April 2025 Nominations > Likes and Comments

I'm opening our nomination thread for our April read a little early.

The theme for the month is going to be - Expulsion

Charlie Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889. He was a British born stage performer who later moved to California and made a permanent mark on Hollywood. J. Edgar Hoover was not a Chaplin fan and long suspected Chaplin of being a communist sympathizer. Hoover would spend years trying to have Chaplin expelled from America before finally getting his wish in 1952 when Chaplin was denied a re-entry visa after a trip to England. Chaplin would eventually return to America in 1972 to receive an Honorary Academy Award.

The April group read theme is expulsion. All nominated books must feature a main character who was expelled from their home. It can be a physical house, homeland, or any other “home”.

REMINDERS
NO SELF NOMINATION- Any member who self nominates a book, will have the post deleted and the member will be removed from the group.
NOMINATION POST MUST INCLUDE: TITLE, AUTHOR, AND THE PLACE THE MAIN CHARACTER WAS EXPELLED FROM (HOME, COUNTRY, ETC.) - If any one of these three things is missing from the nomination post, it will not be counted.
EVERY MEMBER GETS ONE NOMINATION AND ONE SECOND - Please make sure you are clearly marking if you are nominating and/or seconding a book. Too much extra chatter in the nomination thread makes it difficult for the moderators to keep track of the books that need to be counted.
BOOKS IN A SERIES MUST BE READ IN SERIES ORDER -Book 4 in a series cannot be nominated if the group has not read books 1-3
For a complete breakdown of how the nomination process works, see this thread - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE look over the bookshelf containing all of the past group reads. Past group reads cannot be nominated again -
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

I'm nominating Heresy by S.J. Parris. The main character is excommunicated (expelled from the Catholic church and forced to leave his home country.

Where the crawdad sings by Delia Owen. Hope this what is the right topic

Erica wrote: "Where the crawdad sings by Delia Owen. Hope this what is the right topic"

I'm not sure how this book fits with the expulsion theme.

I nominate Queens of Norwich by L.K. Wilde. Ellen Hardy’” is forced to leave her home at age six when her mother sells her to a travelling fair…

I nominate For whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway the hero Robert Jordan is expelled from life. It may be a bit of stretch for the theme. He is an American involved in the Spanish Civil War

I nominate Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung. It's excellent, very well written and compelling, and tells the story of the Ang family's expulsion from their land and home during the Communist Revolution.

Margaret wrote: "I nominate For whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway the hero Robert Jordan is expelled from life. It may be a bit of stretch for the theme. He is an American involved in the Spanish Civil..."

This doesn't fit the group's definition of historical fiction as it wasn't written more than 50 years after the events of the book.

Wendy wrote: "I nominate Queens of Norwich by L.K. Wilde. Ellen Hardy’” is forced to leave her home at age six when her mother sells her to a travelling fair…"

I'm not finding this book.

I second Heresy by S.J. Parris.

Gretchen wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I nominate Queens of Norwich by L.K. Wilde. Ellen Hardy’” is forced to leave her home at age six when her mother sells her to a travelling fair…"

I'm not finding this book."

It's Queenie of Norwich.

I nominate A History of Burning by Janika Oza
At the turn of the twentieth century, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labor on the East African Railway for the British. In 1972 under Idi Amins brutal regime and the South Asian expulsion, the family has no choice but to flee.

The lotus shoes by Jane Yang

I second A History of Burning.

I second Heresy by S.J. Parris

I nominate Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa. Palestinian family is driven from home by Israel in 1948 and placed in a refugee camp.

I second Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

I second Daughters of Shandong

I second The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang.

I second Heresy by S.J. Parris

I nominate Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. The main characters are expelled from their community due to violence and must find a safe haven to live a better life.

Gretchen wrote: "Erica wrote: "Where the crawdad sings by Delia Owen. Hope this what is the right topic"

I'm not sure how this book fits with the expulsion theme."

I'm playing the devil's advocate...the young girl was being "expelled" from her home and the only life she knew since both parents were gone or deceased.

Colleen Chi-Girl wrote: "Gretchen wrote: "Erica wrote: "Where the crawdad sings by Delia Owen. Hope this what is the right topic"

I'm not sure how this book fits with the expulsion theme."

I'm playing the devil's advocat..."

It needs to be explained by the person who made the original nomination as per the first post. Unless you are nominating the book, then it needs to be done in a new post that meets all the above requirements.

Gretchen wrote: "I'm nominating Heresy by S.J. Parris. The main character is excommunicated (expelled from the Catholic church and forced to leave his home country."

Just read the summary and reviews of Heresy, and would love to read it. So it has my vote.

I second "The Heresy," by S J Parris

(sounds really interesting)

Becky wrote: "I nominate Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung. It's excellent, very well written and compelling, and tells the story of the Ang family's expulsion from their land and home durin..."

This was a great book!!

I would like to nominate Babel by R.F.Kuang!

I second The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang 🤍

I second Heresy by S.J. Parris!

BigReader wrote: "I nominate Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. The main characters are expelled from their community due to violence and must find a safe haven to live a better life."

This isn't historical fiction.