Help me select books, once again

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Miss Chicken, Sep 1, 2013.

  1. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    As a member of LibraryThing I like doing a Category Challenge each year. Last August, when I posted a similar thread to I got many good suggestions so I thought I would ask for help once again. I have around $350 to spend.

    Other people doing the challenge often choose a theme so I thought I would do that this year. I am basing my 2014 categories on Tasmanian placenames. 14 separate categories. I have decided that I must read at least 4 books in each category.

    So far I have come up with the following


    Murdering Gully Road - murder mysteries (need no help selecting these - unless someone can recommend a mystery fron Spain, Portugal or South America.

    Beginner's Bay - first in a series. Fiction excluding mysteries
    1) Hood (The Raven King book 1) by Stephen Lawhead

    Mother-in-Law's Leap - new genres (poetry, graphic novels, plays, letters. speeches) . Suggestions needed.

    1) Great Speeches by Native Americans by Bob Blaisdell.

    The Land of Little Sticks - Amazon Kindle singles or novellas (less than 100 pages in length). Suggestions needed. I would especially like some sci-fi to put in this category.

    Twelvetrees Range (which is named after William Harper Twelvetrees who was a well-known Tasmanian geologist) - books about geology or novels that have a geologist as a main character. Suggestions needed.

    Howrah/Mangalore (placenames in both Tasmania and India) - books set in India (no help needed here - I have a small backlog of Indian books)

    Bay of Fires (Placename in Tasmania and the capital of Iceland is Reykavik “Smoky Bay” - close enough) - books about Iceland . No help needed. I have a backlog of Icelandic books

    Noah’s Waterhole - books about animals. Possible choose animals that have a placename in Tasmania (Penguin, Dromedary, Elephants Pass, Cuckoo, Emu River, Badger Creek, Mole Creek etc)

    One of the following - Mount Lot, Lot's Wife, Walls of Jerusalem, Paradise, Garden of Eden, Bagdad, Jordan, Jericho, Nile, Promised Land , Plains of Heaven, Lake Babylon - suggestion of books set in the Middle East and books that look at Christianity welcomed.


    the 14th category will be Nowhere Else (yes, a placename in Tasmania) - books that don’t belong in any other category

    That is 11 categories. I need to decide on 3 more. Other possible placenames I could to use are

    Arthur's Circus
    Cat and Fiddle Arcade
    Horizontal Creek
    Quetzalcoatl Conduit
    Cape Contrariety
    Styx River (and the Valley of the Giants)
    Lost World Plateau
    The Moai
    Detached Head, The Boneyard, Dismal Swamp, Phantom Bay
    Lake Nameless
    Salamanca Place (books set in Spain?)
    Doo Town
    Adventure Bay
    Hollow Tree
    Snug (cosy mysteries?)
    Try Again Creek (books I didn't finish in the past?)
    Death and Judgement Corner (real life murder trials?)
    Blackhole
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2013
  2. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    Jules Verne's Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is the only one that springs to mind
     
  3. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    ^^^ I have already read it twice.

    I have just been searching for books and have come across the following

    Em Hansen mysteries

    It sees that she is forensic geologist.

    The Frankie MacFarlane series

    She is a geologist

    The Forensic Gelogists series

    Has anyone read any of these?

    All three series would fit into my beginnner, geology and mystery categories. However I would also like at least one novel about a geologist that isn't a murder mystery.
     
  4. mimic

    mimic Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    These might qualify for your geology category:

    Annals of the Former World - John McPhee
    The Seashell on the Mountaintop - Alan Cutler
    Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier
     
  5. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    Thanks for your suggestions. I have added The Seashell on the Mountaintop to my wishlist and Annals of the Former World might be a possibility (I hate to say it but it might be a bit long to keep my interest).

    I read The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling last year. It was about Mary Anning (and Elizabeth Philpott). I selected it over Remarkable Creatures when looking for a book about Anning. I was a little disappointed with The Fossil Hunter, it is possible I would like Remarkable Creatures more.
     
  6. mimic

    mimic Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Annals is basically an anthology of four other geology-related McPhee books + one new section, so you could just pick one of those.
     
  7. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    ^^^ I will look into them.

    I need suggestions for first books in a sci-fi/fantasy series. I picked up Stephen Baxter's up Raft (Xeelee series) and Emperor (Time's Tapestry series) books cheaply recently so I wouldn't mind people's opinions of those books/series.

    I have decided to read Hood (first book in the Raven King series).

    Edited to add - what are people's opinions on the Howl Moving Castle's series. I loked the animated movie.

    And is Sandman a good choice for a graphic novel?
     
  8. Mistral

    Mistral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Sandman is one of the best graphic novels in existence. It's a compilation of the award-winning series. (They are, actually. There's a couple.) You might also try: Fables, Maus, or some Alan Moore( Vis for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Killing Joke).

    As for scif series: Have you read 1632 by Eric Flint?
     
  9. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Moonseed by Stephen Baxter maybe?
     
  10. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    I will make Sandman a certainty.

    I will pencil 1632 and Moonseed in as possibilties.

    I have selection Valley of the Giants as a catagory. It will be for book over 600 or maybe 650 pages in length. I have already selected Baxter's Evolution to be in that category.
     
  11. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Another vote for Sandman btw!
     
  12. Othello

    Othello Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
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    For your first in a series consideration

    The Way of Shadows: The Night Angel Trilogy: Book 1 Paperback


    by Brent Weeks (Author)


    http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Shadows-Night-Trilogy/dp/0316033677

    The Summoner (Chronicles of the Necromancer, Book 1) Mass Market Paperback


    by Gail Z. Martin (Author)


    http://www.amazon.com/The-Summoner-Chronicles-Necromancer-Book/dp/1844164683

    The Black Prism (Lightbringer) Mass Market Paperback


    by Brent Weeks (Author)


    http://www.amazon.com/Black-Prism-L...cp_2_FGJ7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0W5NTMN7BNGANVMK4N01

    The Camel Club Mass Market Paperback


    by David Baldacci (Author)

    http://www.amazon.com/Camel-Club-Da...qid=1378303521&sr=1-1&keywords=The+camel+club

    Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta Mysteries) Paperback


    by Patricia Cornwell (Author)




    http://www.amazon.com/Postmortem-Sc...p/1439148120/ref=wp_bs_1_B00CJJKN4S_paperback


    Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, Book 1) Mass Market Paperback


    by Terry Goodkind (Author)


    http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-First-Rule-Sword-Truth/dp/0812548051


    The Sword of Shannara Mass Market Paperback


    by Terry Brooks (Author)

    http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shannar...=1378304051&sr=1-1&keywords=sword+of+shannara


    Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles, Volume I) Mass Market Paperback


    by Margaret Weis (Author) , Tracy Hickman (Author)



    http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Autum...95&sr=1-1&keywords=dragons+of+autumn+twilight


    Homeland: The Dark Elf Trilogy, Part 1 (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, Book I) (Bk. 1) Mass Market Paperback


    by R.A. Salvatore (Author)


    http://www.amazon.com/Homeland-Trilogy-Forgotten-Realms-Legend/dp/0786939532/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378304166&sr=1-1&keywords=drizzt+do%27urden
     
  13. Mistral

    Mistral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I believe The Past Through Tomorrow by Heinlein would qualify.
     
  14. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

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    Location:
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    Othello - of your books you suggested I have pencilled in the Terry Goodkind book. The main reason for this however is because my son owns the series and it won't cost me anything to read. Probably not a really good reason to make this choice. If I don't like the first book I will probably try one of your other suggestions.

    Mistral - it has been many a year since I read any Robert Heinlein. I loved Stranger in a Strange Land but I don't think I ever finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I might like The Past Through Tomorrow but it does look like copies of it are rather expensive.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2013