Pick-a-Shelf discussion

July's shelf is History

What will you read?

When I went to pick this shelf, I changed my mind about a half dozen times--it was just as hard to narrow down my book selections. I've got a pretty ambitious July, but am traveling back to the States which is a 24 hour flight(s), so will log in lots of reading time! Hopefully I'll be able to finish all these books!

1. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
2. Nicholas and Alexandra
3. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
4. London: The Novel
5. When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge
6. To Hold the Crown: The Story of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
7. Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome
8. 1776 (so many people have it on their list, it must one to read! Besides, it's Independence month, how appropriate, right?)
9. Marie Antoinette: The Journey

Great shelf choice :)

Here is what I hope to read:

Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
In Cold Blood
The Book Thief
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

My choice would be A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

What an interesting shelf! It ends up being a combination of different types of history (daily, scientific, anthropological, etc.) and historical fiction. There's so much variety here, I'm overwhelmed with choice.

I found dozens I want to read (and at least 15 already on my TBR list), but as I'm working on a comprehensive 3-month challenge in the Dark Fiction group, I have to stick to books I can feasibly shoehorn into that challenge - books that will count for both challenges. That leaves me relatively few options. These three do double duty, and I will try to read them this month:

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau


(Tina - I loved Wild Swans! I read it for an Asian History class, and I found it truly edifying. I hope you enjoy it, too.)

I know that I am not going to be able to read all of the books on my list, but I plan to pick from these:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Help
Little House in the Big Woods
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Northanger Abbey
Romeo and Juliet
Great Expectations
Moby-Dick

I'm so excited! I was just looking into a couple of books from this list yesterday.

I'm debating, but here are a few I'm thinking about reading. I know I won't be able to read all of them, particularly if I try to read the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1
Marie Antoinette: The Journey
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Undaunted Courage
Guns, Germs and Steel

I will probably read some of the following.
The Lute Player
One Hundred Years of Solitude
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 5
Death Comes As the End
Madame Bovary
Kim
I, Claudius
The Last Days of Socrates
The Good Earth
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
The Poisonwood Bible
The House at Riverton
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
The Crystal Cave

I hope to be able to read either/or both
Pope Joan By Donna Woolfolf Cross
White Coolies By Betty Jeffrey

I am going to try...

The Shadow of the Wind
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane,
The House at Riverton,
and possibly Memoirs of a Geisha .

I am also interested in Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind.

I know I won't get to many of these, but I can't decide right now, so will be reading from this list:

1776 by David McCullough
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough July 20
John Adams by David McCullough
anyone seeing a pattern here?!

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

I really want to do this. I've been lurking, but it looks like so much fun! So here's what I might get done in July...

1.Under the Banner of Heaven
2.The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
3.Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned
4. Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
5. London: The Biography
6.The Black Tower

Oh my gosh there are so many good books on this shelf! How to narrow it down!

Candiss wrote: "What an interesting shelf! It ends up being a combination of different types of history (daily, scientific, anthropological, etc.) and historical fiction. There's so much variety here, I'm overwh..."

I've heard lots of great things about it! I can't wait for July to get here so I can start it :)

Blarneygod wrote: "I know that I am not going to be able to read all of the books on my list, but I plan to pick from these:

Memoirs of a Geisha
The Iliad
The Prince
[book:To Kill..."

Oh you've got some good ones picked out! To Kill a Mockingbird. . .one of my favorites!

The bad thing about everyone posting their book selections is that I find myself wanting to add their books to my list too! You guys have picked out some great books so far :)

Adrienne wrote: "I really want to do this. I've been lurking, but it looks like so much fun! So here's what I might get done in July...

1.Under the Banner of Heaven
2.[book:The Lost City of Z: A Tal..."

Welcome Adrienne! Glad you've joined us!

BJ Rose wrote: "I know I won't get to many of these, but I can't decide right now, so will be reading from this list:

1776 by David McCullough
The Johnstown Flood by [author:D..."


I looked at reading We Wish to Inform You. . . too. It looks good (is that okay to say, considering it's topic?). How Irish Saved Civilization also looks good--I'll be watching to see what you think of it!

Tina wrote: "Blarneygod wrote: "I know that I am not going to be able to read all of the books on my list, but I plan to pick from these:

Memoirs of a Geisha
The Iliad
[book:The Prince|2..."

I am cheating a little with To Kill a Mockingbird because I read it in the 8th grade (about 17 years ago)... but I don't believe that any book I read for school when I was under 18 really counts as reading it... I definitely don't remember it at all... I remember the movie though:) Anyway, I am using this shelf as motivation to finally really read that book:)

Good choice on the shelf... I have found more books that I want to read than I have time to do so as usual:) My original list was a lot longer before I cut it a bit:)

Tina wrote: "The bad thing about everyone posting their book selections is that I find myself wanting to add their books to my list too! You guys have picked out some great books so far :)"

That happens to me every month. :)

Blarneygod wrote: I am cheating a little with To Kill a Mockingbird because I read it in the 8th grade (about 17 years ago)... but "

It's not cheating to reread something for the monthly shelf, Blarneygod. And if you're going to reread anything, To Kill a Mockingbird is an awesome choice!

Blarneygod wrote: "Tina wrote: "Blarneygod wrote: "I know that I am not going to be able to read all of the books on my list, but I plan to pick from these:

Memoirs of a Geisha
The Iliad
[book..."

I agree, definitely not cheating to reread a great book!

I also LOVED The Help and The Guernsey Literary Society on your list . . .you chose some great books!

so far I've picked At Home: A Short History of Private Life which because of its size will have to be read at home.

for holiday reading so far I've got The Paris Vendetta: A Novel and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

still need to pick a few more for at home and some ebooks for holiday.

Wow! I'd have plenty to pick from without even looking at the shelf, just from browsing other people's picks. But there are some neat ones there that no-one's mentioned yet, too.

For anyone looking for more ideas, I'd highly recommend:
Night by Elie Wiesel and The Red Tent by Anita Diamant Both are among the rare books I've given 5*. Night is short, but intense. The Red Tent gives a hypothetical view of how biblical stories might have been written if women had been given equal air time. Anita Diamant is just a pleasure to read! And yes, of course, To Kill a Mockingbird, as some of you have already said.

My plan:
We're visiting Hannibal in July, so it seems a great time to reread Tom Sawyer (though I don't know why it's on this shelf). I also have a copy of Kim that was my mother's as a child, so will definitely read that. New discoveries from the shelf: Open Veins of Latin America and Wild Swans. And if there's any time left, I'll try for two I've been meaning to get to for a long time: Poisonwood Bible and Maus (one of my son-in-law's favorite books).

Whew! Wonder whether that leaves any time for the house or garden work I'd planned for July. (:>)

A couple more for at home Alone in Berlin and Eye of the Red Tsar: A Novel of Suspense .

Thanks Tina and Luann!

Okay I browsed through to page 70 and have a huge list that are on my TBR and I'm not sure which ones of these I'll end up deciding to read as I keep changing my mind :0) On a positive note up to page 70 no Potters no Twilight :0P

Schindler's List
Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
Mary Queen of Scots
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Mythology
The Red Tent
Pope Joan
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
To Kill a Mockingbird
Gone With the Wind
The Black Dahlia
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The Virgin's Lover
The Scarlet Letter

Okay so like I said that's what I've narrowed it down too, there's no way I'm going to be able to read them all, so we will see what ends up happening :0)

Tina wrote: "BJ Rose wrote: "I know I won't get to many of these, but I can't decide right now, so will be reading from this list:

I looked at reading We Wish to Inform You. . . too. It looks good (is that okay to say, considering it's topic?). How Irish Saved Civilization also looks good--I'll be watching to see what you think of it! ..."

I know what you mean about the topic of We Wish... I'll probably get to that one, because it's so timely and I tentatively have it in another challenge as well. Not sure about How the Irish..., but I'll post on them if I read them.

Slayermel wrote: "Okay I browsed through to page 70 and have a huge list that are on my TBR and I'm not sure which ones of these I'll end up deciding to read as I keep changing my mind :0) On a positive note up to page 70..."

OMG! You took the time to go through 70 pages?? I had so many choices after 10 pages, I was afraid to go any further!!

I did look at 6 pages at the very end of the list - no Harry there, either!

I'll not say how many pages I looked at but while Harry Potter himself isn't there The Tales of Beedle the Bard is

Christy wrote: "I'm so excited! I was just looking into a couple of books from this list yesterday.

I'm debating, but here are a few I'm thinking about reading. I know I won't be able to read all of them, parti..."

Christy - I am reading Marie Antoinette: The Journey currently, and I am really enjoying it.

Tina - this is such a cool choice. As you know, I love history, so I have a HUGE selection, here is what I think I will choose from to read:

Thomas Cromwell: Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Tyrant: The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister by Robert Hutchinson
To Hold the Crown: The Story of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York by Jean Plaidy
Finish Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser since I am less than half way through,
A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People by Steven E. Ozment
1776 by David McCullough
The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
The Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure by Adrian Levy
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Perfume: the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Lincoln by Gore Vidal

I could go on all night, lol, but I choose from this list as I am already slated to read the above for other groups and challenges. I would like to at least read the first three or four.

Lyn M wrote: "Tina - this is such a cool choice. As you know, I love history, so I have a HUGE selection, here is what I think I will choose from to read:

1776 by David McCullough
[..."

Oooo, didn't realize To Hold the Crown was on there--I'll add it to my list since I'm reading it anyway for the Tudor's bookclub-you're reading it for there too, right?

I read The Children of Henry VIII awhile back and loved it! Weir, so far for me, has always been spot on. Hope you like it too! Same with Red Tent and Kitchen Boy--loved both of them--You've got some great choices! You'll definitely be busy reading all month long :)

Tina wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "Tina - this is such a cool choice. As you know, I love history, so I have a HUGE selection, here is what I think I will choose from to read:

1776 by [author:David McC..."

Ya, I'm going to have to read a lot of histories,DARN! And yes, I am reading To Hold the Crown for the Tudor group. It was the first book I checked, and I think only one person marked it as history, but it was there.

Christy wrote: "I'm so excited! I was just looking into a couple of books from this list yesterday.

I'm debating, but here are a few I'm thinking about reading. I know I won't be able to read all of them, parti..."

Kudos for wanting to attempt reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall. You may want to get this one on audiobook. It's really long. Chapters 15&16 are generally seen as key to his argument (which he never clearly states), namely, that the rise of Christianity caused the fall of Rome. Keep in mind Gibbon was an Enlightenment thinker who was reacting against traditional interpretations.

You might also want to read Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance by H.A. Drake about the first Christian emperor or Peter Brown's The Making of Late Antiquity. Both are excellent books on the later Roman Empire by world class scholars who know how to write well.

An easy shelf for me since I teach history! I plan to read The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence and maybe Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World by Timothy Brook if I have time.

I hope to get to at least a couple of these:

Fast Food Nation
Leviathan
Schindler's List
His Majesty's Dragon
The Shadow of the Wind
Gone With the Wind

So far there are three Harry Potters on this shelf although i haven't seen any twilight ones.

Harry strikes again!!

I will try to read these:

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
2. Doomsday Book
3. These is My Words
4. Alice I Have Been
5. Assassination Vacation
6. The Shelters of Stone

Amy - I read Alice I Have Been recently and really enjoyed it. Do you like historical fiction?

Plenty to choose from for July - great choice! I am going to start with The Grapes of Wrath which I have been planning to read for ages. Then Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, I will also try to finish The Children of Henry VIII which I have as an audio book on the ipod but I think that stills counts.

I'm more of a mystery/suspense reader, but I have enjoyed some historical fiction. I loved Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, The Help and Saving Ceecee Honeycut. The later two I listened to on CD and I found the readers really transported me into the story.

Amy, I loved These Is My Words. There is also a sequel called Sarah's Quilt, which I haven't read yet. I also loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!

Leonie, audiobooks definitely count!

I spoke too soon there is a twilight book.

I'll be reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel first, and I'll see how I go - The Iliad is waiting beside my bed as well.

I also loved Wild Swans, Red Tent and Children of Henry VIII from other people's list so enjoy!!

Cathy - Wow, both Wolf Hall and The Illiad? That would be quite an accomplishment.

Lyn M wrote: "Cathy - Wow, both Wolf Hall and The Illiad? That would be quite an accomplishment."

Yeah - probably won't happen, but you can only aim high! I've still got to get through Vanity Fair for Victorians read yet!

Cathy wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "Cathy - Wow, both Wolf Hall and The Illiad? That would be quite an accomplishment."

Yeah - probably won't happen, but you can only aim high! I've still got to get through Vanity F..."

Whew! You've got a couple of chunksters picked out! I'm just starting Vanity Fair too--had hoped to be further along than just starting, but have been caught up in the book challenge fever and it's been pushed aside till I get the challenge accomplished (I'm a woman on a mission ;)

Tina wrote: "Cathy wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "Cathy - Wow, both Wolf Hall and The Illiad? That would be quite an accomplishment."

Yeah - probably won't happen, but you can only aim high! I've still got to get thro..."

I too have Vanity Fair sitting on my shelf... but it's size is way to intimidating... I probably won't attempt to read it until I am done with school... same with Fountainhead, Gone With the Wind, Anna Karenina and Don Quixote. All of these books have been on my shelf forever but they are sooooooooooooo long.

1. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
2. A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz
3. Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis
4. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz
5. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
6. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
8. "They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance by Anthony S. Pitch
9. Who the Hell Is Pansy O'Hara?: The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 of the World's Best-Loved Books by Jenny Bond & Chris Sheedy

Really, I just have all of these on my bookshelf at home, so I have these to choose from. lol