Pick-a-Shelf discussion

June's shelf is chic-lit:

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/c...

What will you read for June?

I plan to read: (or at least a few of these)

A Walk to Remember
Bridget Jones's Diary
The Bridges of Madison County
Love Walked In
Rebel Angels
The Sugar Queen

I am surprised at how many chick-lit books fit the bookshelf challenge too! I hope to get these all in! :)

The Princess Bride 5/6/2010 **** stars
The Wednesday Sisters 16/6/2010 ****
Cranford 16/6/2010 *****
The Time Traveler's Wife 12/6/2010 *** stars
Size 12 Is Not Fat 1/6/2010 **** stars
This Lullaby 1/6/2010 *** stars
Wintergirls 6/6/2010 *****stars
A Great and Terrible Beauty 23/6/2010 ***
The Postmistress 24/6/2010 ****
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 26/6/2010 ****
Vanity Fair 29/6/2010 ****

I love it!! Perfect shelf for the start of summer! I really don't read Chick Lit very much, but I love them for summer reads. So I will try to read at least 2 or 3 to make up for my disappointing showing for French month.

Looking on my book shelf I did find
The Smart One
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (which is on the shelf, but I did not consider it to be chick lit)
Jane Austen Ruined My Life
The Girl Who Chased the Moon
The Spellman Files
Stargirl

another intriguing book I may try to find...
Scot On The Rocks: How I Survived My Ex-Boyfriend's Wedding With My Dignity Ever-So Slightly Intact
Lucy in the Sky

I must admit this is very much not a shelf I normally read from, but I did find a few shelved here that were already on my to-read list, so I should be able to branch out a little:

I will definitely get to this one, which is on another challenge I'm involved in:
Soulless

Others I am interested in:

Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Beloved
Chocolat
Possession
Garden Spells
Like Water for Chocolate

(The chocolaty theme is completely coincidental!)

Blarneygod, the shelf you've chosen is "chick-lit" with a "k," right? That's the one you've linked to. There IS a shelf without the "K" but with a LOT fewer books. I just want to make sure everyone is going to the same shelf.

ETA: I edited the topic post titles to read "chick-lit" with a "k."

Blarneygod, I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeon, but I thought the purpose of this group was "to expand your reading beyond your preferred genres." Your profile "about me" section begins, "I love romance novels." Romance. Chick Lit. Sounds pretty similar to me! Why not pick a shelf outside your favorite genre?

I think I will start with The Devil Wears Prada looking forward to reading something a bit lighter anyway, so am happy with the choice for June.

J. Travis, I tend to think of this group helping me expand beyond my preferred genres when others pick the shelves. :) I know I picked a favorite shelf when I was the shelf picker. There's nothing in the rules that says you can't.

Ooo i'm really excited for this topic!!
seeing as i'm doing the shelf challenge however i'll just start on Sex and the City can't wait!

Here is my list:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Luann, Thanks for fixing the typo! :)

Luann,

I wasn't suggesting Blarneygod's choice violated any rules. It's just an odd choice for a group specifically intended to expand your reading horizons. It's like being part of a travel club and choosing to visit your hometown. However, from the comments it looks like a good choice to get others out of their literary comfort zones, myself included.

I'll pick from the Chick-Lit shelf, but I refuse to read any book with the following words in the title: girl, shop, love, pink, etc. :)

I think I'll read Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe .***

I plan on reading . . .


1. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
2. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
3. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Here is my list for June, not sure which ones I will read or how many, but this is the list:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 6/3 ***
Pride and Prejudice, Insight ed. by Jane Austen 6/15 ****
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Hush: A Novel by Kate White 6/2 ****
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

And I might even fit in a Romance:

Key of Light by Nora Roberts
Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts

J Travis - How about some of the classics like Pride and Prejudice, or newer stuff like The Secret Life of Bees, The Help, or Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. There are 10,603 books on the shelf. They can't all be Romances. lol.

These are my picks and I'll be killing two birds with one stone as they are also on my list for the shelf challenge.

The Joy Luck Club
Her Fearful Symmetry
The Thirteenth Tale
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Stardust
and The Perks of Being a Wallflower I've already started this one but as I'm only a few pages in I'm going to put it aside until next month.

Did anybody notice the Harry Potter books or was I imagining it?

Lyn M wrote: "Here is my list for June, not sure which ones I will read or how many, but this is the list:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
[book:Pride and Prejudice, Insight ed..."

Great suggestions. I've already read and loved The Secret Life of Bees. I don't care for Jane Austen, though . . . lowers the testosterone too much! That and Natalie (yes, we're related) is a huge Austen fan, so I hear enough about her favorite author. I'll check out the other two books you mentioned. Thanks.

J. Travis wrote: "However, from the comments it looks like a good choice to get others out of their literary comfort zones, myself included. I'll pick from the Chick-Lit shelf, but I refuse to read any book with the following words in the title: girl, shop, love, pink, etc. :) I think I'll read Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. "

LOL - yes, I can see from your profile that chick-lit is FAR from being in your literary comfort zone. :) I'm glad you're able to find something you're willing to read on that shelf. It isn't exactly my literary comfort zone, either. But I do see a lot that will do double duty for our current challenge.

Lyn M wrote: "J Travis - How about some of the classics like Pride and Prejudice, or newer stuff like The Secret Life of Bees, The Help, or Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. There are 10,603 books on the shelf. ..."

J.Travis: Stardust and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are also on the list and I would not consider either Chick-Lit, but both are good books and on the shelf.

Karen wrote: "Did anybody notice the Harry Potter books or was I imagining it?"

We've finally found a shelf that doesn't have Harry Potter all over the first few pages! :) I checked the first three books, and the first HP isn't shelved as chick-lit at all. The next two have been shelved by ONE person as chick-lit.

My list for June:

* Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
* The Secret Life of Bees - Maybe this time I'll actually read it!
* several other titles on my list for our Bookshelf Challenge

I'm hoping for at least one of the following, a couple of them have been on the Mt. Bedsidetable for a very long time. None of them really fit hard core chick-lit but I was a little bit Mother Hubbard on that front. Certainly outside my comfort zone, will be delighted to get stuck into them if I can. Am still IOUing a Frenchie for this month (still got time) hopefully I'll get more of an early jump on June with this lot.
Midwives By Chris Bohjalian
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency By Alexander McCall Smith
Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

Karen wrote: "Did anybody notice the Harry Potter books or was I imagining it?"

Are they there? I was looking. That is my new thing, I want to find a shelf without Harry Potter on it. It is a personal quest.

Luann - So what you are saying is this shelf is Harry Potter Lite?

J. Travis wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "Here is my list for June, not sure which ones I will read or how many, but this is the list:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
[book:Pride and Prejudi..."

Glad I could help, Sometimes I am really glad that people shelve things in what I consider weird ways!

Cam wrote: "I'm hoping for at least one of the following, a couple of them have been on the Mt. Bedsidetable for a very long time. None of them really fit hard core chick-lit but I was a little bit Mother Hubb..."

There are some good ones on your list, Cam. I really like Chris Bohjalian as an author, but I haven't read that one yet. I hope you like it.

Blarneygod I'd like to say thank you for the trip down memory lane. There are books on the shelf that I had forgotten I'd read, but given that I read them over twenty years ago that is understandable.
I think I'm probably being a little unfair when I rate them as I'm doing according to what I would think now and not what the thirteen year old me would have thought.

Ok this is really stretching my comfort zone....still working on finding one to read...

Lyn M wrote: "Karen wrote: "Did anybody notice the Harry Potter books or was I imagining it?"

Are they there? I was looking. That is my new thing, I want to find a shelf without Harry Potter on it. It is a pe..."

All the books apart from book one are there, they just aren't on the first few pages, I had to check and see if they were there.

Not my cup of tea but hey that's why we are here to try new things.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants my sister in law said i had to read this book before i die so i guess i will start with this book and move on to the next.

I find it amazing to see what people label as chick-lit, I think some people should really Google the meaning...*laughing*
That being said I was able to find a ton of things from my Mount TBR, but I'm going to try and stick with the ones that will help eliminate books from the shelf challenge :0p


So I'm going to start with:
Garden Spells

and possibly:
The Poisonwood Bible
Her Fearful Symmetry
Little Women
The Host

Sunflower wrote: "Ok this is really stretching my comfort zone....still working on finding one to read..."

Sunflower - I know, there are too many pages to plow through. I looked at your list of read books, and wondered if you have ever read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It is about Chinese American women trying to assimilate into American society. It is one of my top books, and not what I would consider classic Chick-lit. Another author that is on the list, I really like, and I would not consider chick-lit is Chris Bohjalian. I know Midwives is on the list, not sure about these next two, but they are both quite good; The Double Bind and Secrets of Eden: A Novel. Just some thoughts.

I am going to try to read the below, which are all part of my bookshelf challenge:

Dead and Gone
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Digging to America
Sarah's Key
The Spellman Files
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Addition
Princess of the Midnight Ball
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

I used to read a lot of chicklit until they all started to become one big blur of generic plot, but going back into it should be interesting! I might end up reading Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner and Austenland by Shannon Hale

Lyn M wrote: "Sunflower wrote: "Ok this is really stretching my comfort zone....still working on finding one to read..."

Sunflower - I know, there are too many pages to plow through. I looked at your list of r..."

Thanks so much for the hints. I have actually read most of those-I have a rule that I only add books that I read after I joined GR, so there are a lot of books that I haven't put on my list. At present I will probably go with Hot Six-at least that one is there and it's the next one in the series for me!

I just picked up The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel by Lauren Weisberger from my local thrift store and will be reading it for June it as well.

my library has a lost copy of the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants the first book so i found many of the other books we have listed so i had checked out Baby Proof. It sounds to be maybe a different type of chick-lit in the fact that the their is no perfect family ideas, we will wait and see. It also surprised me at how many chick-lit books we have at my library.

Cam wrote: "I'm hoping for at least one of the following, a couple of them have been on the Mt. Bedsidetable for a very long time. None of them really fit hard core chick-lit but I was a little bit Mother Hubb..."

Cam- Little Women is one of the books I would own if I could only own 5. I have loved it all my life. Nothing earth shattering, but very sweet and entertaining.

Oh why, oh why did I read The Thirteenth Tale in May? And I've started Addition already, too. Doesn't seem reasonable to stop in the middle and then finish it next Monday. And most of the rest of what I've picked for the shelf challenge isn't here. Chick-lit is definitely not a shelf I'd ever think of on my own, so I'm surprised to find many I've read and enjoyed on the lists others of you are making. I think I'm one of the few people in the world who really did not like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Now, to find some I haven't read yet, ...

Lyn M.'s suggestions to Sunflower helped. I'll start with Midwives. And, since I just discovered Stephanie Plum during the shelf challenge, probably Two for the Dough.

I've heard Speak is wonderful but intense, and since I just finished Wintergirls by the same author, I think I'll pass on that for now.

Maybe, if I get to a 2nd round of the shelf challenge: The Poisonwood Bible, A Great and Terrible Beauty. And I'm intrigued by Jane Austen ruined my life So a maybe on that, too.

Question: If I read from the Chick-lit shelf this week before it is officially June do they still count?

Hmmmm....the shelf is really for June.
I guess similar to other challenges, I would say that if you started the book but were less than half way through it before June starts; we could count it for June.

Luann, Karen any thoughts on this that you would like to add?

Mitzie wrote: "I used to read a lot of chicklit until they all started to become one big blur of generic plot, but going back into it should be interesting! I might end up reading Good in Bed by [aut..."

Sunflower, I decided to try to make my "read" books list a life list and it is getting long. Of course I can't remember all the books I have read in all these years but I have put the ones I did remember on the list with approximate dates. I find it helps me when I am picking up books to read.

I'll give Something Borrowed and Love Walked In a try. I've had both on my shelf at home for a couple years, so I should try to get them done.

Melissa - Love Walked In is excellent, as well as the her second book, Belong to Me.

Susan - Glad my suggestions helped!

Lynne wrote: "Cam wrote: "I'm hoping for at least one of the following, a couple of them have been on the Mt. Bedsidetable for a very long time. None of them really fit hard core chick-lit but I was a little bit..."

Little Women is the one that's been on the Mt. for the longest Lynne - It really should be first cab off the rank, your recommendation should help too. Thanks Lynne

Little Women is one of the books that Lynne and I agree on. It is on both of our top 5 lists.

Slayermel wrote: "Hmmmm....the shelf is really for June. I guess similar to other challenges, I would say that if you started the book but were less than half way through it before June starts; we could count it for June. Luann, Karen any thoughts on this that you would like to add? "

My take on it is that the book can be started in another month, but needs to be finished in the month in question.

Slayermel and Luann, Thank you.... I will try to keep that in mind this weekend and not get too carried away.

Lyn M wrote: "Little Women is one of the books that Lynne and I agree on. It is on both of our top 5 lists."

A double recommendation - I'd be mad to pass it up now!