September 2007 Book of the Month

September's book of the month, chosen by Irisheyz77, is 1862: A Novel by Robert Conroy, a quasi-historical fiction which imagines an alternate course of the U. S. Civil War, one in which Britain allies itself with the C.S.A.

Reviews of the book added to LibraryThing before the end of September will enter you into competition to select the featured book for November. Meanwhile, reviewers of August's Book of the Month, The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O'Connor, will vie for the honor of making October's selection.

Happy page-turning!

Well -- I just finished 1862: A Novel. I finished it partly because I was on a long flight with little other reading material -- not my thing. I think one has to be well versed in actual Civil War miltary and political events (which I am not admittedly) before one can appreciate an alternative. I like to read historical fiction to help me identify with and care about history; not to pontificate on what might have been. That being said, maybe if it had been well written I could have signed on, I don't know . . .

What makes you say it's not well written? I have my own thoughts, but am interested in comparing notes. It's like a free college course following some of you guys.

That said, I am nearly finished with it (@60 pages left) and find it a good, fast, engaging read on the order of a good palette cleanser after Our Mutual Friend.

It's typical American entertainment, undemanding, mindless, bread and circuses. With very little connection to the mind of the South. But, hey, people read my recommendation so I'll read theirs.

#3 it definately qualifies as undemanding and mindless. I suppose the military part was not all that poorly written -- but the fluff -- come on; horrendous -- any book that has a sentence that goes something like this "she was glad her monthly curse had lifted so they could make love again" is poorly written in my book. In my review of I have dubbed this novel a "Harlequin Romance for Men."

All that being said -- I still enjoyed reading someone else's suggestion; I just hope we'll round up some more participants in our group at some point.

I encourage you to invite your contacts or anyone who, because of a similar library or a well-written review, strikes you as someone who might be interested in joining.

My review of 1864: A Novel (no touchstone) can be found here.

No touchstone because its 1862:A Novel - not 1864 ;) I read your review and agree! I did see recently that Conroy has come out with a new year; can't think of it off the top of my head - so he is indeed serializing them. He must have read my Harlequin idea!

Oops. Thanks for the comment. I'm trying to teach myself to review rather than report on the books I read. I think I'm settling into a scheme of how to do it. I hope. If you, or anyone, has any help for me in this it would be much appreciated.

Well, this month brought an interesting challenge: How to review a book one doesn't admire.

In my opinion, geneg rose most fully to the challenge - giving the book more than a fair reading and giving the review-reader a well-rounded picture of what to expect.

You are invited to select November's "Deep South Book of the Month".