You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

For September, we are taking the ball slightly out of your own court again. Mixing it up a bit and what not. You're going to do what you're told.

This month, you need to go and talk to a real life person in your life. I want you to chat to someone you have a relationship with - your partner, your family, friends, coworkers, the girl who makes your coffee every day, whatever. But someone more than a random you meet on the street.

I want you to read a book that they recommend to you, or have recommended in the past, as something they really enjoyed.

You can ask a couple of people if you need, I'm not going to limit you to one person depending on availability and accessibility and such. But as usual, honour system and spirit of the game etc. I don't want you to ask 40 of your nearest and dearest for window shopping ops.

Hopefully this will get us some more recs than Goodreads algorithms, get you a good read, or at least an insight into the person who recommended it to you. Warning though, that might not always be good...

Tell us (here but also in the reporting thread so you can get your badges):
- what you read
- who recommended it to you
- what you think (and are you now getting your coffee from somewhere else after the girl recommended The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York?)

Questions, comments?

General Rules:
1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Serial Killer Challenge.
4. The book must be read between 1 September and 30 September (based on your own time zone).
5. The book must be over 150pp in length. If you are reading an e-book or audiobook, please go by the most popular version on Goodreads, ie. The first one that comes up when you search for the book.
6. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose, but only the highest scoring book will apply.

Oooh, this sounds fun! I am frequently recommending books to other people (which, now that I think of it, may be annoying them no end) and now I have a chance to have someone recommend one to me. This could be interesting.

I read the perfect book for this challenge three weeks ago!

Interesting!
(The Poisoner's Handbook went straight on my TBR :))
I always give recommandations to people around me too. I think I'll ask one my colleagues, because we don't often talk about our reads.

Love it Rusalka! I ask folks for recommendations all the time...going to ask for some more for this challenge!

This will be hard. Real life people I know either don't read (crazy people) or have crap taste in books. Off to rack my brain at books people I know have already recommended to me.

Peggy wrote: "I read the perfect book for this challenge three weeks ago!"

Hah! Always the way.

This is going to be fun, but difficult! I don't have too many real life friends that read a lot and I have very different reading tastes from my family members. Hmm...who to ask?? I'm going to have to gopher my friends. lol

Happy hunting all.

I did think it may be a challenge for some, Sarah. But I figure it may get some of us to read things we wouldn't usually, and either get a pleasant surprise or earn us brownie points for reading a rec of someone we know. Hopefully you find someone with a good rec though.

Imagine the shock of discovering the person who makes your coffee's favorite book is The Poisoner's Handbook! It gives me the shivers! :D You made me laugh Rusalka!

This is gonna be a great challenge! It feels strange don't have to do a serious gophering, though.

My mum reads a lot so I am definitely going to ask her. Our tastes are quite different so it's going to be interesting to find out what she recommends for me!

Is there a way to find the books that were recommended to you by GR-friends? I know a friend of mine has used that function once or twice to recommend a book to me, but I have no idea how to find them. If I click on 'recommendations' it gives me only recs given automatically by goodreads based on my ratings etc.

Click on the arrow next to your pic up the top right corner. Then click on "Recs to me" which is on the left column, three down, or one from the bottom.

As long as you know them offline, then that will be okay. If they are solely goodreads friends, not eligible.

It's a real-life colleague/friend :) Thanks for the explanation, not sure why I didn't figure that out myself.

Thought so, but thought I better clarify, just in cases.

I'll find someone and a book soon enough. At least it's open to asking anyone I know as opposed to only asking my father's second cousin twice removed or some such relative ;-) I've messaged a couple friends to see what they can come up with. If nothing, I have two mates I can ask (who are not in the digital age so will have to arrange to see them). If all else fails, I'll knock on the boat next door and ask them what I can read. I do have a few books that people have recommended to me in the past too.

Rusalka wrote: "Click on the arrow next to your pic up the top right corner. Then click on "Recs to me" "

I learned something today, thank you!

Thanks for reminded me of that function, Peggy! I had forgot about it. I found there a rec from a friend that could work: A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir. She is GR friend but also a real life friend, our kids attend the same school, we share the same book club, she's gonna be one of my kids teacher this year, and for more credentials she is the Godmother of my last (absolutely adorable) baby.

"I'll knock on the boat next door". I loved that image, Sarah!

Haha yes, that made me laugh too :D

"Can I borrow a cup of sugar? And a book rec? And help getting back out of the canal?"

Several months ago one of my daughters suggested that I read The Emperor's Edge. Maybe I'll finally get around to it.

Sandra wrote: "Thanks for reminded me of that function, Peggy! I had forgot about it. I found there a rec from a friend that could work: A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir. Sh..."

Always fun finding surprise recs.

Actually, on that note Sarah. How's your bum?

Rusalka wrote: ""Can I borrow a cup of sugar? And a book rec? And help getting back out of the canal?""

lol. Very funny :-)

Rusalka wrote: "Actually, on that note Sarah. How's your bum?"

Well I've been laying on my right side all week. As we're still sorting out bedroom out, our mattress is up in the sitting room so I've been lounging on that - easier than sitting up on the sofa. It's getting better but still bruised and uncomfortable to sit on.

Well my wife always asks me. Hmmm. My brother in law did say to read entire trilogy. Ehat was it called. I read the first Golden Compass. I coulf read #2. Whatever its called. Wow brain fart today

Travis of NNY wrote: "Well my wife always asks me. Hmmm. My brother in law did say to read entire trilogy. Ehat was it called. I read the first Golden Compass. I coulf read #2. Whatever its called. Wow brain fart t..."

The Subtle Knife is the second book in the series.

I just asked my colleagues one book rec, I got ten... I'll see what I have at the Library ;)

Oh I have the perfect book a friend at work lent it to me and it sits on my shelf waiting. Perfect time to grab it and give it a try

Subtle Knife. Yes. Of course. Stayed up way too late watching metal evolution. I still disagree with the guy as did most people that grunge rock came from metal. I see very little in common.

I have the perfect book for this! In June my sister (who lives in Bolivia, South America) was here for a few weeks. And since I won't be seeing her when it is her birthday (in November...), I asked her what she would like. She asked me part 2 of the Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan - The Invaders. I accidentally also bought part 1 (which she had already read and really loved!) - The Outcasts. So I decided to keep that for myself.
So I guess now (well, next month) is a very good time to read it and see if I love it, as well!

Rusalka, I guess the regular rules apply, like not combining this with the year long challenge? Asking because my mom recommended a series book to me :)

Tasha☺ wrote: "Oh I have the perfect book a friend at work lent it to me and it sits on my shelf waiting. Perfect time to grab it and give it a try"

I have the same situation. Yay!!!!

Funnily enough I think I may go with the recommendation my cousin Simon gave me The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Is it ok to combine this with the other monthly challenge?

Peggy wrote: "Rusalka, I guess the regular rules apply, like not combining this with the year long challenge? Asking because my mom recommended a series book to me :)"

Oh yes. Thanks. I knew I forgot something.

Original message updated!

Kerri wrote: "Funnily enough I think I may go with the recommendation my cousin Simon gave me The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Is it ok to combine this with the other monthly challenge?"

Can be combined with any other event/read here at YLTO (group monthly reads, buddy reads, topplers, etc) except the Year Long Challenge (serials). You can read a serial book and it can count for this challenge but not the year long, or vice versa.

So far I have two options:
The Sekhmet Bed and The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase

I may choose the second as it has been lent to me and I need to return it.

I asked a friend, who recommended two books I already read (and liked, she knows my taste!) and then she said she stopped reading. What?!

Then I asked my mom, who recommended books by Tess Gerritsen and Henning Mankell but I never read thrillers and I worry they might give me sleepless nights. But, she also recommended The Clan of the Cave Bear, which I have on my ereader. I hadn't planned on reading it soon (one long chunky series at a time, and I'm still in the middle of Outlander) but maybe I'll do so for this challenge :)

I also sent a message to my sister but she hasn't given any suggestions yet. I'll either go for her suggestion or for my mom's.

I asked my mum and she recommended The Island which she read a few months ago and really enjoyed. She said she thinks it's a book that I will like too and it's been on my wishlist for a couple of years now so I think I will give it a go for this challenge.

I really enjoyed the book Lisa! I was given it a few years ago by a friend who is from Crete, and it really made me interested in reading historical fiction (as opposed to the chicklit I was reading mostly back then ;-)).

Peggy wrote: "I really enjoyed the book Lisa! I was given it a few years ago by a friend who is from Crete, and it really made me interested in reading historical fiction (as opposed to the chicklit I was readin..."

I'm glad that you enjoyed it Peggy! Hearing you say that has made me more excited to read it now :) I was a bit worried that it was going to be chicklit (which I am not the biggest fan of) but it doesn't sound like it is so I am hoping that I will like it too.

There's a bit of a present day story which is a bit chicklitty and not the best, but the largest part is hf and not chicklit at all.

Peggy wrote: "There's a bit of a present day story which is a bit chicklitty and not the best, but the largest part is hf and not chicklit at all."

Sounds good to me!

Oh, I have the perfect book. I have a coworker that has recommended the same book to me at least 5 times. Every time she sees me with one of the series books by the same author. This book is a stand alone though so it won't affect my series challenge.

Tell us what the book is Amanda! :)

Well I asked a friend and they said anything by Dean Koontz. I've read a lot of Dean Koontz so I asked what their favourite was and i got Watchers which i haven't actually read. They then proceeded to recommend The Name of the Wind which I've read, then on to Imajica but that is a real chunkster and not available on kindle. A month back, another friend told me she'd been reading The Book of Souls trilogy and she'd read all three back to back and kept raving about them and how i should read them, starting with A Discovery of Witches. She then recommended the trilogy she started after that one (again back to back) which was The Original Shannara trilogy, starting with The Sword of Shannara. I'm probably going to go with one of my second friend's recommendations as i already own those.

now I am home I can link the book my friend from work recommended to me Falling, it looks interesting and now I can move it up the TBR

Sounds brilliant .. I have the perfect book for this and it was on the shelf for so long . Time to start reading it .. Just for fun ! ;D

This should be good. I have a couple of friends at work and we're always swapping book recommendations. Plus recently my son recommended Annihilation and now I have a good opportunity to read it.

Perfect timing! I was just reading the criteria for the challenge when my dad walked into the kitchen and sat down. I read it to him and told him that I still haven't read The Lincoln Lawyer which he lent to me a couple years ago (good thing he wasn't expecting it back). He said, "How about The Girl on the Train? I really enjoyed that." I gave it to him for his birthday back in April. He's trotted off to his office to get it and give it back to me. :)