conversation

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson has won the Man Booker Prize beating out the favorite, C by Tom McCarthy.

Sir Andrew Motion, Chair of the judges, made the announcement. Motion comments, "The Finkler Question is a marvellous book: very funny, of course, but also very clever, very sad and very subtle. It is all that it seems to be and much more than it seems to be. A completely worthy winner of this great prize."

From everthing I've read, The Finkler Question is a great reading group choice. Identity, ethnicity, justice, relationships are great conversation topics.

Publisher summary: Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends.

2010 GREAT GROUP READS

October is National Reading Group Month (NRGM) and the NRGM 2010 Great Group Reads have been selected.

Thirteen titles have been picked this year.

Author On the Bookcase
Kate Ledger

I'm thrilled to have Kate Ledger, author of Remedies, writing for On the Bookcase. In Remedies, Simon and Emily seem to have it all -- good jobs, nice house, a healthy thirteen year old daughter. But things are not always as they seem. There are some old scars and wounds that haven't been treated and addressed. Will the "elephant in the room" been the end of this seemingly perfect family. Kate's debut novel reveals marriage, parenthood, loss, grief, and hope.

Teaser Tuesday and Man Booker Longlist, Part Three

Today's selection:
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas plus giveaway of The Slap for review. Just comment and I'll let you know if you won.

First selection was Room by Emma Donoghue and second selection was Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

First lines of The Slap

HECTOR

"His eyes still shut, a dream dissolving and already impossible to recall, Hector's hand sluggishly reached across the bed. Good. Aish was up. He let out a victorious fart, burying his face deep into the pillow the escape the clammy methane stink.

This is the second installment of the  Man Booker longlist book selections.

The first was Room by Emma Donoghue.

Today's selection

Parrot and Olivier In America by Peter Carey

First lines

I had no doubt that something cruel and catastrophic had happened before I was born, yet the comte and comtesse, my parents, would not tell me what it was. As a result my organ of curiosity was made irritable and I grew into the most restless and unhealthy creature imaginable -- slight, pale, always climbing, prying into every drain and attic of the Chateau de Barfleur.

Publisher Summary Olivier—an improvisation on the life of Alexis de Tocqueville—is the traumatized child of aristocratic survivors of the French Revolution. Parrot is the motherless son of an itinerant English printer.

Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Costco's book buyer, has chosen Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen as her pick of the month for August. This book is a great book club pick. Lots of conversation starters -- culture differences, family, loss, personal challenges. Clark wrote:

"It's a common adage that you can't go home again, but Rhoda Janzen does just that in her memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.

"Shortly after Janzen turns 43, her husband leaves her--for a man--and a car accident leaves her seriously injured. Those two events lead her to her parents' home--and the Mennonite community in which she was reared.

Author On the Bookcase

Aimee Bender

Welcome, Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake! Aimee tell us about her book group of over 10 years. The first book discussion was Thomas Pynchon’s book Gravity’s Rainbow. Now, that's a heavy book, both in weight and subject! Learn how her book group broke down the 700+ page book. They definitely had a theme -- they went dancing in Gravity's Rainbow t-shirts!

I'm so excited to welcome Rebecca Wells to On the Bookcase! 

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder, Rebecca's new paperbac

About a month ago, Jeff Howe, the mind  behind the crowdsourcing phenomenon, announced a new project called “One Book, One Twitter”. The program aims to have the world read a book together and discuss it online.  “One Book, One Twitter,” is a book club for everyone, powered by the Internet. Participants are invited to tweet their thoughts on the yet-to-be-determined title.