2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi Everyone!

It is time to start nominating books for our May 2016 group read! Our theme for the month is Celebrations. I feel like the year just started and we're already nominating for May, can you believe it?!

Here are some short rules for nominating books:

~ Each person can nominate 1 book.

~ Book must be available both as a physical copy and as an ebook.

~ Authors: Please do not nominate your own book.

~ Please include the name of the book and the author or link to the book.

~ Please do not nominate books that are part of a series, unless it is the first book.

~ You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your nomination.

~ When nominating, please state a connection to the theme.

~ You cannot nominate a book which has previously been a group read. Past buddy reads are fine. (See Group Reads in the bookshelf)


This thread will be closed by March 25th, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose the ten most nominated. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

Okay, this is out there but hear me out. I would like to nominate NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman. The reason this is a celebratory book to me comes from the book's own description:

Going back to the earliest days of autism research and chronicling the brave and lonely journey of autistic people and their families through the decades, Silberman provides long-sought solutions to the autism puzzle, while mapping out a path for our society toward a more humane world in which people with learning differences and those who love them have access to the resources they need to live happier, healthier, more secure, and more meaningful lives.

My brother Daniel has mild Asperger's but what social delays that he has because he just cannot understand cues that you or I pick up automatically are immensely handicapping at times. How do you explain to a second grader that it isn't him, really, that is making other little boys be mean but a chance of genetics?

This is a fairly new book so I haven't read clinical rebuttals, but if there's anything that make the lives of people like my 8 year old brother's life better, it's a reason to celebrate.

So, that's mine. I look forward to seeing everyone else's. We've had some great suggestions since I have been a part of this group which makes for hard choices come voting time!

Edited to fix: homophone abuse.

I would like to nominate The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

This may seem like a somewhat morbid choice for a theme of "celebration;" however, in the end the book is really a celebration of the strength of science and human courage in the face of a deadly disease and the carnage of the First World War.

I'm nominating Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.

The reason why is taken from the book description on Goodreads:

"Jenny's first book, LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. FURIOUSLY HAPPY is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that?"

or that being said, Let's Pretend This Never Happened" is OK too. I've heard a lot about them saying the books are hilarious and take on life with humor.

I nominate An Unnecessary Woman.

Celebration comes up more than once in the beginning of the book description:

One of Beirut’s most celebrated voices, Rabih Alameddine follows his international bestseller, The Hakawati, with a heartrending novel that celebrates the singular life of an obsessive introvert, revealing Beirut’s beauties and horrors along the way.

The rest of the description goes on to indicate that this book is about a celebration of literature. As a reader, I can get behind that.

Bobbi wrote: "Okay, this is out there but here me out. I would like to nominate NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman. The reason ..."

I second this book. I am very interested in this book because I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome 4 years ago (i'm 28), and I am still learning about it.

I second The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

I would like to nominate The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.

ReGina wrote: "I would like to nominate The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America."

Could you please state a connection to the theme Celebrations ReGina? :)

Thank you all! So many nominations already! I love to see all the different ways a theme gets interpreted!

(And thank you for all those links, makes it easy when I'm marking down their ratings ^^)

I'd like to nominate The Joy Luck Club. From the description:

In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money.

I think the idea of having a get-together or celebration as a way to ward off despair is a very human impulse.

I second "The Joy Luck Club." It is a book I have been meaning to read for a long time and from what I have heard from people who have read it, it is very celebratory- apparently leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside despite everything.

I would LOVE to reread The Joy Luck Club with the group, so I'll third it.

Kara wrote: "I would LOVE to reread The Joy Luck Club with the group, so I'll third it."

And I'll 4th it! Great idea, Cassandra.

Awesome! I was trying to decide between nominating that and Bel Canto (because music is central to celebration), but it looks like I made the right choice. :)

Cassandra wrote: "Awesome! I was trying to decide between nominating that and Bel Canto (because music is central to celebration), but it looks like I made the right choice. :)"

Three seconds' in a row, I think you did;)

I second Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir :)

i nominate Brave New World

I would like to nominate Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle

Celebrating the discovery of insulin and the huge difference it made in the lives of Diabetics. Taking Diabetes from a diagnosis of certain death to a treatable condition with people who can now live full lives.

Rachid, can you provide some connection to the monthly theme of celebrations?

I nominate The Passion of Artemisia. She was a celebrated artist, and the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. As a historical fiction about a trailblazing woman artist, the book is also a celebration of women in art.

But so many good choices already! I'm going to have a hard time voting this month.

Interesting choice, Katie! I hadn't heard of the book or the painter before, but I added it to my to-read list.

I nominate Daddy-Long-Legs which celebrates the joy of humour, youth and life.

I checked, and it's kindle as well as in print.

Karin wrote: "I nominate Daddy-Long-Legs which celebrates the joy of humour, youth and life.

I checked, and it's kindle as well as in print."

Thank you for your nomination! Haven't heard of it before, sounds interesting! And thank you for checking ^^

I nominate

Because I like reading romance books and I think this would be a great book to read

I nominate Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.

It may seem like an odd choice for the theme of celebrations but one of the definitions of celebration is "to engage in festivities".

The theme of the book has just as much to do with the culture of carnivals as well as disabilities, whether mental or physical. It is my absolute favorite book because it discusses disability in a unique and powerful way. I had to read this last semester in my English class and spent many afternoons with my Professor discussing it.

Aside, from the obvious carnival tie in to celebrations, Geek Love also deals with celebrations in the context of a cult. And how people from all over gather to participate and celebrate their devotion to "Aquaboy", regardless of how misguided.

ABOUT:
"Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out–with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes–to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious–and dangerous–asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same."


I truly believe everyone should read this book. It is just so well written and captivating. The messages throughout are powerful. Having lived with my own set of disabilities, this book touched me deeply and allowed me to think differently about my own as well as other's disabilities.

I am not sure if others will think this fits into the happy connotation of "celebrations" but celebrating can encompass a great number of things, not all positive.

That's great, Christine! Can you provide some connection to the theme of celebrations?

Carolyn, that's a super creative connection. I like it!

Love it!

Cassandra what do you mean?

Christine wrote: "Cassandra what do you mean?"

We have a theme every month. In May it is Celebrations. We ask you to state a connection to the theme when you nominate. It can be any connection really. Any reason you can come up with works fine :)

This book celebrates country music concerts

That's perfect! Thanks Christine. :)

Cassandra wrote: "Interesting choice, Katie! I hadn't heard of the book or the painter before, but I added it to my to-read list."

Thanks, Cassandra! She was an incredible artist, every woman who loves art should learn about her ;o) And this is my favorite painting of hers: "Judith Slaying Holofernes" (warning, it's a bit violent)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_...

katie wrote: "Cassandra wrote: "Interesting choice, Katie! I hadn't heard of the book or the painter before, but I added it to my to-read list."

Thanks, Cassandra! She was an incredible artist, every woman who ..."

Oh! I didn't recognize the name, but I've seen that painting. Believe it or not, we actually discussed it in an undergraduate psychology class.

Interesting choice of book. I may have to stick it on my list either way. :)

Winter wrote: "Karin wrote: "I nominate Daddy-Long-Legs which celebrates the joy of humour, youth and life.

I checked, and it's kindle as well as in print."

Thank you for your nomination! Haven'..."

Winter, I read Daddy Long Legs in like a single sitting one morning last year only knowing what was on the cover and a vague idea of what is was about, and I thought it was absolutely delightful, wonderful even. Definitely check it out! :D

(Although I have a book in mind to second, I want to wait until closer to the deadline to see what else turns up, so apologies for not being *completely* on topic. ;) :))

Paul wrote: "Winter wrote: "Karin wrote: "I nominate Daddy-Long-Legs which celebrates the joy of humour, youth and life.

I checked, and it's kindle as well as in print."

Thank you for your nom..."

I will put it on my tbr anyway then! It looked very good!

Me too, almost decided, just not quite ^^ So many good choices this time, but I always think it is lol.

Your welcome Cassandra

I will 5th The Joy Luck Club! I recently purchased it because I need to read it for the Yearly Randomiser Challenge! :)

I would like to nominate An Evil Cradling.

From the description: Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen and held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four and a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news and contact with anyone other than his jailers and, later, his fellow hostages, amongst them John McCarthy.

This book is a real celebration of the resilience of human spirit and the power of friendship.

Lindsay wrote: "I would like to nominate An Evil Cradling.

From the description: Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he wa..."

Thank you Lindsay!

René wrote: "I'd like to nominate The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling. It's a bit of a loose connection but anyone that enjoys her music, such as myself for example, would love to r..."

Thank you :)

[I'm prefacing this because I'm a little nervous, so I'd just like to say that this comment might get somewhat long in the tooth and tedious and annoying, and if that does become the case, I apologise in advance.]

I said upthread that I had a book in mind to second, but that I was waiting until closer to the deadline to see if something better came along. Well, half of that is still true, but the other half isn't. It still might be that something better comes along, or that it's already here (certainly I would be happy to read many if not all of the other books that have been mentioned here already, and I can always read the book I have in mind sometime this year regardless) but being honest with you, that's just an excuse now, a crutch. And it's gotten to be more and more of a one as the days have gone by, and it's one I need to throw away and leave behind for good.

With that, the book I want to second is NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, for ... well, I want to say several reasons, but really there's only one, and the rest sort of just extend outwards from that. The thing is, I was diagnosed with extremely mild Asperger Syndrome four or five years ago (I'm going on 23 this year), and it was also flagged as a possibility by one of my primary school teachers when I was five or six. It was never something I really talked much about or even thought about really - it seemed like life encouraged me to forget about it, and besides I didn't want it to be a crutch, and besides I didn't think it affected me *that* much, even if it explained a lot at the time, and to be honest it still does.

Well, I was wrong.

Certain ... events over the past two weeks or so that I don't want to go into in particular detail convinced me that, actually, no, it *does* make up a fairly vital part of the person that I am, or at least it feels like it does. And they got me to realise as well that I don't actually know enough about Asperger's or autism as I really should do. That there's still so much I have to learn. Which makes sense of course, I mean that's what life *is*, right? But anyway, while I may have the chronology all wrong in my mind and some of this came before and some of it after, what it feels like to me is that I entered this thread one day, and then again, and it was as if destiny was proclaiming itself before me.

I'd been interested in reading NeuroTribes for a while, incidentally. Getting nominated for a Choice Award stuck it in my brain, it did seem interesting (maybe my personal association helped with that, I'm not sure anymore), being in my library was a definite plus, and then when I later found out it won a prestigious non-fiction prize it just sort of buoyed it even more for me. Regardless it was always one of those books that I was content to leave on the backburner for Some Other Time, until now. Because when I came in here and saw it being nominated and saw Bobbi and Joanne talking, however briefly, about their experiences and their reasons, it felt like ... it felt like a sign. A sign to second this book, and to read it, and to share my experiences as well, because I know now that this is something that I should talk about, and not hide, because even if it was never something I was ashamed of per se, it's still a part of me, it's one I've been neglecting, that I need to know more about, and as long as I don't make it a crutch or an excuse for when I transgress (which I never want to do regardless) then it can be OK to talk about it, vital even. I know I might not be making sense to anyone, or if I am making sense then it's all just buried within so much reams of garbage and tautology and handwavey spiritualistic twaddle as to make nonsense of itself, but it's like something's been calling to me, and I would be a fool if I didn't respond.

...So. NeuroTribes. I'm seconding it. Is basically what I want to say. I realise I didn't need an entire blogpost to get across that fact, but if it helps any, it's what I wanted to say, and it's all true. It feels like what I *needed* to say, even. As well as that, I understand that this might come across as sheer callous emotional blackmail or the like, but it really isn't, and I really hope it doesn't. I will be completely fine with some other book that isn't NeuroTribes winning. An Unnecessary Woman sounds odd but absolutely fascinating. I've heard the greatest things about The Devil in the White City. Daddy-Long-Legs is a very good book. The Joy Luck Club might be a very good, but I'm not entirely sure, and I'd love to have the chance of potentially re-evaluating it. But I can only pick one book, so I pick NeuroTribes.

And if anyone read this piece of rambling glurge to the end, sorry again, but thank you for your time. And happy reading to you all. :)

Paul wrote: "[I'm prefacing this because I'm a little nervous, so I'd just like to say that this comment might get somewhat long in the tooth and tedious and annoying, and if that does become the case, I apolog..."

I'd like to second NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman too. Though I haven't been diagnosed or had any experience with Asperger's or autism before, I think it's never too late to learn about it and dispel the prejudices and incorrect facts that we all have been exposed to, while growing up.

Also Paul, I'd like to say, the things you, Bobbi and Joanne shared in here absolutely cannot come across as an emotional blackmail or something along those lines. Thank you all very much for sharing these with us. I'll happily read this book with all of you. :)

Happy reading everybody :)

Paul wrote: "[I'm prefacing this because I'm a little nervous, so I'd just like to say that this comment might get somewhat long in the tooth and tedious and annoying, and if that does become the case, I apolog..."

Thank you so much for sharing Paul and all else for sharing too, This group is the best.

This will also be my nomination, I decided to second Neuro Tribes. Actually it was almost decided the moment I saw it, but I wanted to wait a little while :)

Karin wrote: "I nominate Daddy-Long-Legs which celebrates the joy of humour, youth and life.

I checked, and it's kindle as well as in print."

This was one of my mother's favorite books growing up, and I read it and loved it as a teenager. There's also a movie of the same title based on the book and starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. I haven't thought of it in years, but I remember seeing it on TV and thinking it was great!

I nominate Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. The circus celebrates the child within all of us. This book has a healthy dose of story and fantasy and was nominated for Goodreads Choice last year.

I've been torn for the past hour (I wasn't staring at my computer screen I promise, I was doing research in between) on which book I'd like to second vote.

I won't call out the second book in my vote because
1) I only get one vote anyway
and 2) I don't want to be rude

Even while I'm typing now I'm still super torn for various reasons (age range, easy access to the book, etc) because I hope it becomes a popular option for the poll. If not, they're both on my to-read list.
This is tedious decision making! I just need to say it!

I second vote Circus Mirandus

From my point of view, as a reader I'm a huge fan of Fantasy, Magic, and rooting for the main character. In this novel, the storyline has me wanting to find out what happens to Micah.

It celebrates Circus life in a different life; that it is more real than what we would normally see as realistic or a "trick of the eye illusion". It will take us to a whole new perspective on a typical, classic adventure; this time with magic and a diverse imagination taking us there.

Like Megan stated, lets celebrate our inner child!

((Did the research, is available for Kindle, Hardback, Paperback and Audio))

Thank you both for the nomination and second vote!
And thank you for checking Taylor!

Last day of nominations, I will close the thread tomorrow :)

Closing nominations, keep your eyes up for the poll, it will be arriving soon, maybe one or two days later than usual though. :)