Play Book Tag discussion
February 2017: Quirky
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Announcing the February Tag
I appreciate all these recommendations! Still not quite sure what to choose, but at least I have a few that can work . . .
Anita wrote: "I appreciate all these recommendations! Still not quite sure what to choose, but at least I have a few that can work . . ."Nothing is striking my fancy....this may be a game time decision this month. I think it would be easier if I could just decide what I think quirky means...
Maybe Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham. It is not tagged quirky (that I can see) but I can see it easily fitting the tag.
Has anyone read this? Know if it fits?
I love quirky books and never thought of using such a quality as a tag. I conceive of its scope as books that are weird or with surprising twists that have a light or humorous element. Great suggestions and ideas so far.Some wonderful ones I can recommend and not mentioned yet:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
A Tale for the Time Being
Jitterbug Perfume
The Uncommon Reader
Bellwether
Motherless Brooklyn
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Breakfast of Champions
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
A Spot of Bother
I would love to read (all on my shelf begging for a chance):
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
The Giant's House
Geek Love
Swamplandia!
Galore
Redshirts
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
JoLene wrote: "@LibraryCin, I have read Watermelon a while ago. It is part of a series where each sister has her own book. The family is a bit quirky, but Keyes tends to tackle some heavy issues packa..."Thanks, Jolene! Sounds like if the family is quirky, it might fit. I guess, since I'm likely reading it, anyway, if I get to it early in the month, I'll know whether or not I want to count it and whether or not, I should also grab something else!
Charlie wrote: "For those of you that don't know me well, "Quirky" is my middle name. I can highly recommend you start with Ready Player One and, if you like audio, the audio is very good.
~*Kim*~ wrote: "I would recommend either A Dirty Job or The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, both by Christopher Moore. Both are hilarious and definitely quirky...."
Stupidest Angel is one of my favorites and I'd definitely call it quirky.
I think there were so many responses that I missed it about Ready Player One. Sounds like Barbara says it fits the quirky theme. Anyone else agree? It's my 2011 High Note pick, so I would be my third or fourth quirky book. But if I can fit it in...
Cross checking between the Quirky book list (first 10 pages) and my TBR list I come up with these choices:The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
Stardust
Attachments
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Spellman Files
Ready Player One
Cold Comfort Farm
Life After Life
Be Frank With Me
Counting by 7s
Animal Farm
The Corrections
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
Like Water for Chocolate
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
personally I might throw in:
Christopher Moore
Carl Hiaasen
Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator
She Flew the Coop: A Novel Concerning Life, Death, Sex
and Recipes in Limoges, Louisiana
Ways to Disappear
Hag-Seed
Razor Girl
Written in My Own Heart's Blood
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts
Blueberry wrote: "personally I might throw in:Christopher Moore
Carl Hiaasen..."
Oooo...Carl Hiaasen is a good one! I have never read anything by him but I have a friend who loves him. I feel like she has recommended Sick Puppy...
Amy wrote: "I think there were so many responses that I missed it about Ready Player One. Sounds like Barbara says it fits the quirky theme. Anyone else agree? It's my 2011 High Note pick, so I would be my thi..."I think it depends on your definition of quirky. I live in Silicon Valley and was a computer science major in college (a long, long time ago), so I didn't find Ready Player One particularly quirky ;-)
@Ready Player One- I wouldn't personally call it quirky, I think most of us who have read it can say that the OASIS could (scarily) become reality eventually. I think the quirk for some people comes from the references and 80s nostalgia, and from those who may not have grown up with video games? Maybe?@Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between- I wouldn't call this book quirky either. It's pretty typical celebrity memoir. But she herself would probably be considered quirky. So I can see why people would tag it as quirky. Looks like alot of female memoirs are tagged quirky. Maybe my saturation with lots of female memoirs skews me to think quirky is normal!? lol
My suggestions go along with other peoples here.
Looks like The Book Thief and is tagged quirky. I might go for this as it will cover high notes also.
Would you folks consider Wonder as quirky? The cover seems quirky, and it looks quirky to me, but doesn't seem to be tagged that way.
Joi wrote: "@Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between- I wouldn't call this book quirky either. It's pretty typical celebrity memoir. But she herself would probably be considered quirky. So I can see why people would tag it as quirky. Looks like alot of female memoirs are tagged quirky. Maybe my saturation with lots of female memoirs skews me to think quirky is normal!? lol..."I was thinking it would fit mainly because she herself seems quirky and her memoir would likely include several quirky stories! It is conveniently almost my turn at the library for the audio so it might win.
Joi wrote: "Would you folks consider Wonder as quirky?"I wouldn't - the cover is based on Gus's deformed face, which is why it looks weird.
I agree with you that Ready Player One is not really quirky, unless you count an obsession with the 80s as quirky.
Book Thief I might allow can be tagged quirky because having Death as a narrator is uniquely unusual.
My favorite quirky books are:anything by Neil Gaiman,
The Princess Bride
The Chicken Chronicles by Alice Walker.
Along with Nicole and Michael, I have to recommend Geek Love. It is, without a doubt, the quirkiest book I have ever read.I also recommend something by China Mieville. Railsea was my favorite (recommend the audio) but The City & the City might be a better choice for mystery lovers.
I plan to read Mieville's Embassytown.
Three good choices on Mieville. With tje exception of Railsea my mental tag for him os dark weird, without the lightness I reserve in my conception of quirky. Geek Love os TBR, so good to get your vote. I am reminded that you and a lot of others liked A Visit from the Goon Squad (and many others hated it). Another TBR for me.
Charlie wrote: "For those of you that don't know me well, "Quirky" is my middle name. My recommendations are as follows:The Memory of Running
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
[book:T..."
The Memory of Running is one of my favorite books of all time!
Denizen wrote: "Along with Nicole and Michael, I have to recommend Geek Love. It is, without a doubt, the quirkiest book I have ever read.I also recommend something by China Mieville. [book:Railsea|..."
Oh, I forgot about Geek Love! That was really well written.
quirk·y:characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.
"her sense of humor was decidedly quirky"
synonyms: eccentric, idiosyncratic, unconventional, unorthodox, unusual, strange, bizarre, peculiar, odd, outlandish, zany;
I will probably read Lauren Graham's Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between; I think it would fit and I have it out from the library.
I'm also planning on reading The Rosie Project, it will fit my personal TBR challenge.
I've been out of the loop for the past week, my daughter was visiting me from California and we went on a mini-vacation to Orlando. Unfortunately I came home sick. Feeling better today, but still under the weather. I'm hoping I can read a little today since I haven't touched a book in days. The Australian Open isn't helping with the reading either. I watch every chance I get - the only upside of being sick.
Ladyslott wrote: "quirk·y:characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.
"her sense of humor was decidedly quirky"
synonyms: eccentric, idiosyncratic, unconventional, unorthodox, unusual, strange, bizarre, peculiar, odd, outlandish, zany; ..."
Hahaha! I do know the definition of quirky ;) But, do I want my read to be a quirky story in and of itself (like The Night Circus), by a quirky person (like Graham), or about a quirky topic (I am thinking of some of these microhistory types of books)?
I am feeling pretty confident with my selection of Talking As Fast As I Can...
Ladyslott wrote: "I will probably read Lauren Graham's Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between..."
Yay! We can read it together!
Amy wrote: "I think there were so many responses that I missed it about Ready Player One. Sounds like Barbara says it fits the quirky theme. Anyone else agree? It's my 2011 High Note pick, so I would be my thi..."Well, it's on the "quirky" list so it would fit unless you are absolutely determined to find something that fits a definition of quirky - I thought this did but I'm not a big sci-fi reader (though I read some). I just loved the mix of sci-fi and the 1980s - that made it pretty quirky for me!
Denizen wrote: "Along with Nicole and Michael, I have to recommend Geek Love. It is, without a doubt, the quirkiest book I have ever read."Interesting, Geek Love is also tagged horror, which would fit one of my stairs. Doesn't look super horror-y or typical horror. Maybe it's quirky horror? lol.
Ladyslott wrote: "I'm also planning on reading The Rosie Project, it will fit my personal TBR challenge.i..."I loved The Rosie Project! It's short and sweet too. I don't go through books very fast but this one just sped by.
Michael wrote: "I would love to read (all on my shelf begging for a chance): Behind the Scenes at the Museum, The Giant's House, Geek Love, Swamplandia!, Galore, Redshirts,Major Pettigrew's Last Stand "
Of your possible reads, I really enjoyed Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It's a gentle sort of quirky.
Nicole R wrote: "Hahaha! I do know the definition of quirky ;) But, do I want my read to be a quirky story in and of itself (like The Night Circus), by a quirky person (like Graham), or about a quirky topic (I am thinking of some of these microhistory types of books)?."I wasn't responding to your remark, I know you are way smarter than I am. It just seemed like a lot of people were questioning the definition, so thought I would post it.
This tag will take some personal evaluation since what one person views a unorthodox, unusual, strange may not be the same as someone else. Example (made up) -- I grew up on a hippie commune and now live off the grid so that setting or type of people would not seem quirky -- they would seem like my neighbors. But someone living in NYC who never goes out in nature would find it quirky.
For some reason, I think of quirky as somehow being slightly funny or have some type of humorous aspect to the unusual, or strange setting or person. And I almost always think of quirky as a word to describe a person.
Michael wrote: "Three good choices on Mieville. With tje exception of Railsea my mental tag for him os dark weird, without the lightness I reserve in my conception of quirky. Geek Love os TBR, so good to get your ..."Perhaps what a person defines as quirky is influenced by where they fall on the quirkiness continuum. The more unorthodox/strange, etc a person is the more bizarre a book has to be for them to consider it quirky.
Ladyslott wrote: "I wasn't responding to your remark, I know you are way smarter than I am. It just seemed like a lot of people were questioning the definition, so thought I would post it...."False. Not way smarter!
Barbara wrote: "Charlie wrote: "For those of you that don't know me well, "Quirky" is my middle name. I can highly recommend you start with Ready Player One and, if you like audio, the audio is very good."
Sold! and thanks for the recommendation!
Raine wrote: "Charlie wrote: "For those of you that don't know me well, "Quirky" is my middle name. My recommendations are as follows:The Memory of Running
[book:Extremely Loud and Incredibly Clo..."
:-)
Barbara wrote: "I agree with the others, multi-cultural might have been it but I could see quirky coming. It actually has quite a few I've read and want to read so I have my list ready
Justin wrote: "¡¡¡ƃɐʇ ʎʞɹᴉnQ ǝɥʇ s,ʇᴉ ʎɐ⅄"Love it!
Justin wrote: "¡¡¡ƃɐʇ ʎʞɹᴉnQ ǝɥʇ s,ʇᴉ ʎɐ⅄"LOL! Nice! Glad you're back, Justin!
Rachel wrote: "Anita wrote: "Princess Bride? Quirky or no? It is on the shelf and is PBT Top 100, but want to get a confirming opinion from someone who has read it."I read the Princess Bride quite awhile ago. I..."
I agree, the movie is a great deal of fun!
I hated A Dirty Job, really did not like it at all. I got the jokes I just didn't think they were funny. (Like jokes about how immigrants' accents are hard to understand, a lot of times.) definitely quirky though. I really enjoyed The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The main character is a child but this is definitely not a children's book (there's a description of 2 people having sex from what it might look like from a child's perspective). I didn't love Neverwhere as much as I wanted to but I really liked Coraline. I listened to the audio for Ocean and its great. I may read The Graveyard book for Feb if I can get it from the library.
I think both Fangirl and Eleanor and Park are worth reading. As is The Fault in our Stars.
I may also read The Rosie Project because I haven't read that yet.
Anita wrote: "Princess Bride? Quirky or no? It is on the shelf and is PBT Top 100, but want to get a confirming opinion from someone who has read it."Jumping in on this one a little late but...definitely. With names like: Buttercup, Humperdinck, Miracle Max, the Man in Black, and the Dread Pirate Roberts,
AND a very short Sicilian Boss, a giant, a Spanish master swordsman, an albino, ROUS (rodents of Unusual Size)
AND locations like: the Fire Swamp and the Pit of Despair,
No one would question it's quirkiness !!
I hope you love it.
Yay! I voted for this tag, so super-excited to read Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I've wanted to read this one for a while.
I will likely read American Gods, but who knows. I a still desperately trying to finish a foreign lit book. Busy season at work and being sivck for a week hasn't helped.
Sara wrote: "I will likely read American Gods, but who knows. I a still desperately trying to finish a foreign lit book. Busy season at work and being sivck for a week hasn't helped."I have been trying to read American Gods for a long time. I start it and it seems great but I never seem to finish.
We can read it together Raine.Oh I need to read Ready Player One as well since it fits the High Note challenge.
Did you know they have made American Gods into a series on Showtime? It's premiering in April this year. I read it some time ago but didn't really get it. The TV show looks cool, I will give it a try.
I too have started American Gods a couple times.......but can't seem to finish it. I think I'm one of the few that doesn't think Neil Gaiman is a god --- so far I haven't loved any of the books I've read by him........however, I love the Stardust movie.
JoLene wrote: " I think I'm one of the few that doesn't think Neil Gaiman is a god --- so far I haven't loved any of the books I'v..."Well I don't think he's a god, but I am a huge fan of his writing.
American Gods took a lot of patience but it was worth it in the end; I am really looking forward to the series.
I am going to read The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka. It's pushing it with the other stories, but The Metamorphosis is tagged quirky by 9 people or something like that, and if I read it in the volume with "and Other Stories" and read those as well, I can get at least 40 points in a different reading game with combined points. (my 2017 strategy is t be even stricter about tying in pbt, my oldest reading group, and any other reading games/challenges I am involved with. Why make it easy ;? Well, in the summer I might make it easy for myself, but time will tell).
Recommendations that I have read:Night Circus
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The Language of Flowers (not as quirky as the others)
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore (quirkiest book I've ever read, I would recommend for quirky tag, or if you've ever been curious about this author, or if you enjoy French impressionists. Now how is that for a quirky recommendation!?!)
I will choose from these:
A Man Called Ove
Welcome to Sharonville
You're Never Weird on the Internet
I will be reading Landline, as it has been on my to-read-list for awhile now, AND it keeps popping up in the library. Every time I go in there, this book finds its way to be in my face. Plus, I love the story line. Sounds very interesting! I would recommend The Art of Racing in the Rain. A book written in the perspective of a dog - how neat is that?!
Ashley Breanna wrote: "I will be reading Landline, as it has been on my to-read-list for awhile now, AND it keeps popping up in the library. Every time I go in there, this book finds its way to be in my f..."I just read Landline and really enjoyed it! I hope you like it!
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Art of Racing in the Rain (other topics)Landline (other topics)
The Art of Racing in the Rain (other topics)
Landline (other topics)
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Franz Kafka (other topics)Carl Hiaasen (other topics)
Christopher Moore (other topics)
Lauren Graham (other topics)
Jasper Fforde (other topics)
More...
"In A Perfect Vacuum, Stanislaw Lem presents a collection of book reviews of nonexistent works of literature--works that, in many cases, could not possibly be written. Embracing postmodernism's "games for games' sake" ethos, Lem joins the contest with hilarious and grotesque results, lampooning the movement's self-indulgence and exploiting its mannerisms.
Beginning with a review of his own book, Lem moves on to tackles (or create pastiches of) the French new novel, James Joyce, pornography, authorless writing, and Dostoevsky, while at the same time ranging across scientific topics, from cosmology to the pervasiveness of computers. The result is a metafictional tour de force by one of the world's most popular writers."
What do you think?
Otherwise, I have many on my wishlist:
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
Neverwhere
Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
Coraline
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
A Long Way Down
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
Secondhand Souls
Her Fearful Symmetry
The History of Love
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
So many to choose from!