Help us choose the December 2012 selection to read for the MR Literary Club! The poll will be open for two days.
The vote is multiple choice. You may vote for as many or as few as you like.
A discussion thread will begin shortly after a winner is chosen.
In the event of a tie, there will be a one-day non-multiple-choice run-off poll. In the event that the run-off poll also ends in a tie, the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all of its initial nominations first.
Select from the following works:
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
The Silent Steppe by Mukhamet Shayakhmetov
Spoiler:
The Silent Steppe is an enthralling story of a family living through one of the most traumatic periods of Soviet history, as seen through the eyes of a young boy growing up in a family of Kazakh nomads. It encompasses the horrors of political persecution and famine in the 1930s, and culminates in the author's first hand account of the Battle of Stalingrad and his long trek home through freezing winter conditions after being wounded and discharged from the Red Army.
(from
here)
Available as pbook
here
In the US, libraries that borrow from WorldCat shouldn't have a problem obtaining a copy.
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Spoiler:
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."
Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.
Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
B&N (US)
Kobo
Found also in many e-libraries through overdrive and is fulfilled in epub and even in Kindle format (for applicable regions/libraries). Even Australia hasn't missed out.