Blogger's Book Club

A month or so ago Theresa, of My Muse, came up with the idea of starting a "Blogger's Book Club" and I of course embraced the idea wholeheartedly.  The idea being that we select a book a month to read, then at the end of the month we post our thoughts about the book.  We each came up with a list of books that we had been intending to eventually read.  Then edited the list down to six choices.  So if you are at all interested in our "BBC" leave a comment voting for which book you would most like to read.  We'll post the final selection on March 13th.  Then everyone will have a month to complete the book.  [This is not meant to take away from Beth's Books and Booze, this is simply something those of us living across the country and beyond can participate in together].

 

1.  Tete-a-Tete : Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre by Hazel Rowley
"Though Rowley identifies her engaging and accessible chronicle as the "story of a relationship," it is in fact the story of the many relationships forged by two of the most brilliant, unorthodox and scandalous intellectuals of the 20th century: Beauvoir and Sartre, who from 1929 until Sartre's death in 1980 remained "essential" to each other but never monogamous."

2.  Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

"Evelyn Waugh's second novel, written in 1930, is his tribute to London's smart set. It introduces us to society as it used to be but that now is gone forever, and probably for good. Improbably, this is a love story in which Adam Fenwick-Symes, a destitute young writer, hungers for Nina Blount, daughter of an eccentric aristocrat.  Adam Fenwick-Symes and Nina Blount are continually becoming engaged and unengaged in the most polite and indifferent manner as his financial fortunes rise and fall. Mrs. Ape, the American evangelist, adds to the strange mix by coming to England with a group of chorines whom she calls her "angels." This satire of the London smart set relies on rich conversational rhythms and repartee."

3.  Little, Big by John Crowley

"Little, Big tells the epic story of Smoky Barnable - an anonymous young man who meets and falls in love with Daily Alice Drinkwater, and goes to live with her in Edgewood, a place not found on any map. In an impossible mansion full of her relatives, who all seem to have ties to another world not far away, Smoky fathers a family and tries to learn what tale he has found himself in - and how it is to end."

 
4.  Possession by A.S. Byatt

"Literary critics make natural detectives," says Maud Bailey, heroine of a mystery where the clues lurk in university libraries, old letters, and dusty journals. Together with Roland Michell, a fellow academic and accidental sleuth, Maud discovers a love affair between the two Victorian writers the pair has dedicated their lives to studying: Randolph Ash, a literary great long assumed to be a devoted and faithful husband, and Christabel La Motte, a lesser-known "fairy poetess" and chaste spinster. At first, Roland and Maud's discovery threatens only to alter the direction of their research, but as they unearth the truth about the long-forgotten romance, their involvement becomes increasingly urgent and personal. Desperately concealing their purpose from competing researchers, they embark on a journey that pulls each of them from solitude and loneliness, challenges the most basic assumptions they hold about themselves, and uncovers their unique entitlement to the secret of Ash and La Motte's passion."

 
5.  Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

"I exist!" exclaims Ruby Lennox upon her conception in 1951, setting the tone for this humorous and poignant first novel in which Ruby at once celebrates and mercilessly skewers her middle-class English family. Peppered with tales of flawed family traits passed on from previous generations, Ruby's narrative examines the lives in her disjointed clan, which revolve around the family pet shop. But beneath the antics of her philandering father, her intensely irritable mother, her overly emotional sisters, and a gaggle of eccentric relatives are darker secrets--including an odd "feeling of something long forgotten"--that will haunt Ruby for the rest of her life."

   
6.  Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

"Caramelo weaves a large yet intricate pattern, much like the decorative fringe on a rebozo, the traditional Mexican shawl. Through the eyes of young Celaya, or Lala, the Reyes family saga twists and turns over three generations of truths, half-truths, and outright lies. And, like Celaya's grandmother's prized caramelo (striped) rebozo, so is "the universe a cloth, and all humanity interwoven.... Pull one string and the whole thing comes undone."

Also, if you don't have a blog you can still participate.  I will happily post your comments on my blog for you.

Comments

[ImAHeather]

I vote for Little, Big.

I'd also like to cast a nomination for the photo-novel based on Napoleon Dynamite, now available at K-mart and Target.

[Vanessa]

hahahaha. Good call. Maybe next month.

[tessaj]

I need to get my list posted! (Though I doubt it'll be as lovely as yours!)

[Sarah]

I vote for Tete a Tete since I've read and love both Sartre's and de Beauvoir's works. Great choice! Also, I read Possession previously, but it has been many years ago and I enjoyed it so much that I wouldn't be adverse to reading it again. But truly, I'm fine with whatever. Just name that book, and I'm in! :)

[tessaj]

I have a feeling we may end up picking one out of a hat since most people seem fine with anything!

[Vanessa]

Theresa, I think that's a good idea. Perhaps we gave too many options.

[steph]

I vote for Vile Bodies or Tete-a-Tete : Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

This is a great idea ladies!

[beth]

ALL of these books look fantastic.

[kim]

I vote for Vile Bodies, but all of them sound great. (I've already read Possession.)

[Suzanne Hochenauer]

I vote for Vile Bodies.

[tessaj]

It sounds like a few people have read Possession and nobody's voted for "Behind the Scenes at the Museum..." So perhaps we can just randomly choose from the other four (as all four have gotten at least one vote and nobody has objected to any of those)?

[Sarah]

I'll go with Vile Bodies, then.

[ImAHeather]

There's no rule that says I can't vote again.

Little, Big

Little, Big

Little, Big

I believe that's 3 votes for Little, Big! 4 counting the previous vote. It's a shoe-in!

[Vanessa]

Nice try. But no.

[Renata]

Evelyn Waugh please!

[Lauren Cerand]

What a cool idea, Vanessa! I shall look forward to the discussions. A cool source for contemporary lit, although not exactly a book club, is the Lit Blog Co-op (http://www.lbc.typepad.com). XX, LC

[Vanessa]

Thanks Lauren, I'll def. be checking that out.