Irish Readers discussion

Hi Everyone

Hope everyone is enjoying Water for Elephants. I haven't been able to join in this month but I hope to join in with the discussions next month.

Time to start nominating books for our July Read. You all know the drill. Please try to add your book as a link to avoid it getting looked over when I add the books to a poll.

Voting is closed June 24th.

How about One Day by David Nicchols. It's been on my to-read list for a while, and the film is coming out soon, and I love reading books before they hit the big screen :)

Mairead wrote: "How about One Day by David Nicchols. It's been on my to-read list for a while, and the film is coming out soon, and I love reading books before they hit the big screen :)"

Only just read it Mairead. It was our first group read a few months ago. I think most people enjoyed it, so you should give it a go.

Any other suggestions?

I nominate The Hare with Amber Eyes A Family's Century of Art and Loss

Sam wrote: "I nominate The Hare with Amber Eyes A Family's Century of Art and Loss"


Love the sound of this book Sam, I have already put it on my to read list, as right up my street, have you read it yourself?

Sam wrote: "I nominate The Hare with Amber Eyes A Family's Century of Art and Loss"

Sounds really interesting Sam. It's very different from my usual choice of book, but so have most of the group reads so far.

This one might just get my vote this month.

@ Dem - It's in my to read list as well. I saw him on the Sky Book Show and thought he sold the book really well.

@ Keith - Not my usual type of read either, but trying to broaden my horizons, and it's had rave reviews.

Well, I really, really loved Paper Towns by John Green. It's quirky, but brilliantly written, and even though its based at the teen market (because the characters are teens) it's really about discovering who you are, what you want, and Margo Roth Spiegelman really does dole out the best revenge.

I like the sound of that book Sam, even though Historical fiction isn't really my thing. It sounds interesting :)

Can I nominate The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho it is on my to read list.

Carol wrote: "Can I nominate The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho it is on my to read list."

That's been on my to read list for the last 3 years. If it wins it will give me the kick I need to read it.

Oh no, no no no no, please don't nominate The Alchemist! There is really a very few authors whom I actually actively HATE and Coelho is top of that list... ;P

Sam - your book yet again looks really interesting. I'll see what others nominate but I think I might go for that one! :)

How about a russian writer? The Idiot by Dostoevsky

@Carol - I'd be more than happy to read The Idiot again, it's one of my favourite books! :)

But please don't mind me, nominate The Alchemist if that's what you'd like to read. If it's picked I'll at least have a chance for a LONG rant about everything that I think is wrong with it ;P

Carol wrote: "Can I nominate The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho it is on my to read list."

Yeah don't listen to Joanna..she's just out for a moan! ;P

Gotcha whatever comes up I will have a go at it and hopefully keep up with both of you, lol

Arrrgh I've already read the Alchemist (Meh.) and The hare with amber eyes (which really is brilliant).

I shall nominate.....hmm.

Point Deception.

@Paul Good idea, I was wondering what to nominate but that would be pretty cool!

@Keith 'out for a moan!' ?! How dare you!!?

@Carol - what he said :)

I didn't like The Alchemist either. I didn't actually finish it either..

I'd like to back up Mairead's book. All for reading something that someone has actually already read and liked!

Aw, thanks. :)

Here's a quote from it, just so you can see if it's your kind of thing. :)

What a treacherous thing it is to believe a person is more than a person"
— John Green (Paper Towns)

I am nominating Beautiful by Katie Piper. Brilliant book!

@ Lauren - I watched a documentary about her, I think it was on Channel 4 it was very moving. She seems like a very brave lady.

I actually would be happy to read any of the books nominated so far (... apart from 'Alchemist'... sorry... can't stand it). I'd like to make a nomination though for Little Brother

It's technically a YA novel, and while I'll be the first one to admit that it has its (BIG-ish) flaws, I still really enjoyed it and I think it would be interesting to see what you all make of it. :)

I would love to read that book Joanna, it sound brilliant.
And YA is an under-rated genre. :)

YA is completely underappreciated. Favourite genre!! ^_^

Agreed, YA (and children's lit!!) rocks! :)

Yay! I was actually very upset with an article in the wall street journal lately, condemning all YA.
Especially since they suggested that certain books in the genre glamourize, or even promoted suicide, and that is untrue of any and all books on the subject that I have read in the genre.
I know, completely off topic, but it was infuriating. Silly, judgemental people.

Huh?? Can you get me a link to this article?

Lol thats what you get for reading the wall street journal :p

Paul wrote: "Lol thats what you get for reading the wall street journal :p"

Ha, true. I just read the reaction articles, and heard the gist of it since there was such controversy over it.
There was a YA SAVES trend on twitter for weeks; real life stories of people who dealt with situations and life thanks to YA.

This is the article, I think.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...

Thanks Mairead, I'll read it some other time (probably tomorrow at work ;P) a bit lengthy for now. But to take out of context: "nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." Ehm... is that not what being a teenager is all about?? ;P Deep, dark, melodramatic stuff? Or maybe that's just me ;P

Anyway, it seems to be a bit focused on one type of YA literature, which I feel is very unfair. YA is such a broad category and to say it's all 'dark & twisted' just proves that you haven't really looked properly. Ok, I'll rant about it some more when I read the article and have a bit better idea what they're on about ;P

:D There's a poll with that article, I love the results:
'Are dark themes in youth fiction helpful or harmful to teenagers?' Response: 90.6% (5430 votes) Helpful, 9.4 (561 votes) Harmful
Good to know people haven't completely lost their minds ;)

What about the Secret Garden?

Are you nominating it Erin? You don't need to ask like!!

COME ON PEOPLE GET NOMINATING!!! We have like 300 members and only 7 nominations! 1 per 50 members! Can we nominate more than one or whats the set-up? I'm happy with the one I nominated though, will vote for it too. Maybe I'll go nominate an Irish read 6 weeks in advance.. :p

I thoroughly enjoyed reading David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet recently and would love a spur to read one of his other novels. Cloud Atlas anyone?

No, but they're going to start filming for Cloud Atlas in Belgium soon, so I'll have to read it soon :)

I am really liking the nominations so far. :) Looks like whatever wins it'll be something I'd be happy to read.

@Picoroco - I haven't read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet yet but I've really enjoyed some of his other books - Cloud Atlas among them. And I've only read it in translation, I wouldn't mind reading it again in original. :)

@Mairead - really, they're filming it? :) I can't quite imagine it as a movie, that would be interesting to see.

I don't mind reading what's up there but what about, The Odyssey or A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Both are amazing and I'm going to read them soon anyway.

Ye've probably read this already but id like to nominate The Bookseller of KabulIve heard its excellent?

I'm in the middle of Unbroken and would like to nominate it.
The story is amazing and should open a few good conversations?

Paul wrote: "Point Deception."
Paul I was counting on your Hare vote!!!! I am with Joanna-- no Alchemist.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Thx Kevin I had not figured out how to do that
User error!!

No problem Naoise, I stumbled upon it myself.

Mae wrote: "Paul wrote: "Point Deception."
Paul I was counting on your Hare vote!!!! I am with Joanna-- no Alchemist."

:P I've already read both now so I'm not sure what I'll vote for tbh.

Gonna close this thread now as I have counted 11 nominations and we are nearly at the end of June.

Will get the poll up and running in the next day or so.