It is the most wonderful time of year - CBBC time!
Previous CBBC books were:
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
My Brilliant Friend
I Capture the Castle
The Blue Castle
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
My Brilliant Friend
I Capture the Castle
The Blue Castle
According to my non-existent editorial calendar, we're doing another round of Cool Bloggers Book Club (CBBC) next month! I have winnowed down the book selection to three books and now you, my friends, are going to vote on what you think is the best option. These have all been suggested to me by readers in the past and I'm happy for additional suggestions to keep adding to my list of potential books for CBBC.
You do not have to be cool or a blogger to participate, although I'd argue you're cool just by being here.
My criteria for adding a book to the vote is that it is written by a woman, someone has expressed interest in reading it for this purpose, and I want to read it. I have a list of books people have recommended to me, so if you have a request for future books, please don't hesitate to put it in the comments or drop me an email.
Option #1
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Tam's debut novel, The Joy Luck Club, follows four Chinese immigrant families in San Francisco. It's divided up into four parts, each four chapters long, and that is enough to make my book club organizing heart go pitter patter. That's basically all I know about this book. (1989, 288 pages)
Option #2
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Quiet little dystopian book originally written in the French. What does it mean to be human? How do we maintain the drive and human imperative to survive in the face of isolation and loneliness? Do we even need men? (Okay, fine, I added that last question.) (1995, 184 pages)
Option #3
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
So much punctuation in a book title! I have not read this book since I was a child, so I'd be interested in how this coming of age story holds up. (1970, 159 pages)
Those are the options. You can try to lobby fellow readers to your favorites in the comments, but your vote will be cast at this Google form. I am asking for you to rank order your choices from your most preferred to least preferred book. You do not actually need to be a blogger to participate in CBBC, but you should probably at least occasionally read this blog. I'll leave the form up until Wednesday, September 24 and then I'll tabulate the votes and post the schedule soon thereafter.
Oh yay!!! Thanks for leading another round!!!
ReplyDeleteThese are such great options! I have read all three and all are excellent. “I Who Have Never Known Men” is the one I would most like to discuss; “Joy Luck Club” is the one I read longest ago so would love to revisit.
(This is Suzanne.)
Choosing the three books is so hard! I want them to be books I want to read, but also that other people want to read!
DeleteI currently have “I Who Have Never Known Men” on hold, so this seems like a sign. I read “The Joy Luck Club” in high school and loved it; it felt very “cool/adult” at the time to read a contemporary novel for English class. (This… might have just been me, haha…) And of course I read allll the Judy Blumes as an adolescent. Revisiting would be a lot of fun. (The recent movie version of “Are You There, God?” was great, incidentally!)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad these choices are so popular. I keep imagining putting out three books and commenters saying that they don't want to read any of them.
DeleteOmg Engie, I decided this week would be the Great Judy Blume Reread Week and I have Margaret with me RIGHT THIS SECOND. Also I used to have a joint blog with Allison and our friend Hannah, and I did all these recaps of Judy Blume books. For that reason, I am going to go with the other two - I have I Who Have Never Known Men on hold (but who knows WHEN it will come) and I love the Joy Luck Club. Hmm. Which will I vote for. Why do I always leave you such rambling stream of consciousness comments. How long is this comment going to be. When will I actually go to the google form. Etcetera.
ReplyDeleteI love your rambling comments, Nicole. I love to see how your mind goes from one thought to the next!
DeleteComing back to say - because my comment was not long and rambling enough - that I love how you have a ranked system for this, rather than "my choice is x." THAT IS ALL I WILL GO NOW.
ReplyDeleteThe ranked voting system was based on reader feedback from my first vote. It works really well and I'm happy people seem to like it.
DeleteRanked choice voting- I love it! As usual, I'll happily read any of these three. Haven't read the first two but OF COURSE I read the Judy Blume as a kid. Hmmmmm! I'll have to ponder this and then come back to vote. Thanks for hosting the book club once again!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about all three of these books, so I can't wait to see what everyone chooses.
DeleteOpen ballot time! My first pick is I Who Have Never Known Men because of your review that you wanted to talk about it. I know a few of our friends have read it since, so I'm intrigued.
ReplyDelete#2 pick is Joy Luck Club b/c I never read it and now seems like a good time. Then I saw it's set in San Francisco, which I am still pining over from my trip last spring.
#3 is Judy Blume. I don't remember if I read it back in the day, and why not.
TL;DR there are no losers here. I'm in for CBBC!
Yay! I'm glad there are no losers. It's scary to put the books out there.
DeleteYay, another round of CBBC! I read The Joy Luck Club years ago, and I can't remember if I read Judy Blume's or not, but I saw the movie. I am intrigued by I Who Have Never Known Men, so am making that my first choice.
ReplyDeleteI sold you by asking if we really need men, didn't I?
DeleteI haven't read any of these books. I'm on the holds list for I Who Have Never Known Men but I am #33 on 7 copies so...that won't come in on time. Which is fine. I'm happy to buy a book for book club!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm happy to buy one, too, if I can't get one from the library in time. I currently have no copies of any of these books.
DeleteYAY. I'd add Little Women to the list of possibilities, please. I cannot figure out how to rank these, though. I just reread and loved Are you there God? but would happily pick it up again. And I'd love to read the other 2. Mull, mull....
ReplyDeleteI have bad news for you, Anne. I'm never going to put Little Women out there because I tried to read it as an adult and I found it preachy and Marmie was terrible and I hated it. LOL. Sorry to disappoint you like this.
DeleteOooh. I read Joy Luck Club years ago - it was such a big deal for the Asian American community, but also some of it was just so foreign to me.. (And there’s a movie!)
ReplyDeleteI first read July Blume via her Fudge and Super Fudge books. My mind was blown when I found out she wrote books for all ages. It’s as if she is supposed to grow with you.
I who have never known men is appealing because I would come in knowing nothing about it!
I have never read Joy Luck Club and I feel like I missed out! I might just read it even if it's not chosen by this group.
DeleteMy first choice is Joy Luck Club - I've wanted to read that for a long time!
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Lisa! I just never really prioritized it.
DeleteI listened to ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ a bit ago, and loved it so much I stopped to visit it in the bookstore, so duh, I bought it. So I am voting for that one, because it validates my purchase.
ReplyDeleteI read ‘The Joy Luck Club’ when it came out and I loved it and also loved the movie.
I read ‘Are You There, God’ as a teen, and have reread it a few times, and would enjoy reading it again.
THERE ARE NO LOSERS HERE.
Future book club suggestion, though maybe it doesn’t work for your rules since I don’t think you’ve read it yet, is The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy.
Off to vote.
I have The Dud Avocado on the list! We'll see where it fits in the next round!
DeleteI can't believe you've read all these books. What are the odds? Do you want to lead book club this time around?
Well, that idea kind of terrifies me, because you do such an in depth, amazing job of it, and I know mine would not compare. BUT, I know it is a lot of work, and if you wanted to have guest hosts each take a week, I would do one. Gulp.
DeleteYay! It's CBBC time! I would read any of these!
ReplyDeleteYay! I am always nervous when I publish these posts that people will revolt against my choices. I'm happy to hear you'd read any of them.
DeleteI have to vote Are You There God at the top, I loved that so much as a kid, and I wonder how it holds up. For me, it was so intriguing because I'm not Jewish but my father's family is, so it felt like a little window into that.
ReplyDeleteI know it's a book about religion (the title gives it away), but I don't remember anything beyond that. This little tidbit about Jewishness is intriguing!
DeleteOh, thank you for running this after your difficult summer. I have not had a single moment to write (or read), I am eyebrow deep (and late) in writing reviews for a conference, I got a rejection notice for a journal article today and a 5pm notice about a marking assignment. Basically, I'm miserable, but this post made me feel like everything would be okay. I CAN be a part of the CBBC, and -- not to be too dramatic -- I CAN take this time, and surround myself with women who read and lead interesting lives.
ReplyDeleteAll good choices, I've read (and enjoyed) two out of the three, and bought the third in London in July. In the future, if you are looking for ideas, maybe Jean Rhys? I loved Wide Sargasso Sea and had a chat with a colleague recently who pointed me to this and it (like WSS) made me want to read every word she ever wrote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6K2wrzR5fY&list=PLhQpDGfX5e7B2i42vXGMsj5f8so40sZkt&index=5
I have not been reading much myself, so this will give me an opportunity to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully both us will be motivated by being surrounded by other smart people reading with us.
DeleteI'd have been more than willing to give you a pass on CBBC, considering the tough times you've been having. Are you sure you're up for this?
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these that I've read is Are You There. I read it a hundred years ago when my little sister bought it at a Scholastic Book Fair. It's the only Judy Blume I've ever read.
I'll be interested to find out what is chosen. And I think we should do Little Women sometime and just bash away at it. It might be fun.
I'm trying to get back to normal and normal would be CBBC, so we're doing it!
DeleteUgh. Little Women. I don't think I could make it through, Nance. I'd have to coordinate someone else writing the post every week.
I vote for Joy Luck Club but will be happy to read any of these three choices. I have actually never read any of these books (!?) so I will probably end up reading all three anyway.
ReplyDelete- Dulcie (not a blogger but maybe cool anyway?)
You're absolutely cool, Dulcie. Don't let anyone ever tell you differently.
DeleteYou'll read all three?! Wow! That's commitment. I will not read all three.
I actually reread Margaret a couple of years ago! It was very fun to read it as an adult and then I followed that up with the movie that came out recently (a couple of years ago?) The only one I have not read is the Never Known Men one, but I would be happy to read any of them. Going to vote now.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy people are okay with these choices. You just never know when you hit publish how they will go over.
DeleteI've not read any of these---so I'm in for whatever!!
ReplyDeleteYay! Welcome aboard.
DeleteI loved The Joy Luck Club, but it's been years, and I could rewatch the movie. Eve had I Who Have Never Known Men when she was home this summer and I started it and hated it so stopped - it will hurt me if I have to buy a second copy instead of waiting until I can grab hers again, but I suppose I can make the sacrifice. I could lie and say I do want to read Are You There God again, but I really don't - but I will! AND I haven't seen the movie yet. In sum, I am totally conflicted and I don't know if I will even fill out the form or just throw it all to the fates and my fellow bloggers.
ReplyDelete"throw it all to the fates and my fellow bloggers" - Allison, that's why I do every time. I think I have a favorite and I don't think that favorite is going to win, but probably whatever book is chosen will be my favorite!
DeleteI voted for I Who Have Never Known Men because it sounds intriguing and a good book to discuss and it seems I'm not alone.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tight race, that's for sure!
DeleteI was waiting for this post and am so happy the best book club time is back.
ReplyDeletePhenomenal choices. 2/3 are on my TBR already.
Since The Joy Luck Club is on my TBR since Jan 2019 it is going to be my first choice. I who have never known men is already on hold at the library. The last one I have never heard of. But I am happy with either.
I had hoped for Rebecca (which would have fit my mood and I have put on hold in case we are doing it. Ha! Guess I am reading that alone.)
Maybe I should just ask you what's on your TBR the next time I have to winnow it down to three choices!
DeleteWe didn't choose Rebecca the last time around, so I don't know if it will make a return appearance. We'll see!
YAYYYYY! This was so exciting! I am nervous that I Who Have Never Known Men is going to win, and I am not in the right frame of mind for that book so I'll have to sit out this round of the CBBC, but that's fine!! I have enough books to keep me busy. I'd love to reread Are You There God, and the Joy Luck Club has been a book on my TBR for years and years!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tight race, Stephany. We'll see how it turns out!
DeleteA plug for Margaret. Its such a delightful YA book. All I remembered from when I read it as a pre-teen were the parts about periods, but its mostly about Margaret trying to understand the conflict between her parents and grandparents about religion. Its well done take on spirituality, religion and all things about middle school. Also I loved the most recent film version.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear that it holds up. I have not read it since I was a tween!
DeleteI laughed at your added question. Love that. Also, the organization of the Joy Luck Club working well for your CBBC is hilarious. I'm here to tell you, you're on a roll. I read The Joy Luck Club a long time ago, and I remember really liking it. It's been so long since I read Are You There - I bet that would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteLook, friend, the fact that it is organized so well for a book club will make my life so much easier when I'm working on the schedule. That's a real advantage as far as I'm concerned.
DeleteI had to read "The Joy Luck Club" for a college class, and I remember not at all looking forward to it for some reason. Lo and behold, I ended up loving it! Off to cast my vote...I guess you know my #1 pick.
ReplyDeleteHa! Books that are assigned are never fun. I type that fully aware that I am giving people reading homework if they participate in this book club!
DeleteLove that you're doing the CBBC again! I have to be honest, I haven't read any books in months but maybe I'll try and follow along. No promises.
ReplyDelete