BJ's List for a December Nudge

Well, I have my stack of books together, but I don't know how to post a photo, so here is a list. I am a little nervous about what the bibliovoyeurism will reveal. I am excited to hear your words of wisdom. :)

1. 84, Charing Cross Road
2. The Quest for the Northwest Passage
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
5. American Earth: Environmental Writings Since Thoreau
6. The Demon in the Freezer
7. Sarum
8. Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies
9. Ivanhoe
10. The Three Musketeers
11. Beloved
12. Beowulf
13. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
14. Dracula
15. Siddhartha

Well, that is my list. Sorry for lack of photo. However, I tend toward fuzzy photos anyway. I have to finish my 888 Challenge first, but then I will be ready for my nudged read. Thanks for your input. :)
--BJ

Without a doubt what you should read is Beloved by Toni Morrison. But beware it is a demanding as well as rewarding read.

Siddhartha takes me back to the hippie days of my youth when Hermann Hesse was essential reading. He probably isn't now!

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is funny and much better than the subsequent books in the series. It's got a freshness and creativity which turns to stodge in the later cash cow follow ups.

Now, I never have yet read Dracula and I really should.

Hmmm. An assorted list. Comments on the ones I've read:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--forget this one, the correct book to read is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. (The Sorcerer's Stone isn't a real book.) Excellent, but I read it when it was first published and before all the fuss. Not sure how it would work after seeing all the Potter-craziness.

Sarum - pretty good, if you're into one of those multi-generational novels. Reminded me a lot of James Mitchner. I learned a lot about the early history of Britain when I read this--hope he did his research!

Beowulf--totally depends on the translation you read. Seamus Heaney is a good one, but there are others. I studied this at university and loved it, but I'm not sure what I would have thought without the class.

Siddhartha - great book. Discovered it about 8 years ago, and it's probably the only book I've reread since (3x). This would be my nudge, but, really it depends on your mood.

I'm going to denudge that one. Siddhartha is in my opinion a fraudulent work (along with most of Hesse). If you want to know about Buddha, I would recommend The Life of the Buddha by Nanamoli.
MY nudge would be The Three Musketeers! Dumas is phenomenal!

I'm going to nudge The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, it's a very funny book and a classic.

The book group I'm in read Dracula a couple of years ago and I was amazed how, even after all the movie adaptations and parodies, it still managed to be genuinely unsettling and scary. Well orth reading - a definite nudge.

It's been many years since I read Ivanhoe, but I loved it when I did read it. Adventure, romance and Robin of Locksley!

I'll nudge Beloved. This is a Morrison book which I haven't read because I saw the film BUT everything Toni Morrison writes is wonderful.

You can't go wrong with Harry Potter, 84 Charing Cross Road, or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, just depends on your mood-at-the-moment.

Dracula is my nudge, maybe even super nudge, for the reasons stated by timjones above.

A supernudge for Dracula as well, magnificent book!

I would also add a few mininudges for 84, Charing Cross Road, I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Sarum.

84 Charing Cross Road is a complete delight and very quick to read. Partly because it's short but also because it is so readable. Read it now! You will soon have time for another.

I'm a bit confused by this sorcerer's stone. Is this the American title for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?

Edited to mess around with the touchstones

Yes, Soupdragon, it is the American title. Why they had to change it, I will never understand!

A wholehearted shove for Beloved. Completely absorbing account of the impact of slavery on one family, and in particular what it meant for women.

(I liked other books on your list but I don't want to dilute the impact of my shove!!)

I'm nudging Beloved also.

While I remember enjoying Siddhartha, I read it in the very early 70s when, as Kevin points out, everyone was reading it.

How about a 2/3 nudge for Beloved and a 1/3 nudge for 84 Charing Cross Road. Can I split it up like that?

What an eclectic selection to chose from. Thanks.

I think, considering all the different types of literature here, I would nudge The Three Musketeers over the others if I had to pick up a book. Read it aloud to my son at bedtime and he became quite sleep deprived for a few weeks!

I also enjoyed the Seamus Heaney version of Beowulf, being lucky to get his illustrated version which gives some historical context. That was part of my 'educate the science idiot' jag.

I am one of the few people in the world who has not read Harry Potter so cannot comment. The American Earth book has me intrigued - I guess it depends on the discretion of the editor, so that may be a risky one.

Harry Potter will always get a nudge from me. I thought the series was fantastic.

If you really like historical fiction I will nudge Sarum. Edward Rutherford in his early books really lacks character development, and character relationships etc fall short too, so it can get boring, however it's really fun to read a book that spans so many thousands of years and the historical events he ties in. I haven't yet read his latest books about Ireland.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I am getting excited about reading and am not sure that I will be able to pick just one. :) I don't really know that much about translators, but I do have the Seamus Heaney version of Beowulf. I do not know why the Harry Potter book was translated for us in the US, but that is the copy I have. I will wait for a few days to decide on which book. Thanks, again!
--BJ

ETA The American Earth book is a publication of Library of America. It should be pretty good, but it is on the long side.

Hmmmm.

If you want fun. light, amusing, then 84 Charing Cross Road. A second fun and amusing choice is Three Musketeers though it is much much longer than Charing Cross.

If you feel like a challenging book, Beloved is spectacular and she has a new book just out, called A Mercy which is getting rave reviews, and you may have to read immmediately following.

Heaney's Beowulf continues to resonate with me, years after I first read it.

We DO have to get Urania1 to start that thread called HellCell, which is a first requirement to fill out before asking for a nudge, and in which you let the nudgers know what your hell is like, so they have a better sense of what you are all about.

I'm nudging the Harry Potter.

#18 I am sorry that I have no profile. I am not really a computer person. I am about to turn 47. I live almost in the geographic center of the US. I don't really care for the term flyover country because I value where I live. I am female, married with two daughters -- one in college, one a hs senior. I slowed down on my reading during child rearing and am getting back into the groove. I am interested in a wide variety of books, but not too crazy about the tear jerker. I also do not really read about politics -- this is my escape from that. My version of hell is watching chick flicks one after another. I do watch the occasional one, but not too often. I like to watch football on tv. I listen to alternative rock music. I am trying to learn Spanish again. I have a sweet dog who means the world to me. That's about all. I think that any of the above books would be fine for me to read.
--BJ

BJ, you have a great list here of books that are (mostly) just fun to read. I'm going to nudge Ivanhoe because it's a classic tale of chivalry and it's one on the list that I HAVEN'T managed to read before. Out of the eight or so I have read, my second nudge goes to 84, Charing Cross road if you're in the mood for witty and charming, and Beowulf if you want something a bit more chewy to bite into. The thing I like about your list is how varied the emotional tone is -- you have a book for just about any reading mood.

For me, 84, Charing Cross Road is the literary equivalent of a warm cup of cocoa. Very nice for a cold November evening. Also, like others have already pointed out, it is a fast read.

Hmmm. I realize that I'm in the minority here, and considering my username and Rullakartiina's comment in #22, I should be more enthusiastic about 84, Charing Cross Road. Admittedly, it's been a while since I read it, but I was underwhelmed. I myself am planning to read Beloved in 2009, because so many people have urged me to do so - "insisted" is probably the better word. There are a lot of raves for this book, which is both popular and critically well-received. So I'll pass that along as a nudgoid.

Got to put my vote for 84, Charing Cross Road - when I was in library school, a copy went around the whole staff of the branch library I was working in, and it didn't take long for me to get my own. I've since collected most of the sequels, too.

I didn't think Sarum was all that great, but Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a hoot.

#17 - They changed the name of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the American market because they didn't think American kids would know what the philosopher's stone was. This is stupid, because a) it's not true, and b) replacing it with something that is meaningless doesn't make the situation any better, and c) by half way through the book, they'd know what it was, right??? They edited the text as well, to take out things Americans wouldn't understand, like conkers, and change terminology like (darn, can't remember the example, but it was something like cross-trainers vs. tennis shoes). Or lorries and lifts vs. trucks and elevators. You get the picture.
/rant

Another nudge for 84 Charing Cross Road. I finally read it this year after loving the film for years and wasn't disappointed.

A secondary nudge for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It is very funny, but it is possibly a type of humour that isn't everyone's thing, so you'll either love it or hate it.

>24 staffordcastle: staffordcastle, I agree wholeheartedly with your rant !! Ridiculous, innit?

And another for 84, Charing Cross Road. Absolute perfection!

#24/26 Speaking as a brit who reads lots of American fiction - surely one of the delights is in picking up on things you didn't know about? I'd never have figured out root beer, American school terms (semesters) or a million other things peculiar to your country if it hadn't been for all the mentions in fiction. I'm not too stupid to understand these things; I want to know about them. I imagine you must feel the same the other way around. Rant away - some publishers are patronising and insulting!

I agree with you, sloth. Mine is a foreigner's opinion, but I shall throw it in anway, for its two cent worth.
Although I live in the US, I learnt English in England, and so, to me, British terminology is not obscure. I think that books published in Britain or Australia, USA, South Africa, NZ should be left the way they are, without altering the language according to the target country.
We all know there are differences in the English spoken around the world, and that is what makes the whole thing interesting and part of the culture of the individual country. So, why change it? It is almost as if the publishers considered their readership not intelligent enough to understand otherwise.

ET correct spelling

#24, #26, #27, #28 I couldn't agree more.

The thing is, they don't seem to do it the other way round. I'm not aware of any book having been edited to suit British sensibilities. That rather gives the impression that they think we are capable of handling another culture but that Americans are not. It also gives rise to the (quite amusing but deeply insulting) stories like the one about The Madness of George III having to be renamed The Madness of King George because Americans would think they'd missed the first two parts! It may not be true but it's so often heard over here that it might as well be. You are right to take offence. Or is it the implication that we Brits are not worth re-writing books for? And maybe we're the ones who should take offence?

ET fix italics

#30 Oh my gosh! I had to laugh at that one! I recall that when I was younger the books from Great Britain were not "translated" for us here.

I love reading all of your suggestions. I will probably wait until after Thanksgiving to total it up. My girls are putting in their two cents worth, too. Happy Turkey Day!
--BJ

Billiejean , a big shove for Harry Potter. I didn't know there was an American version...

As a kid I remember lots of American books and booksloth I totally agree with you! One that stands out is Ramona and the jokes about the Dawnserley light. I think I knew some of the star spangled banner lyrics before I could sing God of Nations (our own national anthem...).

Interesting that you bring that up . . . just the other day I had a related discussion on another thread. As I said there, I bought a UK-published edition of Stephan King's The Stand while travelling in Australia, and it had been edited for the non-US audience. Curbs were now kerbs and the trucks had been replaced by lorries. It felt odd, especially since I'd already read the book and knew Stephan King did not write those words. So, yep, it does happen both ways (although it's probably rarer).

So they think Australians are dumb too! We Brits are feeling smugger by the moment - and they say we're the ones who can't be bothered to learn other languages! (Not a single one of my many Stephen King books has yet been attacked like that - it must not feel like King at all.)

I've noticed that many British books include passages in French that are not translated. I think this "works" in the UK because of proximity to France, and I suspect most people learn at least un peu in school. When I lived over there I noticed the newspapers were also liberally sprinkled with French phrases.

I happen to like the mental gymnastics required to read the French passages (call it a quirk!). However, with the exception of Spanish in Oscar Wao I can't recall seeing untranslated text in American books. I don't think it would "sell." Unfortunately too much of the American population can't be bothered to learn another language.

You're right, lindsacl. Despite the fact that we are famous for not bothering with other languages (as, it seems, Americans are famous for not understanding English ;-)) it is a pretty rare school that hasn't taught at least a little French to its students. Back in my school days we did French from junior school, then French plus one other language (usually Latin or German - mine was German) if we went to Grammar Schhol (you got into Grammar School by passing an IQ-type test at 11). Those who 'failed' the test went to what were called Secondary Modern schools and most of those dropped all foreign languages at that point. In Grammar School there was usually an option to take another language (often Spanish) for those who stayed on to the 6th form (A Level year). I'm not completely sure but I understand that now we have only Comprehensive Schools at Secondary level (Grammar and Secondary combined) and it's my understanding that all those schools teach at least one language. Then, of course, there are always Adult Education classes for those of us who want to learn another language after school is finished. In fact, our main problem here is not that we don't learn other languages, but that we are shy about actually using them in public. So watch out, if you're speaking another language in front of a Brit - we may not join in but there's a good chance we understand!

I don't see that a short passage in any foreign language should be a problem, It would not be a very good writer who did that with an important passage unless the explanation is made clear, either by translation or context. And if we're that interested, we can all find some way of checking out a short passage. I quite enjoy the challenge too. Then again, if I read an English whodunnit and the whole of the last two chapters are in Chinese that's probably the last book I'm going to buy by that author.

I'll nudge Beloved if you want to cry and 84, Charing Cross Road if you want a witty giggle. If you want an absurdist giggle, then I nudge The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy If you want adventure, then The Three Musketeers. If you need an epic sort of nudge, then read Beowulf, but make sure you read the Seamus Heaney translation. I know, I know, all the language purists are going to take umbrage here. Umbrage away. I stand by my Heaney. His Beowulf sings.

I am back from my Thanksgiving travels and let me just say that although I had a lot of fun, I am thankful to be back home! :) Here are the results from your selections. I counted all nudges the same. I have added one for The Three Musketeers for my older daughter's nudge and one for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe for my younger daughter's nudge.

84, Charing Cross Road, 11 positive nudges, one negative for a total of 10
The Quest for the Northwest Passage, no nudges
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 6 positive nudges
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 2 positive nudges
American Earth: Environmental Writings Since Thoreau, one maybe positive nudge
The Demon in the Freezer, no nudges
Sarum, 3 positive nudges, one negative nudge for a total of 2
Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies, no nudges
Ivanhoe, 2 nudges
The Three Musketeers, 5 positive nudges
Beloved, 8 positive nudges
Beowulf, 5 positive nudges
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 6 positive nudges
Dracula, 3 positive nudges
Siddhartha, 3 positive nudges, one negative nudge for a total of 2

The winner is 84, Charing Cross Road with Beloved in a strong second place with emphatic nudges. I am going to read both of these books. I might read Beloved first, so that I will get the cheering up effect from 84, Charing Cross Road afterwards.

Thanks for all your recommendations. I am now excited about all of the books recommended and will try to work them all in during 2009. By the way, does anyone know the name of the movie for 84, Charing Cross Road? Is it the same as the name of the book? I have never heard of this movie.
--BJ

Amazingly, it was called 84, Charing Cross Road! It starred Anne Bancroft as Helene and Anthony Hopkins as Frank Doel and is every bit as charming as the book. I envy you, reading that one for the first time. Enjoy!

Thanks for the info. Maybe I can find it on tv if I am looking for it. :)
--BJ

The author of 84, Charing Cross Road was a consultant on the movie, and her experiences with that are related in the sequel - The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Not quite the masterwork the first one was, but you won't care, because you like it and her so much!

I had not heard of that book. I will put it on my TBR. Thanks!
--BJ

#42 - Umm . . . do check out your copy of 84 CCR first, won't you? Lots of editions contain both books without making any reference to Duchess on the cover.

Good thought, Booksloth - I hadn't run into that, my copies being separate. But I can see how a publisher might do that, since neither book is long.

Helene Hanff's autobiographical account of her youth, Underfoot in Show Business, is to my mind her second best book. Some of the chapters are absolutely hysterically funny. I've been reading biographical snippets on the web about Hanff. She was a character.

She sure was. I enjoyed Q's Legacy too; it is a prequel to 84, Charing Cross Road, about her early days in New York as an impoverished self-taught writer.

More great books to look for! Thanks!
--BJ

Today I finished Beloved. Wow. What an amazing book! I had bought it soon after it was first published, but having baby girls I could not bring myself to read it. I was ready to read it this time and boy am I glad I did. You were so right! :) Next on tap is 84, Charing Cross Road.
--BJ

I found that I did not have as much reading time during the holidays as I wished for. However, when I finally was able to sit down undisturbed with 84, Charing Cross Road, which I was pleased to discover also included The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, I could not put it down. About 2/3 of the way through, I turned to my daughter and said, "How can there be so many wonderful books in the world!" So you see, I loved this book so much. I know that I will return to it again and again. Thanks so much for the wonderful nudges, two of the best books that I have read all year.
--BJ

Glad you enjoyed them, billiejean!

#28 ET correct spelling
#30 ET fix italics
...
#51 ET phone home
Give the ugly/cute little guy a break. He's only just learnt how to speak English!

I'd count Beloved in my all time top five. At least until I really tried to list my all time top five that is!