November 2017 - Book Nominations

[Sarah, Moderator]

We had a draw between Short Stories and Cold Theme so the fruit machine was called in to action. The theme for November will be Short Stories.

It's time to nominate books. Please go ahead and nominate a book of short stories below.

If you don't want to nominate your own book, you can second someone else's nomination instead, and that will count as your own nomination, and that book will be entered an extra time in random.org - giving the book an additional chance to make the cut.

Nominations can be seconded multiple times by different people . If you second a nomination, please make clear that is what you are doing. E.g. If I nominate "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", you need to state "I second Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone".

A couple of points to consider when nominating:

- To allow enough time for as many people as possible to read, try and limit the page count to approximately 400 pages maximum.

- To ensure the book is available for as many readers as possible, please consider whether your nomination is 1) still in print or 2) available as a reasonably-priced e-book (under $12) or 3) published no less than 3 months ago.

- Please check the YLTO Group Book Shelf to ensure we haven't already read the book in the last 2 years before nominating it.

- One nomination/seconding per person.

Only 5 books will be selected to be in the poll when it comes to voting.

Each of the chosen group read books will have a discussion leader assigned to help facilitate the discussion. The discussion leader will be the person who originally nominated the book, or someone who seconded their nomination if they do not wish to do it.

Nominations close 20 October


Nominations so far:
I, Robot- Kristie
The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million - Lanelle
Madness - Margo (seconded)
Dear Life: Stories - Casceil (seconded)
Vampires in the Lemon Grove - Fee (thirded)
Men Without Women - Clement (seconded)
The Burrow and Other Stories - Rhea (seconded)
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances - Janice
The Shell Collector - Lilisa (seconded)
What is Not Yours is Not Yours - Silver (seconded)

[Kristie, Moderator]

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

[Lanelle]

O. Henry was a master of the short story. Many of them had unexpected twists at the end.

I nominate The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million. All of the stories take place in New York City, including the well-known "The Last Leaf". The book is available for free on Gutenberg.org.

[Margo]

Lanelle wrote: "O. Henry was a master of the short story. Many of them had unexpected twists at the end.

I nominate The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million. All of th..."

It's also free on amazon.co.uk. Thanks for the tip Lanelle ;-)

[Margo]

I deleted my previous nomination in favor of a book I bought recently, Madness

[Casceil]

If Margo is not going to nominate Dear Life: Stories, I will.

[Lanelle]

Casceil wrote: "If Margo is not going to nominate Dear Life: Stories, I will."

I see that one of the short stories in this book received the O. Henry Award in 2012.

[Casceil]

I read Dear Life two or three years ago with another group. It led to very interesting discussions, and the stories seemed worth reading a second time.

[Fee]

I'd like to nominate Vampires in the Lemon Grove: And Other Stories by Karen Russell.

[Eliestal]

Since I want to read more of this author and it fits the theme, I'd like to nominate Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami.

[Aahan]

I would like to nominate The Burrow and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

[Margo]

Casceil wrote: "I read Dear Life two or three years ago with another group. It led to very interesting discussions, and the stories seemed worth reading a second time."

It's supposed to be very good. As usual I want to read everything but I'm trying to be be sensible and nominate one I already own!

[Margo]

Fee wrote: "I'd like to nominate Vampires in the Lemon Grove: And Other Stories by Karen Russell."

That sounds great Fee.

[Sarah, Moderator]

Some great nominations. I'll update msg1 when I have a better internet connection.

[Saar The Book owl]

Clément wrote: "Since I want to read more of this author and it fits the theme, I'd like to nominate Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami."

I second that.

[Tejas Janet]

I'd like to second Dear Life tho Men without Women appeals to me as well.

[Janice, Moderator]

I will nominate Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman.

[Casceil]

I hesitated before nominating Dear Life, because I was also considering Vampires in the Lemon Grove. I'm glad someone else nominated it.

[Sarah, Moderator]

I'm erring about the nomination Men Without Women. It is a 2017 book which means it's expensive. All buying options here in the UK are £9.99 or above and the library has a sizeable waiting list. Which limit the amount of people who will be able to read it. But it has already been seconded. Hmm. I will leave it there.

[Sarah, Moderator]

I'm torn between seconding Margo's and Janice's nominations. I also wondered about nominating The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report. I have a couple days so I will think on it.

[Sandra]

Short stories is something I usually struggle with. I am closely following this nomination, I will try to join the discussion the one of the voted books. It is always easier/better to buddy read what it is difficult to handle by myself.

[Sarah, Moderator]

Same here Sandra. Which is why I nominated it thinking reading them as a group would help bring more clarity to those stories which I don't understand.

[Sandra]

Exactly. There we go then. :)
I admit the books nominated sound good.

[Margo]

Sarah wrote: "I'm torn between seconding Margo's and Janice's nominations. I also wondered about nominating The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report. I have a couple days so I..."

I was considering nominating a collection of Phillip K. Dick stories also. I'd like to read minority report. I've only recently learned (via Paul) that he was responsible for the plots for many great movies. He also wrote The Adjustment Bureau which I loved.

[Lilisa]

I nominate The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr (author of All the Light We Cannot See).

[Janice, Moderator]

I also struggle with short stories, yet I own a few of them. Most of them are over the 400 page limit so it was easy to narrow my choice for the nomination.

I'm tempted to use my $10 Audible coupon to buy the whispersync deal of Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances. It's $12.99, so I'd pay 2.99 for a book I already own on Kindle. But it would be worth it to listen to Neil Gaiman narrate these short stories. *voice crush*

[Peggy, Moderator]

Short stories are not my thing either. The only ones I can think of that I'm willing to try out are Gaiman's. But I don't own any books and don't want to spend money on it either, so I think I'll sit this one out and focus on getting some more of my challenge books done.

[Cherie]

Like Janice, the only books of short stories I currently own are door stops. I do occasionally buy and read them, if I come across a book summary with stories that sound interesting.

I am watching the nominations too, and I have added two of them to my TBR list.

[Silver]

I nominate What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

[Sarah, Moderator]

We have 10 books nominated so I'm going to close the nominations early but people can still continue to second the nominations.

[Sarah, Moderator]

I have been dithering about which book to second. Madness or Trigger Warnings. I own both and would like to read both of them. Hmm. I'm going to go for Madness I think as it's shorter.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I noticed that we got a lot of nominations really quickly this month. Funny that so many people are saying that they don't care for short stories. I guess reading together helps.

[Cherie]

I used to dislike books of short stories but for different reasons, depending on whether they were all by a single author or anthologies. Depending on the subject matter or theme, I prefer anthologies. Anthologies are great for discovering new authors. My problem with short stories by the same author is that there are only a few that are really good and the rest are meh. Maybe not always, but that is what I have found. I still read them though.

How you go about reading a book of short stories is crucial to enjoyment too. I found that I like to read one story each night, before I go to bed. Another member in this group told me that she likes to read one story each morning while she is eating breakfast. Either way, we have the whole day to contemplate each story. My problem used to be that I tried to read them one right after another, like chapters in a novel. The themes get all mixed up and details meld together.

I know that this has nothing to do with recommending titles. I am looking forward to seeing what is chosen.

[Jayme]

I'll second What is Not Yours is Not Yours.

[Cherie]

I'll second Vampires in the Lemon Grove.

[TrudyA]

I’ll second The Shell Collector.

[Mala]

I second The Burrow

[Sarah, Moderator]

Any more for any more on seconding/thirding etc?

[Laura]

I'll also second Vampires in the Lemon Grove.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Ok, I know I nominated My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, and I'll probably still read it, but I really want to read I, Robot too. Since no one has seconded My True Love Gave to Me can I switch my nomination to I, Robot? I know it's not likely to make it into the poll anyway, but that would be my preference.

[Sarah, Moderator]

Sure Kristie. And nominations are now closed.

[Margo]

I didn't realise I, Robot was short stories, I always thought it was one story. Ooh, I want to read that too!! Why is life so short???

[Sarah, Moderator]

Actually, i never checked out i, robot, just put it in. But yeah, it's just one story. My head hasn't been on it this week so I totally missed that. I can see why perhaps it would be classed as short stories and there are chapters from different povs which seem unconnected but it is all one tale from what i recall.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sarah, will it count towards the genre? It's listed as short stories, but the blurb just says the stories are interlinked. I thought it was separate stories that all had to do with robots.

[Sarah, Moderator]

They are definitely interlinked stories which make up a whole story. I know people have shelved it as short stories. Hmm. I'm going to have to say no for it counting for the theme. Sorry Kristie.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Ok. Thanks, Sarah.