January Plans?

Hi! I see no one has posted in a while. Thought I'd throw in that I'm Thinking of reading We Need to Talk About Kevin in January. Anyone else have plans? Anyone want to join me? What are others reading?

Oh I'd like to read that but feel I'm probably too committed with other chunksters. I'll be reading The glorious heresies, I picked up a copy in a charity shop a while back so it is ready to go.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is very good -- enjoy!

I'm making an Orange-Bailey category over at my Category Challenge thread. Not sure if I'll get to one in January or not, but I hope to read several throughout 2017.

I might try to read The Glorious Heresies as well. I started reading it for Fliss's book club meet up in Cambridge in September, but I only got 50 or so pages into it. I did like it, though.

Hi Darryl - that would be great. I'm adding it to my Jan reading plan before I forget.

I have been away from the Orange/Bailey's scene for a couple of years. I just hit on a period of time where their chosen books did not satisfy. I am willing to give it another go this year, beginning with The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester.
I hope it works for me. The 'specialness' seems to have removed itself from 'their' list selection of books. We shall see what this year brings.

I have The Song of Achilles in my TBR pile but have like >6 rainpebble:, found the winners to be uneven. For instance The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver won in 2010 over Wolf Hall, a superior novel. Yet Kingsolver's Flight Behavior, much more intellectually relevant than The Lacuna and a better novel, too, had to yield to May We Be Forgiven in 2013. That novel was politely trashed by more than one critic who said, essentially, it was an unsuccessful mess.

I'm at the point of asking the Orange Prize selectors, "What are you thinking?"

I'm at the point of asking the Orange Prize selectors, "What are you thinking?"

I have no idea what goes into a book prize list--as with the Oscars, I think there are many factors beyond my knowledge.

I just look at it as a list of possibly interesting books to read. For example, a few years ago I was intrigued by The Reasons She Goes to the Woods and I bought it and threw it into the TBR abyss. Pull it out yesterday, and it's amazing. One of the best books I've read in age and ages. So that's what I look to these lists for-- because yes, no matter what list and what year, I always find "what are you thinking?"

I didn't manage to read The Glorious Heresies in Jan, but have made a good start and will get it done soon. I'm just too ambitious with my plans.

>8 Nickelini: I find the selection of books from all the longlists excellent, I never care so much for the shortlists or the winners because as you say - too many factors. I've also made several delightful discoveries from the lists.

I've made a little headway into this year Bailey's Women's Literary Longlist.

I had read Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien and I just finished The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso. I just put a few notes on my thread regarding The Woman Next Door. It was an easy , pleasant enough read, but I don't think it has enough depth to move on to the shortlist, but of course, I've wrong before. :) A lot of the books are not yet available in Canada.

>10 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah, good to see you here! I've read three of the longlisters and have posted a bit about them on the longlist thread.

The only one left that I own is Do Not Say We Have Nothing but I'm a bit daunted by it and am not sure if I'm in the mood for it right now. How did you find it?

I'd like to read Midwinter and The Gustav Sonata which my library have but there's a long waiting list for both . There seems to be a tradition of the library buying multiple copies of the shortlisted books, so that could help!

>11 Soupdragon: Great to see you, Dee! I created a review of Do Not Say We Have Nothing. I felt it was worth the read, and gave it 4 stars. I did find it fairly dense and I had to keep write down all of the characters on a piece of paper to keep to track of them, so yes, it was a bit of a difficult read. I'm not sure how to link up my review, so I'll post it here in a few minutes.

I'd also like to read Midwinter , The Gustav Sonata as well as Stay With Me. I've ordered The Dark Circle from the Book Depository. Quite a few of the books are not yet available in Canada, which creates a challenge.

Here is my review of Do Not Say We Have Nothing, for what it is worth.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, short listed for the 2016 Book and also on the Canadian Giller Prize Longlist 2016.

This is a fairly dense read about three generations. The story opens in Vancouver BC in 1990 but we are quickly transported back to China, and taken through the civil war, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tienanmen massacre and forward to the start of the liberalization of China. The story is told through two intertwined families, but focuses mainly on three different characters, all of them gifted musicians. Sparrow is a shy, but accomplished composer, Kai a masterful pianist ,and Zhuli a talented violist. All three teach or attend the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, in the 1960's, during the Cultural Revolution. The trio try to remain together, but the forces of the revolution pull them apart.

This is a powerful and enlightening read about the violence and brutality of China during these times, as well as a very personal look into each character's lives. There is much courage among those who lived through the times.

The story is dense and involves many characters, while taking us on a very intimate journey through China during those turbulent times.

A wonderful story, from which I learned much about China. I did find it a challenge to keep track of the many characters and how they were related, and I also felt that at times, the story could have been tightened up by a good editor.

Overall, a 4 star read . I'll be happy if it wins the Booker or Giller, but do be aware that at times you will feel as though you are slogging along through many pages and furiously creating charts about the relationships between the characters.

Recommended. 4 stars .A powerful and worthwhile read.

Thanks to Raidergirl aka Elizabeth for creating the long list rating thread! :)

>14 vancouverdeb: no problem; glad you like lists; I have a lot of fun with lists!

>13 vancouverdeb: Thanks for the review, Deborah. It confirmed that I do want to read it but not right now!

It's January again! Anyone have any plans? I just finished The Observations by Harris and really enjoyed it. I might try for another at some point soon.

I don't have any plans at the moment, but I look forward to the announcement. I'll check back later - I think I read several Orange /Women's Contenders in the fall in 2017.

Ah! I read Stay With Me
by Ayobami Adebayo last fall. It was shortlisted for the 2017 Orange Prize and it was a 5 star read for me. Check out the main page.

See my post at #10 and I also read The Gustav Sonata. The Orange Prize or whatever it is called is always a wonderful source of books to draw from.

It is isn't it? It also helps with my quest to read more female authors. Plenty of awesome titles to choose from.

I'm returning to this group after a long absence and hoping to add some of these wonderful books to my reading goals this year.
That being said is there a different group now that the name has changed or is this still the only group for the Women's Prize for Fiction?

>21 ChelleBearss: Same group, wrong name, but I think it still works.

I read The Woman Next Door in February, from the longlist 2017 and quite enjoyed it. It covered marriage, apartheid, friendship, and aging. I found it very readable. Next up, I just got Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo from the audio library.