Hi hello, so I just landed here & the name is Ance

[Ance]

Greetings, kind folk of The Next Best Book Club!
(I sure hope you meant *the* best book club.)

My name is Ance and I am a bibliocholic. *humbly bows her head down*
I read all kinds of books about all kinds of subjects, but usually I need some *insert-genre-here* fiction with some non-fictional science/history/nature/graphic-novels kind of thing on a side to get my weekly fix of happiness.
Part of the reason I'm here is that I need to start actually using GR to document the things I read, because there are a whole lot of them, of whom only ~2% have ended up in my shelves in the end - because I'm a bit lazy an I am Miss Mess, but commitment to a club might just do the trick and tie me down.
But! The Most Important Reason is :: to get in the groove of The Club, that will help me cope with that "Ok, and now what?" feeling when you have just closed an amazing book and have to come back to the surface of reality again.
I'm here to dive back in. To talk about books, to enjoy discussions and love the hell out of amazing literature together with 14'441 other people.

So, yes. Hi. May The Book of Your Life find you.
Cheers!
Ance.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Hi Ance. Welcome to the group. I know that feeling well... what to read once you've read something you were blown away by! It's a very familiar feeling!

[Debbie]

Welcome to the group! I hate that feeling after a great book ends. When I look around and realize I'm not in Tudor England, 18th century, India or wherever the book is set and have to go back to reality I feel . . . empty almost. At least until I find my next book.

[Ance]

Nice to meet you both! ^_^
That feeling of closure is both the most scary and most rewarding part of reading experience. There is the emptyness that Debbie spoke of and then there is the feeling of arriving at some destination you have longed for quite some time.
This, as all in life, is a mystery in its own right.

[Chris]

I am so with you on "book ending disorder"! Catonia!
I can't even express the shear loss I feel.
Isn't that funny?

So here is my (seriously urgent) question:
which books did you hate leaving the most??????????????????????????????

[Ance]

Chris wrote: "So here is my (seriously urgent) question:
which books did you hate leaving the most?

That is not an easy question to answer. But to name just a few:


Those are just the first that pop in my mind as special in some way. I might do injustice to my other favourites, but this shall do for starters as Top 5. (^.^)

[Chris]

Oooooh, the book pictures above? Gasp!
Well thank you ever so much!
Haven't read any of these but am familiar with Dorian Gray, from the movie, of course.
Thank you for sharing your heart-felt recommendations!

Here's what I couldn't leave:
Me Before You, Double Bind, The Sandcastle Girls, The Invention of Wings, Unbroken, Handle with Care, The Glass Castle, My Sister's Keeper, A Dog's Journey and its follow-up, A Dog's Journey, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 19 Minutes, The Book Thief, Henrietta Lacks, Atlas Shrugged, and A River Runs Through It (audio). ALL had one effect or another (maybe a mixture) and often made me stop to look at the cities via GoogleMap or just blowing my head right off. All paralyzed me mid-stream in my daily life, that's for sure.

[Ance]

Chris wrote: "Oooooh, the book pictures above? Gasp!
Well thank you ever so much!
Haven't read any of these but am familiar with Dorian Gray, from the movie, of course.
Thank you for sharing your heart-felt ..."

So many! Thank you! Book Thief and a few others I have read. The rest I'll might or might not add to to-read endless scroll. If you would have to pick just one to recommend, which book would it be and why?

If I could pick just one book to recommend to anyone, it would be "The House, in Which...". Or should it be translated as "The House, That..."? Hard to tell because there does not seem to be an English translation of "The House, That..." as of yet. It is, however, published in Italian, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Danish and my native Latvian. And this is the one novel of magic realism, that I feel needs to be read by everyone. It is so raw, so far from gentle fantasy, possibly the most real description of nightmarish reality you will ever read. And at the same time it is the most magic dream world a human mind is capable of.
Find it, read it, feel it. Become a part of it, if you can. The House does not accept all of us, yet for the readers it takes in, this becomes the ultimate Home.

[Chris]

Okay! Can't wait. I feel so much like I got EVERY crummy book out of the library or off the bookshelf lately. SO unsatisfying! Nerve racking! This whole year, practically, so I am really looking forward to starting "The House . . ." right away. Thank you!

For you . . . Try "Me Before you" and let me know your reaction. That's in the chick lit dept. Otherwise, try "Wings" which is a historical southern slave story that will wind you up!
(NOTE: I just read my list up there and meant "A Dog's Purpose/Journey" in case you wondered if my gray cells atrophied or something)

[Ash]

Hi Ance,
I totally share that same feeling you have after you finish a book that has entered your soul. I have put off finishing books several times because I do not want the people/characters to leave my life. Those are the books that are truly well-written. And they seem to be quite rare which makes me treasure them more. The last book I put off finishing was Perks of a Wallflower. Oh, the writing and all the feelings. Loved it. I noticed Book Thief was mentioned, it definitely stayed with me a long time. Beach Music & South of Broad by Pat Conroy. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. And I also read quite a bit of manga, Japanese light novels and graphic novels, and the manga series xxxHolic by Clamp almost killed me. For a true book lover there are few things worse than, despite reading several other books, not being able to find a book you can truly get into.

[Ash]

Btw, I so have to read The House now, your description was great and I love books like that. I have already added it to my completely out of control TBR shelf.