A Discussion Proposal

[Wilhelmina]

I've been enjoying the discussions we've been having and I really would like them to continue on a regular basis. To that end, I would like to propose that each interested group member submit the names of two books that they think would be good to discuss. We can start with the books nominated by the most people. My two nominees are:

All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones
and The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate.

Since we have selected a book for October, we could begin to draw on the list beginning in November.

What do you think?

[Qiana]

This is a great idea! I'm going to think about what I'd like to suggest and get back to you...

[William]

Mine are "Apex Hides The Hurt," by Colson Whitehead and/or "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Adichie....

[Wilhelmina]

I would enjoy either of those books, Bill.

[Qiana]

Yay, Apex! I'd love to discuss that book. I'm also a big fan of Jones and Southgate!

My suggestions are Morrison's latest, A Mercy, due out in November. And trying to think outside my comfort zone here, I've read a short story by Sherman Alexie that I enjoyed, so maybe The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven or another novel by a Native American author?

[Wilhelmina]

OK, so far we have the following possibilities:
"A Mercy" by Toni Morrison,
"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie,
"Apex Hides The Hurt," by Colson Whitehead,
"Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Adichie,
"All Aunt Hagar's Children" by Edward P. Jones,
"The Fall of Rome" by Martha Southgate,
and Jo's earlier suggestions,
"Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri
"Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits" by Laila Lalami,
"The Plague of Doves" by Louise Erdrich, and
"Under the Feet of Jesus" by Helena Viramontes.

Would anyone else like to make a suggestion? So far , it looks like at least 3 of us would like to discuss "Apex".

[Jean]

Apex Hides the Hurt and The Fall of Rome sound good to me.

[William]

I see that Goodreads has added a new tool/feature for groups..polls. I imagine we could/should employ it for our next book determination? After we have a complete list of candidates...Looks like we already have 10 so far.

[Wilhelmina]

I would like to suggest that we go with "Apex Hides The Hurt" for November. It seems that most interested readers would like to discuss that one. For December, I propose that we consider a book by a non-African American author, possibly "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie.

[jo]

i'm cool with both choices!

[Jean]

Great, I will get started on Apex.

[Qiana]

Sounds good to me - I also like the idea of using the nifty poll feature to select future books.

BTW, my copy of New Orleans Noir arrived yesterday (finally)! Now, to get reading!

[Wilhelmina]

If there are no objections, then, we'll start discussing "Apex" on November 1. I'm looking forward to it!

Meanwhile, my copy of "New Orleans Noir" came also, so I'll be ready when we start our discussion on October 1.

I was happy to see today that Chimamanda Adichie had won a MacArthur "genius" fellowship! I hope that we can discuss "Half of a Yellow Sun" sometime soon.