is The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey, which I fancy reading and is also on kindle. But it can't be the one you chose that's on kindle, cos so far it's only got one vote! Just checked again and it now has three votes so maybe you did choose it!
(As an aside, have you been able to find the book of short stories edited by Victoria Hislop on Goodreads? I can't find it)
Gill - nope I went for "Girl Interrupted" as I've recently read Plath's "The Bell Jar" and wondered how a similar but contemporary novel would read. But the one you chose looks good too. Let's face it, they all look good!I haven't found that Hislop book either (despite carefully entering every capital letter and colon the same way! The title is unnecessarily complicated I think) so guess it must be spanking new. One of us will probably have to enter it. Actually I do add a lot of new books, or new editions, as so many of mine are Large Print versions.
Paige wrote: "Hi AllI have voted. I nominated "Catherine The Great" but, I can understand if some don't have time to read a 574 page book."
That is the book I want to read the most actually. I just don't think I can get to it in October.
Jean wrote: "Gill - nope I went for "Girl Interrupted" as I've recently read Plath's "The Bell Jar" and wondered how a similar but contemporary novel would read. But the one you chose looks good too. Let's face..."Jean, I've had a go at setting up the Hislop book. It's the first one I've done, so feel free to alter it/add to it as necessary.
I've just moved this folder to our brand new Non-Fiction Section :)
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All About Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey (other topics)Girl, Interrupted (other topics)
Desert Flower (other topics)
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman (other topics)
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Waris Dirie (other topics)Richard Russo (other topics)
Michael Crichton (other topics)
Cheryl Strayed (other topics)
Robert Graves (other topics)
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That looks really interesting. In fact everyone's nominations look interesting. I can't wait to see what we get to read.