Let's read some books together!

I suggested in the "Hello" thread that some of us might like to choose a group read of some sort where we can share our favorite books with each other.

If anyone is interested, has suggestions and/or questions this would be the place to post.

If no one has any ideas I can offer a few up later, but I want to give others a chance first.

I've been thinking about this since you posted last evening. I can't think of a favorite book that I'd want to re-read just now. The only idea I came up with was to start with a Missouri author (actually, I thought of Mark Twain, but that seems too obvious - surely there's someone else).

That was initial thought, too. But like you the only Missouri author I know of is Mark Twain. Well, that and a couple non-fiction authors that are pretty specialized. I'll do a little research and see what I can find.

Over in the non-fiction group, I've seen several positive comments on a book about Harry Truman - how do we feel about non-fiction? Or, how about one of Twain's lesser known works?

I checked over there, and the Truman biography I saw mentioned is Plain Speaking: an Oral Biography of Harry S Truman by Merle Miller

Then I hopped onto our public library's online catalog and searched for Mark Twain, author. Besides dozens of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Connecticut Yankee, I found these that I hadn't heard of before:

Gilded Age: a Tale of To-day, published in 1873 and listed by the catalog as being both political fiction and satire
A Murder, A Mystery and a Marriage
How Nancy Jackson Married Kate Wilson and Other Tales of Rebellious Girls and Daring Young Women - a very provocitive title!
Diaries of Adam and Eve - this looks like it might originally been published as 2 short stories, Adam has a publication date of 1904, but Eve wasn't published until 1906 - only 199 pages total
A Tramp Abroad published in 1880, "tramp" seems to refer to traveling, rather than a loose woman
Pudd'nhead Wilson published in 1894 - I actually just checked this one out last week, but haven't started it yet
Following the Equator and Anti-Imperialist Essays - a non-fiction work
Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven published in 1909

There may be more, but that seemed like quite enough for now

I wanted to say that I like the idea of group reading our favorite books. I'll definately sit out during Mark Twain reading but I wanted you to know that I am game with other books/authors.

Well, it certainly doesn't have to be Mark Twain. Or even a Missouri author, really. That's just a logical place to start with a group of Missourians.

I took a quick glance at your library, candlelit, and I notice that you're pretty much a fantasy reader.

Are there other genres you want to test the water with? Or maybe a fantasy book you know that might be tempting for those of us who don't read much of the genre?

Oh, yes, candlelit, I'm certainly open to all suggestions. Especially if you have a fantasy title that can turn me on to that genre.

I don't want to stop you guys if you want to read Mark Twain. I just don't care for Mark Twain. Coming from the Hannibal area I am surrounded by Twain everything. I was forced to read a lot of his stories during my time at (uggh) Mark Twain High School. :)

I am interested in reading other genres besides fantasy. Fantasy is my favorite because it takes me completly out of this world and my worries. I guess I've kind of been stuck on fantasy for a while now! :)

As far as a good fantasy book goes... one that's really popular right now is the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It's slightly embarrassing because it's a YA series about vampires. I tell you what though it has a tendency to cause obsession. I thought I was silly loving a YA novel so much until I found twilightmoms.com I found out there are a lot of 'grown-ups' who love it.

Another good general fantasy series that I've read is The Black Magician's Trilogy by Trudi Canavan. I've actually saw it recommended for a nice first fantasy series in some forums which is why I'm bringing it up. It's pretty good, although if you've read a lot of fantasy you can see the similar plot and characters. It does has a strong female lead which I tend to like. There are others I can think of but I'm not sure what would be best for non-fantasy readers.

As I said before, don't let me stop you from reading Mark Twain. I've probably read the story and can discuss it on here with you.

Yes, I can see the potential for Twain overkill. I actually spent a couple years in the Mark Twain residence hall myself, but I'm a big Huck Finn fan myself, though I've never read anything else by Twain.

However, candlelit, how would you feel about reading a book based on a Mark Twain book? Still too close?

Finn made a big splash when it was published. It's the story of Huckleberry Finn's father. I've heard lots of good reviews. I've been meaning to read it.

Of course, Twilight's intrigued me, too. Especially since Stephanie Meyer merited a two-page article in Time not too long ago. However, I don't think I'm quite ready to make the jump.

So, what about you, sjmc,? Does Finn sound interesting? Or do you want to stick with classic Twain? Or something else altogether?

I'm completely open. I absolutely understand how growing up in Hannibal would turn one off all things Twain. As we discussed above, the only reason I mentioned Twain was because it was such an obvious choice for Missouri - especially not having grown up here. Finn sounds interesting, and I have the first Twighlight book on hold at the library (although I'm dubious - maybe reading it together with someone else would encourage me not to ignore it when it gets here). Candlelit - what would tempt you to read with us?

What about something Maya Angelou? I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is set in St. Louis among other places.
Eugene Field grew up in St. Louis, but he mostly wrote children's poetry. There's a great museum in St. Louis dedicate to him and toys in general.
Ridley Pierson is from St. Louis. He co-wrote a book with Dave Barry called Peter and the Starcatchers that St. Louis County Public Library did as a group read last year.
There's also David McCullough's book called Truman? (The touchtone isn't working). There's a HBO movie tie-in starring Gary Sinese.

Those are all acceptable choices to me. I've read a couple of McCullough's books, they can drag on a bit if you don't have an interest in the subject but I generally like him. I haven't read anything yet by any of the other authors you named. I really do like the idea of something with a Missouri connection, though, either author or content.

I went to Amazon and checked out Finn and it looked interesting. I'd read that for our first book if it works for everyone. I'll look into the Maya Angelou, David McCollough and Ridley Pierson books when I have time.

As far as Twilight goes I'm planning on re-reading the series before book 4 comes out (Aug. 2). So if you guys are up for reading that one we could wait until then. Maybe I can have you talked into it by then! ;)

I'm totally up to reading other genres. I've just been a little obsessed with fantasy for several years now. I really do need to move out of the fantasy realm for a while and read something different. I'm really not that picky -- I just don't like Mark Twain.

I have an idea -- If you guys like it. Maybe the easiest way for us to choose books to read together would be to take turns selecting a good book from categories that we select. We could make a list of categories like drama, thriller, non-fiction, mystery, romance, classics......... whichever categories interest all of us. We go down the list and take turns picking out a book from each category that you would like to re-read or something that you think sounds good. We don't even have to use categories if you don't want to (although categories might help diversify our reading more). We could each take turns picking a book from any category. Of course everyone would have an opinion about the chosen book in case they have a problem with it; like my silly aversion to Mark Twain. What do you think? I just think it might speed up the book choosing so we can get down to reading and talking about our reads.

Of course all of that is mute if we decide to only read Missouri authors/stories.

~~~~My dsl box died and until I get a new one (hopefully it will arrive on Thursday) I probably won't be on. I'm borrowing my friend's computer right now because I had a couple things that needed done.

I'm sketchy on how to do this but can't we search "Common Knowledge" for books set in a particular place?

I've been trying to find some other MO authors that might be appealing to us, but haven't had much luck. I've been intending to go to the library this week, and planned to ask someone there for suggestions, but I haven't gotten over there yet. I'm leaving in the morning and will be traveling for the next 10 days. Hopefully, the rest of the group will settle on something while I'm gone. Please believe that I am willing to go along with anything you choose. If I had to vote right now, I would probably choose Finn, for whatever that's worth. If I learn anything interesting at the library later (I HAVE to go, I've got books due before I'll get back!), I'll post it here.

I like the idea of categories. Since Finn seems to have at least a couple of us interested, I'm casting my vote for that. And then maybe following it with Twilight?

Anyone opposed to that plan?

I cast my vote for Finn too.

I just picked up a fantasy type book by a Lebanon man last weekend. He said it will be the first in a trilogy. I'll start it and see if it is any good and let you know. It is supposed to be about dragons, but with wizards or elfs. Btw, I read Puddin' Head Wilson, it was a quick read.

Melissajoy- What's the name of the fantasy book?

I'm back from my trip and checking in to see what was decided in my absence - I've been thinking about all of you and wondering what you would choose the entire time I was gone.

Have we chosen Finn, or are we still waiting for others to chime in? It seems as though there is a consensus - or at least no dissentions.

Well, I think at this point Finn is what we more or less agreed on. I don't know if everyone else has lost interest, but I'm all for reading it.

What do you say to starting in a week or two? Maybe we could start discussing the first fifty or so pages then. Or more. What do you feel comfortable with?

If we can pick a starting date, we can post it over in the "What are you reading?" group and see if we can't attract a few more participants even if they're non-missourians. Does that sound good?

Anyone else still interested?

That sounds good to me - I still need to get ahold of the book. Would you rather wait until after the July 4 holiday or start next week?

Fifty pages sounds like a good starting pace - depending on how fast it reads, I suppose we can do more after that.

Well, let's just say after the 4th.

It'll give us some more time to get the book and get started reading. So how about we start discussing the first fifty pages the week of July 7?

I'm in on the Finn read! Thanks for spreading the word, twomoredays.

For future ideas (so I don't forget), the guy who wrote The Glass Menagerie (who touchstones just informed me is Tennessee Williams) is also a Missourian, and The Glass Menagerie is set in St. Louis. And Kate Chopin has Missouri connections, as well.

If you are into more modern writers, Kathryn Davis, while not being a Missourian all the time, teaches at Wash U, so that is a MO connection, too.

Starting disscusions on the week of the 7th sounds good to me. That will give me time to get ahold of the book.

I know it's the 2nd, and you guys are considering talking on the 7th, so from where you guys are at in your books, is it too late to start on this one? (I would still have to order it). How about ideas for the next book....or it might be too soon.

We're only going to be discussing the first fifty pages, so I would imagine you'd still have plenty of time to get in on the discussion if you want to.

#27 You might check out the library - they probably own several copies and you could get started reading while you wait for your ordered copy to be delivered.

I haven't started reading yet, I've already got 2 novels in progress and I'm frantically trying to finish one or the other before I begin something new. But it looks like 50 pages by Monday is definitely doable, so I'm optimistic.

OK, thanks for the suggestions guys!

Ok, as much as I hate to admit this (I'm ashamed) I've never read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Is it neccescary to read that before Finn or are they even related?

Those getting ready to discuss the book: Is anyone here very sensitive to spoilers?

Some groups when they read a book have one thread with "spoilers" and one without, but that seems unnecessary when there's so few of us.

Would everyone be okay with breaking the discussion up into sections? For example, on Monday, I'll post a thread for the first fifty pages. And in that thread can we assume that everyone will have read the first fifty pages so we can safely discuss what's happened so far?

Then if someone is reading ahead, they can post in the next thread (for p.50-100, for example) without fear of accidentally spoiling a plot point for someone.

Does that sound okay? Hopefully, I didn't just confuse everyone.

->32 twomoredays: That sounds great to me. Personally, I don't mind spoilers unless I'm reading a mystery. I liked the idea of being able to post ahead in a new thread. This is a fairly short book, and I tend to inhale these. :-)

->31 beckylynn: Becky, it's been many years since I read Huck Finn. If I find that I need some prior knowledge, I may look up a summary on wikipedia. But I'm guessing that won't be necessary. Maybe reading Finn will inspire me to reread Mark Twain.

#31 - I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I have never read either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, either, so I'm sure hoping it's not prerequisite to enjoying Finn.

#32 - that sounds like a good idea to me, too. I agree with Donna, spoilers don't bother me too much - they help me pay attention to what is happening in anticipation for what I know is coming up.

Well, everything in the book happens before Mark Twain's book, so I'd imagine you'd probably be just fine.

I know that he uses some of the same characters, but probably finding a cliff notes-like character list would do just fine as far as that as concerned. You may not even need one, I'm not really sure.

#32 - that sounds fine. I'm not upset about spoilers, either (I have been known to turn to the last page of a book to make sure favorite characters survive.)

From what I've read so far (I'm a couple chapters into it) there is no need to have read Huck Finn.

Okay, now that we have officially finished Finn, although conversations are not finished, do we want to start submitting other choices for a 'read along'?

Well, I'm going to answer my own question and put out a suggestion. I typed in Missouri for tag searches and came up with a couple different results and this one looks pretty promising, but please let me know if you just aren't feeling it.
Enemey Women by Paulette Jiles I found this description here on librarything...

For the Colleys of southeastern Missouri, the War between the States is a plague that threatens devastation, despite the family's avowed neutrality. For eighteen-year-old Adair Colley, it is a nightmare that tears apart her family and forces her and her sisters to flee.

The treachery of a fellow traveler, however, brings about her arrest, and she is caged with the criminal and deranged in a filthy women's prison. But young Adair finds that love can live even in a place of horror and despair. Her interrogator, a Union major, falls in love with her and vows to return for her when the fighting is over. Before he leaves for battle, he bestows upon her a precious gift: freedom.

Now an escaped "enemy woman," Adair must make her harrowing way south buoyed by a promise ... seeking a home and a family that may be nothing more than a memory.

That sounds very interesting - I love historical fiction, especially if there's a nice romance involved!

That does sound interesting. Very different from what I usually read, which is a good thing.

Plus, it'll be good to have a lighter read after Finn!

It's also somewhat different from what I'd normally read, which I too think is a good thing.

I think it'd be interesting to read about the Civil War in Missouri as well. I don't know much about it.

It seems like the Finn discussion has finally calmed down. I know it is beginning to fade and mellow a bit in my mind. Are we ready to begin thinking about another book? Beckylynn had a good suggestion. I looked around a bit, and found several titles, but nothing that looked any more interesting than this one. Unless we want to read No One Dies in Branson! (I can't believe there is a touchstone for this, I laughed out loud when I read the title. I wonder if it's any good.)

Does anyone else have another suggestion? I'd be in favor of waiting a couple of weeks to start another book - maybe even after Labor Day.

I think Enemy Women would be a good follow-up to Finn. It takes place a few years later during the Civil War. It's pretty gritty, but not grisly. I read it early in 2007 and would need to do some skimming to keep up with a discussion. I remember being surprised by the women's prison in St. Louis. I didn't know we had such a place for "war criminals."

As for the time frame, I'm not in a hurry either. I always have a plethora of books waiting for me.

I did think of some ideas for future reads. Daniel Woodrell got some good press earlier this year for Winter's Bone. It takes place in the Ozarks and involves a young woman and extreme poverty. I have been wanting to read this one, but haven't purchased it yet.

A few suggestions of Missouri books I have read years ago: both Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge were excellent character studies about an upper middle class family in the Plaza area of Kansas City. They may be a bit dated...I'm thinking they were set in the 1940's or 50's. I've also enjoyed the nature writing of Sue Hubbell in A Country Year. Its about beekeeping and back-to-nature over the period of a year. Finally, one of my favorite Missouri authors is William Least-Heat Moon. He wrote Blue Highways and River-Horse, both travel memoirs. That's all I know! :-)

All sound like great choices, but I'm with sjmccreary, need a breather. I just got accepted for an Early Reviewer so I'm going to try to catch up on that. So do we want to go ahead for after Labor Day?

A break sounds good to me as well.

There's a whole bunch of books I need to write reviews for that I keep putting off...

I just saw this and would love to participate in your next book. I'm out of St. Louis -- have been spending too much time watching the Olympics so I'm behind on my reading too. I'll keep looking for when you decide to begin the next book.

thx

Christine

Hey guys, Labor Day is fast approaching, so are we still up for a post Labor Day read?

Are we all pretty much agreed on Enemy Women?

Does anyone have a date to start in mind?

I'm good with Enemy Women. Would Labor Day itself be too early for people, or should we start in mid-September? Maybe mid-September would be better, so we could have time to acquire copies of the book. Say September 15? The Ides of September?

I think I'm going to need a little bit of time to get a hold of the book, since I somewhat suspect the local bookstores may not have it.

Anyway, Sept. 15 sounds just fine with me. That sounds like plenty of time to get the book and get a bit into it.

"The Ides of September" *chuckle* sounds good to me, too. I'm off to find the book now.

good idea Enemy Women it is then! Now to find the best price...

If you aren't opposed to buying online, beckylynn, Half.com has some insanely cheap copies. I think mine was $0.75, and then 3.99 S&H. It's a hardcover in absolutely perfect condition - I don't think it was ever read.

Not opposed at all.......just bought mine on abebooks.com for 1.00 and 3.70 for shipping. Pretty much the same price, I was pleased it wasn't expensive. I can't recall the exact amount I spent on Finn, but I wasn't happy about it.

I just got my copy of Enemy Women but haven't started reading yet. There is a prologue and 31 chapters - 32 total divisions. I didn't notice if they were all approximately the same length, but I didn't notice any 1-page chapters like we saw in Finn. What do you think about dividing the book into fourths - 8 chapters each? I'm hoping to begin reading sometime next week so to be ready to discuss the following week. Each chapter begins with one or more quotations, but in my 2-minute perusal I couldn't tell if they are actual source documents from the civil war, or fictional works. Judging from her acknowledgements, the author did quite a lot of historical research, so I'm hoping that our novel will include some interesting factual information as well. Twomoredays, was it you who posted a general notice someplace else last time? Should we do that again?

It was me. There's a thread over in "What are you reading?" for group reads. I'll go see if I can find it and post a notice.

I think that splitting the book into fourths is a great idea. How long do we get for each chunk? A week or two?

I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but I just discovered a book that might be worth considering for a future read if we wanted to read a bit of nonfiction:

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman

It's all about the 1811 earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri and the author was featured on MegaDisasters on the History Channel.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it so that it will be in the thread the next time we get to picking another book to read.

I'm almost positive I'm the only Columbian, but as an FYI the Friends of the Columbia Library Sale had at least a few copies of Enemy Women for sale for a $1. It's going on tomorrow (Sunday the 7th) from 1p.m.-5p.m.

I just got back on after a couple of week's break. I would like to be included in the September book read. September 15th sounds good but not sure how it works, do we just start posting then? I've purchased the book just haven't started it yet.

We'd love to have you, Chris!

As for how it works, around the 15th someone will start a new thread for the first quarter or so of Enemy Women and you can post as often or as little as you like. Some of us like to post as we're reading the section and some of us wait until we've finished the whole chunk and some do a little of both.

And I think we're a pretty flexible bunch so don't worry about rushing through the book or anything.

You guys' will be a little ahead of me, I haven't even gotten my book yet! (it's in the mail)

If it's already on its way, you don't have anything to worry about. It seems to ready pretty fast. You'll catch up quickly. I'm ready for chapter 5. So far, so good.

Thanks all -- looking forward to it.

I have to finish Three Cups of Tea for one of my college courses before I can even pick up Enemy Women, because I know that's the only way I'll finish it is if I have something to look forward to...

I loved Three Cups of Tea, amazing what one man was able to accomplish and how dedicated he is.

So does anyone have any ideas for a new book or is everyone ready for a 'break' for awhile?

Oh, Becky, I was just going to post today to suggest we do one more book before the holidays. No ideas, though. Even though Finn wasn't as pleasant to read as Enemy Women, there was certainly more there to think about and discuss. Something both pleasant AND meaty, perhaps?

I listed a few suggestions in Message #42, but don't know if any of them would be considered "both pleasant and meaty." Personally, I hope we come up with something I haven't read as it was difficult for me to join in the discussion of Enemy Women. I had forgotten parts of it and was afraid that the things I did remember would be a spoiler because I wasn't sure which part they were in. I guess I could just reread the next book, but there are so many on my TBR pile that I hate to do that.

I know how you feel Donna, I always get ahead in my reading, especially with Enemy Women because I liked it so much. So maybe the next time we do a book we could automatically start a thread for 'overall book' or something along those lines so those who have already read it or are finishing quickly can still talk about it while it's fresh in their minds.

So decisions decisions...I think your suggestion of Winters Bone sounds interesting. I've really gotten into the historical fiction books....thanks to this group :)

I'd be up for reading another book. I kind of skipped out on Enemy Women which I'm a little mad at myself for, but oh well.

A Country Year sounds interesting to me and the reviews here are almost universally positive. It certainly sounds like it would be pleasant, but I'm not sure how much discussion it would leave us...

Edit:

I was playing around with the tags and I realized that Sharp Objects is set in Missouri. I don't really read a lot of thriller-type books, but this one has intrigued me. Maybe that would be a possibility?

I think another book before the holidays is a good idea. As far as books go, I think that Winter's Bone sounds interesting. Before I forget, A.E. Hotchner was on Living St. Louis and his memoir King of the Hill is set in MO. The Missouri History Museum has just re-released it (along w/ its sequel). Maybe not this time, but an idea for later.

Any of these suggestions would be OK with me. Sharp Objects seems reminescent of Finn in that it looks intense and sometimes disturbing, but we had lots of good discussion with Finn, so that's not all bad.

My vote is for Sharp Objects...I think it would be a good change of pace for this group since it seems to be set in more modern times. Maybe we could ante up the conversations with this book also.

Sharp Objects has the benefit of being pretty short, which may be a good thing going into the holidays/exams/paper writing time of year. Also Amazon keeps thinking I would like it. Would it be a new read for everyone? I do think that with a group this size that should be a consideration.

I am going to pester you all to read Winters Bone later, though! And the one about earthquakes, especially since we just had one in the spring!

All three of the last suggested titles would be new reads for me. Sharp Obljects sounds fine to begin with. I'm all for shorter books with the busy days coming up soon.

Sharp Objects is OK with me, too. Which is the one about earthquakes, jfetting?

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman. Twomoredays mentioned it upthread, and I thought it sounded interesting. Plus, it'd be fun to add in some nonfiction here and there.

I guess I overlooked that one. It does sound interesting - I enjoy reading non-fiction. It and Winer Bones both sound like good options for the next book after this one. It seems that we have reached a consensus on Sharp Objects for Nov-Dec? When shall be begin? How long does it take to acquire the new book and be ready to start reading?

I just ordered my copy on Abebooks.com and they are really cheap (1.00 with 3.99 shipping) for a hardcover. Careful though a lot of them are being shipped from the UK and not US...
I got accepted for a early reviewer book...but I can put that off until after we finish this (I'm not too excited about the one I won). So how about we start the first week of December? The first being our first discussion? Any arguments, concerns, worries, etc. etc.

First of December is Ok with me, but I thought waiting until after Thanksgiving might be too late for some. That will give me enough time to clear the decks a bit - I have an early reviewer book from September that I ned to finish up. Do we know yet just how long this book is, and how long it might take to read?

The book is about 250 pages, but I can't imagine the writing being super dense and hard to get through. First week of December is fine with me - I can get some reading done over Thanksgiving.

omnivoracious.com, Amazon's book blog, is doing a books of the states/electoral votes thing this months (they make book suggestions from each state, the number of suggestions depending on the number of electoral votes each state gets) and Missouri's was up earlier in the week:

Missouri books

Just ordered mine tonight from Amazon for .99 also. It said it was 272 pages. I'm game for early Dec.

Just FYI - I got on the library's online catalog to request the book, and found these reviews posted (copied below) - they seem to be library-based reading groups. I'm still game and have gone ahead and placed my hold, but didn't know if anyone else would have second thoughts.

Sharp objects
Author: Flynn, Gillian, 1971-
-sort by- Date: newest Date: oldest Rating: highest Rating: lowest Most useful
0 out of 2 readers would recommend this to a friend.

It might be better to wait and try her second book November 6, 2008
By: MondayMystery Independence, Missouri (US)
The group also agrees that disturbing best describes this book. It's a violent book. Violent in a way you don't read often. The male characters are weak almost invisible characters. Gillian Flynn focuses on the violence that women inflict on themselves and on other women. This book is not for the faint of heart. The group also feels this is well written. Whenever her second book is released, half the group is willing to give her another try. However, they also agree if it heads down the same creepy violent road, they will set the book down, walk away and never try another book by her again. No one would recommend this as a book to read. It's a shame really to have an author who can and does write well, but the material is too disturbing to recommend.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DISTURBING November 6, 2008
By: ThursdayMystery Independence, Missouri (US)
Disturbing is the best word for this book. This is the train wreck you keep staring at. You don't want to look, but you can't tear your eyes away. Same goes for this book. You simply keep reading even though your skin is crawling. This is well written, but they won't be looking for her second book. - Blue Ridge branch's Thursday Mystery Book Club

After reading these reviews again, I realize that many of the same comments could have been made about Finn. Forewarned is forearmed - maybe I'm a little disturbed, but now I find myself wanting to read and see for myself just how twisted this story really is!

The library system owns quite a few copies, so several are available and it will only take a day or two for one to be sent over for me. My local branch's copy is, of course, already checked out. I probably won't start on it, though, for another week while I finish up some others that I've already started.

Hmm, those reviews are making me wonder. I wonder if it's disturbing in a sort of ridiculous thriller way (like Tarantino movies) or if it's a seriously disturbing way like Finn.

Maybe I just shouldn't recommend books anymore... I seem to find all the really dark ones!

Well, if we're all still up for it, the first sounds just fine to me.

I'm demented and those reviews make me want to read the book even more.......... I'm a HUGE King fan, maybe that will help make some clarification.
I don't rely on what other people think of books too often, so the low ratings don't bother me at all.

Picked up the book from the library today, and read the first few pages in the car out in the parking lot. Just knowing how "disturbing" it is supposed to be, it is already seeming a little creepy, even though nothing has happened yet. Power of suggestion, I guess. The book is about the same size as Enemy Women, but too soon to tell whether it will read as quickly. At least this one has punctuation. How far should we go for the first discussion? Ready to discuss ON December 1, or by the end of the first week?

I think ready to discuss on Dec. 1st.
I got my copy in the mail the other day and couldn't help but notice it came with a great rec. from Stephen King, which to me means it's got great potential.

I sat down at 6:30 last evening to start reading the book, and ended up reading straight through and finishing in 5 hours. I'm ready to discuss when everyone else is.

>87 sjmccreary:...I had a similar experience, but my reading wasn't quite that condensed. I started reading right after Thanksgiving company left on Friday, but had too much to do to get into it. Same thing on Saturday. But then on Sunday, the snow started falling, my husband built a roaring fire, and I read off and on all day, finishing in bed (after my bedtime) last night. It was compelling, to use an overworked word that I try to avoid. :-) Can't wait to discuss it.

Good to hear some news...........I'm a slacker and haven't started yet, However, now I can't wait and will start it tonight when I get home.

should we just discuss the book as a whole, then, instead of breaking it up into parts? I'm on chapter 13, so I'll probably be finished by the end of the day. It's hard to put down.

Ack, I guess I really need to get started. I was just finishing up another book, so hopefully I'll get started tonight.

I'm willing to wait a couple of days to let everyone finish and then discuss the book as a whole.

Yeah, I agree to the whole book discussion. It's really hard to put down! Is everyone else enjoying?

I just got notification that Dark Places by Gillian Flynn has come in for me at the library. I'll be picking it up next week. Is anyone interested in reading together with me this month? I won't be starting it for a couple of weeks.

This book is set in Kansas City, and in last Saturday's Star, there was a huge article about it. I didn't have a chance to read the whole thing, but the blurb that I noticed was that this book is focusing on women's capacity for violence and cruelty (I guess it's not just for men anymore). Evidently Flynn grew up in KC and still has family here, so she is on familiar territory. I'm anxious to see how it compares to Sharp Objects.

I'm interested - I've seen some really good reviews of Dark Places. I need to get ahold of a copy, but that shouldn't take too long. I have significantly more free time these days.

Include me too! Although it may take a bit for me to get it--all of the library copies are out, and there are 22 reserves on it! I'll find one though.

Aughhh! I am No. 36 on the hold list. There are 4 copies so that should help. Go ahead without me, and I'll chime in when everyone else has moved on. That's the story of my reading life lately!

#97 Wow - I checked our library - they have 32 copies, but there are more than 150 people on the wait list. I'm glad I put my request in early!

Do we want to wait and plan for this book a little later in the summer? I can either give my copy back and get in the back of the line for another, or go ahead and read it now and take notes (if I can remember how, that is!)

Sounds like it might be difficult for all of us to get it at the same time. Maybe we should set up for early July, and those of us who get it before then can just read and take notes? Not my favorite way of doing things, but the books popularity makes me anxious to read it, and we're all in different spots in our respective queues! (although I've moved up to #20 in the last week!)

#99 That sounds like a good idea. I've had a avalanche of books come in for me at the library lately. I think I'll put off DP as long as I can and take notes while I read for a group discussion in July, or whenever everyone can get a copy. Hopefully, we won't be too spread out - my book isn't due back until July 7.

I'm up to 15 on the list, so at this rate, I should have it by the first of July!

I am very slowly moving up the list as well. I was encouraged to read the notice on my local library page that they have ordered 8 more copies of Dark Places, although they seem to be very slow in their processing after new stuff comes in. Go ahead and start without me....I'll catch up!

Hey guys, it's been awhile!! I see I missed out on Winter's Bone- darn! I went ahead and ordered it because it looks pretty good.
I checked prices on Dark Places (looks great) but is too expensive for me to buy and our library is a little less then fantastic when it comes to getting in new books.....
Would you guys send me a message when you get ready to read your next book together? I've been pretty busy so our little group slipped my mind!! Hope everyone is having a great summer.

I just checked out some of Daniel Woodrell's other novels and they all seem to have the same kind of rough n' tough storyline crammed into an intense little book. So I checked them out on Amazon...and wow they are hard to find and when you do they're pretty expensive. (You guys have to think I'm the cheapest person on Earth by now anyways!)
I thought that Give Us a Kiss and Ride with the Devil were both promising, but like I said hard to come by. The latter title was actually made into a movie!
I know that some of you are just finishing up (or starting) Dark Places, but I didn't think it would hurt to start throwing out and brainstorming titles for our next book.
Any suggestions?

#104 Becky - I get my books from the library - for free. I'm not going to say or think anything about your book buying budget! (Lucky for me, our library is excellent - I'm still having trouble believing that yours doesn't have Dark Places. What would happen if you pointed out that it is very popular and asked them to order it?)

I would love to read Ride with the Devil. I didn't realize it was written by Woodrell. I remember a few years ago when they were filming (at least part of it) in Kansas City - they made a big deal about the director - Ang Lee. I'm on a big civil war reading kick this year, but this book has totally escaped by notice. However, when I check the library catalog, it looks like the (original?) book title is Woe to Live On - copies owned by several libraries in the state.

That's a pretty good idea, I think I might stop by the library when I get off of work today....
When I was looking around about Woodrell I noticed that a few of his books have changed titles over the years, which is kind of interesting, but makes it a pain to find them too. (unless you have LT and can just look up the author).
I want to watch the movie, but I would prefer to read the book first....

Our library also has it as Woe to Live On. They have one copy, and one copy of Give Us A Kiss. So I'm okay in that direction if we decide to read one of those. I had a book marked on a list at home that I thought we might like, but I sure can't remember it now. Maybe I'll throw it out later as another title...

Guess what? Checked the library again for ANY Woodrell books...the only one they have? Winter's Bone, go figure!

I found the other book I was looking for. It's Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton, a Missourian. I've not read it, just throwing it out as another suggestion!

Becky, sounds like you either need an inheritance or a new library!

This looks good and my local library has two copies. I am still waiting for Dark Places. It seems to me that with over 30 people on the waiting list that this should be one of those 2-week books as opposed to 3 weeks. I've never wanted to be on the Library Board until now.

tloeffler- LOL! I start my new job in a couple of weeks so hopefully I won't be hurting so bad by then and can actually afford a few new books :)

Moonflower Vine, sounds good. It doesn't look like a book I would pick up on my own, but all the member reviews say it's pretty awesome! I'm willing to try it.
Now let me go check abe.....

Did we ever pick a book? I got a little sidetracked starting my new job, but I'm good with reading anything.

Can you believe I am still waiting for Dark Places? I think Becky is playing the waiting game as well. I just checked and am making progress. I am now #6, and with 12 copies, it shouldn't be much longer. At least that's what I've been telling myself all summer.

I'm glad you still consider yourself a Missouri Reader, Jennifer. We need to get some more members. I can't believe that there is only a handful of MO members on LT. Come join us, people!

WOOOHOOO!!!! My friend got me a copy of Dark Places from his library, I just started!!!! Okay, have to go read now.....

Moonflower Vine is a good suggestion, so is doing another one of the Woodrell books. My library doesn't have MV (unusual), but tons of other MO libraries do, including Kansas City, so I could get a copy pretty easily, I think. Even Rolla has it - isn't that your library, Becky?

Oh - Becky is buried in Dark Places right now - there'll be no response from her for a while, I'd wager.

#113 I think there is a way to see which LT members have listed Missouri as their "location" - is there a way to send invites to them?

Of course I'm still a Missouri reader! You can't get rid of me that easily ;-)

Moonflower Vine looks fantastic. I'll take this opportunity to bring up King of the Hill again, because I still want to read it.

I kind of thought we were waiting for Donna & Becky to read Dark Places. (I wish I had been thinking ahead--my father went to a funeral in Neosho last week & I could have had him meet you, Donna, and drop off my copy for you! I'd also be glad to send it to you, but I would like it back when you're done--just let me know!) Maybe (and feel free to overrule me--it's the ocd coming out again) we should plan ahead. We could schedule Moonflower Vine for the middle/end of September, then bribe Jennifer to stay awhile by doing King of the Hill: A Memoir next, and by then decide on another Woodrell book.

I was also playing with the search function, and if you type in MO, you get anyone who has the letters 'mo' in their name or location. But we could still pick out the ones who show a MO location, and send individual invites, if we wanted to.

#117 that plan sounds good to me. Does that work out to a book every 30 days? 45? 60?

#118 what does everyone think about issuing invites to other LTers from MO? Should we decide on a reading schedule first to present to them? We might also "advertise" on some of the general groups - book talk, I think, is where we've publicized our group reads in the past.

I'm good with any/all of the above. :-) And please don't wait for me to read Dark Places. Sounds like Becky is reading it now, and I'll just post my comments on the thread if and when I get the darn book. If it's like her other one, it will be a quick read.

Maybe every 45-60 days, so we can fit in all the other group reads we may be in! ;-)
And I think it's a good idea to invite any others from MO. They can ignore us if they aren't interested (but who wouldn't be interested in such an awesome group?).

Ok- It was worth the wait! Great book....but I'll place my thoughts in the right thread.
I'm totally up for inviting other MO readers to the crowd. The more the merrier. I would love to see this group grow!
I think maybe providing a reading schedule might seem a little....overwhelming, but maybe we should invite them to help make the decision for the next book(s). What do you guys think?

#115- No, sadly Rolla is not my library, it's the town next to me and they charge 20$ for people out of town to use their services..... our only library is privatley owned and as I have said before is short on their choices of books.

#122 That is a very good point, Becky. Much more welcoming. Glad to hear you liked Dark Places - looking forward to your comments.

#123 I don't think I've ever heard of a privately owned library - do they have a subscription/membership fee? (I'm intrigued by this) If they are as limited as you say, I'd be tempted to spend the $20 to use the other library. If it saves you from buying even one book, it's paid for itself.

That sounds good to me. How shall we go about it?

#125 Terri, assuming you're talking about inviting folks to join the group - the hard part will be dividing up the work if we want to share it. I don't have any suggestions for that, but I'm willing to do as much or as little of the job as needed.

At the group page, there is an "invite someone to join" button at the top right - then you type in the user name and a short message. A message (private, I think) shows up on their profile.

Okay, how about this? I'll go down the list of anyone who has MO The State listed, and when I get a completed list, we'll split up the inviting. That will probably be the most tedious, don't you think? Someone can come up with a nicely worded invitation/ballot, and we'll go from there. Any objections? No? Okay then!

OK with me.

great plan Terri!

If I'm not mistaken the "Little House" series was written by someone who lived or grew up in Missouri (mostly). The Author is Laura Ingalls Wilder. I know it's technically a children's series but I remember that somewhere in southwest MO is the Laura Ingalls wilder home (historic site/house museum). Just a thought.

Also, I found this link which mentioned a list of Missouri Authors. http://books.missouri.org/node/34

#130 Welcome AtheneSolon! I had to chuckle at your suggestion of Little House on the Prairie. I think you're right about Laura Ingalls Wilder living in MO and that there is a musuem or something, but I'm not sure where. (Maybe someplace around Joplin? Donna - do you know?) "I know it's technically a children's series but" I have it sitting on top of the tbr stack ready to read later this week or next! I've never ever read any of the Little House books, but chose this one for the Kansas category in my 999 challenge!

I think this is an interesting suggestion, though, as we think about upcoming books. What about doing an easy book now and then to break up a string of longer books. It might also provide some relief to the unrelenting gloom and depression we've noticed in our previous MO books.

This has been a very active group the past few days. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum is in Mansfield, MO which is about an hour's drive SE of Springfield. I loved the books as a child, but have never taken the time to visit Laura's house. I'm thinking these would be good books to read with my granddaughters and then take a field trip there when they come down from K.C.

I'll be glad to send out some invites to the group as well. Glad to have your suggestion AtheneSolon. I also like Becky's suggestion about letting any new members chime in on what our next book will be.

I picked up Moonflower Vine from the library "just in case." It is an original 1962 copy with yellowing pages. It begins with this wonderful description:

"My father had a farm on the western side of Missouri, below the river, where the Ozark Plateau levels to join the plains. This is a region cut by creeks, where high pastures rise out of wooded valleys to catch the sunlight and fall away over lmestone bluffs. It is a pretty country. It does not demand your admiration, as some regions do, but seems glad for it all the same..."

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for this kind of peaceful, flowing descriptive writing. But I'll wait to read it with the rest of you. I don't think there is a big demand for this book so even if I have to take it back, I could readily check it out again.

Hi, I guess I've been lurking long enough: I was invited to join a while back and I hesitated, due to feeling overcommitted on groups and group reads already. However I put you on "watch this group" and I've been reading the posts ever since, so why not join??

I have already read Moonflower Vine and loved it. I also read Winter's Bone and would love to read another book by Woodrell.

Re: Laura Ingalls Wilder, I recently read this article about her in the New Yorker: Wilder Women.

All fabulous ideas! I went through yesterday and came up with a list of 282 (!) people who have either MO or Missouri listed on their profile. I suspect there are more, but this might be a good start! I put the list in a spreadsheet, so it's ready when we decide what we want to do with it.

I'm all for the LIW books, as well as anything else we decide on. (Here's a thought for LT: come up with a random selector or a voting application for those of us with group reads who need to make decisions!)

Re. sjmccreary's message about "No One Dies In Branson," I wrote that book. I've lived in Missouri for many years. It's quite good, for my first novel. The sequel, "Evil Harmony," also set in Branson, is even better. I hope your group reads them. This summer, a movie company filmed "Winter's Bone" where it's set near Branson.

#135 Hi, kbucks. The summary for No One Dies in Branson does look pretty interesting - a cozy-type mystery? We're in the process of choosing our next book, and I hope you'll consider joining the group and reading along with us. The last 30 posts or so contain all the current suggestions.

#133 marise, I'm glad you decided to join us. Another voice in the discussion is always welcome.

I ordered a copy of Dark Places from my book club. I really enjoyed it!

Feel free to post on our Dark Places thread, annesion! I don't think Donna or Becky have finished it yet, and we're still expecting comments from them!

I also put this on the Dark Places thread.

I was at the St. Louis YMCA Book Fair last night and picked up another copy of Dark Places! I am going to put it on Bookmooch, but before I do I wondered if anyone here would want a crack at mooching it first.

The book is a book club edition with a tiny tear in the cover, but overall worth more than the $.50 I paid for it!

This group has been very quiet lately. Here are some random points from Daniel Woodrell's discussion yesterday at The Missouri Literary Festival held here in Springfield.

He was very soft spoken and humble. He mentioned that his grandmother was functionally illiterate and he wanted to be a part of promoting literacy. He lives in West Plains and writes about that region, but never mentions W.P. because he didn't want to upset the good people there. But he went on to say that "all" elements live in that area and he knew of several meth labs in his neighborhood, although he minds his own business which is a "great trait for living in the Ozarks."

He had nothing to do with the filming of Winter's Bone this past summer. Once he sells the rights, he gives up any say in the matter. He did get to read the script and it paralleled the book, but things can change once filming begins. He has heard that it is being considered for viewing at Sundance.

He mentioned that regional authors have trouble getting national recognition. He has a fairly good international following, especially in France and Sweden. When he writes, he seldom knows two chapters ahead where the story is going. He reads and rewrites daily. He uses the "follow the brush" method of Japanese minimalist painting. Between books he becomes a "dreamy guy" and thinks about writing from a big city perspective, but when he starts writing, he always comes back to his roots.

I enjoyed his presentation very much. I have heard several authors read from their works and have attended book signings of Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, and Richard Bach, but I've never had such an intimate exchange with an author. There were only about 30 people there, so we felt free to ask questions, and he was gracious enough to spend some extra time with the group.

What and when is our next read?????

Donna, thanks for sharing about Woodrell's presentation. We drove through West Plains on vacation this summer, and it was a really nice-looking town, absolutely the best looking place between Memphis and Springfield, as least from the highway. After reading his book, I was expecting something completely different!

Thanks for bringing up another group read. I've been meaning to go back and read the conversation from the summer and remind myself what we were talking about doing, but just haven't taken the time. As I recall, we were talking about doing another Woodrell book, and we were talking about doing some recruiting to the group before choosing a new book. I'm in favor of reaching out and inviting other MO folks to join the group, but I don't think we should wait for them before doing another read.

Thanks, Donna! Don't you find that you read an author's works differently after you've met him/her? He sounds interesting.

I'm ready for another book, too. We had a lot of suggestions, but never settled on one. I'll read anything!

It sounds like we're all ready for another book. I glanced back at the suggestions that were made over the summer, and it looks like we were talking about Moonflower Vine, King of the Hill, and something else by Woodrell.

I'm willing to do any of these. The KC Star book club is doing Moonflower Vine this month, so that might make library copies a littler harder to come by for a few weeks - but I won't know for sure until I try. OTOH, there will be discussions of the book published in the paper, which will be interesting to read.

My personal preference would probably be Woe to Live On/Ride With the Devil by Woodrell, but that is only a leaning and just to get the discussion started.

That works for me! Do we have any ideas on how to get the word out to any other Missourians on LT to join us? I know I had a spreadsheet with the ones I could dig up using a search, but it was way big. Or we could just tell 2 friends, and they could tell 2 friends, and so on....

I left a profile message for Becky a couple of weeks ago, but haven't heard back from her. Guess she is busy right now. Terri, how big was your list? I'd be glad to begin sending invitations to those folks if you want to e-mail me some names. In the meantime, should we go ahead and schedule another book?

I'm up for anything. Another Woodrell would be fun, I think.

Hey guys! My reading time is becoming rather limited these days, but I could probably squeeze in a short book. Any suggestions? Maybe we can make a New Year's resolution to build up the group's numbers. I know there must be other LT members with a Missouri connection out there.

I've checked with the local library and the only two Woodrells that I can get easily are Tomato Red or The Death of Sweet Mister. Both of them are short. Any preferences or other suggestions? Are we thinking of an early December discussion?

Looking ahead to next year...let's try and recruit some new members. And, I would like to detour from our "poor white trash" image a bit. King of the Hill (memoir set in St. Louis) looks intriguing to me as does The Moonflower Vine.

I'm almost afraid to post anything here. I seem to be the Kiss of Death for the threads in this group!

Sandy, there were about 280 names on the list. I searched under anything that remotely seemed Missouri-ish. No idea if these are active folks or not, but it can't hurt to send an invite. I sure don't mind sending them. Do we want to add more than just "I thought you'd be interested in this group"? Should we start a new "Welcome" thread so they'll have a place to start when they get here?

As far as what we read next and when, anything that's mentioned above is fine with me. The next month, of course, is busy with the holidays, but if we allow ourselves enough time, I'll be looking for an excuse to just sit down and read!

#149 Both those Woodrell books are available at our library, as is King of the Hill. Surprisingly, Moonflower Vine is on order, but no copies currently available. It shows up like a new release, but isn't this book several years old? However, I may be able to get it on ILL. It was the Star's most recent "book club" book.

Taking a cue from a comment Donna made, I looked at the library for Christmas-themed books. Most are either nonfiction or childrens books, but I found The Christmas Lamp and Twisted Lights - neither of which sound as good as any of the other books that have been mentioned.

#150 Terri, I'm happy to help with the chore - I imagine each name has to be typed in, but does the message have to be re-typed for each person? Send me half the list.

Sandy, I'll get that out to you this week. At the top of the group, where it says "Invite people to join," the message that comes up says: "I thought you might be interested in this group." I didn't know if we'd want to say more than that. If we do, I'm sure we can type it once then cut & paste for the rest.

The Moonflower Vine came out originally in 1962. Harper reissued it this past spring, I think because Jane Smiley included it in one of her best reads lists. Here's an article:

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/book-blog/book-blog/2009/04/jane-smiley-on-forg...

#152 Do we want to do Moonflower Vine, then?

Why don't we save Moonflower Vine for our first 2010 read and go ahead with one of the Woodrell books as suggested earlier by Jennifer. They seem to be readily available and, best of all, they are short! My attention span wanes the closer it gets to Christmas. :-)

Just a suggestion. You know me, I'm ready to read just about anything.

That is OK with me - that would give me time to put in an ILL request for Moonflower Vine.

That works for me too. Why don't we do this? I just flipped a coin for the 2 Woodrells and came up with The Death of Sweet Mister. We can read that in December (and if you want, maybe have the discussion the week after Christmas when life has slowed down a little?). Then sometime in January, we can start The Moonflower Vine. That way, we have something planned in advance for any new people who respond to our invitations.

Just my thoughts--let me know what you guys think!

Amen! A leader steps forth. I like your decision-making style, Terri. Coin flips are most diplomatic. Off to reserve The Death of Sweet Mister.

Sounds good to me!

Me too. Got the book on hold at the library - it ought to be here sometime next week.

My library has it so I think I should be able to join in.

Besides Tom Sawyer and several books about the St Louis Cardinals, I find I've read two Missouri books, including Meet Me in St Louis by Sally Benson (about a family during the World's Fair).

I've also read This is Graceanne's Book by P.L. Whitney, which is a coming of age novel set in rural Missouri. Note that the author, Polly Whitney, is an old friend of mine.

Glad to have you in the group, Linda. The Sweet Mister book is quite short and, if it is anything like Winter's Bone, it will be hard to put down.

Just yesterday I heard that the movie "Winter's Bone" was accepted for the Sundance Film Festival in January. Quite a compliment to our Missouri author, Daniel Woodrell.