New Leaf Nominations for June 2018 • I'll be There for You: Best Friends

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by orlok

I'll nominate A Catskill Eagle by Robert B. Parker. It's not the first in his Spenser series, but it is one of the best (you can read this series in any order, though the developing relationships are fun to follow chronologically). The friendship I am nominating this for is that between Spenser and Hawk, an African-American solider of fortune and unquestionably the greatest badass ever created in crime novels (IMHO).

In this story a letter tells Spenser that Susan (his long time partner) is in trouble and Hawk is in jail, and from there it’s a foregone conclusion on all hell breaking loose. The bonds between the three are never stronger, the story has never been more intense and the action has never been so defined. It’s a masterfully written book that could easily stand alone, not as minimalist as later Spensers or as hard-boiled as earlier ones, transitional both in terms of his style and the way the characters develop.

Amazon US $7.99
Amazon UK £4.99
Amazon AUS $11.99

I'll second this. Been at least 40 years since I read it. And the Hawke/Spencer friendship certainly qualifies.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by issybird

I have to ask, what is "LOL"? For the life of me, I can't come up with it.



I started them in 2014 and finished the 13th last September. (I'm only allowed to read/listen to them in the summer. )

Laugh Out Loud. I did hesitate on putting that there, but then my triplet-OCD kicked in and I had no choice, ha.

Master and Commander is available through Overdrive at my public library. So is A Catskill Eagle, though I have to put a hold on it. I recall the television show, and I remember Hawk is in it, but to be honest, I didn't follow the show much.

[Dazrin]

I've been wanting to read this book with my middle daughter for a while, so maybe this will give me an excuse...

I nominate Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. It is public domain in Life +70 countries (and is available at the MR Library) so availability isn't an issue.

Everyone's favorite redhead, the spunky Anne Shirley, begins her adventures at Green Gables, a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. When the freckled girl realizes that the elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins to try to win them and, consequently, the reader, over.

[Dazrin]

I will third A Catskill Eagle, I haven't read any of these books.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

LSo is A Catskill Eagle, though I have to put a hold on it. I recall the television show, and I remember Hawk is in it, but to be honest, I didn't follow the show much.

Please don't judge the books by the TV show. The characters in the show were very pale imitations of the "real" thing.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I will third A Catskill Eagle, I haven't read any of these books.

I know we often read similar books, so I urge you to give the series a try. It's my all time favourite.

[Pablo]

I nominate John Le Carré's novel Absolute Friends

From Amazon:

Absolute Friends is a superbly paced novel spanning fifty-six years, a theatrical masterstroke of tragi-comic writing, and a savage fable of our times, almost of our hours.
The friends of the title are Ted Mundy, British soldier’s son born in 1947 in a shining new independent Pakistan, and Sasha, a refugee son of an East German Lutheran pastor and his wife who have sought sanctuary in the West.
The two men meet first as students in riot-torn West Berlin of the late Sixties, again in the grimy looking-glass of Cold War espionage and, most terribly, in today’s unipolar world of terror, counter-terror and the war of lies.
Absolute Friends presents us with magical writing, characters to delight, and a spellbinding story that enchants even as it challenges.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Laugh Out Loud. I did hesitate on putting that there, but then my triplet-OCD kicked in and I had no choice, ha.

Well, that's embarrassing! I thought you must be referencing another series!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

I think everyone is still thinking - I know I am!

I am! I have a bunch of possibilities. Decisions, decisions. One of my issues is do I nominate something I want to read, or do I nominate a book that I've already read and loved.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I am! I have a bunch of possibilities. Decisions, decisions. One of my issues is do I nominate something I want to read, or do I nominate a book that I've already read and loved.

I tend toward the nomination of a book I've loved, in the premise that this is about discovery. And I expect that my nominations will help others discover some favourites (this month's Master and Commander, for example) while I expect to discover from other's nominations. But I prefer at least the minimal vetting of it having been read by someone here, not just a passing fancy.

[Bookpossum]

It can also be a book which has gained very good reviews from trusted reviewers, or is a book by an author we know even if we haven't read the particular book. But I agree that just picking a book because of its title, or its cover, or whatever, could be fraught with danger.

Mind you, it's still possible to pick a dud, and we have all been there!

[gmw]

While I'm here, I will use one of my votes to second: John Le Carré's Absolute Friends. I am curious about it; it's one I've not tried to read before and judging from a limited selection of reviews it will either be wonderful or a disaster.

So far I've have always nominated what I know that I like. I've had so many bad experiences with high expectations that didn't pan out that I don't really trust it. I have had the one temptation to nominate something I'd like to talk about (even though I didn't much like it) ... but resisted that one.

I, too, am struggling with multiple options - and with the fact that the next month or two may see less input from me. I'm wondering how many people have read Terry Pratchett's books for younger readers and would like to try them, because Only You Can Save Mankind almost fits this theme. Dngrsone's thought about Stephen King's The Body occurred to me too, but I liked where it fit before; this time around I thought his novel It might be a possibility, but it's a bit long. There's the very Australian Jasper Jones (Craig Silvey), or the award winning Holes (Louis Sachar). I even wondered whether something like The Little White Bird (J.M.Barrie) could be forced into this theme (a very strange friendship). Choices, choices. I was really hoping to see some other nominations before putting up something to contrast ... but it is starting to look like everyone else is doing something similar.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by gmw

So far I've have always nominated what I know that I like. I've had so many bad experiences with high expectations that didn't pan out that I don't really trust it. I have had the one temptation to nominate something I'd like to talk about (even though I didn't much like it) ... but resisted that one.

I don't reread much and as a result, my tendency is to go with something I'd like to read. Sometimes it's more successful than others! One thing I do like to revisit is the classics, but I know as a category it's not that popular (just the same, I'm considering both an old favorite and one I've never read, but I suspect everyone else has).

[astrangerhere]

I will nominate Elana Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend. It is the first of her four Neopolitan Quartet, but as I understand can be read as a standalone. If someone who has read the entire series needs to correct me, feel free.

Amazon - $6.00
Kobo - $ 8.69

From the description:

Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its protagonists, the fiery and unforgettable Lila, and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflictual friendship. Book one in the series follows Lila and Elena from their first fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.

Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists.

[Catlady]

I'll second My Brilliant Friend. It's been on my radar because my best friend loved it.