Never again will I procrastinate picking a book and then ask people for recommendations. The sheer volume of awesome suggestions I received was enough to blow the top of my head off. I want to read everything. All of it. I want to hold up the nearest Barnes and Noble and take my bounty into a locked room and never come out. Ridiculous.
Expect a post in the next few days discussing the picks for the next few months. I think a rough idea of what we will be reading will be good, both for waiting lists and budgets.
Before we get into May’s book pick, I have something to show you. The cute post header above is by Kristen Hodges of Ahoy Graphics. I won a design package over the summer and have been waiting to use it on something special. Our book club fit the bill. Also, a logo.
I also have small and large blog banners, bookmarks, and all sorts of fun collateral. But, to be perfectly honest, the whole technology thing isn’t really my bag. I have the files for the banners but don’t know how to make the code work (see: William Morris Project Coding Debacle of 2012). I’ll hold off on that until someone can help me avoid looking like a complete Luddite.
My methodology for picking books is pretty simple. I compile a list of potential books, check out the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and then see if one book stands out as a favorite among my friends. If it’s a book a vast majority of you have on your “to read” lists, it’s an almost guaranteed pick. Ergo, May’s book club pick:
The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.
Many of you have this book on your to-read lists, but for those who don’t, here is the synopsis.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des R�ves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway�a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love�a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per�formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.
That’s our May pick. I hope you like it! If you have a suggestion for the next few months, now is your time to share. I’m wondering…since summer is coming and people go on vacation, should we stick to short beach reads? Read every other month? Let me know your thoughts. I’m always reading so the time of year doesn’t make much difference to me, but I know not everyone is as cuckoo for coco puffs as I am. More than anything, I want this book club to be fun. No drudgery allowed.
Ooh, this looks interesting! And you’ve just reminded me that I get to shop at my favorite seaside bookstore when I’m in the US this summer…happiness! =)
Now you have to share the name of the bookstore. :)
The Toad Hall Bookstore in Rockport, MA. I love the name and it’s right on the beach in an old timey bank; 100% of their profits go to environmental issues. It’s sort of impossible NOT to love that store, ha! =D
This sounds amazing. Love the cover – I’m a sucker for good cover art and layout.
Oh – and a book suggestion from my stack of “to read” is The Tiger’s Wife, although I know it’s not a beach read. I just started The Namesake last night, thanks to (I think) a recommendation here, and just finished her short stories Interpreter of Maladies. Great writer although I still don’t love short stories – too much unresolved business. Thanks for mentioning those, because I might not have read them otherwise.
The Tiger’s Wife was on the list of books I considered this month.
I think I knew that – because when I went to Amazon for the Circus one it showed Tiger’s Wife as something “people who looked at that looked at these”, which reminded me about it. Scary, huh?
Very!
I say keep going through the summer. I hope to have time for some extra reading, especially on vacation.
Awesome. I hope to have more time, too, with school/baseball/soccer/insert activity done for the summer.
I say keep the book club monthly over the summer–I’m always reading anyway! Beach reads, or pseudo-literary beach reads, might be fun for the warmer months.
Great! I have a list of books (recommended by everyone on Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and will share them next week.
This one was definitely on my list and you hit at just the right time since I JUST finished my last book (non-fiction – and great easy reading if you’re on the lookout for something – The Power of Habit), so this will be my next Kindle purchase -thanks!
I am so in. I have been in such a rut with reading. I am putting this on my list.
Love, love, loved this book! Sigh.
I say keep it going during the summer months {perhaps I’ll actually get my act together and participate for once. So pitiful}. And definitely no drudgery–no way, no how . . .
PS-love the logo!
You know they are making a movie, right? Well, the sold the rights at least. Whether it becomes a movie is anyone’s guess.
This looks like a fun read! I hadn’t heard of it before. I’m in! I’m also voting for continuing monthly over the summer. :)
Also, since you asked me to remind you, I’m holding a Hunger Games discussion on my blog. I’d love if you stopped by! http://jadekeller.com/2012/04/a-hunger-games-pow-wow/
Oh, perfect! I didn’t see the link earlier today–I was checking from my phone. I hope I’m not too late!
I’ve read it and really liked it, yay!
And I say keep reading ALL summer!
Awesome–sounds like lots of people will participate in the discussion, which is always good.
This sounds like a fun read :)
I actually started reading it and then got distracted! I will have to go back and read it now! I think it was a free book option in my Kindle app….
And if you need help with the coding, let me know. ;) I would love to assist! <3
Free book? Music to my ears. Yes, if I get the courage to try again, I’ll let you know.
Ooh, this one has been on my to-read list! Awesome!
And I’m very open to reading a TON this summer, since I start grad school in the fall. Need to get all my fun reading in before I’m swamped!
I don’t think I read for fun all through law school. I could have, in the summers, but I was so exhausted I think I just laid around.
How fun, I was roomies with Kristen at Alt SUmmit this year – I’m glad to see she did such a fabulous job for this project. I am far enough ahead on my in person book club book this month that I think i’ll even have time to join in here, too.
We’d love to have you, Brianne!
ha! Clicked on the Amazon link and it says “frequently bought together with Fifty Shades of Gray”!!! maybe the PIBC will change that trend!
HOLY CRAP! Are you serious? That’s funny, because I’m on twitter right now bashing that book. Oops!
My bookclub read this and all 8 of us liked it to varying degrees…I thought it was a rather magical story and I really enjoyed it…have fun with it.
Varying degrees sounds interesting. That leads to more discussion, in my experience.
I just finished this book last month. It is amazing. I can’t wait for the discussion.
Yes!!
I am bouncing up and down in my chair with excitement, which is not a pretty sight. Love this book so, so much and bought several copies to give as Christmas gifts last year. And now you’ve given me an excuse to re-read it!
Hah! This made me laugh out loud. :)
I am so excited! Not only was this already on my “To Read” list, it’s available NOW at my library :D
(I’m still #5 in line for An Everlasting Meal, ugh!)
I vote for continuing the PIBC every month through summer. I actually read MORE during the summer months.