June 2014 Group Read Nominations

[Kara]

The theme for June is end of term. This can be interpreted a ton of different ways, and we're looking to see what you all have in mind!

Please nominate only one book and ensure you either link the book or give the name of the author as well to avoid confusion. You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your own. Nominations cannot have been chosen for a past group read (past buddy reads are fine).

This thread will be closed on April 25th, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose the ten most nominated. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

[Tricia]

I nominate The Class by Erich Segal. It's story about Harvard graduates.

[❦Dawn❦]

I would like to nominate Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman. A true story about a girl in Federal Prison. Everyone at my work is talking about this book so I figured a prison TERM was a fitting interpretation.

The Amazon book description reads: With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there

[Megan]

I'll second Orange is the New Black!

[Alison]

I agree with megan. I've been wanting to read Orange is the new Black

[Karina]

I nominate Skippy Dies. Because, uh-

"Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop?
Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, an overweight genius who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory?
Could it involve Carl, the teenage drug dealer and borderline psychotic who is Skippy's rival in love?
Or could "the Automator"--the ruthless, smooth-talking headmaster intent on modernizing the school--have something to hide?"

[Janet]

Using a different type of term - term of political office - I nominate All the King's Men. It is a political story of power and corruption in the Depression era south.

[Ian]

I nominate The Boy Who Dared.......with term again relating to a prison sentence, and end of term because the main character is sentenced to death.

[Jenn]

I second All the King's Men.

[G.R.]

I second "The Class" by Erich Segal

[Jannene]

I would like to nominate The Island by Heather Graham. I picked this because people go on vacations after June term.

On a weekend vacation Beth Anderson is unnerved when a stroll on the beach reveals what appears to be a skull. As a stranger approaches, Beth panics and covers the evidence. But when she later returns to the beach, the skull is gone. Determined to find solid evidence to bring to the police, Beth digs deeper into the mystery of the skull--and everywhere she goes, Keith Henson, the stranger from the beach, seems to appear. He claims to be keeping an eye on her safety, but Beth senses other motives. Then a body washes ashore, and Beth begins to think she needs more help than she bargained for. Because investigating is a dangerous game, and someone wants to stop Beth from playing.

[Sandra]

I'll nominate Term Limits by Vince Flynn.

[Londa]

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Parents in this dystopian novel can legally choose to "terminate" their children's lives between the ages of 13 and 18.

That's quite a way to keep teens on the straight and narrow!

[Lilac]

Unwind is amazing! Just saying.

[Marybeth]

I pick Frost by marianna Baer

[Victoria]

I love the sound of Unwind I'll second that nomination

[Juliefellioncomcast.net]

I would like to nominate the novel The Circl by Dave Eggers. He is an excellent writer with great insight. The novel takes place in a Google-esque company that while pulling its community of employees together is nullifying individuality and realness.

[Juliefellioncomcast.net]

Actually it The Circle

[Sydney]

I'll go with Orange is the New Black too!

[Cassandra]

I'll second Unwind. I've been wanting to read Neal Shusterman for a long time.

[Angel]

I vote for Unwind

[Brianna Andreda]

I second Orange Is the New Black....I've been wanting to read this since I've since the show on Netflix

[Kathryn]

End of term makes me think of schoolteachers, so I'm nominating The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. A blurb on GR says it is the "elegantly styled classic story of a young, unorthodox teacher and her special, and ultimately dangerous, relationship with six of her students."

Another blurb says "She was a schoolmistress with a difference. Proud, cultured, romantic, her ideas were progressive, even shocking. And when she decided to transform a group of young girls under her tutelage into the "creme de la creme" of Marcia Blaine school, no one could have predicted the outcome."

[Valerie]

I'll second The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Great choice Kathryn. I read it as a teenager and wouldn't mind revisiting it.

[Renee]

I nominate Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. The term could be the term of time the character spent on The Orphan Train.

[LynnB]

I'll second Orphan Train. It's been on my TBR and sounds like a good read.

[Alexis]

I second Orange is the New Black

[Kara]

The poll is up! Vote here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...