New Leaf Nominations for May 2018 • Doomed to Repeat It: History

[gmw]

I will second Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Clearly I am completely out of step with almost all of you ...

I know how you feel. I like your nominations. 😀 Your suggestion looks interesting, and he's an author I'd like to read. I'm only #61 of 200 holds on his latest novel at my library. Hang in there.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think it's mostly just trying to find out where you can be in step. I think of it as a Venn diagram - even if most of my bubble is largely unshared (and it is!), there's always some overlap, even if you have to look hard. And then there's the expanding horizons aspect, but I admit that while I have no problem with expanding my horizons, I also have no interest in falling off the edge. Some things will never appeal.

My horizons are never going to extend far enough for some of the nominated books over the last several months. No way, no how.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I know how you feel. I like your nominations. 😀 Your suggestion looks interesting, and he's an author I'd like to read. I'm only #61 of 200 holds on his latest novel at my library. Hang in there.

The Flight Attendant? That was my introduction to Chris Bohjalian. Now I've started to work my way through his earlier books. Is there anything better for a reader than to discover an author with a nice long backlist?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Catlady

The Flight Attendant? That was my introduction to Chris Bohjalian. Now I've started to work my way through his earlier books. Is there anything better for a reader than to discover an author with a nice long backlist?

A nice long backlist is certainly one of the things I look for in a new-to-me author. I do want to try Chris Bohjalian but must admit that The Sandcastle Girls blurb doesn't appeal just at the moment - where the blurb for some of his other books does.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by gmw

A nice long backlist is certainly one of the things I look for in a new-to-me author. I do want to try Chris Bohjalian but must admit that The Sandcastle Girls blurb doesn't appeal just at the moment - where the blurb for some of his other books does.

I do think some of the contemporary ones sound more interesting, but, alas, they didn't fit the category.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I nominate Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2000 Years by Tom Standage. This book is about the history of communication. I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them.

From Goodreads:

Papyrus rolls and Twitter have much in common, as each was their generation's signature means of “instant” communication. Indeed, as Tom Standage reveals in his scintillating new book, social media is anything but a new phenomenon.

From the papyrus letters that Roman statesmen used to exchange news across the Empire to the advent of hand-printed tracts of the Reformation to the pamphlets that spread propaganda during the American and French revolutions, Standage chronicles the increasingly sophisticated ways people shared information with each other, spontaneously and organically, down the centuries. With the rise of newspapers in the nineteenth century, then radio and television, “mass media” consolidated control of information in the hands of a few moguls. However, the Internet has brought information sharing full circle, and the spreading of news along social networks has reemerged in powerful new ways.

A fresh, provocative exploration of social media over two millennia, Writing on the Wall reminds us how modern behavior echoes that of prior centuries-the Catholic Church, for example, faced similar dilemmas in deciding whether or how to respond to Martin Luther's attacks in the early sixteenth century to those that large institutions confront today in responding to public criticism on the Internet. Invoking the likes of Thomas Paine and Vinton Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet, Standage explores themes that have long been debated: the tension between freedom of expression and censorship; whether social media trivializes, coarsens or enhances public discourse; and its role in spurring innovation, enabling self-promotion, and fomenting revolution. As engaging as it is visionary, Writing on the Wall draws on history to cast new light on today's social media and encourages debate and discussion about how we'll communicate in the future.

Available at Amazon US $9.99, Amazon UK £8.63, Amazon Canada $9.99 and Amazon Australia $7.12. Also available at Kobo.

The ebook format is also available at Overdrive and Scribd. My Hoopla library has the audiobook.

EDIT: The audiobook is available at Overdrive and Scribd too. Simon Vance is the narrator.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by CRussel

While this book sounds interesting, it's a too pricey at $16.99 USD for my blood, or to use my last ticket on. It is, however, easily available from my library, so I might just go ahead and download it. (Two editions, one with 9 copies, one with 4. And a total of three copies checked out right now.) And it's a good deal cheaper at AmazonCA, with a price equivalent to $7.80 USD.

I read it from my library through Overdrive.

[Bookpossum]

I second Writing on the Wall - the First 2000 Years - it sounds very interesting AND is in my library.

Catlady, my voting is affected by price and availability from my library. Your book and gmw's were on the pricey side and neither is available from my library.

So that is definitely a limiting factor for me, unless the book is one I really want to buy myself anyway.

[astrangerhere]

I would like to nominate Herta Muller's The Appointment, a fictional chronicle of communist Romania.

From the description:

"I've been summoned. Thursday, ten sharp." Thus begins one day in the life of a young clothing-factory worker during Ceaucescu's totalitarian regime. She has been questioned before; this time, she believes, will be worse. Her crime? Sewing notes into the linings of men's suits bound for Italy. "Marry me," the notes say, with her name and address. Anything to get out of the country.

As she rides the tram to her interrogation, her thoughts stray to her friend Lilli, shot trying to flee to Hungary, to her grandparents, deported after her first husband informed on them, to Major Albu, her interrogator, who begins each session with a wet kiss on her fingers, and to Paul, her lover, her one source of trust, despite his constant drunkenness. In her distraction, she misses her stop to find herself on an unfamiliar street. And what she discovers there makes her fear of the appointment pale by comparison.

Herta Müller pitilessly renders the humiliating terrors of a crushing regime. Bone-spare and intense, The Appointment confirms her standing as one of Europe's greatest writers.

Amazon - 9.99
Kobo - 9.99

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Catlady, my voting is affected by price and availability from my library. Your book and gmw's were on the pricey side and neither is available from my library.

So that is definitely a limiting factor for me, unless the book is one I really want to buy myself anyway.

Oh, I'm not feeling whiny and out of step because other people don't seem to like the books I like; I'm feeling whiny and out of step because I don't like the books the rest of you seem to like. Most of the books that generate enthusiasm here instead create in me a feeling of dread. I'm not speaking of just this month, and I'm not going to single out specific titles.

But I will say that this month seems to have an overabundance of books that, though they're in Overdrive, are not owned by any of my three libraries; I could probably convince myself to read them, but it's extremely doubtful that I can convince myself to buy them.

[Bookpossum]

Sounds like a month for you to abstain from voting and see what wins, before deciding if you will participate. It's a perfectly valid option.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CRussel

As you know, Jon, I'm all in favour of stretching the limits of what fits a particular month's theme, but I'm not catching how this fits? Care to help me to understanding?

Oh, wait. DUH! Doomed to Repeat It. Impressive. I'd NEVER have thought of this book for this month, but you're right, it fits.

Thank you. Would you or anyone else like to third this please?

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Oh, I'm not feeling whiny and out of step because other people don't seem to like the books I like; I'm feeling whiny and out of step because I don't like the books the rest of you seem to like. Most of the books that generate enthusiasm here instead create in me a feeling of dread. [...]

If it's any consolation (it's probably not) I have dreaded the winners of the last two votes. Thankfully, neither was as bad as I thought they might be ... though neither was as good as I might have wanted.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I could probably convince myself to read them, but it's extremely doubtful that I can convince myself to buy them.

Availability can be a problem. My library access is very limited and I was reluctant to buy the Stephen Fry book at AUD$15: it seems such a silly amount of money for an e-book that is over twenty years old. I have second (and third) thoughts about e-books at that price that are new and I really want to read. But then the book I nominated this month is that price in some locations too (though it is not as old), and if it's not something of interest to you then it's a big ask to spend that sort of money - I was hoping it might be in most people's libraries without too much of a wait.

[issybird]

I figure the odds of a selection's being entirely to my taste are pretty slim; what I hope for is a selection that's good enough for me and for others to find some common ground. I suit myself in the rest of my reading (and can make terrible choices at that), but the fun of a discussion can make up for my reluctance to read a choice. I also see that I read differently when it's a selection. I pay more attention and that's worthwhile in itself. It's also worthwhile to get out of my comfort zone - sometimes, anyway.

Yeah, price is an issue, but all we can do is be aware. No one's going to be willing to spend a lot on something that doesn't appeal and it's impossible to know library availability. But I like to think that if something can be obtained for little or nothing, people will be willing to give even unappealing choices a try.

Sorry for the soapboxing. I haven't said anything others haven't already said, but I haven't had enough coffee yet. Why are hotel rooms so hot overnight? I'm used to a cold bedroom (because I'm cheap) and these civilized temps keep me awake all night.