March Group Read Nominations

[Kara]

The theme for March is the Oscars. Have fun with this one! The theme is completely open to interpretation: as long as you can tell us why you think it should fit the theme, it counts.

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 by January 22, 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.

[Jenn]

I'd like to nominate Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10. The movie adaptation of this book was nominated for two Oscars, so it fits the theme. I've been wanting to read this book for years, but still haven't gotten around to it.

[Janet]

I would like to nominate The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. It was nominated for four Oscars(including Best Picture) in 1943.

[Joe]

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz is the 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner that has been on my to read list for several years.

[Kai]

I'm going to nominate Dune by Frank Herbert. The film adaptation was nominated for an academy award for best sound but was also regarded as "the worst movie of the year" by Roger Ebert.

[Megan]

Kara, did you mean the theme for March is the Oscars? I thought we already completed the February nominations. Just wanted to check.

[Kara]

Wow, yes. Great catch, Megan. MARCH is the Oscars. Sorry for the confusion!

[Rachel]

I looked up the grumpiest authors (inspired by Oscar the Grouch), and found that, according to Flavorwire, Vladimir Nabokov is the 7th grumpiest author in history. So I propose we read his book The Luzhin Defense.

[Kara]

Rachel wrote: "I looked up the grumpiest authors (inspired by Oscar the Grouch), and found that, according to Flavorwire, Vladimir Nabokov is the 7th grumpiest author in history. So I propose we rea..."

I love this interpretation of the theme, Rachel!

[Olivia]

I'd like to 2nd Kai's nomination for Dune!

[Cassandra]

That is so creative, Rachel!

[Kelsi]

I third kai's nomination of Dune!

[Kathryn]

I'd like to nominate Q & A by Vikas Swarup which is the book that the movie Slumdog Millionaire was based on. It won 8 Oscars and was nominated for 2 others.

For those not familiar with the story, the GR blurb is here:

Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question.

Ram takes us on an amazing review of his own history - from the day he was found as a baby in the clothes donation box of a Delhi church to his employment by a faded Bollywood star to his adventure with a security-crazed Australian army colonel to his career as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal.

Vikas Swarup's Q & A is a beguiling blend of high comedy, drama, and romance that reveals how we know what we know - not just about trivia, but about life itself. Cutting across humanity in all its squalor and glory, Vikas Swarup presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil - and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

[Angel]

I'll 4th Dune!

[Kylie]

Q&A by Vikas Swarup sounds great, I'll second that.

[Ian]

I would like to nominate No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy - The movie adaption won 4 oscars at the 2007 awards.

Also it is the very first book on my TBR so I would love to get it read :)

[Stormie ~ Book Dragon ~]

No Country for Old Men is on my TBR list as well. I'll second that. :)

[Megan]

Kara wrote: "Wow, yes. Great catch, Megan. MARCH is the Oscars. Sorry for the confusion!"

Anytime, Kara;) I'll second (or fifth?) Dune.

[[deleted user]]

I nominate:

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Nicole Kidman (who has won an Oscar although not for this film) plays in the film adaptation of this novel.

Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

[Tessa]

I will second The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

[[deleted user]]

I nominate Oscar and Lucinda, which was also turned into a movie starring Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes and Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett.

[Cheryl]

I nominate wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west by Gregory maguire. The wizard of oz is short for oscar diggs. I also choose this because the adapted broadway play has won several tony awards (and it happens to be my favorite musical).

[CMG (Mac)]

Nominate: Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig Beware of Pity

Because: The Grand Budapest Hotel end-credits as partially inspired by Zweig's novels. And director claims to have "stolen" from Zweig's novels Beware of Pity and The Post-Office Girl in writing the film, and it features actors Tom Wilkinson as The Author, a character based loosely on Zweig, and Jude Law as his younger, idealised self seen in flashbacks. Director also states that the film's protagonist, the concierge Gustave H., played by Ralph Fiennes, is based on Zweig. In the film's opening sequence, a teenaged girl visits a shrine for The Author, which includes a bust of him wearing Zweig-like spectacles and celebrated as his country's "National Treasure".

[Adriana]

I'm going to nominate The Lord of the Rings since the last in its trilogy received 13 nominations and one four of them in the Oscars: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/a...

[Caro]

I also support the vote for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I already read the book before but is a great story that is worth it to be read it again.

[Megan BG]

I second Silver Linings Playbook (even though I think I'm going to try to read it this month).

[Rachelle]

My vote is Q&A.

[Allison]

I'm also nominating silver linings playbook

[Alisia]

I'll third No Country for Old Men

[Nadia]

I second Adriana's vote for The Lord of the Rings!

[Amanda]

I nominate Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption because the movie will most likely receive multiple Oscar nominations and the author also wrote Seabiscuit: An American Legend, whose movie received 6 Oscar nominations!

[Susan C]

I will second Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It's been on my TBR list for quite awhile, and this will certainly encourage me to read it now!

[Missy]

With only an hour left to nominate I can't believe no one has thrown in American Sniper. The movie adaptation just earned 6 Oscars nods and the book was on the NY Times Bestsellers list for 37 weeks. Time to read this one.

[Jodi]

This thread is now closed. The poll is now open. Please vote for our March Group Read. Vote here! https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Jodi]

I just want to remind everyone to vote for our March group read. There are lots of good choices. The poll will be up until March 12th.

[Jodi]

The poll closes for the March group read on February 12th and results will be posted by the 15th. Make sure you get your vote in!