July 2016 Group Read Theme: Heroes on The Edge Nominations

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

For our July group read, the theme is "Heroes on the Edge". You can pick what they're on the edge of: self-discovery, losing their minds, dying, being villains... it's up to you. I mean Heroes in the gender neutral sense, so feel free to nominate books with heroines on the edge.

Considerations:

1. One nomination per group member. The books must be nominated with a Goodreads link by clicking on 'add book/author'. If a book does not have a Goodreads link, it will not be added to the poll.
2. Books need to be readily available, ie, in print (able to buy new or in ebook format).
3. Books should have some degree of action/adventure content.
4. Past group reads are not eligible to be nominated again. The past group discussions remain open for members to comment. You may see the list of past reads here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

5. Books must be either standalone or first in a series (or they may be later in a series if constructed to be read as a standalone).


The poll will go up on May 27th!

[Alan]

I'm for getting Cordelia Vorkosigan a nod.

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

[Justin]

I know we just read one of his, but the first book that comes to mind when I think of heroes on edge is First Blood by David Morrell. It is one of my all time favorites.

[Jim]

I'll nominate Mr Majestyk by Elmore Leonard the man who brought us Justified & so many other wonderful stories & movies. It's a great book & movie starring Charles Bronson back in 1974. Mr. Majestyk is a farmer who grows watermelons. He needs to get his crop in, but some criminals get in his way disrupting the migrant labor he normally hires & things escalate from there. The criminals picked on the wrong guy, though.

I had the same thoughts, Justin.

[Lisa P, My weekend is all booked up!]

Justin wrote: "I know we just read one of his, but the first book that comes to mind when I think of heroes on edge is First Blood by David Morrell. It is one of my all time favorites."

I've only seen the move...I don't know if I could read the book without imagining Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.

[Justin]

I read the book after seeing the movie and it is still fantastic. And really has you feeling for the sheriff one chapter and Rambo the next. I think it really fits this months theme.

[Steve]

Consider Chuck Hogan's (better known for The Town - Prince of Thieves) Devils in Exile. One of the best AA books I have ever read. A gritty story where the hero is a flawed character who often ends up on the wrong end of violent exchanges and resorts to desperate measures to overcome his circumstances.

[Jim]

Justin wrote: "I read the book after seeing the movie and it is still fantastic. And really has you feeling for the sheriff one chapter and Rambo the next. I think it really fits this months theme."

I agree, although I read the book several times before they made the movie. It's not a bad movie, but the book is so much better. Did Morrell ever change the end of the book to fit with the sequels? If so, I'd look for an original version.

[The Pirate Ghost, Long John Silvers Wanna-be]

Tough category, I know lots of books with somebody on the edge... but they tend to be space operas or epic fantasy rather than action oriented stories. Of course Furies of Calderon and the Codex Alera series is a good example of an epic fantasy with a lot of Action.

Heck, I'll nominate that one (Jim Butcher).

I'd love to nominate Fear the Sky, but a) its more sci-fi suspense and b) we really don't get a good idea of how "on the edge the main Character is until the third book.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Steven wrote: "Consider Chuck Hogan's (better known for The Town - Prince of Thieves) Devils in Exile. One of the best AA books I have ever read. A gritty story where the hero is a flawed character who often ends..."

Just a reminder that I need an official goodreads link to add books to the poll.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

Alan wrote: "I'm for getting Cordelia Vorkosigan a nod.

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold"

No Goodreads link.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

My apologies the poll is late.

Alan and Steven, I went ahead and added your books to the poll, but you need to post goodreads links, so don't forget next time.


https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

The poll closes at 11:59pm (Pacific ST) on June 6.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

First Blood won the poll. The discussion will start on July 1st. Thanks for voting!

[Jim]

An oldie, but goodie.
:)

[Alan]

I'll have to see if my library has an ebook edition.