Help Me Find This Book! [ Edited ]

[Jon_B]

We get a lot of requests here from people who are looking for a particular book - maybe one they read years ago, maybe one they've been meaning to read - and can only remember the plot, or part of the author's name, or the picture on the cover, and so on.  This can be pretty frustrating!   But with all of the avid readers we have here at the Book Clubs, there's a good chance that someone here will know what book you are talking about and can help you figure out what it is.

In order to keep things better organized, this thread is your one stop shop for getting help finding the book you're looking for.   And even if you aren't looking for something, this thread is a great place to show off your knowledge by helping others out!

Message Edited by Jon_B on 12-03-2008 07:07 AM

[Peeps]

I'd love to track down a book i read in elementary school, about a young girl who discovers she's a witch--there were these pretty black and white line drawings in it, and a lot of halloween imagery. I am maybe too spotty on the details to give a really good description, but I think she didn't know her mother, and then discovers that her mother is a good witch.

[Redcatlady]

I saw a blurb for this book in the late 1990s(?) in the now-defunct A Common Reader.  I don't remember the title, but I do remember the plot.  It's set in either China or feudal Japan, and it goes like this:  the head of a noble family commits an act against the ruler and is executed, but the punishment goes beyond him; all the men of the family are killed, and the women are imprisoned until the youngest is past childbearing age.  Then the story, told from the viewpoint of one of the daughters, who was about 4-5 when the edict came down and has just been released from captivity, begins.  It focuses on her struggle to find a place in life. 

Redcatlady

[Paul_Hochman]

Tokaido Road 

If this is indeed it, Redcatlady, you'll have to order a used copy, as the book is out of stock indefinitely.

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Redcatlady wrote:

I saw a blurb for this book in the late 1990s(?) in the now-defunct A Common Reader.  I don't remember the title, but I do remember the plot.  It's set in either China or feudal Japan, and it goes like this:  the head of a noble family commits an act against the ruler and is executed, but the punishment goes beyond him; all the men of the family are killed, and the women are imprisoned until the youngest is past childbearing age.  Then the story, told from the viewpoint of one of the daughters, who was about 4-5 when the edict came down and has just been released from captivity, begins.  It focuses on her struggle to find a place in life. 

Redcatlady

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[marcialou]

The short story I remember was about a married woman home with her kids.  It took place a hundred years ago or more.  She entertained her kids by dressing up as a man and strutting around theatrically pretending to be "Uncle Louis."  I think that was the name she went by but it could have been something else.   It was a great game and the kids loved it.  But one day her husband came home and caught her at it.  He was horrified and would have divorced her except that would have been a scandal.  Instead he did something else that separated her from her kids, I don't remember exactly what.

[lilbear]

Help me fine the title of this book please:

Romance novel takes place in the middle ages, castles, lords etc. I faintly remember the plot involves two lovers separated in their past lives. What I remember the most is that the heroine saves her man by turning into a raven or bird to attack the enemy or distract the enemy, she succeeds in saving him but she gets shot with an arrow and dies. It was a sad ending. The book seemed to be long over 300 pages maybe 400 pages. Please help.

[lilio]

Would it be Ladyhawke?  If so, a movie was made of it.  You might check netflix, run the movie and see if it is familiar.  Not a sad ending though.  Might have been the movie people changing the ending!

[thackett]

I am trying to remember a book I read in high school.  88 or 89.  It was a young adult book about a girl named Desiree ( i think ) that goes to stay with a relative in a city for the summer and ends up hooking up with a group of other teens that were all dealing with issues of their own.  Very fitting of that time, the kids all had the "rocker" persona.  Long hair, torn jeans, etc.  I know there was a fight scene at one point and a boy lost an ear in a knife fight.  I want to say the Authors first name was Cynthia or began with a C. 

Its driving me crazy

[zvabugs]

I read this book, a new release at the time, sometime between 2003 and 2007. It was an autobiography about a European fashion designer (male). I remember one detail well: he based the color of some sweaters in his fashion line on some stones he found in a river in Scotland (or some other European country).

Thanks a million!!

[WaylanderMB]

it sounds like ladyhawke by Joan D. Vinge