PnQ Book Club

I thought an official thread might be a good idea.

I tried getting the list of all books that were suggested. Also using Em's idea about who gets to pick a book to read, I tried to list members in the right order (whoever said they wanted to give it a try).
Is that what you meant, Em? Lol

The chosen book will be discussed on the last weekend of the month.

If anyone has a different idea, feel free to share. I just wanted to be able to get this done on time.

Books:

- Black Milk by Elif Shafak
- Wrongful Death by Robert Dugoni
- Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- On the Road by John Kerouac
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- The Fault in our Stars by John Green
- Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
- The Fountain Head by Ayn Rand
- Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Veronica Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho*
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- The Diary of Anne Frank
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
- Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
- Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson

Members:

Jane
Em
Britt (?)
Liz
Luce
Larry
Hellon
Samia
MaryAnne
Mark
IdTakeABulletForYou
Thomas

The question marks are because I wasn't sure if you were in or not.

Anyone else please join or give more book suggestions!

Also, since Jane was first to suggest the idea- I guess you get first pick. Lol

I'll give this a shot as well.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini, veronica decides to die by paulo coelho are some good books as well. :)

The autobiography of malcolm X is an excellent book.

My dear I don't mind, just pick something available as soft copy, I will share my thoughts in case of choosing something I already read from this list.

Yep, definitely in! Kite Runner is a good addition... what about Great Gatsby or Scarlet Letter or The Diary of Anne Frank or Catcher in the Rye or Oliver Twist?

EDIT:

Ohh ohh! The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls! Read this book in high school and pulled at my heartstrings. The author actually visited the local college a few years back.

Haven't read this yet but heard lots about them:

- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Samia, what sites/methods have you tried for downloading electronically? (If you've tried any at all)

I absolutely love the Great Gatsby, though I still haven't watched the movie. I think I was the only one in my class that actually enjoyed it. That and The Outsiders. I must have read it about 20 times lol

I will add those to the list, MaryAnne!

There's a website that offers free pdf/epubs/text, i think most of them are free since the copyright has expired, making it absolutely legal.

https://www.gutenberg.org/

newer books usually aren't there, lol.

I cannot wait!!!

I can't either.

Hurry up, Jane! Lol

Hahah! I'll be back from a trip tonight and ready to start tomorrow. Great additions, MA! Secret Life of Bees and The Book Thief - I'm very down for either. Down for anything really.

Nothing specific, goodreads. come, 4shared.com

It's your pick, Jane. I'm ready to read lol

Samia, have you looked into what Mark suggested?

Yes, awesome link and he helped me to convert the files to PDF as well.

Any one of these would be fine.
Just pick one.

Oh no, I have to pick?! I'd much rather someone else pick for me :). I'm afraid I'll pick something at the end of everyone's list.

Pft, i think at this point we'd settle for a shopping list at this point. pick!

Try a random generator lol

Haha fine! I'm reading about all the ones I've never heard of and trying to narrow it down. I'll have a pick within 15 minutes.

EDIT: I bounced around a lot, but kept coming back to this one. It's my final choice:

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho.

(A Thousand Splendid Suns would be my next choice)

You can find Veronika Decides to Die on Amazon for $9.34 (new, paperback), and even cheaper on Kindle. Let's make sure everyone can find a copy before we begin :)

Cool. Sounds good

I remember Colm mentioning that there was a movie for the book, and also googling "veronica decides to die pdf" the first link may or may not be the pdf for it. ;)

Just noticed there was a movie. Maybe I'll watch it afterward. Lol

AHH yes, Jane!

^ I actually watched the movie twice last year when it was on Netflix and fell in love with it. So much depth in it and I felt I could relate. Has Sarah Michelle Gellar & David Thewlis in it (I feel like he's played a psychiatrist/therapist in many movies).

I just checked, it's still on Netflix. Hopefully it stays there. I don't want to watch it before I read the book lol

Yes, I want to watch the movie after the book as well. Hopefully it stays on Netflix.

If anyone isn't sure what the book is about, here are some clips from Wiki. Spoilers alert!

"Veronika is a beautiful young woman from Ljubljana, Slovenia who appears to have the perfect life, but nevertheless decides to kill herself by overdosing with sleeping pills...Her plan fails and she wakes up in Villete, a mental hospital in Slovenia, where she is told she has only a few days to live...During her internment in Villete she realizes that she has nothing to lose and can therefore do what she wants, say what she wants and be who she wants without having to worry about what others think of her...Because of this new-found freedom Veronika experiences all the things she never allowed herself to experience..."

I'll probably want to discuss the book as I read, but I don't want to give anything away to people who aren't caught up. We need a strategy.

Same! I know if I try to remember until I finish the book, I'm going to end up forgetting. I might have to buy post it notes and mark certain things. Haha
Maybe mark some lines that stick out to me.

I can't find an english version on kindle and...the link Mark gave is not available in Australia it would seem. I've seen the movie however, so I'd be able to contribute to the conversation I'm sure....

Ohhh I read "Veronica decides to die last summer", probably the last book I bought from amazon... Never mind, I like it and will discuss it with you by the end of the month :)

Hellon, I forget what sites work in Australia, but could you try ebay?

This is the cheapest version I can find, and it's certainly not cheap...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Veronika-Decides-to-Die-by-Coelho-Paulo-/151255724083?hash=item23378b3033:g:u-IAAOSwkNZUmGqY

I can buy it from book depository..but, it's paperback which means I have to await delivery and I'm not used to waiting anymore :)

Really..it doesn't matter...I can still contribute and I will...

Good choice!

Hellon, I've sent you the PDF. Let me know if you can open it.

Thanks for that Larry. I was able to open it and it says I've installed it successfully but....I can't find it anywhere haha!!! I tried downloading it again and a message from Myway is coming up saying I've already got from Doc to PDF. Now enjoy access to free a MS Word converter but...there's nothing there to click???

Go to the root directory of your computer (Usually that's "computer" or "Local drive c:" and search for Veronika (yes, spelled with a k.

The only thing that's new is something called Snap my Screen by My way which seems to have taken over from Google which I normally use.

Snap My Screen should be removed. It's a screen shot program with trojan viruses.

See: http://www.safebro.com/tag/remove-snap-my-screen-virus

How do I do that Larry? I never actually said yes to downloading it...it just appeared when I was trying to open the link you sent me.

See: http://www.safebro.com/tag/remove-snap-my-screen-virus

[I originally had this as an edit above]

As for Veronika, you may not have downloaded it at all.

First clean up Snap My Screen

EDIT: I scanned the attachment for viruses, including Snap My Screen; it's clean. I do not know where you picked it up.

To see Veronika go back to the email.
Right click on the attachment "Veronika Decides to Die"
In the pop-up window scroll to "Save Link As.." & click
Choose the directory you want to save it in (or click on "new folder" and create a directory)
Click "Save"

If you don't already, you need a good anti-virus program

I use Ad Aware and AVG. Both offer free versions:

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

http://www.avg.com/

I have ad Aware already. When I clicked on the link to get rid of Snap my screen...it scanned for 40 mins...then asked for my credit card details although it said the service was free to start with...I'm not clicking on anymore S**T today...I'll wait until someone who is computer savvy comes to visit :)

Great choice Jane.

A thousand splendid suns is a fantastic book also.

I got my copy in the mail today! Yay!

Hellon, I hope Larry is able to get you set up so you can read with us. I know you'll participate either way.