LOL, there’s been a coup! That’s what I get for walking away my computer for a few hours.
Although Crossing to Safety wasn’t on the original list, it can certainly be a last minute entry.
Let’s proceed as follows. As it stands now, Elizabeth is Missing is the (seeming) winner. It ranks first for mathmom, Caraid, and PlantMom, and second for ignatius. If I’ve interpreted posts correctly, NJTheatreMOM is kind of “eh” about it compared to other choices, but will go with the majority decision. No word from buenavista yet, and SouthJerseyChessMom hasn’t ranked her choices, but history has shown them both to be game for whatever we choose.
Therefore, the question now becomes this: Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey or Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner? Anybody out there, lurkers included, gets to vote. Pick either Healey or Stegner, and if it’s a tie, we’re reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in its entirety. (Don’t panic, just kidding.) Cast your vote and let’s see where we land!
Mary what do you prefer? I listed Crossing to Safety in previous post, after reading many Goodreads reviews. Many, many years ago George Will listed Angle of Repose in a column, and I attempted it, but wasn’t committed. So I’ve wanted to read Stenger.
Like Ignatius, I’m in a strange reading funk, for some reason the other books don’t appeal. I started Girl Waits with Gun, which may not have enough heft. I’m basing this on just a few pages, though, it looks like a fun romp.
It’s interesting the final selections both deal with memories, in Elizabeth is Missing, the theme is dementia and I just read this about " crossing to Safety"-
Either is fine with me. However, looking at the descriptions, neither one qualifies as a Slump-Buster, which is what we need around here.
To knock everyone out of the winter doldrums, we need a rollicking, romantic, exciting, mythic, colorful adventure that grabs the reader from the first page and is written by an author more challenging than E.L. James but less challenging than Marcel Proust. Is that so much to ask?
I’d rather read *Elizabeth *since I’d rather read something new. I’d be happy to read both, though I don’t know if they are a natural duo. Crossing to Safety in my memory is more about couples and friendship.
Oh … oh … oh … I have and would happily read it again and I’m in the midst of a slump. You know … it just may be the slump buster needed … for me … but it’s a quick read.
I’ve wanted to read The Bookman’s Tale.
What about The Name of the Wind - Rothfuss I haven’t read it but I think it may Mary’s parameters:
GoodReads rating: 4.55 with 300,485 ratings · 20,586 reviews
Romance, skullduggery, forgery and murder? Rip-roaring mysteries disguised as allegories, shrouded in adventure? Now we’re talking!
The Bookman’s Tale, A Man Called Ove or The Name of the Wind are all fine with me. If we want adventure, we could go all out–back to the time when men were men and swordplay was really just swordplay. I don’t care what we read, but I’m passing these along because I just had a blast looking them up – much more fun than reading synopses of books about dementia and melancholy marriages!
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. THE classic swashbuckler! Peter Blood is a witty Irish doctor who tends geraniums and rules the high seas. Best. Pirate. Ever.
“abounding with adventure, color, romance, and strong social commentary on the evils of slavery and the dangers of intolerance, this classic adventure is a story about how oppression drives men to desperate actions, how fate plays a hand in everyone’s life, and how love is ultimately the greatest power of all”: http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Penguin-Classics-Rafael-Sabatini/dp/0142180106/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449937739&sr=1-1&keywords=captain+blood
I loved The Name of the Wind, but it’s very long, and the first part of a trilogy. The second book came out last year after a six year wait. Rothfuss is notorious for taking a long time between books. I read the Reread at Tor, which is like a book group on steroids. http://www.tor.com/series/patrick-rothfuss-reread/
I’ve never actually read Beau Geste which was a great favorite of my friends in high school. Love *Master and Commander/i Read *Prisoner of Zenda * in high school and remember it being a fun romp.
My next book isNeuromancer. It’s on every list of sci fi classics and I’ve never read it.
^ My apologies. I threw a monkey wrench into everything because–although it’s quite possible I was misreading posts–I felt like there wasn’t an iota of genuine enthusiasm for either Elizabeth is Missing or Crossing to Safety. Dreary winter days and reading slumps led me back to the drawing board to shake things up (ew, mixed metaphor–sorry about that, too! ).
I think you were right though, Mary. I would have read either book but neither sounded like the escapist fare we try for in Jan. (11/22/63 or The Luminaries and so on).
