Below are the three contenders, taken from your recommendations on the PBF Facebook page.
Please vote on the book you would most like to read below! I will announce the winner on Monday morning and on November 15 I’ll dedicate a post to the chosen book with a review and discussion questions like I did last time with Room.
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
- Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz
Christina Schwarz’s suspenseful debut pivots on two of the lost “virtues” of the past: silence and stoicism. Drowning Ruth opens in 1919, on the heels of the influenza epidemic that followed the First World War. Although there were telephones and motor cars and dance halls in the small towns of Wisconsin in those years, the townspeople remained rigid and forbidding. As a young woman, Amanda Starkey, a Lutheran farmer’s daughter, had been firmly discouraged from an inappropriate marriage with a neighboring Catholic boy.
A few years later, as a nurse in Milwaukee, she is seduced by a dishonorable man. Her shame sends her into a nervous breakdown, and she returns to the family farm. Within a year, though, her beloved sister Mathilde drowns under mysterious circumstances. And when Mathilde’s husband, Carl, returns from the war, he finds his small daughter, Ruth, in Amanda’s tenacious grip, and she will tell him nothing about the night his wife drowned. Amanda’s parents, too, are long gone. “I killed my parents. Had I mentioned that?” muses Amanda.
- American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is seventeen shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More than a decade later, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privilege. And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with—and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As her husband’s presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer.
Time to vote!!
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I hear Unbroken is an incredible book, but these all sound really great
i know! i’ve heard only amazing things about that book.
I just finished Unbroken! Such a great book would loveee to hear a PBfinger review and discussion of it!
I read Unbroken a few months ago and it is absolutely incredible. I couldn’t put it down, or stop telling anyone and everyone in my path the details of what I was reading! It also really opened my eyes and changed my perspective on Veterans. I vote this one!
Unbroken has gotten PHENOMENAL books. I hope that one’s the winner! I already have the book and was planning on reading it next!
Oops, I meant “Unbroken has gotten PHENOMENAL” reviews. Heh
oh woww these all sound pretty coool! But Drowning Ruth sounds so~dark haha.
Unbroken IS phenomenal, and is an amazing TRUE story!!!
These all sound AMAZING! So tough to choose, I’ll be excited either way!!
i need to start a good book! i’m definitely going to participate in this one. can’t wait- they all look good!!
i’ve been dying to read american wife. heard it is riveting.
I really hope Unbroken wins b/c I’ve read the other 2! Loved American Wife, Drowning Ruth was just so-so.
I voted for American Wife because I bought it a few weeks ago and it is in my queue. However, Drowning Ruth is also really good!
I think Unbroken and American Wife look the best!
I think I ‘ll vote for American wife, sorta perfect with all the debates and presidential stuff going on! Oh and Julie, i don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account (Mama’s rules), but i would still like to make a suggestion for next month’s book. I am not sure if this is a popular book or not, but i read it last year, thinking it would help me as a research book for my Depression related studies. What i got was a beautiful, heartfelt, yet light hearted book that i never get tired of reading. I hope ya’ll don’t consider it a kid’s book and give it a try. It’s funny, too! The book is Nothing To Fear by Jackie French Koller. Please check it out guys! And tell me if any of you have read it!
oh, and just checked it- Nothing To Fear got great reviews on Amazon from people of all ages- sorry about my going on about this book, but im really excited for you all to check it out!
I started reading but could not get into Drowning Ruth – I voted for American Wife, but Unbroken also looks great!
Haha—I’ve already read all three of these books, but I have to say, Unbroken was absolutely incredible. I loved American Wife, too, but I thought Drowning Ruth was just ok.
I’d totally go with American Wife, but I’ve already read it. So great. But if it wins, I’ll gladly read it again!
I’ve read American Wife and it’s really good!! But I voted for Drowning Ruth because it sounds kind of scandalous 🙂
i always love a bit of scandal. 🙂
I think it’s funny that I chose the one that no one else seemed to like! I would love to read any of these!!! Really looking forward to it too as I just finished The Help and I didn’t get to do September’s pick… it’s on my wish list!
I just started reading Unbroken and I’m about 100 pages in! I love it so far! This is my vote!
My hubby read UNBROKEN, and while I’m more of a fiction reader, he is convinced this will have me hooked. Just hearing snippets of the story, it sounds like a truly amazing book and a TRUE STORY – craaaaaazy.
I read American Wife a few years ago and couldn’t put it down! You’ll love it!
I just finished “Drowning Ruth”. It is BEYOND AMAZING you must read it!! I read “American Wife” and while it was good, not nearly as captivating as Ruth.
Unbroken is indeed amazing! It was one that I didn’t want to put down at night and couldn’t wait to read when I woke up. Pretty much everything was put on the back burner until I finished it. 🙂
I vote for American Wife! I already own it and have heard it’s loosely based on the Bush family.
This is not about book club, but I have been looking everywhere on you blog for the name of the face tanner you use every morning. Please help!
Sincerely,
Casper
I’ve been wanting to read the American Wife! Looks so good 🙂
Pretty sure I’m going to read them alll….. 🙂 They all sound great!
me too!
Drowning Ruth sounds interesting! I voted for American Wife but I will definitely have to read Drowning Ruth as well 🙂
American Wife is soooo good! I couldn’t put it down and I would definitely read it again. It’s losely based on the life of Laura Bush so it’s really interesting.
Unbroken is the best book I have EVER read. And I read a lot! I read it about a year ago and have been wanting to read it again. Even if it doesn’t win you MUST read it. Best. book. ever.
i definitely will! that’s the one i’m pulling for. 🙂
me too! I’m rooting for Unbroken!
American Wife is really about Laura Bush — it was really fascinating to me to read because G-Dub fascinates me to no end.
It was a good book, but I had to comment and put Curtis Sittenfeld’s previous book “Prep” on your radar. That book is so great and a fun read, too.
It’s loosely based on her life. Some fact, LOTS of fiction, but it was such an amazing read.
Also, HA! I have Prep sitting on my bookshelf and I never connected the two!
Like the two Wisconsin based books! I read Drowning Ruth a long time ago and I started American Wife, which was very good, but need to finish it still. My vote is for American Wife.
American Wife was fantastic. And Amazon keeps recommending I read Unbroken lol.
As I already read American Wife, I’m going to gun for Unbroken as one of my friends keeps lecturing me about reading it! Drowning Ruth also sounds pretty good, I just requested those two from the library 🙂 Can’t wait to see whichever one ends up being selected!
oooh haven’t read any of these! Definitely excited to see if American Wife wins!! So intruiged to read that one!
I voted for American Wife because the girl who wrote it went to my high school. 🙂
that’s so cool!
I read Drowning Ruth a while back, and while it was good, it wasn’t GREAT. I have heard fantastic things about Unbroken, so I selfishly picked American Wife, because I know I will not get to it soon enough for book club participation and want to hear what you think about it! By the way, I read Sarah’s Key after your review and I loved it, cannot wait for the movie! 🙂
I voted for American Wife, but have put all 3 on hold at my library since I was looking for some new titles to read! 🙂
I voted for American Wife, but I highly recommend drowning ruth to anyone, I read it this summer and really liked it!
I was underwhelmed by Drowning Ruth – but really enjoyed both American Wife and Unbroken. Very different books, but both somewhat historical.
Read Drowning Ruth years ago. Was sucked in by the scandal and intrigue. But – I agree with your other readers just okay and I found it very gloomy and depressing. Would not recommend that book as a good use of valuable reading time!
Suggestion for next time: The Night Circus
I liked Drowning Ruth until the end, where I was left underwhelmed at best. Pass!
I read Unbroken and it was fabulous!!!
I hear Unbroken is amazing! That’s my vote fo sho!
I read Unbroken and I’m here to tell you amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it!! It’s one of those books I anticipate to remember the rest of my life. Heartbreaking and inspiring all wrapped into one. I cannot recommend this book enough!!
i will definitely be reading it regardless if it’s chosen or not! it sounds awesome.
Ohh I really hope American Wife wins! I would love to read that, it sounds like such an interesting story. My family is very Democratic, and Josh’s family is very Republican, so I would love to hear her perspective on balancing them.
Ohh I really hope American Wife wins! I would love to read that, it sounds like such an interesting story. My family is very Democratic, and Josh’s family is very Republican (whereas we’re both pretty moderate), so I would love to hear her perspective on balancing them.
Unbroken is one of my all-time favorite books. I seriously COULD NOT put it down. I also just finished reading ROOM in 3 days! My heart just breaks for the little boy. Such a great book!
I read American Wife last year randomly- I saw it on the shelf of a bookstore and thought it looked interesting… But I was surprised how much I loved it! I thought it was a little difficult to get into because it is very, very detail oriented but the more I read, I got used to the style and was captivated by the story! I hope you choose it!
Despite my reading it already, I definitely vote for American Wife. Beautifully written book with a powerful story. It’s fantastic!
so glad you liked it!