Nominations for March 2021 Open Pick

[Hugh]

Nominations are now open until January 22nd for the March 2021 Open Pick.

Nominating guidelines:
- Fiction (original & translation, if applicable) first published between January 1, 2000 and March 1, 2020. For translations the latter date must be an English edition.
- One nomination per person (please do not nominate or vote for a book unless you are certain you can read and discuss if it wins)
- A book this group has not yet read (see the group bookshelf or the Index of all Group Reads here)
- A book that is not better suited to the wild card (genre) category

If you are nominating, please begin your post by stating "I nominate [name with hyperlink to book]"

The discussion will start on March 1st

[Bretnie]

lori wrote: "I nominate Behold the Dreamers. I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the bookshelves, but please let me know if I'm mistaken."

I've been wanting to read one of her books! I second this nomination :)

[Hugh]

Thanks Lori - that one looks fine

[Hugh]

Last day for nominations today, and we still only have one so far - anyone else considering it?

[Hugh]

I'll throw one in that I already have on the shelf - I nominate In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

[Eva]

I'd like to nominate This Thing of Darkness (also known as To the Edge of the World) by Harry Thompson, which was longlisted for the Booker and has a fantastic GR rating.

I've read the first chapter and it was riveting!

[Hugh]

Thanks Eva - I read that one before Christmas and enjoyed it a lot (and gave it 5 stars).

[Hugh]

Nominations are now closed - the poll will be up soon

[Hugh]

The poll is here and will run until the end of the month:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

[Hugh]

I thought we had a clear leader but the poll is now wide open with only 1 vote between all three books. We still have 4 days left.

[Hugh]

Last day to vote today - This Thing of Darkness is still just in front but all three could still win!

[Jenna]

Just a note that if it wins, the American title is To the Edge of the World. If you look for This Thing of Darkness you will be importing your book from the UK (my local bookstore could not find it in their catalogues and figured out why for me) - although there are used options with this title on biblio.com.

[Hugh]

This Thing of Darkness (a.k.a. To the Edge of the World) has won the poll. Eva - are you happy to lead the discussion? One of the moderators will create the discussion folder a day or two before the discussion is due to start, and we can give you any assistance you need.

[Stephen]

I downloaded the kindle version of this last year. ( I prefer books but having read a couple of intriguing reviews and only 99p on kindle how could I resist!). I may try to join the read and discussion. It seems a lengthy read. Is there structure to the group read or do we just dive in?

[Hugh]

We don't normally impose a structure, but I think this book is the longest we have discussed for some time so there might be a case for breaking it up. I am still hoping Eva will lead the discussion but I can step in if necessary.

[Akiva]

so... This Thing of Darkness looks AMAZING, but it appears that there is no e-book edition available in the USA? Is it out of print? I see paperback for $31 used, H/C for $427 used....

Any suggestions?

[Akiva]

Looks like it's available on Kindle for Canadians at CDN$7.99.

But I doubt that AMZ will let me load that to my US Kindle

Aric wrote: "so... This Thing of Darkness looks AMAZING, but it appears that there is no e-book edition available in the USA? Is it out of print? I see paperback for $31 used, H/C for $427 used....

Any suggest..."

[Akiva]

Info at - https://www.amazonforum.com/s/questio...

Aric wrote: "Looks like it's available on Kindle for Canadians at CDN$7.99.

But I doubt that AMZ will let me load that to my US Kindle

Aric wrote: "so... This Thing of Darkness looks AMAZING, but it appears ..."

[Marc]

Aric, the American title is To the Edge of the World and I believe it's currently $2.99 for a Kindle version.

[Akiva]

Ah, thanks! That helps

[Marc]

:-)

[Whitney]

Thanks, Marc. I couldn't find it either.

[Eva]

Thanks for helping US readers find it!

In terms of leading the discussion: I'll definitely participate actively in the discussion in March, but don't feel very comfortable leading it, especially since this is my first time reading the book, so I'll be sharing my first impressions just like everyone else and don't have any more knowledge about it than the others.

[Bretnie]

Eva wrote: "Thanks for helping US readers find it!

In terms of leading the discussion: I'll definitely participate actively in the discussion in March, but don't feel very comfortable leading it, especially ..."

Eva, if it helps, any discussion that I've led I hadn't read the book either and never had previous knowledge about it. It's usually just facilitating a discussion with some questions to get people talking.

[Marc]

I seem to be forgetting everything these days, but for some reason, I remembered seeing that this book had two titles earlier in this thread!

Eva, We don't expect discussion leaders to have read the book or be any sort of expert on it.

[Eva]

In that case I'm happy to give leading the discussion a try, and I'll create the requisite threads on March 1st. :-)

[Marc]

Thanks, Eva!

[Hugh]

Thanks Eva!

[Carol]

It's not on audio books either (either title).

[Marc]

I wonder what the decision making process is like in terms of which books get audio versions and which don't...