Books! New NM, new Blurbing book club selection

[Clover]

Hello Nerdfighteria! My name is Clover and this is my first post as your new Books ningmaster. (Go easy on me!) Before I begin, I would like to say a huge thank you to Tenley Nadine for being such an awesome books NM. I think she did a fabulous job maintaining the blurbing book club and highlighting some interesting book-related projects. Everyone, round of applause for Tenley!

So. A brief introduction... I am 28 years old, I am an American who has lived in England for the past 10 years. I worked as a bookseller for many years but am now a stay at home mom who looks after two small children (my own, if that isn't clear!). I am studying for a degree in psychology parttime and I adore books. I've been a nerdfighter for ages and a bookish nerd my entire life! Let's talk books, it's my favourite thing to do. I do try to read as widely as I can, but I do favour the fiction books marketed at teenagers.
I will do my best every week to bring you suggestions for what to read as well as book news and discussions and shine a spotlight on what other bookish nerdfighters are up to. If you have any suggestions or are involved in something that you think I should know about and would like me to talk about (such as the Novel Relocation Act, Chronicles of Awesome, the Chicken Butt book or The Guide to Nerdfighting), please feel free to message me here on the ning or email me at [e-mail] Much appreciated.

On to some business. It is the end of the month, and we are closing in on the month of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I hope you have enjoyed it! I have not read through the forum posts for it as yet and by my next blog post on Tuesday (mark your calendars!) I shall let you all vote for your favourite blurbs and recap what y'all thought. Looking forward to it.

As for selecting the next book... I was thinking for October we could read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It's a spooky ghost story and I thought it would be excellent reading around Halloween. Neil Gaiman is a favourite amongst nerdfighters? And it seems to be widely available. I hope you will join me in reading The Graveyard Book and will continue blurbing them with me! Join the discussion for this book here.

Here's a summary of The Graveyard Book, if you don't already know: When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him - after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod's life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?

And that is all. I would love it if you guys left me comments telling me what you'd like to see in these book blogs, any suggestions or advice. What would you like to read in the book club next? What changes or improvements can I make? Let me know. And thank you for this opportunity.

[Katie Potter]

I have a suggestion for a book! (I don't know if this is where one should post such things)

Right now I'm reading Graceling by Kristin Cashore. It's currently on the Illinois Lincoln list, and I was hooked from the start!

[Noelle]

I haven't had a chance to read this yet, but now that the book club is reading it, I'll get a chance to! Thanks, Clover!

[Kate]

You have excellent taste in books <3 I read and bought this book on a recommendation of friend of mine who is a huge Neil Gaiman fan earlier this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I may give it another read just because I can this month! ^^

[Ben]

Very nice choice. I read this last fall when my computer was dead for 2 weeks. It was a great time listening to CDs and having this book, along with the cool wetness of fall.

Thanks to Kelly for the link! :D

[Laur Annie]

Great pick! I never got around to rereading this book, which is unusual for me, but what a perfect time of year for it.

[Priscilla Kurtz]

nice pick really! it's very amusing and i got really sad when i finished it because... i ended it!

[Kelly Fineman]

Ooh - Nice pick. He did a book tour for this book where he read one chapter per night (split chapter 7 in two, though), so anyone wanting to see/hear him read the whole book can do so online: http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Video_Clips/The_Graveyard_Bo...

[Danielle L]

Hah, that's funny, I just finished reading this a few weeks ago! Great story. =)

[Clover]

@Lizzy - Thank you, hope you'll join us in the blurbing book club!

@Shaena - WOOHOO. See you in the forums soon then :)

@Holtza - I'm just nervous no one will read the book OR participate! :) If lots of people post what they think of the book, then it might prompt others to read and do the same.. I'm hoping.

[Holtza]

@Clover Sounds fun! :-)
I'm not really sure how it works, though, since I haven't been book club active earlier. But I will help if I can. ^_^