MobileRead August 2012 Run-Off Vote

[WT Sharpe]

August 2012 Mobile Read Book Club Run-Off Vote

Help us choose a book as the August 2012 eBook for the Mobile Read Book Club. This is the run-off poll for August. It will be open for 3 days. The winner determines the book we will read for August. The vote this month will be viewable.


We will start the discussion thread for this book on August 20th. Select from the following Two* Choices:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Inkmesh search

Spoiler:

Description: Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly. As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons—The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Pérez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?—but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, “The originality of Ruiz Zafón’s voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature.” An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller’s art. (from eBooks.com)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
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Spoiler:

Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2012: How many introverts do you know? The real answer will probably surprise you. In our culture, which emphasizes group work from elementary school through the business world, everything seems geared toward extroverts. Luckily, introverts everywhere have a new spokesperson: Susan Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert who’s taken it upon herself to better understand the place of introverts in culture and society. With Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Cain explores introversion through psychological research old and new, personal experiences, and even brain chemistry, in an engaging and highly-readable fashion. By delving into introversion, Cain also seeks to find ways for introverts and extroverts to better understand one another--and for introverts to understand their own contradictions, such as the ability to act like extroverts in certain situations. Highly accessible and uplifting for any introvert--and any extrovert who knows an introvert (and over one-third of us are introverts)--Quiet has the potential to revolutionize the “extrovert ideal.” –Malissa Kent

(Provided by VioletVal)

[fantasyfan]

Both of these sound interesting but Quiet. . . is quite expensive while Shadow . . . is available in several inexpensive e-editions, Thus, everything else being equal, I voted for The Shadow of the Wind.

[VioletVal]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

Both of these sound interesting but Quiet. . . is quite expensive while Shadow . . . is available in several inexpensive e-editions, Thus, everything else being equal, I voted for The Shadow of the Wind.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is $12.99 on Amazon, the same price as Quiet. It's not likely that there are less expensive editions since this is an agency book. There are less expensive books with the same title, but they are not by the same author.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Well, fantasyfan is in United Kingdom and WH Smith has Shadow for 4.99BP and Quiet is 11.99BP. Cost is often location based. For me, both of these books would cost me almost the same, Shadow being 15.76 and Quiet being 15.50 from Amazon. I do most of my reading in paper format from the library now. Shadow will continue that trend.

[JSWolf]

Shadow of the Wind can be found for free at some libraries in their Overdrive section.

[VioletVal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Shadow of the Wind can be found for free at some libraries in their Overdrive section.

The same is true for Quiet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by VioletVal

The same is true for Quiet.

But that wasn't supposed to be known.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^Well, fantasyfan is in United Kingdom

My Irish forebears are rolling over in their graves!

[VioletVal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But that wasn't supposed to be known.

[VioletVal]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^Well, fantasyfan is in United Kingdom and WH Smith has Shadow for 4.99BP and Quiet is 11.99BP. Cost is often location based. For me, both of these books would cost me almost the same, Shadow being 15.76 and Quiet being 15.50 from Amazon. I do most of my reading in paper format from the library now. Shadow will continue that trend.

I stand corrected.

[Asawi]

I'm fine either way. I am on the library waitlist for both and will read both when I get them.
I did vote for Quiet though.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

My Irish forebears are rolling over in their graves!

Actually, that is my bad. I blame the media who interchangeable use England, United Kingdom and Great Britain. I could use some knowledge on what pertains to what.

I'm guessing it's similar in Canada with the differentiation between The Maritimes and Atlantic Canada.

[fantasyfan]

Gosh! I didn't expect to stir up that much comment! However Kobo and epub.com both have Shadow of the Wind for under €5. But as of today I joined an Overdrive e-book library and it's possible I may get it on loan for free. {Assuming, of course, that it happens to win}

[fantasyfan]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Actually, that is my bad. I blame the media who interchangeable use England, United Kingdom and Great Britain. I could use some knowledge on what pertains to what.

I'm guessing it's similar in Canada with the differentiation between The Maritimes and Atlantic Canada.

The United Kingdom refers to Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Emgland and some offshore islands. Great Britain refers to the island of Britain and includes England, Scotland, and Wales. England is the political entity of the island of Britain excluding Scotland and Wales. This may change if Scotland declares complete national independence from the Crown--as it may do in the future--though that is by no means a certainty.

The Republic of Ireland comprises the 26 counties of the four provinces excluding the 6 counties in Ulster which are part of the United Kingdom. Particularly since the recent visit of the Queen to Ireland relations between the two countries have been exceptionally friendly and the Government of the Republic recognizes the entity of Northern Ireland and also allows any of its population to use an Irish passport if they so desire. Citizens of the Republic do not need a passport to travel to Great Britain and vice-versa.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Actually, that is my bad. I blame the media who interchangeable use England, United Kingdom and Great Britain. I could use some knowledge on what pertains to what.

I'm guessing it's similar in Canada with the differentiation between The Maritimes and Atlantic Canada.

The quick answer is:

England is a country by itself, same as Scotland or Wales.

Great Britain is the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales (as opposed to the island of Ireland).

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state that includes the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The rest of Ireland is not included and is independent.

ETA - Of course you beat me to it fantasyfan, and by only one minute!