You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

The theme for the August group reads is “Books that make you smile".

It's now time to nominate books. So if you have a book suggestion that makes you smile in some way, go ahead and nominate it. Please also include WHY it makes you smile This is quite a subjective theme and has a lot of scope. It could have a cute animal on the front, someone actually smiling on the cover, your favourite book of all time, favourite author, a fluffy feel good book, etc.

If you don't want to nominate your own book, you can second someone else's nomination instead, and that will count as your own nomination, and that book will be entered an extra time in random.org - giving the book an additional chance to make the cut.

Nominations can be seconded multiple times by different people . If you second a nomination, please make clear that is what you are doing. E.g. If I nominate "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", you need to state "I second Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone".

A couple of points to consider when nominating:

- To allow enough time for as many people as possible to read, try and limit the page count to approximately 400 pages maximum.

- To ensure the book is available for as many readers as possible, please consider whether your nomination is 1) still in print or 2) available as a reasonably-priced e-book (under $12) or 3) published no less than 3 months ago.

- Please check the YLTO Group Book Shelf to ensure we haven't already read the book in the last 2 years before nominating it.

- One nomination/seconding per person.

Only 5 books will be selected to be in the poll when it comes to voting.

Each of the chosen group read books will have a discussion leader assigned to help facilitate the discussion. The discussion leader will be the person who originally nominated the book, or someone who seconded their nomination if they do not wish to do it.

Nominations close 23rd July

Nominations so far:
The Garden of Evening Mists - Lisa, Annerlee, Cherie
Flying Dutch- Lanelle
Louisiana Longshot - Casceil, TJ
Must Love Otters - Lynn
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - Debra
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride - Janice
The Uncommon Reader - Carol
Just One Day - Peggy
Small Blessings - TrudyAn

Is 450 pages too long, Sarah?

If it's okay, I would like to nominate The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng. The cover always brings a smile to my face whenever I look at it because it is really pretty and it is what first drew me to the book.

We had a longer read this month due to me overlooking page count at nomination time so I think we should stick closer to the 400 page mark this coming month.

Ok, well in that case I will nominate another book by the same author, The Garden of Evening Mists. It's less than 400 pages long. The cover of this also makes me smile whenever I look at it.

I nominate Jane Steele.

I find the cover just so beautiful that it makes me smile...love it. I've also enjoyed reading this author's other stuff so that makes me smile in anticipation! ;)

I nominate .

This is the book I go to when I need cheering up. Lots of silly fun and mayhem. Last night I asked my son to name a book that made him smile and he immediately said, "Flying Dutch". Hmmm.

I've made a list of books that I have to whittle down. I can't make up my mind what I want to nominate. I have a few days.

Lisa wrote: "Ok, well in that case I will nominate another book by the same author, The Garden of Evening Mists. It's less than 400 pages long. The cover of this also makes me smile whenever I l..."

I second this one.

My copy has a gorgeous red and gold cover, which reminds me of a Chinese restaurant we visited a few times in Vienna. Same luscious decoration inside. We ordered a set meal called 'Family Good Fortune'... delicious (yum!) Nothing to do with the book, but it makes me smile anyway.

The book has been on my TBR list for ages and I don't think I'll ever read it without encouragement.

I nominate Louisiana Longshot, because it is a very funny book.

Casceil wrote: "I nominate Louisiana Longshot, because it is a very funny book."

Isn't Louisiana Longshot free on Amazon (USA)?

Lanelle wrote: "Casceil wrote: "I nominate Louisiana Longshot, because it is a very funny book."

Isn't Louisiana Longshot free on Amazon (USA)?"

The Kindle version is free. They also sell paperback copies for under nine dollars. And it has been out four years, so libraries or used bookstores may have it.

I'd like to nominate Must Love Otters

1) It has a humour tag so I'm hoping it makes me laugh
2) The cover does make me smile for some reason, it's cute
3) The book has Otters in it! How can you not smile when you think of otters!

https://www.facebook.com/thisisinside...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3...

Lisa wrote: "Ok, well in that case I will nominate another book by the same author, The Garden of Evening Mists. It's less than 400 pages long. The cover of this also makes me smile whenever I l..."

Oh, I want to second this!

I'll nominate Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores.

I'll second Louisiana Longshot. Looks like lots of fun.

I've read The Garden of Evening Mists. Much more reflective and somber in tone. Quite good tho, in my opinion.

I have to admit I am not really seeing what I hoped for in the nominations. I like reading light humorous books in the summer. I want something like A Man called Ove. or the Shopaholic books. I want summer candy. I just can't come up with any titles.

But this is why I join groups like this. It makes me read out of my comfort zone. It is how I found books like The Strange and beautiful
Sorrows of Ava Lavender and the Library at Mont Char,

I will be in whatever happens

This is a tricky theme Renee as it's subjective. We're all different and different things make different people smile for different reasons. I have two books in mind but they are both series books and not the first one unfortunately otherwise i might have nominated them. If i want to feel happier, i might fall back on a book by a trusted author that i really like or something light and easy to read like an urban fantasy book. These are what makes me smile, or perhaps more accurately, excited and wanting to read it above doing anything else.

Renee wrote: "I have to admit I am not really seeing what I hoped for in the nominations. I like reading light humorous books in the summer. I want something like A Man called Ove. or the Shopaholic books. I wan..."

If you're not seeing what you had hoped for, why not nominate something that you would like to read for this theme?

Like Sarah, I have several series books that fit the theme, but they are not the first in the series. So, I started looking at my wishlist and came up with about 5 titles that should be easily accessed.

I will nominate As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. I loved the movie The Princess Bride and there are bound to be some great stories about it in this book.

I nominate The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. I haven't read it, but the description is charming, and it's 120 pages. An excerpt is below:

"When the Queen in pursuit of her wandering corgis stumbles upon a mobile library she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, Bennett describes the Queen's transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word."

I just checked the page count on Jane Steele and it's over the 400 mark so I'll remove it from the nominations. I'll see if there is another book I'd like to nominate. It doesn't have any seconds (yet) so it's no big deal to me. :)

@Tasha - only by 16 pages! It's close enough. :-)

haha! ok then. ;)

I find it a bit hard to nominate something because I would like to read a story that makes me smile and leaves me happy, but how can I know that before actually reading the book?

I have Just One Day on my ereader, and the blurb reminds me of the movie Before Sunrise (or was it Before Sunset?) which did leave me happy and smiling :) and in any case the cover makes me smile, those two people holding hands while the sun sets. So that's my nomination.

My TBR shelf doesn't hold anything suitable for this theme. After a bit of searching, I came across a few possibilities, none of which I know anything about. I will nominate Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof. It appears to be a heartwarming story, and has received good reviews from several GR friends.

Janice wrote: "Like Sarah, I have several series books that fit the theme, but they are not the first in the series. So, I started looking at my wishlist and came up with about 5 titles that should be easily acce..."

I have been waiting to read this book, Janice. Yay!

I agree with Peggy in message 24. :)

From GR, just because I was curious. "Books that make me smile"

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

It might not do for a discussion but The Dalai Lama's Cat made me smile - I recommend it to everyone.


Cherie, thanks for the link to the "Books That Make Me Smile" list.

Joan wrote: "It might not do for a discussion but The Dalai Lama's Cat made me smile - I recommend it to everyone..."

I looked at that one when I was scouting out books. One of the things I considered when I was searching was whether or not the book would make for a good discussion. This seems to be a tough category for that. However, we love a challenge. :)

This is a tough one for me to nominate for. I have a couple of books that I intend to read that fit the theme for me, but wouldn't make good nominations. One is 4th in a series and the other is just being released July 31st.

There are a couple of nominations above that I'd be interested in reading. I can't decide if I want to second one of these or find something else to nominate. Decisions, decisions... maybe I'll just let it play out this month and vote for what makes it in?

Joan wrote: "It might not do for a discussion but The Dalai Lama's Cat made me smile - I recommend it to everyone.


I so agree, Joan! Good one!

Bought this one a while back. The cover and the story's premise both make me smile. I was hesitant to nominate it tho since it's a fantastical blending of 16th and 21st century settings and characters, some fictional, some nonfictional.


Angelica Lost and Found

I got the impression that it's a bit hard to get hold of a copy so i didn't nominate it. Plus, it's so unusual.

Any way, it's one of my prospects, and i thought some in this group might find it an interesting book to check out some time.

Oh, my gosh! No more. If the book nominated here, so far, was not already on my TBR list, I have added it. :0)

Joan - I love the cover of The Dali Lama's Cat! I even have a shelf called "love-the-cover" and it is definitely there!

TJ, your book sounds great too.

I think I should remove my nomination of Jane Steele. It's quite new and it has a long holds list at the library. I'm thinking it might take people a while to get the book so maybe not the best of noms. I'm reading it now too bc it came in and I'm afraid if I let it go it won't be back for a while.

Nominations are now closed. I'll set up a poll tomorrow.

Tejas Janet wrote: "Bought this one a while back. The cover and the story's premise both make me smile. I was hesitant to nominate it tho since it's a fantastical blending of 16th and 21st century settings and charact..."

sounds interesting - The Guardian described it as "a corker" so I can't wait to read it.

Joan, your comment got me to look up the Guardian review. Do you already have access to a copy of Angelica Lost and Found?

From the review, learned that author Russell Hoban, who is new to me, was almost 86 when this book was published. I love how the reviewer sums up the book as:

a wildly entertaining, intellectually adventurous and marvelously odd attempt to answer a question we all must have asked ourselves at some point: what would happen if a hippogriff in a painting fell in love with a mythological heroine and went to find her in present-day San Francisco?