Happy Canada Day to our Canadians!
It's time for us select the book that the New Leaf Book Club will read in August 2019. The theme is
First Things First: Debuts.
Everyone is welcome to join the nomination process even if they'd rather lurk during the voting and discussion; if that is still a little too much commitment, please feel free to suggest titles without making a formal nomination. Also, don't sweat the links. It's helpful to check availability and prices before nominating in order to eliminate anything that's out of the question, but ultimately our global members with different gadgets and preferences will have to check for themselves.
The nominations will run through 7 AM EDT, July 7, 2019. Each nomination requires a second and a third to make it to the poll, which will remain open for
three days. The discussion of the selection will start on August 15, 2019. Don't forget to show up for the discussion of the July selection,
The Natural, on July 15.
Any questions? See below, or just ask!
FAQs for the Nomination, Selection and Discussion process
General Guidelines for the New Leaf Book Club
Official choices with three nominations:
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin [issybird, Bookpossum, gmw]
US$12.99 | CA$13.99 | AU$12.99 | UK£8.51 | OverDrive | Audible
Spoiler:
Quote:
Moscow, May 1876: What would cause a talented young student from a wealthy family to shoot himself in front of a promenading public in the Alexander Gardens? Decadence and boredom, most likely, is what the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Police thinks, but still he finds it curious enough to send the newest member of the division, Erast Fandorin, a young man of irresistible charm, to the Alexander Gardens precinct for more information.
Fandorin is not satisfied with the conclusion that this is an open-and-shut case, nor with the preliminary detective work the precinct has done—and for good reason: The bizarre and tragic suicide is soon connected to a clear case of murder, witnessed firsthand by Fandorin. There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful “A.B.,” whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide’s apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions.
|
290 pp.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman [Dazrin, gmw, Bookworm_Girl]
Amazon $13 |
GoodReads
337 pp.
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym [Catlady, Bookpossum, Bookworm_Girl]
Amazon US $9.99 |
Kobo US $14.39 |
Kobo AU $12.99 |
Kobo NZ $16.99 |
Kobo UK £3.99
Spoiler:
Quote:
A novel of two sisters in postwar England that lets you “step into the Jane Austen–like lives of Harriet and Belinda Bede” (The Christian Science Monitor).
Belinda and Harriet Bede live together in a small English village. Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with Henry Hoccleve—the poetry-spouting, married archdeacon of their church—for thirty years. Belinda’s much more confident, forthright younger sister Harriet, meanwhile, is ardently pursued by Count Ricardo Bianco. Although she has turned down every marriageable man who proposes, Harriet still welcomes any new curate with dinner parties and flirtatious conversation. And one of the newest arrivals, the reverend Edgar Donne, has everyone talking.
A warm, affectionate depiction of a postwar English village, Some Tame Gazelle perfectly captures the quotidian details that make up everyday life. With its vibrant supporting cast, it’s also a poignant story of unrequited love.
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Quote:
It was odd that Harriet should always have been so fond of curates. They were so immature and always made the same kind of conversation. Now the Archdeacon was altogether different . . . '
Together yet alone, the Misses Bede occupy the central crossroads of parish life. Harriet, plump, elegant and jolly, likes nothing better than to make a fuss of new curates, secure in the knowledge that elderly Italian Count Ricardo Bianco will propose to her yet again this year. Belinda, meanwhile has harboured sober feelings of devotion towards Archdeacon Hochleve for thirty years.
Then into their quiet, comfortable lives comes a famous librarian, Nathaniel Mold, and a bishop from Africa, Theodore Grote - who each take to calling on the sisters for rather more unsettling reasons.
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272 pp.
I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume [Dazrin, CRussel, Victoria]
Amazon $10 |
GoodReads
480 pp.
Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout [Victoria, CRussel, Dazrin]
Kobo CA $9 | Kobo US $5 | Kobo AU $10.22
285 pp.
Every Day is Mother's Day by Hilary Mantel [Bookpossum, issybird, Catlady]
Kobo: $US7.99, $C11.99, $A12.99, £3.99
274 pp.