January 2012 theme

Anyone up for discussing January? To start 2011, we changed the alternation from theme - time period to time period - theme, making December 2010 and January 2011 both time periods. If we do this again, it will make January 2012 a theme month, since December 2011 is a theme month.
Anyone have any ideas for January themes? Let us know here.

What about something like "books with a number in the title"? It could encompass both fiction and nonfiction, and it would allow people to choose from a wide variety of genres and time periods. For example: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1776.

I found several "number" titles in my 12-12 challenge, so I'd be on-board with the idea. I know RTT is pretty flexible about what "counts" and so forth, but would titles with words like "First" or "Twice", etc. also be okay?

That's a very flexible theme. Sounds good to me.

Victoria -- in my mind, words like "first" or "twice" would count! I'm amenable to whatever the group decides, though.

I like the idea of a number in the title theme. I searched my bookshelves and have the following TBR books that would fit a number theme:

The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Widow For One Year by John Irving - a book a fellow LT member picked off my shelves for my 12 in 12 challenge, and might be a good book to start the year off.
The Fifth Rapunzel by B.M. Gill
1953: Chronicle of a Birth Foretold by France Daigle
The Third Translation by Matt Bondurant
Mr. Lincoln's Wars: A Novel in Thirteen Stories by Adam Braver

I like the number in the title theme, but I would also like to suggest another theme: Kings, Emperors and Other Rules. For this theme you could read any book that deals with a ruler, from English Kings and Queens to Chinese Emperors to American Presidents to Russian Tsars. And if not for January, it might make a good theme later on.

I'd be fine with the "Rulers" theme too...whatever the group wants to do!

I'd prefer the number in the title theme for January. "Rulers" is very similar to the "royalty" theme we did in September 2010. (However, I'm sure I could come up with additional books to read for a rulers theme if that's what we decide to do.)

I had a hard time with the royalty theme last year. Maybe a "people" theme, or "the disenfranchised" for variety's sake? Would "governments" or something similar work?

Governments works really well as a theme, I think. In older times rulers often were the government, or books about them are full of political intrigues. But books like First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough or the more modern thriller Term Limits by Vince Flynn work as well, even though they're not what you'd immediately think of when you say 'ruler'

I'd also prefer the Number theme for January.

Let's vote!edited to remove repetitions

Hmm, I may have done something wrong there!

I voted for the numbers theme as I have a few books to fit that theme. The theme of Rulers or Government would be a great one to explore later though.

I have a few books that fit the numbers theme as well, especially if a year in the title counts as a number.

Well, if we do go with numbers, I'm thinking of reading One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus.

If we go with numbers (it seems that we are) I'm going to read Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Whitson, which I've got on my Kindle. I have never read anything from this author and the reviews are mixed, so I'm very curious about it.

I have several possibilities to choose from for January. High on my list:
The War of 1812 by Donald Hickey
Middling Folk: Three Seas, Three Centuries, One Scots-Irish Family by Linda H. Matthews
Three Men on Wheels by Jerome K. Jerome
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Numbers would fit quite nicely with my 12 in 12 Challenge as well. One of my themes is Rex Stout so I am thinking about:

Champagne for One
The Second Confession
Three Men Out
Four to Go

That comes to 10 Stout novellas, I can hardly wait.

some ideas:
2666 (long book, don't wait until Jan to start it)
Half of a Yellow Sun
A Tale of Two Cities
Mao II
The House of Seven Gables
1984
Three Lives
Three Guineas
The Eighth Day
Three Wogs
Slaughterhouse Five

Seems little random to me. Not sure how a cohesive discussion will come about, but it could be fun.

I've got an Early Review book on the way that should work: The Invisible Ones.

All right! I'm finally jumping back in this challenge, and I could go for either 1215, Union 1812, Our First Revolution, or something similar.

I am going to be reading Seven Days In June by Howard Fast. It's about the American Revolution. I'm just waiting for the library to let me know when it's ready to pick up.

I'm about to start reading Around the World in Eighty Days, which will work quite nicely for this theme!

I read 22 Britannia Road which was an absolutely marvelous book. I posted my review on my thread.

I am slowly but streadily working my way through Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Whitson. Set in 1872 Nebraska, it is not a book that is suitable to read in one go. The amount of characters make slow reading a must to avoid getting confused, but the tale is good and I like it. Still, it will take me most of the month to get through, I think.

I finished Seven Days In June which is mostly a detailed look at the events that led to, and the battle itself, at Bunker Hill. Short (around 200 pages) but the author gives quite a detailed account of both the British and American sides. I found it a very interesting read.

I just read Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, in which there are no hot air balloons whatsoever. Nonetheless, it was an extremely fun adventure story, and I'd definitely recommend it, even if there are a few ethnicity-related comments that sound a bit painful to modern ears.

Just a reminder: The March Theme is open for discussion. Please come and give your suggestions and input.

Please click here

Seems like I may be able to add another book for January's theme -- I've just started 1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth.

The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

I realized today that the book I just finished would fit this month's theme. It isn't one of the books I was planning to count for this month. The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney is set among the Gypsy community in 1980s England. I thought it was very similar in tone to Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels. If you like Jackson Brodie, you might want give this one a try. I gave it 4 stars. There's a full review on my current thread.

Three Came Home by Agnes Newton Keith

#35 - I love both the book Three Came Home and the movie starring Claudette Cobert!

I finished Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson. My review can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/127630#3179360

I read Explosive Eighteen for our January topic and also just to try Evanovich one more time. This series is simply too far out for my taste. The characters read like escapees from the super hero comics with the exception of Miss Plum, who's simply hopeless, hapless and blessed with phenomenal blind, dumb luck.

I have The Invisible Ones lined up for this month's read.
i'll get started soon.

Madonna of the Seven Moons by Margery Lawrence

Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 has been on my radar for a while, and I used this month's theme as an opportunity to listen to the audio version. It's a well-paced historical/psychological thriller. Some aspects of the plot seem to be too coincidental, but if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, you'll have a hard time putting this one down.

The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

Did you enjoy The Moon and Sixpence, Hazel? I love Of Human Bondage by Maugham, but always thought The Moon sounded quite different so I've hesitated to read it.

I recently read David Howarth's 1066: The Year of the Conquest, which was an interesting and informative read about England in the year 1066 and the events leading to the Norman conquest.

#43 I did enjoy it when I read it, many moons ago!!!

Ten Green Bottles by Audrey Thomas

I finished One Thousand White Women, review on my thread.

#46..you post reminded me of a wonderful novel.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleded Hosseini

After cbl_tn mentioned that The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney reminded her of Kate Atkinson's mystery series, I had to read it right away. It is reminiscent of Case Histories, with a sad private investigator hired to find a missing woman, with the added similarity of excellent, excellent writing. Can I count this one, though? It's set in the 1980s, which doesn't exactly count as historical fiction, does it? Or am I that old?

I think it's far enough back in time to count.

I finished one more book in the last week for this month's theme: The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. The author writes about his search for information about the fate of his great uncle's family during the Holocaust. He travels to several continents over a period of several years, carefully piecing together the fragments of stories and memories to determine when, where, and how his relatives perished during the Holocaust. It's my first 5-star read of the year.

50 - That one does sound really good to me.

I read Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization. 4.25 stars, no review posted yet. But I really enjoyed this and wow, I learned so much. I knew very little about Chinese history, especially late 19th century, and not much more about 20th century. So this was great.

The Third Twin by Ken Follett

I finished another one for this month.
One Tough Cop: The Bo Dietl Story, review on my thread.

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

I have been a member of Library Thing since last summer but am just now getting around to exploring the site. I like the idea of this challenge and hope to read some books that I would not otherwise read. 75 is a bit much for me!!

I am making a 'lame' choice since I am coming very late to January. I love Janet Evanovich's books and am going to re-read One For the Money since it is coming out in film soon, if not already. Light read and good for a laugh!

This will also work for the 12 and 12 challenge that I just also joined.

Welcome here! Enjoy your re-read!

Welcome, ccookie.

Welcome ccookie!

I finished my January book 1953: Chronicle of a Birth Foretold by France Daigle. An unusual story and one I just don't know what to make of it. The purpose of the story - what it means to be born a writer in the middle of the twentieth century - has missed its mark with me but I would recommend it solely for the historical events of the early 1950's discussed within its pages and for a glimpse into Acadian Moncton, New Brunswick of the time period.

Full review can be found on my RTT thread here: (post 15)

It's not about the January theme, but I would like to point you all towards my post Opinions Please: Chronological Quarterly Reads. I'd really like your input on this idea.