<p>Very funny, mathmom!</p>
<p>Some readers added their own versions at the bottom, which are also pretty funny. And I liked this exchange between posters:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Mary: I talked with my daughter about The Queen’s Thief series. She disagrees with Amazon re the ages 8-12 also. She finds the library databases more accurate. My daughter thinks Amazon took the easy route: the first book in the series The Thief is a Newbery Honor Book so Amazon listed ages 8-12. In actuality it doesn’t work like that - the NoveList database lists it as grades 5-12. The series takes on a definite YA complexity, with darkness, love and politics in an alternate medieval setting. Nowhere do I see ages 8-12 listed on the database site. For what it’s worth, my daughter read the Harry Potter series in elementary school, Tamora Pierce series in middle school and the Queen’s Thief series in high school. She thinks your daughter is a good age.</p>
<p>More “for what it’s worth” from me: I love this series. I like the first book The Thief least but that’s not to say I don’t like it and I love the rest of the books. In fact, I’m rereading them now. (And the link I posted above extolling the series is written by an adult for adults.) Make sure to get to the second book. After that you won’t stop. And, yes, read them in order. Eugenides has to be up there as one of my favorite literary characters. (Make room, Gus and Call.)</p>
<p>Once again THANKS to Mary and all. Looking forward to Station Eleven</p>
<p>And what will you be reading in the interim? I’m finishing up series. I plan to read A Conspiracy of Kings from the Queen’s Thief series - see above. I have one book left in the Lonesome Dove series. (Neither the sequel nor the first prequel live up to Lonesome Dove but I did enjoy seeing Gus and Call as not-quite-men meet and survive joining the Texas Rangers. (Barely survive - the word inept comes to mind) I plan to pick up Shadow of the Giant - continuing on in Orson Scott Card’s Enderverse.</p>
<p>And actually on my bedside table I finished Miracle and other Christmas Stories - Connie Willis - Christmas with a science fiction/fantasy twist. I’m almost through with While Beauty Slept - more fantasy - Sleeping Beauty re-imagined. I like it.</p>
<p>I’m waiting for Skylight - “Nobel laureate Saramago’s first novel, submitted in the 1950s, sank into a Portuguese publisher’s rejection pile. When he received no response to his submission, Saramago was so discouraged that he stopped writing for 20 years. When the manuscript, which its author called “the book lost and found in time”, surfaced in 1989, Saramago insisted it should not be published in his lifetime. This explains the surprise of Skylight, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. It is a must-read for Saramago lovers, with insights into his later themes and characters. And it’s a complete delight. Reading this energetic and wry portrait of the inhabitants of one Lisbon apartment building in the mid-20th Century, with their intrigues, secrets and fantasies, is like watching a classic black-and-white movie.” <a href=“http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141128-ten-books-to-read-in-december”>http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141128-ten-books-to-read-in-december</a> </p>
<p>This last one may take awhile. :-B </p>
<p>ignatius, thank you so much for the research and commentary on the Queen’s Thief series! I’m sold. The trilogy is in my Amazon cart. </p>
<p>As for interim books, it partly depends on what my daughter is reading for school. Like all of you I’m sure, we used to read aloud to the kids at bedtime. When my youngest hit high school, we just never stopped (since there were no more little ones around to tend to). So now she and I take turns reading aloud her assigned books – things like Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter and Othello. It’s fun, but reading aloud takes a lot of time, so I don’t make much progress with my bedside table stack. Not that I’m complaining—I’m hanging on to every possible minute with this last one at home. 
</p>
<p>I recently read The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. Thanks, ignatius, for giving me a heads up on that one because you knew I liked The Crimson Petal and the White.</p>
<p>A huge thank you too, to Mary for all she does to make this group so great!</p>
<p>Currently, I am reading The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee.</p>
<p>In addition, I’m soon going to be reading and reviewing an advance copy of Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story, which a forthcoming nonfiction book.</p>
<p>Thank you all for another book club month. I love having a place online to exchange titles, opinions on the diverse selections, and ideas for and about more reading! </p>
<p>I’m reading Some Luck by Jane Smiley, and listening to The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Next, I was going to read a guilty pleasure book, Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld. However, now that I see the synopsis on the cover flap, I realize that I’ve already read it! Does anybody else do this? Moving down the stack, I have My Sisters The Saints; A Spiritual Memoir by Colleen Carroll Campbell and probably Lila by Marilynne Robinson.</p>
<p>Oops. I missed the next book selection vote. Doesn’t matter. Station Eleven looks great! It’s $5.99 for Kindle on Amazon.</p>
<p>I read The Name of the a Wind. It is a great book/series. Currently waiting on book 3. You were right @ignatius, my sons talked me into reading The Name of the a Wind and we have had some great family discussions about it.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the Kindle tip! I usually delay buying books until the last minute, but at that price, I’ll get it now.</p>
<p>Great kindle price for Station Eleven- just bought ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE for $6.99, thought it would be worth it.</p>
<p>Recent reads- Search within Yourself- Chade-Meng Tan ( google engineer mediation/ happiness guru)
Nora Webster - a gem, but deals with grief and loss, so it might be about timing, maybe not a Christmas read.
Money:Master the game- Tony Robbin’s first book in twenty years.
Not That Kind of Girl : Lena Dunham ( making lots of waves now about being raped at Oberlin) </p>
<p>To be read: new librarian who started new monthly book club highly recommends ( and, FYI she said Station Eleven is wonderful)
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats- Jan Sendker </p>
<p>OK, so I never got to read the selections for this month – way too much going on. BUT, I stopped by today to see if the next selection has been chosen. I’ll do my best to be here in February for "Station Eleven. </p>
<p>My RL Book Club is reading “All the Light We Cannot See” for January. I read “The Art of Hearing Heartbeats” in August. For the most part I enjoyed it – excellent writing, easy read. Parts of it didn’t hang together for me, though.</p>
<p>Hope things settle down so you can join us in February, CBBBlinker. Happy holidays to everyone!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I did this, too, partly because my hardcover is a bit much to tote around and partly because my H and I just set up Family Library (about time, Amazon!) and I thought he’d like to read it. (As it turns out, his library has limited appeal for me – I’m seldom in the mood to settle down with The Laws of Thermodynamics :). )</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL, I’m thinking we should tack on a mini-discussion of the novel after we’re done with Station Eleven because I believe every one of us will have read Doerr’s book at that point!</p>
<p>Mary: Can you please post an updated list of all the CC Book Club books and discussions? It has been a while and it’s nice to have it for referral/recommendation. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good idea!</p>
<p>2009:</p>
<p><a href=“CC June Summer Book Club Selection - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/722812-cc-june-summer-book-club-selection.html</a> (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/739173-dreamers-day-july-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/756770-sarah-s-key-august-cc-summer-book-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/775489-american-wife-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/802971-thirteenth-tale-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2010:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/839908-help-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/874004-shadow-wind-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/921062-elegance-hedgehog-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/950434-let-great-world-spin-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/983235-cutting-stone-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1017662-moonstone-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2011:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1051496-major-pettigrew-s-last-stand-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1088114-water-elephants-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1128229-hotel-corner-bitter-sweet-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1164259-secret-garden-forgotten-garden-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1196045-state-wonder-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1227061-before-i-go-sleep-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2012:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1258379-11-22-63-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1289690-bridge-san-luis-rey-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1324495-cat-s-table-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1354603-wide-sargasso-sea-jane-eyre-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1378606-cloud-atlas-october-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1378606-cloud-atlas-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1403248-glass-room-december-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1403248-glass-room-december-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p>2013:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1429935-possession-february-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1429935-possession-february-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1461744-orchardist-april-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1461744-orchardist-april-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1491359-things-fall-apart-june-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1491359-things-fall-apart-june-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1516433-stockholm-octavo-august-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1516433-stockholm-octavo-august-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1541379-war-worlds-ender-s-game-october-cc-book-club-selection.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1541379-war-worlds-ender-s-game-october-cc-book-club-selection.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1563943-dear-life--december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1563943-dear-life--december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p>2014:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1590899-the-luminaries-february-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1590899-the-luminaries-february-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1615429-claire-of-the-sea-light-april-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1615429-claire-of-the-sea-light-april-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1639495-the-storied-life-of-a-j-fikry-june-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1639495-the-storied-life-of-a-j-fikry-june-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1658247-lonesome-dove-august-cc-book-club-selection.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1658247-lonesome-dove-august-cc-book-club-selection.html#latest</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1677197-the-round-house-october-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1677197-the-round-house-october-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1695107-the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-and-the-house-of-silk-december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1695107-the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-and-the-house-of-silk-december-cc-book-club-selection-p1.html</a></p>
<p>And we will launch 2015 with Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.</p>
<p>I hope we’re still doing this into our dotage–I really enjoy spending time with all of you! Enjoy “break” and we’ll reconvene in February. Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>I’m having one of those moments: I watch the TV series Elementary and enjoy Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes. And I have continued onward in the Lonesome Dove series: after Lonesome Dove I read the sequel Streets of Laredo and then the first prequel Dead Man’s Walk. What does this have to do with Jonny Lee Miller and/or Sherlock Holmes? Well, I’ve needed to catch up on Elementary episodes. I also decided to watch the mini-series for Dead Man’s Walk. I now find myself watching Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes (Elementary) and - how strange is this? - as a young Woodrow Call (Dead Man’s Walk). I believe Mary said she read only one book at a time to keep characters on the pages they belonged. Doesn’t always work, I guess. By the way, Jonny Lee Miller does a fine job as Woodrow Call.</p>
<p><a href=“Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 1: The Prequels”>http://www.chimesfreedom.com/2011/05/10/rating-the-lonesome-dove-series-part-1-the-prequels/</a></p>
<ul>
<li>I posting this on the Lonesome Dove thread also because I have no idea where it belongs. :-? </li>
</ul>
<p>^ Too many worlds colliding! </p>
<p>IMDB trivia: “In 1996, Jonny Lee Miller played the role of Woodrow F. Call in Dead Man’s Walk (1996), the prequel to Lonesome Dove (1989). That same year, he was married to Angelina Jolie, whose father, Jon Voight, played the role in Return to Lonesome Dove (1993).”</p>
<p>One of the side benefits of our Holmes duet was that I was inspired to watch Elementary for the first time and enjoyed it. I’m now working my way through some older episodes. I prefer Miller’s Holmes to Cumberbatch’s version (although I’m sure there are those who would disagree).</p>
<p>I finished All the Light We Cannot See last week. I thought it was very good.</p>
<p>^ So did I. There are a few comments about the book here: <a href=“"All the Light We Cannot See" -- Anyone read this? I have questions - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1716824-all-the-light-we-cannot-see-anyone-read-this-i-have-questions-p1.html</a></p>