A little of what you fancy

 

    It's time to choose the May title for the CBG, and as we've now read 49 books and have our 50th. ready and waiting, I thought I'd ask you all for your suggestions as to where we go next.

    To see what we've already read, look over there at the right hand sidebar and scroll down past the lists of arrivals, bookshops, writers, publishers etc. and you'll find them all in order with the most recent one up at the top. I think it's a pretty good range, given the constraints on choice, i.e. the book has to be available in libraries and shops 'everywhere' - that's a limiting factor, especially where recently published books are concerned because they may well not have filtered through the library systems to the same extent that ones which have been around for a while have done. If you prefer to own your own copy, that's much easier nowadays with the proliferation of e-books, the reach of online retailers, and efficient 'bricks and mortar' booksellers who can order anything (in print) not already on their shelves, but what it all comes down to is trying to choose something which anyone, regardless of their location and preferred method of obtaining the book, can get their hands on.

    Those are the practicalities which have a bearing on our choices, but what about the fun bit: the genres we may like to consider, the individual authors, periods or countries of origin? What takes your fancy? What sort of thing would you like to read with the group? Should we do other books by authors we've already read? Read more in translation? Are you in the mood for more classics (Lady Audley's Secret went down well)? Something very contemporary, perhaps? Please let me know what you think.

Comments

[Sharon Moreland]

A little rougher than your usual fare: Jim Harrison, Returning to Earth (2007). A man chooses his own death and the family he loves helps him.

[Dark Puss]

I guess you know many of my suggestions already, since I've made them in comments etc. over the CBG years.

Murakami, Lawrence Durrell, Italo Calvino and Natsume Soseki I think I have all mentioned. I'd certainly like to see something in a very different "style" from what I think has become the Cornflower trademark.

My explicit suggestion is Banana Yoshimoto's Hardboiled & Hard Luck.

[Claire said......]

A 2012 read, David Copperfield.

[Julie]

How about 'Game of Kings' by Dorothy Dunnett. Coincidently it is celebrating 50 years since it was first published!

[B R Wombat]

My two pennyworth would be Our Mutual Friend which is the book I most enjoyed in the last 12 months.

[Ruthiella]

Two suggestions from my TBR: anything by Beryl Bainbridge or Angela Carter. I have never read anything by Bainbridge and I need to remedy that and I have only read Wise Children by Carter. Both should be available from public libraries. However, I am totally open to other genres (SF/Fantasy, Crime, Historical Fiction, etc.) and/or books in translation. I like participating in the CFBG because it absolutely expands my reading microcosm.

[Dark Puss]

100% agree with your last sentence. Also you mention two of my favourite authors. For Angela Carter might I suggest The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman which I think would generate some interesting debate?

[Sandy]

I hope we will continue with books that appeal to a wide group for the benefit of this blog as well as its readers.

Mary Stewart - The crystal Cave. The 1st three books of this series live on in my mind, as if the history were genuine. Alternatively, T.H. White's The Once & Future King has a spark in it :)

Shaffer & Barrows - The Guernsey Literary ... Society. I know I read this because of a recommendation here but I dont think it was a book of the month. Unforgettable and a good read too.

Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome. Just spine tingling and you dont forget this one either.

I have trouble stopping this post .. Chocolat, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Road (McCarthy) ... Stop!!

[Susan in TX]

I've had trouble coming up with suggestions, as I enjoy being stretched by things not necessarily in my normal "comfort zone" of reading. I like the occasional nonfiction mixed in with the fiction. During the summer months, I'm more apt to read a book of door-stopping size, but other times, a more reasonable (400 pgs. or less) size is greatly appreciated - just so I have time to get it read. Notice that I'm failing to give you a genre. I did love Lady Audley, but then I also loved Travels With Charley and The Book Thief (although I hadn't found y'all when you read that one). I look forward to hearing how you put all these suggestions together. :)

[Dark Puss]

Back again with another suggestion for you! How about Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes? A classic, non-fiction and easily available (including free).

[Cornflower]

Many thanks for all the suggestions; my list of 'possibles' is now much longer!

[[email protected]]

I would like to join this group if possible, but I am still confused as to how it works. If I have to submit a book title then I would chose "The Wager" by Edwin Matthews. I often come across books which are described as hilarious and I am invariably disappointed. In this case however I have found a book which is pure comedy gold. It is narrated in the form of a diary by a disillusioned teacher who simply pokes fun at his incompetent headmaster, crazy government initiatives and the stupidity of the children he teaches. In times like these when the news always seems bad and people are fed up, this is a story which provides the pefect antidote to peoples sagging morale. I think it would give most members a good laugh which is why I would choose it.

Alan Shales

[Cornflower]

Many thanks for the suggestion, Alan - I shall add it to the master list - and you're most welcome to join us at any time.