BIC book club!

[prettyinpa]

Some of us here have expressed an interest in a book club, myself, @mermadelove, @LCResz, @ZombieMetroAnt, @Mcakes. If you'd be interested in joining, reply below. My initial thought was to mail the books around but if it means that some people can't participate, then I'm all for dropping that requirement. I'd love this to be a place where we nominate our favorite book and others can read it and comment. Something fun for the new year!  ETA: the booklist:

1. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (16)
1. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (16)
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (13)
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (11)
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (11)
4. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (11)
7. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (10)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (10)
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (10) Discussion begins 8-13.
7. The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck (10) Discussion begin 9-2.
11. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (9) Time to discuss 9-26
11. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (9) Now discussing below.
11. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (9)
11. What Happened by Hilary Clinton (9) Now discussing below.
11. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (9) Start reading now.
11. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Ashford (9)
11. milk and honey by Rupi Kaur (9)
18. A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (8)
18. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (8)
18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (8)
18. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (8)
18. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (8)
18. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (8)
18. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (8)
18. The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg (8)
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (8)
18. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (8)
18. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (8)
18. The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory (8)

Participants in spoiler

Spoiler

Participants:

PrettyinPA

AlexaSteph

Beadshopgirl

LCResz

Kim888

SoBeautiful

Fatimamummy

ZombieMetroAnt

PalomaFoster

k617

bakeamuffin
Susubee
Skcfan
Lazybeautybeast
SpaceLlama
greeneyedgirl107

Mermadelove
Mcakes
Aaliaa
Serenely
Myinsidevoice
MissPuff
juliehnguyen
lmi82
Knowledgebeauty
Titian06
quspork
darlyndar
KellW
misscg
EuniceO
Elles117
ClassicallyFab
ShiraBT
melanito
Heylady14
ChicagoEngineer
Imightneedthis
PrettyPaint
rachface2921

[ElliottR]

Let me know what to do next! Interested! 

[itsfi]

@ElliottR, welcome! Just jump right on in like you did with your post. If there’s a book you  are currently reading, let us know. If there’s one you’ve read, share your thoughts on it (just maybe keep from spoilers about the book). If someone has posted about a book, feel free to comment or reply to their post with questions, additional comments, etc. 

[jadeNY]

Is this still going on? I love to read and I have plenty of recommendations! And will take any recommendations!!! 
the power by Naomi Alderman  

(they do have a series of it on prime which is pretty darn good I I do say so myself. I'm assuming they're coming out with a second For obvious reasons)

The testament by Margaret Atwood 

which is the sequel to handmaid's tale. I am enjoyed it very much

[itsfi]

Yes @jadeNY, BIC book club is still going. 📚 Welcome! The original post includes a list of books that folks were working through when this thread started, but we're at a point where there's no reading list other than one you've made for yourself 😁 or books you may read based on the recommendations or reviews of people here. Though you are certainly more than welcome to use the list in the original post if you're interested.

[blackkitty2014]

I finished these 2 sometimes last week. The Handmaid’s Tale is not for me. Good writing though but I guess I keep waiting for the strike back or escape plan but that never come. I have the 2nd book in reserved but I doubt I will read it. 3 inch teeth by CJBox is a fun read. If you like murder mystery but in the Wild West setting you would love this. I read the whole series since last year.

[fatimamummy]

@blackkitty2014  Handmaid’s tale second book “The Testament” is all about back ground of what lead to handmaid’s tale and then the strike back you were expecting in book one. Without giving too much spoiler, It is set in the past and future of original story.

That being said I actually like the ambiguity in original story. I didn’t like second book mostly because it was extremely predictable. I was able to guess all the big reveals way before they were revealed in the book. I felt it was a commercial decision to write second book for the benefit of TV show but that are just my two cents. I know many ppl loved the second book and the author actually won some awards/prizes for it. 

[blackkitty2014]

Thx for letting me know @fatimamummy . I might read it if the 2nd one about strike back 😘 Too many books too little time 

[Mellmars1185]

I am currently reading The Push by Ashley Audrain. I picked it up at a Thrift Store. They have some great deals on books! Well this one is a page turned for sure. It is like nothing I have read before.

 

[WinglessOne]

Taking a break from the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series to reread (for the kabillionth time) one of my favorite books ever: 

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My old paperback’s held up amazingly well, considering how old it is and how many times I’ve reread it.

I first read this in middle or high school (don’t recall which) and fell in love with it. I’ve occasionally reread it throughout the 4 decades since then. It’s a comfort zone for my brain. It was also my intro to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and magical realism. Some people find the story complicated because of the family names repeated across generations, among other things. If that kind of thing bothers you, then this book will annoy you. It doesn’t bother me. Heck, I have parts of this book memorized. 😂 And so much of the imagery is forever stuck in my head, ready for recall. 

Netflix is releasing a TV series based on this novel, and that worries me a bit. I’ll be kinda sad if they botch this story. I don’t expect a fully faithful retelling, but I hope they don’t change… let’s just say, integral parts of the story. I’m still deciding whether or not to watch it when it’s available this year. 

EDIT: ha, I just noticed this novel’s on the original book list for this thread. Makes sense: it’s an amazing classic, written by one of the best authors to have ever lived. 

[makeitup305]

@WinglessOne I love this book. I haven’t reread it since I originally read it in high school but the imagery always stayed with me. I love the magical realism. Have you read “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel? It’s not as intense as OHYOS but I enjoyed it as well. I’m worried about the show as well. I’m wondering how they’ll go about it.

[WinglessOne]

@makeitup305  Magical realism is one of my favorite genres, partly because I’ve been a big fan of myths, fairytales, and folklore (from all cultures) since I was a little kid. I’ve read Like Water for Chocolate (and seen the movie) and mostly enjoyed it, but not as much as Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s work—though to be fair, I’ve read nearly all of his translated novels and short stories vs. just one of Laura Esquivel’s, so this isn’t what I’d call a truly fair comparison. Still, I do like Esquivel’s writing style. 

I also read Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits and could barely get through it. To me, it felt like a Garcia Marquez knockoff; seemed like Allende was trying too hard with it. Eh, some folks love that book though. 

Toni Morrison’s Beloved also falls under the magical realism genre, and that’s a fantastic book. Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is another good one, along with his other work. There are so many good examples of the genre out there. 

[blackkitty2014]

I bookmark this book @WinglessOne . Thx you 🌹

[blackkitty2014]

@itsfi  I just finished this. I was struggling thru the first third of the book. I thought I couldn’t finish it. But it picked up on the 2nd third and voila I finished the last 2/3 within a day. 😂🤣  I like it. Warning: a bit tear jerker at the end. Okie I will zip can’t give it away. You will like this I think. Stalking The Love of My Life to see if it will be available at my library or whether it’s on sale on Amazon 😘

[peculiarzmakeup]

I might just have to order this! What a neat read 🫶 @blackkitty2014 

[blackkitty2014]

Check out your local library @peculiarzmakeup . They might have it. Please let me know how do you like it @peculiarzmakeup 🥰

[peculiarzmakeup]

That is such a coincidence I have a library right across the street literally 20 seconds away by foot haha It would give me something to do, I will 🫶 @blackkitty2014 

[greeneyedgirl107]

Just finished this...

 

If you liked the series then it's worth looking into.  I don't think I would have enjoyed the book had I not watched (most) of the series. 

[WinglessOne]

@greeneyedgirl107  Now that I think about it, I last read The Handmaid’s Tale in college, and that was 30ish years ago. I liked the book, and Margaret Atwood’s a great writer. But this novel was too disturbing for me to reread, mostly because the things described in the story were (and still are) actually happening in various countries around the globe, and also happened routinely to enslaved African women. (I did a study of Handmaid vs. the history of slavery for one of my college classes.) That’s something Atwood herself has said about her book. I should pick Handmaid up again this year. (Note to self.) 

For anyone wondering: the current TV series isn’t a fully faithful telling of the novel (psh, name me a live action series that’s 100% faithful to its book source). Neither was the 1990 movie, which was terrible. I can’t even MST3K my way through the movie. 🤦‍♀️ Hulu’s TV series is better, but that’s not saying much considering how bad the movie is. 

[blackkitty2014]

@WinglessOne @greeneyedgirl107 my local library has both books. I haven’t yet watched the movie nor the series. But the way @WinglessOne describe my might just read the books and skip the series. I don’t have Hulu so less tempting there 😘 I just checked out the Handmaid’s Tales and reserve The Testament. Oh I have so many good books to catch up. 🌹

[WinglessOne]

@blackkitty2014  The TV series isn’t so bad, really. Margaret Atwood has a cameo appearance in the one episode, and I think she consulted with the show writers on some of the parts that differ quite a bit from the book. The show tries to fill in the gap between the end of The Handmaid’s Tail and the start of The Testaments, to explore what happened to June/Offred and other main characters. Some of that new story writing doesn’t sit well with me because it kinda misses the point of Gilead as a totalitarian theologist nation. I don’t wanna say more than that, lest I spoil things for you. I’ll just say the show’s first season mostly conveys the book, and the following seasons get into that “where are they now” new story between Handmaid and Testament. I do think reading the book first is the way to go, if you decide to watch the series. 

The movie is something no one should watch. It messed too much with the original story, and the acting was surprisingly bad. I’m not even sure the movie’s still available anywhere. I hope not. 😂

I should swing by my closest library and check out The Testaments. (I have The Handmaid’s Tale at home.) Barnes & Noble is making a comeback here, opening/reopening new physical stores. So I’m tempted to buy The Testaments instead, because I typically read more than one book at once (unless a book’s so good I can’t put it down, and I end up reading the whole thing in one day or night). It sometimes takes me a while to get through books, despite being a fast reader, because I always have several books in play. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these 2 Atwood novels! 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@WinglessOne very insightful!  Your college sounds very interesting!  

Atwood is a very good writer.   Her writing inspired me to think about describing things more poetically.   I think there is a documentary about her called "A word after a word."  

Have you read, "The Testaments?"