Hi @1000_Books folks. Does anyone want to take a stab at recommending books for our September read (read in September, discuss in October)?
Kim, I will. I have a six titles to consider.
Awesome! Thanks, @NanK! If you want to post them here I’ll set up a poll.
Rand. ATLAS SHRUGGED
Ransom. SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
Rawicz. THE LONG WALK
McCullers. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER
Remarque. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Roth. AMERICAN PASTORAL
As you can tell I examined the “R” authors other than McCullers.
These are a mix of topics. Offer them if you’d like.
Nan
Hi @1000_Books - Here are the descriptions of Nan’s picks for our September read (to be discussed in October):
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Set in a dystopian United States, the story follows railroad executive Dagny Taggart and steel magnate Hank Rearden as they fight against government regulations and a society that exploits their hard work. They investigate the mysterious disappearance of other top innovators, led by a man named John Galt, who are withholding their talent to let a collectivist society collapse.
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
This book is a classic 1930 children’s adventure novel about two groups of children—the Walker siblings (the Swallows) and the Blackett sisters (the Amazons)—who camp on an uninhabited island in the English Lake District, sail small boats, and embark on imaginative rivalries and cooperative exploits.
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz is a harrowing memoir about a Polish cavalry officer who was captured by the Soviet Red Army in 1939, sentenced to hard labor in a Siberian Gulag, and escaped with six others in 1941 to walk roughly 4,000 miles to freedom in British India.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
A 1940 Southern Gothic novel about isolation, human connection, and a deaf man named John Singer who becomes a silent confidant for outcasts in a 1930s Georgia mill town.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A powerful anti-war novel about Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier, the brutal reality of trench warfare in World War I, and the lost generation of men whose minds and youth were destroyed by combat.
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the destruction of the American Dream, following Seymour “The Swede” Levov, whose perfect life shatters when his teenage daughter commits an act of political terrorism.
… and here’s the poll. Please mark all those you’d be willing to read.
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
- The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- American Pastoral by Philip Roth
0
voters
I’ve read Atlas Shrugged (twice!) and All Quiet on the Western Front but wouldn’t mind rereading either; they were both excellent.
Rand has her flaws, and I don’t agree with her opinions at all, but what I liked about the book was that it forced me to look at an issue from the opposing side. I run into people I disagree with all the time, but very rarely can they articulate why they believe what they believe. It was refreshing to read a well-reasoned argument, even if I disagreed with the author’s point. Be forewarned, though; Atlas Shrugged is long - like, over 1000 pp.
It helps me to know the page counts for the suggestions:
• Atlas Shrugged-1168 pg
• Swallows and Amazons-315 pg
• The Long Walk-256 pg
• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter-359 pg
• All Quiet on the Western Front-296 pg
• American Pastoral-432 pg
Thanks a bunch for including that info, @Lana_Maskus! Much appreciated!
Oops! I didn’t check page length. Glad you did. ATLAS is likely too long.
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@1000_Books Anybody else want to vote? Click here to do so! The poll will close on Friday.
Hi @Marie_A! Welcome! So happy to have you here. The purpose of this group is to make it through James Mustich’s 1000 Books to Read Before You Die. Well, maybe not make it through it, but at least try to make a dent. You can find out more about the group here. Somewhere there’s a full list of all the books that qualify, and I’ll post that for you tomorrow.
The books you suggest are awesome, but unfortunately aren’t in Mustich’s book. I hope you’ll take a look at the poll, pick a book that looks good to you, and join us.
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My mistake! somehow I stumbled into the middle of this thread without realizing that it was based on a list. Let me see what has already been read so I can include better recommendations.
I have a difficult time recommending Ayn Rand’s books. I read AS when I was 24 and I loved it. I don’t think I would love it now given Rand’s ridiculous ideas about capitalism.
The way it works is each month one of the group, on a rotating basis chooses 5 books (under 400 pages) from Mustich’s list for the following month’s read. We then vote on what books of that selection we would be interested in reading. All you need to do if you want to participate for August is vote. 
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Looks like we’ve landed on The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. I’ll set up a topic for it, and the discussion will open on October 1.
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Hi again, @Marie_A. I realized the list is buried and can be hard to find, so these links may help:
Full list of books can be found here.
What we’ve read to-date can be found here.
As you can see, we just voted on the September read/October discussion. Would you like to pick five books from the list for us for October read/November discussion? I’d want to post them sometime after September 1st, so that give you some time to peruse the list if you’re interested. And if you’re not, that’s totally OK, too, we’re just happy to have you join us.
Thanks for offering the option of recommending five books! I don’t want to come in just yet and upset the current system you have going on. I will just cast my vote alongside the group for now 
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