MobileRead April 2010 Book Club Nominations

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

EA said 'most' of her books. And the book I suggested (and by now withdrew as it's not available as eBook) has homosexual characters. I don't consider it offensive or over the top. I don't see much of a difference between a book describing heterosexual or homosexual encounters - either flavour can grate on my nerves, depending how it's handled. The 'Runnymede' series is foremost a description of the lifes of the main characters in a small town.

Thank you Yes, AFAIK, the bulk of her work is cozy mysteries and 'ensemble pieces' with an occasional gay character.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My nomination is... Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.

This sounds fun!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Zipr

Okay, I think I've been misunderstood a bit. The reason I asked the question was because Amazon had it listed in the "Gay and Lesbian" category. That implied to me that it might be a book that was written for that community, as opposed to a mainstream book that might have gay characters.

Well, I'm gay and I read lots of straight books written for the straight community

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Zipr

..

Despite the trouble that kennyc is trying to stir up by assuming he knows what I'm thinking, .

Well, there is no assumption on my part, your first posting made it quite clear who is "stirring up trouble." I'm simply trying to straighten it out.

[Sparrow]

I think the MRBC is a great way to challenge our prejudices as readers (I reckon we all have them) - after all it's just one read, not a lifetime commitment to a genre.

I'd never normally have read 'Gone with the Wind', as I'm not a romance fan - but that turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read!!

[Zipr]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Well, there is no assumption on my part, your first posting made it quite clear who is "stirring up trouble." I'm simply trying to straighten it out.

No, you simply found a chance to put on your "holier than thou" hat and strut around in an attempt to show everybody how wonderful you are. I understand, I have kids too. They grew out of it and you probably will too.

I simply asked for clarification on the content of a book. Unless you are gay, I doubt you would start browsing for books in the Gay and Lesbian category. I don't but that doesn't mean I have anything against gays. I defy you to find one statement that said I have anything against gays.

I've ready plenty of books by gay authors, and I don't need a lecture on being open minded. I rank Truman Capote as one of my favorites. That is far different than seeking out books that are labeled as gay themed. I'm not passing judgement on them at all, it just isn't my area of interest.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Zipr

No, you simply found a chance to put on your "holier than thou" hat and strut around in an attempt to show everybody how wonderful you are. I understand, I have kids too. They grew out of it and you probably will too.

I simply asked for clarification on the content of a book. Unless you are gay, I doubt you would start browsing for books in the Gay and Lesbian category. I don't but that doesn't mean I have anything against gays. I defy you to find one statement that said I have anything against gays.

I've ready plenty of books by gay authors, and I don't need a lecture on being open minded. I rank Truman Capote as one of my favorites. That is far different than seeking out books that are labeled as gay themed. I'm not passing judgement on them at all, it just isn't my area of interest.

There is so much wrong with this reasoning that I'm not even going to address it. We've been through it above.

[Vector]

Things have gotten so heated I put on my helmet.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Vector

Things have gotten so heated I put on my helmet.

Sorry Vector! And apologies to anyone that feels I was too over the top. I have little patience with what to me is clear bias and baiting. I feel much of the point of a book club such as this is to expand one's reading range (as others said above). Rita Mae Brown in particular is known as a Southern and Humor writer. There was no characterization of this book as "Gay" on the Amazon website as far as I could see, if there was it was buried in the fine print.

I'm not much of a romance reader, but have read a few, not much of a jewish reader, but have read many books that have jewish characters, not much of a christian but have read many books with christian elements....etc. etc. etc. as Yule Brenner in The King and I says...

Let's get on with the nominations and voting!

[Zipr]

Originally Posted by kennyc

There was no characterization of this book as "Gay" on the Amazon website as far as I could see, if there was it was buried in the fine print.

From Amazon:

Product Details
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bantam; 1st Edition edition (July 6, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553380370
ISBN-13: 978-0553380378
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #134,921 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#15 in Books > Gay & Lesbian >

[Ea]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sorry Vector! And apologies to anyone that feels I was too over the top. I have little patience with what to me is clear bias and baiting. I feel much of the point of a book club such as this is to expand one's reading range (as others said above). Rita Mae Brown in particular is known as a Southern and Humor writer. There was no characterization of this book as "Gay" on the Amazon website as far as I could see, if there was it was buried in the fine print.

I think you were right, but you did have a bit of an attitude about it - not always so helpful in a discussion

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Zipr

From Amazon:

As I said, buried in the fine print.

I suspect it's in a variety of categories given that....maybe I'll go find some.


---from Amazon:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product
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Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
lesbian fiction(11)
amazonfail(5)
rita mae brown(2)
bookeater(1)

brown(1)
excellent material(1)
fiction books(1)
funny book(1)

gblt(1)
general fiction(1)
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-----------------

So given that there are all these possible categories, it seems funny to consider it as only one of them. This is what I mean by your initial baiting and bias.





After all this I think I'm going to have to read it in any case.

According to the first review on Amazon it's the first of three books with the same characters. And as I said above it's been ages since I've read her work but it is hilarious.

[lilac_jive]

Zipr, if it helps, I don't think you were being biased. Kenny, frankly, I think you need to give Zipr a break. Clearly they have nothing against gays, they just don't want to read a book with that theme. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

[kennyc]

I'm not saying anything else on this topic, but now that Biff guy and JC....

Hmm, should I ask if that is a Christian novel or if the author is Christian?

Not that I've got anything against Christian novels...

Okay, okay....I'll shut up...my mouth is zipr'd!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ea

I think you were right, but you did have a bit of an attitude about it - not always so helpful in a discussion

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Zipr, if it helps, I don't think you were being biased. Kenny, frankly, I think you need to give Zipr a break. Clearly they have nothing against gays, they just don't want to read a book with that theme. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

Sorry guys.