Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

It is time to start nominations for our group reads for the new year, 2018. We will give everyone a break from group reads for December, to get through the holidays, and will plan on starting a new book in the new year.

What would you like to read for discussion? I am opening this up to anything , so feel free to nominate any book you would like, new releases, older releases, old classics, popular books, thought provoking books, non-fiction books, etc.

We will read the top vote receivers, whatever they may be!

If you nominate a book, please be willing and available to lead the discussion if the book is selected.

I like to nominate The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

I would like to nominate Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

I like to read that too.

Would anyone else like to nominate anything?

I'll nominate The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
I've never read this author. This one sounds interesting.

I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows
I Will Send Rain

A Reaper at the Gates

Time to VOTE:
/poll/show/1...

We will plan on reading the top two vote getters.
I have set up this poll to run through Dec 25th.

Our next two reads for 2018 will be:

The Lathe of Heaven, discussion leader Petra, and

Before We Were Yours, discussion leader Juliette.

Lathe was the top vote getter so we will go with that one first. Petra, feel free to set up a thread and schedule for a mid to late January start time of your convenience!

Yeah! Thanks, Sheila. I'll have a look and set up the schedule very soon.
I'm looking forward to reading this book. It will be my first book bny this author.
Thanks everyone, for voting on this book.

Thanks Sheila, looking forward to reading Lathe Of Heaven too and leading my first ever book discussion on my own book choice.

I have read "Before We Were Yours" Juliette and I loved it.

Oh that is excellent news Jayne. Am sure it will be quite fun seeing our comments when we read it.

I feel it is a good book to discuss.

I won Begire We Were Yours and am currently reading it. Here is to a new year of reading!

And I am walking and typing at the same time

I have The Lathe of Heaven on my ereader, so figuring out pages is a bit tricky. I'm going to divide this book up by Chapters, if that's okay.

This is a short book (176 pages). I have 2 schedules; one for a 4-week read (approx. 44 pages/week) and one for a 3-week read (approx. 59 pages/week).

4-Week Schedule (starting Jan 15th; ending Feb 5th):
Jan 15: Read Chapters 1-3
Jan 22: Read Chapters 3-6
Jan 29: Read Chapters 7-9
Feb 5: Read Chapters 10-11

3-Week Schedule (starting Jan 15th; ending Jan 29th):
Jan 15: Read Chapters 1-4
Jan 22: Read Chapters 5-8
Jan 29: Read Chapters 9-11

I feel that with a book this short, the 3-week schedule may be best. However, I will leave it up to all of us to determine which works best for us as a group. I'm willing and able to read at either rate.

I am willing and happy to go either way (3 week or 4 week). What does everyone else prefer?

Juliette, I am looking forward to reading Before We Were Yours too! We will plan on starting that one as soon as we finish the discussion of Lathe of Heaven. That gives you a little time to figure out a reading plan for us (like Petra did in the prior post). Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about "leading". It is really easy, mainly just set the schedule and then throw out questions as we go to keep a discussion going. :-)

Since it's not long, I'd vote for the 3-week schedule (but the 4-week would be fine too!).

I vote for the shortest schedule.

The shorter schedule is good for me!

Looks like the 3-week schedule works for everyone. Let's go with that one:

3-Week Schedule (starting Jan 15th; ending Jan 29th):
Jan 15: Read Chapters 1-4; start discussion Jan 17th
Jan 22: Read Chapters 5-8; start discussion Jan 24
Jan 29: Read Chapters 9-11; start discussion Jan 31

I've requested Before We Were Yours from the library. There's quite a queue (139). Fingers crossed that it comes in on time.

I won my copy of "Before We Were Yours" in a giveaway.

Jayme, that's a good win. Congratulations!

thanks :) Too bad I can't just lend you my copy.

That's sweet; thank you! I have hopes my library will come through. My fingers remain crossed.

You can always request the book from another library in their inter library loan. They should have one.

Interloan books take a minimum of 6 months to get. I only use it for rarer books. I don't know why it takes that long but, having tested the system, it does (and they mean "minimum" when they say it). :D

Mine usually only takes 5 days

I've forgotten that I requested a book and been totally surprised when it finally came in......then I only have 2 weeks to read it and no renewals.
It's a good system for getting rare books but it's not an efficient one or one that allows for longer books.

That's a bummer.

I had that issue with Lincoln in the Bardo, when it finally arrived I had to read as fast as I could to catch up with the group.

Juliette, if a book comes in that late, I usually don't join the group read. I figure I'm too far behind to say anything useful or new anyway. It's a shame when that happens, though, as I enjoy the group reads.

You can always comment after you read the book. There is no rule that says you can't offer your opinion after the time frame.

I know but once the discussion has moved on to another book, I don't bother. It seems a bit late.

I started The Lathe of Heaven last night. I was overtired and probably shouldn't have been reading at all so take this with that in mind.
It's a confusing beginning! LOL! I'm sure it was either my tiredness or it'll sort itself out shortly.

It isn't just you, it is confusing in the beginning.

It sorted itself out quickly, Jayme. I'm really enjoying it now.
It's weird and somehow futuristic but not so much so as to feel alien.

Well it was written in the 70's, I think.

To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven.
� Chuang Tzu: XIII (Legge Translation)

I got to thinking about this quote and started to wonder about "lathe". A lathe is a shaper and/or grinder. So....does that mean that those who do not stop at what cannot be understood (going into unknown realms) are destroyed through shaping and/or grinding (of the soul?)?
Would that mean that any (all?) discoveries made since the beginning of mankind has destroyed (the souls?) of those who made the discoveries? That seems awfully hard punishment for trying to better mankind and help with understanding.
Where would we be without these discoveries that were started at a point of "not understanding"?

Turns out that the quote Ursela used was mistranslated and "lathe" was never used in the original quotation, but the meaning is still the same: destruction (of the spirit/soul?) for going beyond the point of one's understanding.

Translated editions have titled the novel differently. The German and first Portuguese edition titles literally mean "the scourge [or whip] of heaven".
The French, Swedish and second Portuguese edition titles translate as "the other side of the dream".

Perhaps at the end of this read, we'll have some ideas as to which title fits best.

Making new discoveries in science or technology would not imply going beyond what can not be understood as I read the quote. Rather these discoveries are making connections about the observable world or applying such understanding to new situations. I see this quote in more mystical terms, the arrogance of humans imposing their limited understanding on divine reality, what they can not understand.

Have also started Lathe Of Heaven and it did take a little bit to understand what was happening. I found myself going back and rereading paragraphs to make sure I understood.
Enjoying it now that it seems to be ‘coming� together.
Will we be reading everything a week earlier than the original schedule?

I'm waiting for the 17th to start any discussion as I'm not sure whether everyone has started and read the first 4 chapters.

I've stopped reading after Chapter 4 so that I know what to discuss and not give anything away.

If we're all at Chapter 4, we can start discussions earlier but if not we'll wait for next week.

Juliette, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Once I got through that confusing first chapter, it's all making sense and I'm enjoying it.

Super thanks Petra, I have read up to Chapter 4.

I actually just bought a copy of Before We Were Yours from the donated books sale at the library, so I'm in for that discussion. February will be the groups tenth anniversary, so seems a good time for me to finally take part in a group read. :)

How are we doing with Lathe Of Heaven?

The first chapter is interesting. I liked the descriptions of the jellyfish, how they are swept through the ocean by the tides & currents, not their own control:
"it has for its defense the violence and the power of the whole ocean, to which it has entrusted its being, its going and its will"
In order to live its life in peace (?).....at least in relative peace & safety, it gives to the ocean the power to lead it wherever it does.

The future, as depicted in Chapter 1, isn't a very hopeful one. The snows have melted, the people are hungry and drug cards can be traded between friends/acquaintances to get an abundance of drugs proscribed (or not) to a person. It's a strange world we've entered.

Poor George! Imagine being able to manipulate the world around us but without control. So much happens in our subconscious that we wouldn't want to happen in real life. I can imagine that it would be a horror to go to sleep knowing that one could change the world by doing so.

Dr. Haber is doing to the World what the ocean is doing to the jellyfish, in a way. He's learning to control the dreams in order to change things. To paraphrase, "the world has for its defense the violence and the power of Dr. Haber".
Whether Dr. Haber is evil or good, he's working himself into a position where he can write the future and rewrite the past. Scary business.

I really enjoyed reading about parking garages being made into office buildings. What an interesting concept!

Parking must not be an issue in that world.