The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

20.5 - Bigger is Better - Bec's task: Off to War
For this task you read one book from either option A or option B.

Option A: Books about war are very popular, and tell us about our past. For this task, you need to read a book (fiction or non-fiction) that involves a real war (WWI, WW2, Vietnam, Gulf War, American Civil War, War of the Roses, etc). The war cannot be fictional, but there can be fictional elements in the novel. Some examples include All Quiet on the Western Front, Atonement, Matterhorn Required: If it is not obvious in the GR's description, state which war was involved in the book when you post.
OR
Option B: Read a book that has one of these words in the title or subtitle: war, battle, front or soldier. Plurals and possessives are OK, but no other variations are allowed.

Approved

Option A
The Lotus Eaters
Matterhorn
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Girl in the Red Coat
His Majesty's Dragon
Never Call Retreat
The Hornet's Nest
Kate: The Journal of a Confederate Nurse
Vietnam #1: I Pledge Allegiance
The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps
March
Lost in Shangri-la
Inside Out and Back Again
Leviathan
Dear John
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
The Birth House
Behemoth
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Option B
The Chocolate War
Shelter In A Soldier's Arms (That Special Woman!)
The War of the Worlds
God's War

Not Approved

Warped
Warrior
The Red Queen
Windfall

This thread is now open.

whee! totally doing a task switch since i'm reading a book about WW2 and the battle of leningrad right now that I was going to use for a 10 pointer

ETA - and I totally recommend Matterhorn - I read it for the 2010-11 Winter Challenge and loved it

I've decided to go with Option B and read The Chocolate War since it has been on my tbr for a long time.

The Lotus Eaters is set during the Vietnam War. Will it work?

April - The Lotus Eaters is fine, and looks like a really interesting book!

Katrina - nice to get some of those TBR books down, huh!

Dee - Matterhorn is next on my TBR list, I have been eyeing it off since it was released!

I would like to use Shelter In A Soldier's Arms (That Special Woman!) - just checking to make sure it's ok.

Fran - Shelter In A Soldier's Arms (That Special Woman!) is fine for option B. :)

Would The Boy in the Striped Pajamas work for A?

I chose that book too.

Jennifer The Boy in the Striped Pajamas works.

Would these work for option B:

Does The Girl in the Red Coat work for Option A?

I think I am going to use...The War of the Worlds

People can also and the rest of the series for option A, I think!

I am deciding among three books.

Never Call Retreat by Newt Gingrich - a novel about the Civil War (US)

The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War by Jimmy Carter = a novel about the War of Independence (US)

Kate: The Journal of a Confederate Nurse by Kate Cumming - a novel about the Was Between the States [Southern speak for the Civil War] (US)

How about Vietnam #1: I Pledge Allegiance? This book (a new series dealing with the Vietnam War) was discussed in another help thread and approved. The problem is that it's listed as ages 8 and up and the font size is larger than in an adult book - but the reading level and the way the subject matter is handled are definitely more young adult (WAY above third-grade level).

Oh, I have about a dozen war books on my tbr. I'll go with The Men with the Pink Triangle by Heinz Heger

Anomander - the word needs to appear whole, only plurals and possessives are okay. :) So God's War is fine, but Warped doesn't contain the word with it's original meaning.

Randi - The Girl in the Red Coat works fine, and it looks like a terrific read.

Meghan - I've always meant to read The War of the Worlds but never got around to it, which is a bummer!

Anomander - That book looks like a perfect fit! A bit of war and a bit of fantasy

Bea - They all look brilliant - But I think the read by Jimmy Carter would be especially interesting!

Chris - That book looks fine, and I'll throw it on the approved list when I'm not so sleep deprived.

Marina - I had a billion war books on my tbr list, hence this task :)

Thanks, Bec!

I think I'll probably read March: A Love Story in a Time of War-it's been on my shelf for 2 years now!

One of the best war books I've read is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I don't read many war books, just not my main interest, but I couldn't put this down.

I've heard a lot of good things about Lost in Shangri-la, so I think I might read that for this task.

Thank you Bec! :)

chucklesthescot wrote: "I think I'll probably read March: A Love Story in a Time of War-it's been on my shelf for 2 years now!"

That is an EXCELLENT book.

Would Inside Out and Back Again work for Option A?

Hi:-) Would the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfield work for option A? It's set at the start of WWI:

Would Dear John by Nicholas Sparks work for A?

Hi Jodi - I'll accept it, it looks one of the characters fights in the Iraqi War or the war on terrorism.

Would In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin work for A? Looks like it involves WWII, at least in the buildup to the war, if not the actual fighting part of the war.

Sandy - In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is fine, and I think another book just got added to my mental TBR list.

Bec wrote: "Sandy - In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is fine, and I think another book just got added to my mental TBR list."

LOL - I find that my list just grows and grows and grows...................

Sandy wrote: "Bec wrote: "Sandy - In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is fine, and I think another book just got added to my mental TBR list."

LOL -..."

It is a fascinating book. When you're done, there are also some interesting discussions on GR about what the author left out of the story.

Could I use The Birth House by Ami McKay? The book isn't BASED on WW1, it just discusses elements of it that affected the lives of the main character & the community.
Thanks!

Hey Kim The Birth House looks fine, it does concern the effects of war.

Great! Thanks!

Is Behemoth okay? It's the second book in the Leviathan series, and I am thinking it is still about WWI.

Hey Meagan,

Behemoth fits the task, it appears to be a steam punk alt history of WWI.

Would Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet work? It goes back and forth between 1980s and 1940s during WWII.

Vivian, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet fits the task.

Great thanks!

Would Team of Rivals Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln work?

Chris wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Bec wrote: "Sandy - In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is fine, and I think another book just got added to my mental TBR l..."

Where are these discussions? I read it for the last challenge and could not put it down!

Cindie wrote: "Chris wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Bec wrote: "Sandy - In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is fine, and I think another book just got added to m..."

Yep, I just finished it and couldn't stop reading it. I haven't hunted for discussions though.