Next Book--August 2012

I thought I'd take the liberty of starting a new "Next Book" thread. This is a good place to put our list of books as they stand right now, and perhaps a place to keep it updated (deleting read books, adding new suggestions, etc.). Let's see if I can pull this off:

1. Mr. Bridge-- Evan Connell
2. It's One O'Clock and Here is Mary Margaret McBride: A Radio Biography-- Susan Ware
3. Truman-- David McCullough
4. Kate Chopin, The Life of the Author of The Awakening-- Emily Toth
5. Unveiling Kate Chopin-- Emily Toth
6. Tom & Huck Don't Live Here Anymore-- Ron Powers
7. Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain -- Ron Powers
8. Tomato Red-- Daniel Woodrell
9. Lighting Out for the Territory-- Roy Morris
10. Drag the Darkness Down-- Matt Baker
11. From the Heavens to Hell and Back -- George Stier
12. Autobiography of Mark Twain-- Mark Twain
13. The Wild Vine-- Todd Kliman
14. Gangs of St. Louis: Men of Respect -- Daniel Waugh
15. Egan's Rats-- Daniel Waugh
16. Miss Me When I'm Gone -- Philip Stephens
17. Gully Town -- George P. Schultz
18. The Dead End Kids of St. Louis: Homeless Boys and the People Who Tried to Save Them-- Bonnie Stepenoff
19. Standing in the Rainbow -- Fannie Flagg
20. Can't Wait to Get to Heaven-- Fannie Flagg
21. Beauties-- Mary Troy
22. Stoner-- John Williams
23. Twenty-Seventh City-- Jonathan Franzen
24. A Good American-- Alex George
25. Across the Wide Missouri -- Bernard DeVoto
26. Juliet's Moon-- Ann Rinaldi
27. Orphan Trains to Missouri -- Michael Patrick
28. Gone Girl -- Gillian Flynn
29. The Looking Glass Brother-- Peter von Ziegesar
30. The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James-- James Muehlberger
31. Sisterland-- Curtis Sittenfeld
32. Pioneers of the Ozarks-- L. L. Broadfoot
33. The Outlaw Album--Daniel Woodrell
34. Mr. Vertigo--Paul Auster
35. The Maid's Version--Daniel Woodrell
36. On Shaky Ground--Norma Haynes Bagnall

Thanks Terri! When are we picking the book for October?

I guess we should do it soon, huh? I'll see if I can't get Mr. Keith to do his little magic tonight, if everyone's ready...

Go for it, Keith!

Okay, here we go:

1. Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy who Became Mark Twain by Ron Powers.

2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

3. Stoner by John Williams.

Tell your friends to come & vote, and I guess whatever we've got by this time next week (or sooner if no one responds!) will win. We can decide then (based on whatever we pick) how long we'll need to read it, and what the discussion date will be.

I'll start. I've read #2 (but wouldn't mind discussing it if it wins), and I want to read #1 & #3.
I guess I'll vote for #3, with #1 a close second as a sympathy vote, because it's been a bridesmaid 4 times now.

GONE GIRL! GONE GIRL! I'm soooo close to the top of the reserve list for this anyway.

Stoner gets my vote with the Twain biography as second. I also read Gone Girl recently, but don't mind if that is the choice.

I was going to give a pity vote to Dangerous Water but then I read the description of Stoner on my library page. This is what makes me cast my vote for Stoner:

William Stoner is born at the end of the 19th century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to a university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar's life... There are some further descriptions of psychological fiction and scandal.

I have also read and would like to discuss Gone Girl. Since several of us have already read it, maybe this can be our "bonus" selection?

Well, it's been a week, and of the four responses, Stoner has the most votes (3), although everyone is okay with discussing Gone Girl, and Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain has 3 votes for second place.

I'll throw this out and let me know what you think.

Jen, you let us know when you get & finish Gone Girl and we can start a discussion thread then, whenever it happens to be.

It's probably too late this month to get either of the others finished in time for an October discussion. Would you want to do Stoner in November, then get back on schedule in February with Dangerous Water?

I don't mind making the decisions, but I don't want to come across as bossy, and we haven't had much participation lately, so I don't want to force anyone to do something they don't want. Anyone else have ideas?

But you make such good decisions!? What you said makes perfect sense to me . . .

Even a good decision-maker can come across as bossy, Brenda! And I know I have a tendency to be bossy, so I always try to keep aware of where that line is. I'm not always so good at that, though...

I'm pretty easy-going, Terri...and I don't want to lead the group. Therefore, I will vote for any solution you come up with! But I do think your plan is an excellent one because I do want to read Dangerous Water -- and I'm beginning to feel sorry for it. Plus, we don't have to do any voting until our April book. Brilliant!

I like Terri's idea too. And I have Gone Girl in my hands right now, so I'll happily start a discussion thread should anyone want to participate.

That sounds good, Jen. And how about if we plan on starting a Stoner discussion around November 12?

Just start a thread when you're ready, Jen, and we'll chime in!

Both Gone Girl and Stoner look like winners. Sorry I've been AWOL from the group. I will try to make amends. I'm looking forward to both of these.

Welcome back, Becky! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks, Terri.

>13 jfetting:. Jennifer, are you going to start a thread for Gone Girl? I started the book last night. I'm liking it, but the descriptions of how these sweet young things spend their time make me feel like an old fogey. It's good, though, because it helps me to have some insight into 30-somethings--much like having Margaret Mead explain the attitudes towards sex in the South Pacific--ha. I'd love to hear what other people think of the book.

I'll start it now - I'm only a couple chapters into it myself. Amy's chapters grate a bit - I don't like her voice. I'm not a huge fan of Nick either, and as a 30-something myself I hope most of us are not like them. But again - only a couple chapters in. Amy just disappeared.

Great, Jennifer, I'm looking forward to your point of view on this thing. I suspected you might be a 30-something (I was hoping), mainly because of your name. My son was born in 1980, and I bet every third girl in every one of his classes from age 3 on was named Jennifer. It's a nice name, but I have no idea why that particular name captured the imagination of so many parents in my generation. I was born in 1952, so I turned 60 this year. My son is 32 (only child) and not yet married nor is he living with anyone, so I'm still looking forward (sometime!) to having a daughter-in-law. From that standpoint, this book is fairly terrifying--ha.

I don't like Amy's voice either, but after reading other parts of the book, I'm thinking this is a devastating parody by Flynn--yes? If so, then it's pretty funny and also much easier to take.

Added: I hope I didn't offend by what I said about the name "Jennifer." It wasn't meant that way. It's a lovely name that my generation spoiled for me by its overuse--sort of what my parents' generation did with the name Susan.

No offense taken - I wish my name was not quite as common, too. It is a nice name, but I don't know why it was so popular either! Being out in the real world, now, I run into far fewer Jennifers (especially in the scientific community - I wonder why?)

It makes sense that Amy is a parody of people my age, but oh my goodness.

I saw comments on Becky's thread that made me realize that I'd missed out on a group read of Gone Girl. I've been waiting to read this one, hoping the group would choose it someday. I'll stop putting it off. And I see that there is a new book coming up very soon. I've missed this group and am headed over to the library catalog to see if I can get it right away.

It wasn't an official group read, more a "Becky and Jennifer read it at the same time and everyone else who read it earlier chimed in too". Looking forward to your comments once you read it!

Well, it will be a while - I am #849 on the hold list. Probably I couldn't have gotten the book in time to read along with you anyway.

Sandy, if you'd like, I'll bring you my copy of Gone Girl on Saturday and you can bring it back to Joplin. It won't take long for you to read. Let me know!

Are you coming on Saturday? That would be wonderful - I'd be glad to borrow your copy.

Sandy, I am so sorry I didn't make it up there today. Life happens.

I was sorry to hear that you couldn't make it - how is your Dad?

Looking back up to Message #9, it seems we were going to read Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain by Ron Powers for our February book. Unless I hear major objections, I'll start a thread, and we can plan on starting discussions February 4 or 11, whatever works best for everyone.

Let me know what you all think!

#28 That sounds good to me, Terri. My local library doesn't have it, so I've put in an ILL request for it.

Anyone else out there reading Dangerous Water?

I am still waiting to get it from the library. It's still "in processing" and has been for the past month or so!

How is it so far, Brenda?

I thought it was alright. Not the most compelling biography I have ever read, but obviously an interesting subject. . .

Eager to see what others think . . .

I finished it last night, but I don't want to be the first to post about it. I had some issues....

Okay, I got down the hat last night, and Keith did his duty.

Here's the verdict:

1. From the Heavens to Hell and Back by George Stier. Sandy mentioned this here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78252#1867756. But I'm having a difficult time finding out anything about it. It doesn't come up on Amazon, or in touchstones, either by title or author. It SOUNDS good by her description. Any suggestions, Sandy?

2. Juliet's Moon by Ann Rinaldi. Suggested by Brenda Pike here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/103772#3258371.

3. Sigh. Tom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore by Ron Powers. Personally, I'd rather not read a book by the same person twice in a row (especially when I didn't like the first one), but I'm putting it here to be fair.

4. But I also asked him to pick another one, in case there's agreement about not reading the same author twice in a row.
The Wild Vine by Todd Kliman.

So there you have it. It would be for an April discussion, so if we decide by the end of the week, we'll have a month.

My choice is Juliet's Moon.

Juliet's Moon, then The Wild Vine would be my choices.

I vote Juliet's Moon too.

Juliet's Moon sounds good to me too. It's been awhile since I went on my Civil War reading jag...and I miss it!

The George Stier book is available from B&N on Nook. Also available from something called the Lulu Marketplace. It sounds very interesting.

Okay, it looks like Juliet's Moon is the winner! I'll start a thread. Does April 8 sound good to everyone?

Works for me. . . : )

Me too. I've missed our discussions. I know, it's my own darn fault for not reading Dangerous Water.

Don't blame yourself, Donna. You couldn't help it....

It looks like I forgot to vote. Juliet's Moon was my first choice. Although if Wild Vine had included a field trip to Hermann I would have chosen it first in a heartbeat.

What a great idea, Sandy! We should think about doing that sometime this year!

Is it too soon to start thinking about a June book?

#34 I see that I neglected to respond to the request for help in finding the book I'd suggested. I have found a source, but....

According to the newspaper I quoted back in 2010, the book was available for sell at the Wentworth Military Academy bookstore in Lexington, MO (NE of Kansas City), but I can't find it at their book store web site. I checked the big suburban library that almost always has everything I want, but they don't have it, either. Finally, I checked our little rural library since Lexington is within the library system's district. Lo and behold! They actually own 2 copies, but I don't know whether it would be possible for someone to be able to access them via ILL (it's not listed on WorldCat).

I would be willing to a) check the book out on my card and send it to anyone who wants to read it, OR b) check the book out and read it myself and report back (remembering that memoirs are not my favored genre, so my report may not be of highest quality), OR c) inquire about sending it out ILL to someone who wants it. Any takers?

I heard about a book this week that I think our group would enjoy. A Good American by Alex George (2012) is a multigenerational story about a family descended from German immigrants who settle in Missouri.
I checked to see how it had faired with LT readers and it has an average of 3.91 rating and had some very positive reviews. I thought it sounded like a very good read as described by an individual from one of my RL book groups.

I'm proud to say, Brenda, that A Good American is already on our list! I had heard about it last year & it sounded good, so I added it. Great minds....

Sandy, you're absolutely right about the June book, and I will get Keith on it right away! Or, as soon as I get off the computer....

Uh, guess I should have looked at the list!

Okay, I put Keith to work this evening, and here's what we've got for June:

1. Autobiography of Mark Twain by (duh) Mark Twain. I know, it's really long. Let me know if you think I should just take it out of the hat.

2. Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell. Companion to Mrs. Bridge, which we read back in October 2010.

3. Twenty-Seventh City by Jonathan Franzen. Never been picked before.

What do you say we give it till Friday & see what we come up with? Then we can plan to start discussing on June 10, right before the big Book Fair.

Personally, I'd have to flip a coin between 2 & 3. I want to read them both equally. So if I HAVE to, I'll flip that coin. Otherwise, majority rules!

One, two, three, GO!

I vote for the Franzen book.

The Twain book is too long. I haven't read Mrs Bridge so reading Mr Bridge doesn't interest me much, right now.

I would also vote for 2 or 3. I'm really not interested in reading Twain's autobiography - way too long!

Okay, I'll vote with Linda because I've already read and loved Mr. Bridge... and I own the Franzen book. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind a reread of Mr. Bridge if the coin toss and Sandy's vote leans that way.

Um, T-Lo, Brenda tells me the JoCo book sale is the first week in June. Reba's trip to Lawrence is set for June 14. What to do?

Oh, no! I can't go the first week of June! We have two hospitals in Southern Illinois going live on the electronic medical record that week, and I'm committed to be there. :-(
Well, we'll just have to keep our eyes out for a Book Fair somewhere else this summer. Our library Book Fair is the weekend of 5/31, so that won't work. Dang.

Do you guys think I should take the Twain autobiography out of the mix? It won't stop anyone from reading it. It'll just give another book a chance...

I'll put the wrench into things by voting for Mr Bridge. Twenty-seventh City has really bad ratings on LT and the synopsis doesn't tempt me to pick it up in spite of what everyone else says.

Donna - is the JoCo sale the weekend of June 6-7-8? or May 30-31-June 1?

I don't have a problem leaving the MT autobio in the hat - I may never read it on my own. However, if we ever do choose it, let's take a longer-than-normal time with it - maybe reading it in sections over 2 months or something.

ETA, on closer look, it's not that 27th City has such bad ratings, there are some who gave it 5 stars, but there are an equal number who gave it less than 2 stars. But I'll give it a try if that is what the group decides.

Even if we miss the JoCo book sale this year, there are still plenty of stores which will accommodate our buying habits! It will be fun to share some favorite haunts with Reba. . .

The sale is June 6-8, Sandy.

True, I could easily spend a day or two at the Dusty Bookshelf (is that right? you know what I mean). We had fun at Prospero's that one year too.

Well, I've taken off the week of June 10-14, so if you build it, I will come...

Consider it built! Chris too?

I've invited her, but she's not as compulsive about keeping her calendar with her & updated as I am. I'll say "Probably!"

It looks like the Franzen book has come out on top. I scored a half point for each book for the undecided among us (Terri & Brenda), and the score was 3-2. Maybe we do The Twenty-Seventh City for June, and then Mr. Bridge for August? It'll save us the trouble of voting again....let me know what you think!

Shall we start the discussion on June 10? I'll be out of town the first week, and I know some of you will be busy with the JoCo Book Fair that week (*weeps*).

Sounds good to me, Terri: Franzen in June and Mr. Bridge in August. Yay! I have both books.

Do I need to read Mrs Bridge before we read Mr Bridge?

Terri, that sounds like a good plan to me, too.

Linda, that's a good question. I want to say no, that they're companion books more than sequels, but I don't know that for sure.

Since the Mr book isn't due til August, I'm hoping to read Mrs first. Thanks for the tip, Sandy.

I don't think the Bridge books are sequels either (although Donna would know best). Aren't they the same time period through the eyes of each?

Anyway, Linda, Mrs. Bridge is a fairly quick read (or it was for me).

Okay, I'll start threads for June & August!

Not sure if this is the right place to suggest new books, but here goes.

Every so often, it seems like the "books" feature in the Sunday KC Star contains all books with Missouri connections. Like yesterday. Three books caught my eye.


The Looking Glass Brother by Peter von Ziegesar - a memoir about his younger step-brother, also named Peter, who suffers from schizophrenia and has spent time in jail, rehab, halfway houses and homelessness. A quote from the paper's review: "Peripatetic, occasionally violent, Little Peter briefly found sanctuary among a group of artists in Montana, but his usual mode was to wander the country, living off the land and city streets. Inevitably, he got into all kinds of trouble and even passed out drunk in a wheat field, where he was run over by a combine and almost killed."

"Big" Peter is a New York filmmaker and writer. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute, worked as a reviewer for the KC Star, and met his wife here.


The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James by James Muehlberger. Written by a KC attorney who claims to have discovered the only time that Jesse James was successfully prosecuted. In 1870, a civil suit was filed against him for the theft of a horse that James took in the wake of a shooting and theft in Gallatin. The owner of the horse sued and won after James neglected to appear. Muehlberger works for the same law firm of which the prosecuting attorney in 1870 was a founding member.


Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld - a novel about a St Louis psychic (Vi) who predicts that a big earthquake will hit on Oct 16, 2009. Her twin sister (Kate), also psychic, has tried to live a normal life and struggles with Vi's choice to go public with her predictions and also with her geologist-husband about whether to take Vi's predictions seriously.

On my own, I would probably only read the novel. The Jesse James book might be pretty interesting if it isn't too long. I will require the support of this group if I am to get through the memoir. All these authors will be speaking in KC in the next few weeks if anyone is interested.

Yep, this is the place! I'll add these to the list & to the hat!

Okay, young Keith has chosen for us again:

1. Lighting Out for the Territory by Roy Morris. 282 pages

2. Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell. 225 pages

3. Orphan Trains to Missouri by Michael Patrick. 112 pages

My library has several copies of each, so none of them should be difficult to find. None of them are very long, either.

I'm voting for Lighting Out for the Territory, with Orphan Trains to Missouri a close second. No offense to Danny, but I've read Tomato Red and my personal preference would be to read something I haven't read yet!

I'll leave the voting open until Sunday September 8, which will give us about a month to read.

Ready, Set, Go!

What a great group to choose from this time!

My library also has multiple copies of all these books. I'm voting first for Tomato Red since I haven't already read it (not being on a first name basis with "Danny"!) with Orphan Trains to Missouri as a second choice. I don't think I've quite gotten over the last Mark Twain bio we read!

I had no idea but there are a whole bunch of interesting-sounding Missouri Heritage books!!

My vote would be for Orphan Trains to Missouri. Second choice would be Tomato Red.

1. Tomato Red as I own it and haven't read it.

2. Orphan Trains to Missouri comes in a close second!

Thanks, Keith....and Terri. ;-)

I cannot tell a lie...

At first, Keith picked Tom & Huck Don't Live Here Anymore by the same guy who wrote that last book about Twain. I made him put it back and pick again.....

#72 Thank you! Maybe next year...

Ditto what Sandy said re: the Tom & Huck book. I don't think I could face another book by that author!

My first preference is Tomato Red because it is one of my favorite Woodrell books.

Then Orphan Trains to Missouri, but either would be fine by me.

Thank you Loefflers. . . Sending happy vibes for tomorrow!

By the way, did I tell you guys that I read From the Heavens to Hell and Back? I got the e-book cheap on iTunes. It was actually very good. A little plodding at first, but really interesting once he was captured by the Germans (that SO doesn't sound right, but there it is). My only regret is that since I read it on my phone, the pictures were small and I couldn't enlarge them. So if you ever get a chance, you should read it!

ETA: The job went well for Keith today. He didn't do much, but he said it looks easy, and he has a cubicle, and he was taken out to lunch. The downside? He wants to start getting there by 7:00 am for the next few weeks. I'm lucky to be out of bed by 7:00 am. I suggested walking. So we'll see who wins this battle. I suspect it will be him...

A day early, but I'm here, so:

It looks like Tomato Red has the most votes for first place, with Orphan Trains to Missouri with the most #2 votes. Why don't we do what we did last time, and do Tomato Red in October and Orphan Trains to Missouri in December, since it's very short?

Any objections, sing out; otherwise we'll start discussing Tomato Red on Monday October 14 and Orphan Trains to Missouri on December 9! I'll start the threads...

Thanks, Terri. I have the new threads starred, and the books on hold at the library.

I just saw a book in the tag watch on my home page that we might consider. Mr Vertigo by Paul Auster seems to be about an unhappy boy who lives in St Louis with his uncle and is taken under the wing of a magician, I guess you'd call him, and taught to levitate. It's prominently tagged "magical realism", which is not my usual thing, but it might be an interesting group read.

On the list, and in the Hat!

Thanks, Terri. You're the bomb!

I just saw that Daniel Woodrell has a new book out - The Maid's Version - is that one in the hat?

It wasn't but it is now! Chris was going to try to go to the book signing last Monday & get me a copy, but I haven't heard if she made it or not...

Also, I heard a rumor this week that they were going to make a movie out of Curtis Sittenfield's Sisterland. Anyone else hear that?

#83 yes, that sounds familiar. Does that make you want to read it sooner, or not at all?

It doesn't matter. I don't go to the movies very often, so the odds are good that I won't see it. But I'm always game if someone else wants to trump the hat & read it sooner.

Not me. I rarely see movies when they first come out, so I'm content to let Kevin, the wizard of the hat, select it for us.

I notice that the December book is from the Missouri Heritage Reader series.

I searched for this series on Amazon and there are quite a few others. On Shaky Ground by Norma Haynes Bagnall, which is about the New Madrid earthquake, sounds especially good to me.

#87 I'm still fascinated by the New Madrid earthquake, ever since we read about it a couple of years ago. I'd be interested in that one.

Added to the List!

Moving the "Next Book" thread to a new one to start clean for the year:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/162784#

Happy New Year!