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

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Ah, but only if you limit yourself to the first book of this positively gargantuan series. By my count, the MR Patricia Clark Library version, in four volumes, is ~4600 pages!! (Page counts courtesy of the Count Pages plugin to Calibre, of course.)

None the less, a worthy book and no one will be able to say it's boring, at least!

I think it's safe to say that this can be enjoyed as a standalone.

[Dngrsone]

I'll third My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. Sounds like something right up my alley (not to mention someone I'm related to).

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think it's safe to say that this can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Ah, but then you miss my favourite part of the D'Artagnan Romances, The Man in the Iron Mask. I remember devouring that one in my youth, and thinking it much the best of the whole thing. And to quote HarryT, who uploaded the full thing: It's best to read it straight through, if you can..

ETA: And to be clear, I do think the first volume can be read as a standalone, I was just giving you a hard time. I probably shouldn't have done that, given our rules on nomination discussions, but I meant it in fun. Delete as needed!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Ah, but then you miss my favourite part of the D'Artagnan Romances, The Man in the Iron Mask. I remember devouring that one in my youth, and thinking it much the best of the whole thing. And to quote HarryT, who uploaded the full thing: It's best to read it straight through, if you can..

ETA: And to be clear, I do think the first volume can be read as a standalone, I was just giving you a hard time. I probably shouldn't have done that, given our rules on nomination discussions, but I meant it in fun. Delete as needed!

Well then, don't forget that Anne of Green Gables is also the beginning of a long series.

[CRussel]

I don't, but honestly, I don't mind a long series, so long as the first isn't an actual cliffhanger. In fact, I quite relish the thought of a long series -- think of all the new books I can add to my wish list! And the chance to add a new favourite author? Priceless. The Fellowship of the Rings (LOtR #1), however, would not qualify as a standalone first book -- it's clearly and unequivocally a trilogy.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I don't, but honestly, I don't mind a long series, so long as the first isn't an actual cliffhanger. In fact, I quite relish the thought of a long series -- think of all the new books I can add to my wish list! And the chance to add a new favourite author? Priceless. The Fellowship of the Rings (LOtR #1), however, would not qualify as a standalone first book -- it's clearly and unequivocally a trilogy.

But you must not be the kind of OCD person who feels guilty about not continuing a series after reading the first book (unless that first book is unbearably awful)!

[CRussel]

No, I'm not. I've abandoned more than one series over the years, and certainly can read other series at my leisure -- I don't feel compelled to binge read any series. And certainly not one where the first book is clearly standalone. And guilt? I gave up on guilt a long time ago. It's totally counterproductive.

[bfisher]

I will third Anne of Green Gables

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by issybird

The heck with it!

I'm going to nominate The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I've always meant to read it. I know it's long and that most will have read it already, but on the other hand, it's free and it sounds a ton of fun.



Lots of public domain options, copyrighted translations, and audioversions.

Excellent choice! A must-read.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I nominate Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett. I enjoy both her fiction and nonfiction writing, and I read a short essay that she wrote about her friendship with Lucy that made me interested about the book. It is available at Overdrive as well as Scribd.

From Amazon US:

What happens when the person who is your family is someone you aren't bound to by blood? What happens when the person you promise to love and to honor for the rest of your life is not your lover, but your best friend? In Truth & Beauty, her frank and startlingly intimate first work of nonfiction, Ann Patchett shines a fresh, revealing light on the world of women's friendships and shows us what it means to stand together.

Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers' Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work was. In her critically acclaimed and hugely successful memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, the years of chemotherapy and radiation, and then the endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn't Lucy's life or Ann's life, but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long, cold winters of the Midwest, to surgical wards, to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this book shows us what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I nominate Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett. I enjoy both her fiction and nonfiction writing, and I read a short essay that she wrote about her friendship with Lucy that made me interested about the book. It is available at Overdrive as well as Scribd.

From Amazon US:

Honestly, this looks like an interesting book. However, it appears to be unavailable in either the UK or Australia in eBook format, though it is available in Canada for slightly less than in the US. I don't have any tickets left, so can't second it.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Honestly, this looks like an interesting book. However, it appears to be unavailable in either the UK or Australia in eBook format, though it is available in Canada for slightly less than in the US. I don't have any tickets left, so can't second it.

I've found it on Amazon UK, only available in paper or audio CD formats.

[bfisher]

I'll second Truth & Beauty

[Bookpossum]

Yes it could make for an interesting discussion, especially in the light of how Grealy’s family felt about its publication. Availability is an issue though, so I think my last ticket goes to seconding The Little White Bird.

[issybird]

I'll third The Little White Bird and second The Orphan's Tale.