Clean Reads discussion

I guess we will go ahead and get a ahead start on nominations for July. That way we can be on top of getting our books on time. We have one from Lanetta already, Dirty Little Secrets, which qualifies as a clean read, totally, :0 It's the fictional story of a teen girl with a mother with a hoarding disorder. Dirty Little Secrets
If you use html tags to add the book title in your post, it will automatically appear in the list on the side for others to see, and they can easily check the reviews to see if they want to vote for your book.

I would love to nominate my book Heartsight - I'll donate PDF copies for anyone who wants to read it. I'm sorry, kind of new to Goodreads and don't know how to use a html tag.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

I would like to recommend either book A Single Shard|785453] or Jane Eyre

I would like to nominate A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

I'd like to recommend Your Future Demands Greatness and would be happy to donate a few kindle versions to group members if selected.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...
http://libertyhawk.net

Since other authors are nominating their own books, I'll nominate mine: If You Can't Stand the Heat.

It's the first book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series about an Austin, TX public health inspector who sets out to prove that her territorial stepsister didn't kill an egotistical French chef.

It's available as a paperback, Kindle, Nook, and eBook.

Robin Allen

I would like to suggest that nominating your own book seems a little unfair.

Maybe as soon as someone in the group reads it, they could recommend it??

I'm sorry. Did not realize that was against the rules. In fairness to me, I was not asking anyone to purchase-I would have provided the pdf copies. My apologies.

I don't know that is against the rules. I appreciate that you would provide pdf copies and I always appreciate suggestions for clean reads. I'm just saying that we all are looking for previously screened books that are clean and also have been enjoyed by a member of this group. It started to feel like everyone was advertizing, instead of suggesting a book they personally read and enjoyed. Anyone else care to comment on this? Janet, what do you think?

I think I need to take a little of the heat for this. I sent a message to ALL members of Clean Reads inviting them to participate and nominate a book for our July read. I didn't send any rules, just a "please come, we want you." That's my personality, and generally my way of doing things. Usually, it works fine. Among the responses, I was excited that a couple authors offered to send me their books to preview. I think that is one good solution to this quandry.
Another suggestion- We have a topic in Clean Reads dedicated for authors to promote their books, and that seems to be the most appropriate forum for authors to make readers aware of their books. :) However, we will be voting. I will try to let members know which books among the nominees I found to be easily available, which I found reviews that seems to indicate levels of appropriate/inappropriateness, etc. If anyone nominates a book that you feel is not an appropriate nomination for any reason, the best thing to do, is not vote for that book.
And, one of the reasons I sent the "please participate" post was because we have had very few nominations for books. So, please, we need to get nominations of books you have read or would like to read.

I got a message from Alice nominating The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M. Eden. This is pure chick lit, very clean, a regency era romance. Looks like fun, my only concern is whether it is available widely. It is published by Covenant. Can someone on the East Coast check a library and a bookstore for me, and Gabrielle, can you check up north? Thanks!

Janet wrote: "I got a message from Alice nominating The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M. Eden. This is pure chick lit, very clean, a regency era romance. Looks like fun, my only ..."

Ichecked the libraries in my area, and it is not available here. I live in southeast Michigan.

Hey Janet. Thanks for all you're doing with this. I checked the Charlotte NC library system, and The Kiss of a Stranger is not available. That would mark it off my list, as I don't usually buy books.

My local book club has read two books so far this year that I think would be good nominees for this group: "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin and "Remembering Isaac: The Wise and Joyful Potter of Niederbipp" by Ben Behunin. I really did enjoy them both.

Janet wrote: "I think I need to take a little of the heat for this. I sent a message to ALL members of Clean Reads inviting them to participate and nominate a book for our July read. I didn't send any rules, j..."

thanks for clarifying Janet. I wasn't trying to start anything. If these authors made these books available to someone in the group to preview, then maybe we could accept a nomination from them. I may just have to check them out myself, although I read books in the old school way. Library style.

I would nominate "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. You can check my review of it if you would like but it is a great book. Not sure if it is widely available.

Y'all-I will get the list of all the nominated books compiled later tonight or tomorrow, voting will commence this weekend. This will give folks time to put books on hold at the library, borrow, etc. Thanks for your participation!
On a personal note, after 4 very handsome grandsons, I got 6 lbs 13 oz of beautiful granddaughter this morning, courtesy of my oldest daughter. :) And an hour later the moving truck with my youngest daughter and her husband and their soon-to-be baby girl pulled out of my drive way to move 700 miles away to dental school. :( It's been a busy week.

janet: congrats!! you've had a little of both bitter & sweet today! thanks for taking time away to arrange the details of this club!

I need to apologize for being the first "rule breaker". I guess as the author of a potential book I need to request a review by a group member review it first. Happy to send a hard copy if there are any takers.

I have received several apologies from authors on our Clean Reads list, some publicly, some privately. But in all honesty, I feel that I sent out an ambiguous message, and several authors thought that I was sending it to them personally. So I owe all of you the apology for placing you in an awkward position. I am new also to this, and we don't really have much structure yet for our fledgling book club. It's hard to break a rule that hasn't been written. I think it was more a matter of what is appropriate, and we all know opinions on that can vary widely.
I certainly don't want to cause feelings between readers and authors. Someday (soon hopefully) those same readers may be standing in line at midnight waiting for one of these authors' next books to be released. So, let's all smile, be nice, and move on. Apologies not needed, but accepted anyway.

Janet, I can`t find Kiss of a Stranger here. I`m happy to hear about your new grandchild and one that is soon to be born. i hope everything goes well and you have a lot of fun with them.

I would like to nominate Holes by Louis Sachar.

Okay-back on track-
here's the list of nominees that can be found easily in local libraries and bookstores (thanks to all who checked for us!)
Holes YA novel, Newberry winner(great movie starred Shia LeBeouf)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweetadult WW2-current relationship/romance
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon "beautifully written fable for people of all ages, not just those in grades 3-6" (amazon.com)
Remembering Isaac: The Wise and Joyful Potter of Niederbipp slice of life story,1st of series
A Single ShardYA, Newberry Winner
Jane EyreClassic Gothic fiction
Dirty Little SecretsYA fiction about life with a hoarder
I am also going to add a book to the list, I feel a little guilty about it, we already have a great selection and don't need any more to chose from, but...the best book I have read in the last decade is The Help (and I read a lot of books). The movie is coming out in August, so if you want to read the book before you see the movie, this is a good month to read it.
I have read 4 of the nominees(vry good choices), and previewed the others. They all appear to be CleanReads worthy
Pls go to the poll and submit your vote. If you only get to read occassionally, vote for the book you most want to read. But if you read a lot, remember that the point of a book club is to talk about a book. Vote for the book that you most want to read and talk about, that will stimulate you to think; that makes you wonder why the author had the characters make that choice, or what you would have done in that situation.

Janet wrote: "
here's the list of nominees that can be found easily in local libraries and bookstores (thanks to all who checked for us!)
..."

I would vote for The Help since it is already on my to read list and I have it on my Kindle. I would love to discuss with the group.

Okay, I voted. I'll read along with whatever gets picked. Lots of good choices, there isn't anything on the list I wouldn't read -- and I some I've read already.

I loved The Help and Holes....However I just read Dirty Little Secrets that included a discussion guide and I would love to discuss the questions with someone….

Tracy wrote: "Hey Janet. Thanks for all you're doing with this. I checked the Charlotte NC library system, and The Kiss of a Stranger is not available. That would mark it off my list, as I don't usually buy books."
Tracy, it's good to see you around! How's your garden doing?

Yeah Lanetta! Way to lobby for your book! The entire point of this forum is to inspire discussion about books, politely and respectfully of course, so it's great to have you all getting involved.
Right now, Help is slightly ahead, but Holes, Hotel, Jane, are tied for 2nd and Dirty is one vote behind in 3rd. Every vote counts.

Janet wrote: "Okay-back on track-
here's the list of nominees that can be found easily in local libraries and bookstores (thanks to all who checked for us!)
Holes YA novel, Newberry winner(great mov..."
I vote for Help because I would love to discuss it but hope that we can read and discuss the others in future months.

Kaylynn,
Did you vote on the poll? That's the only way to make your vote count. And yeah, I have no objection to renominating a book in another month. I am having a hard time picking this month because we have so many good choices. I want to read them all! (Probably will eventually.)

Our poll closes at midnight tonight. As of right now, it looks like the winner will be The Help. I own this on audiobook, which is extremely well-done. 4 main characters, 4 different readers, all excellent; very, very entertaining. I rarely buy books, and I only own 2 audiobooks, the rest I get at the library. Anyway, I bought a paper copy at Costco tonight so I could make notes and underline things. After trying to read Calpurnina on audio, I decided that you just can't do a club book on audio, it's too hard to make a note. But I do love to read while I drive, knit, or do housework.

Janet wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Hey Janet. Thanks for all you're doing with this. I checked the Charlotte NC library system, and The Kiss of a Stranger is not available. That would mark it off my list, as I don't us..."

Thanks Janet. Things here are growing slowly but surely. It's been a fun obsession. Thanks again for your help around here.

Lanetta wrote: "I loved The Help and Holes....However I just read Dirty Little Secrets that included a discussion guide and I would love to discuss the questions with someone…."
Dirty didn't win, but it sounds really interesting to me. I want to read it, and have requested it from the library. You can renominate it next month, or , if you don't think it will make top of the list, I'd be happy to discuss it with you just for fun.

Janet wrote: "Lanetta wrote: "I loved The Help and Holes....However I just read Dirty Little Secrets that included a discussion guide and I would love to discuss the questions with someone…."
Dirty didn't win, b..."

I would love to discuss it with you....I just want to know how others would answer the questions...