On The Same Page discussion

***********SLIGHT CHANGE - WHEN YOU POST YOUR AUTHORS PLEASE ALSO POST TWO BOOKS BY THAT AUTHOR THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING READING********

Most people are probably familiar with "series interactive" challenges, where someone posts multiple outstanding books from several series they are reading, and another participant picks which series they will read from in the following month, with the purpose of edging us all closer to being caught up in our favorite series.

This is the same idea, except we're doing it for authors who write multiple books that are stand-alones and **NOT** part of a series. Examples would be Marie Benedict, Jodi Picoult, Ron Chernow, etc. I find I get so focused on series books (in part because of challenges) that I forget to read these others and they pile up! I can't be the only person in this situation. :-)

How this works: on or about the 19th of the month (we're starting late but typically the 19th will be used), participants will be invited to post a list of three authors that they have at least two unread books by. On or about the 25th of the month, pairs will be posted. Everyone will pick the next month's "featured author" for the person they're assigned. I will pick for anyone who does not have a pick by the 30th if I cannot reach the member who is assigned the pick via PM.

The following month, participants should read at least one book by their chosen author. (If you don't get to it and have to backfill or skip it, that's fine -- the point is to whittle down that TBR and have fun!)

Books can be any length, and can be fiction or non-fiction -- they just CANNOT be part of a series, and you need at least two books by an author for that author to qualify for this challenge.


Come join us for April!

April Pairs:
Jennifer picks for Joanne
Denise picks for Jennifer
Karen picks for Denise
Lance picks for Karen
Joy picks for Lance
Joanne picks for Joy

My April authors:

Amy E. Reichert


Fannie Flagg


P.G. Wodehouse

I'll have to miss this month, it's new author month so I only have 1 book from each of them.

That's OK, Desley - we'll see you in May!

My Choices:
Jane Green:


Jennifer Donnelly:


Neil Gaimen:

My choices are:
Ann Patchett:


Cynthia Ozick


Zadie Smith

My April authors:

Curt Sampson
.

Peter Golenbock


L. Jon Wertheim

Choices for April:

Iris Murdoch


Wallace Stegner


Ann Patchett

Time to pick! Pairs are posted HERE.

Joanne, I've read both of your picks for Marie Benedict and liked them, so I'm picking her for you. I hope you enjoy!

Hi Denise, I have only read a few things by Neil Gaimen, but I find his books to be fun, well-written, mind-bending reads. So I pick him as your author for this month. I hope that works out for you.

Hi Karen: Admittedly I had not heard of any of your authors as I read mostly non-fiction. So, doing a quick search on each one led me to choose Cynthia Ozick, whose work sounds interesting, especially in the short story area.

Jennifer I pick Amy E. Reichert because her last name is almost the same as mine and I really enjoyed both of the books you selected.

Good choice, Denise - will balance out some picks in other groups that are a little grimmer. :)

Lance, I have not read any of those you had posted. I am selecting Peter Golenbock, based solely on 1 of the books you listed being partially about my favorite sport, baseball.

Joy D wrote: "Lance, I have not read any of those you had posted. I am selecting Peter Golenbock, based solely on 1 of the books you listed being partially about my favorite sport, baseball."

Thank you, Joy. Golenbock writes about two of my favorite sports, NASCAR and baseball, so quite happy you picked him

Joanne wrote: "Hi Joy, I pick Iris Murdoch for you. I haven't read the books you picked but I hope you enjoy them!"
Thanks, Joanne!

Lance wrote: "Hi Karen: Admittedly I had not heard of any of your authors as I read mostly non-fiction. So, doing a quick search on each one led me to choose Cynthia Ozick, whose work sounds interesting, especia..."

Lance, Thanks for your suggestion. I know you read mostly sports non-fiction, so I appreciate your effort to search Cynthia Ozick. I found Ms. Ozick in A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year last year. As it turns out, she and I share a birthday, April 17. I was hoping that you would pick her, so that I could read her books during my birth month. Yay! Thanks!

Finished my first Peter Golenbock book, the NASCAR one - The Last Lap: The Life and Times of NASCAR's Legendary Heroes

I finished my first Cynthia Ozick book, Antiquities

I finished my two picks: The Simplicity of Cider and The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert -- both heartwarming feel-good reads which is what I was in the mood for, so they worked out very well. :)

Finished my author for May:
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch - 4* - My Review

This was very clever and I enjoyed it. Thanks, Joanne!

I finished , gave it 4 stars. My first book by Gaiman but I enjoyed it very much. He has such an imagination.