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View Poll Results: June 2011 Mobile Read Book Club
The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst 6 8.33%
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett 19 26.39%
The Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth 5 6.94%
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré 12 16.67%
The Scavenger's Daughter by Mike McIntyre 6 8.33%
The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian 3 4.17%
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett 3 4.17%
The Firm by John Grisham 7 9.72%
Heat Wave by Richard Castle 10 13.89%
Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry 1 1.39%
Voters: 72. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-26-2011, 12:23 PM   #61
JSWolf
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Originally Posted by pilotbob View Post
you may use any criteria you wish when selecting with ebook to vote for.

If you want "so called" quality over a good, fun read, you might try the Literature book club.

BOb
Sometimes what is called literature is actually drek in disguise. And sometimes what's not literature is actually a fun read. It all varies.
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Old 05-26-2011, 12:26 PM   #62
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Originally Posted by JSWolf View Post
Sometimes what is called literature is actually drek in disguise. And sometimes what's not literature is actually a fun read. It all varies.
I thought that's what I said...

BOb
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Old 05-26-2011, 12:31 PM   #63
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I will say that I can appreciate books for being very well constructed and writen and I can appreciate a book for pure entertainment value.

Many bestsellers may not be the greatest literary achievements but many of them nail the entertanment value that the average reader likes. Not to mention many people would find a lot of the great literary works to be very boring and outdated.

Some may say Grisham is a hack from a literary point of view but the fact is that millions of people have read and liked his books.

There's something to be said about selling that many books.

The best way to judge a book is how much you enjoyed reading it. I could careless what some book snob says about the Zombie books I read. I like them. They're entertaining. Nobody makes any claimes of literary greatness with these zombie novels, gut a lot of readers like them.

I see no harm in reading any book so long as you are not claiming literary greatness when it's clearly not on that level.
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Old 05-26-2011, 12:46 PM   #64
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My definition of literature... A book you've enjoyed reading and would recommend to others to read

I use that definition because a lot of so-called literature are just moldy dried up old works that really don't have much relevance today.
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Old 05-26-2011, 03:41 PM   #65
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Who hasn't already read The Firm?

BOb
ME !
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Old 05-26-2011, 04:23 PM   #66
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Regarding the round and round on what criteria should be used for selection here. The way I see it it is the the Monthly Book Club. Given that it seems to me that if it is a book it qualifies for consideration, that is open to nomination and final selection by the voting process. That's it any book. There is the additional constraint of genre, but that says nothing about how recently written, how commercially successful, how popular, what literary critics say, and most of all not individual opinion. What ever weight should be given any but the first mentioned restraint is a matter for the voting process. I did not rant and rave when I silly piece of fluff like Hal Spacejock was selected.

The new alternative Literary Book Club does, to my mind anyway, import something additional about the generally recognized quality of writing, the significance, and endurance of the work. No so much how many copies sold or how entertaining. Perhaps we need a third Popular Book club?

Anyway as far as this Book Club for this month, I've got no problem with any of the potential choices. I've already talked the members of my local library afternoon book club into reading The Spies of Warsaw for June.
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Old 05-26-2011, 07:08 PM   #67
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ME !
Then by all means, read it!

BOb
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Old 05-26-2011, 07:13 PM   #68
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The only problem with the voting is that it is not blind and as we have found out in the previous vote that a lot of people do not vote for what they actually want but instead wait and then vote for one that might be the winner and not one that looks like it has no chance of winning. This is just very wrong and the idea is to vote for the book you want to read most because it is the book you want to read most. Don't go voting on a book you don't want to read most just because the book you want to read may not win.

This is why I think a blind vote would give different results then some of the results we've gotten. Would AK have won last time? I don't think so. I think 1984 probably would have won.
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Old 05-26-2011, 07:46 PM   #69
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I'm sorry, was someone winning a medal? Is there a cash prize? Accolades from the adoring public?

Seriously some of you people need to relax. It's just a "read a book" club for mercy's sake. Kick back, read the winner (or any darned book you please) and enjoy. There's too many bad things already happening in the world to get this wrapped around the axle on a BOOK CLUB!
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Old 05-26-2011, 08:23 PM   #70
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This is why I think a blind vote would give different results then some of the results we've gotten. Would AK have won last time? I don't think so. I think 1984 probably would have won.
I voted for AK as the least unappealing of the likely alternatives, but I assure you, 1984 would never had gotten my vote. Talk about dated and irrelevant! It might have been meaningful in 1948, but over 60 years later it's hackneyed and dull. Not at all a book for the ages.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:36 PM   #71
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I voted for AK as the least unappealing of the likely alternatives, but I assure you, 1984 would never had gotten my vote. Talk about dated and irrelevant! It might have been meaningful in 1948, but over 60 years later it's hackneyed and dull. Not at all a book for the ages.
I think 1984 is dated, but less dull then the tomb called AK. AK is dull and long and that's a poor combination (IMHO). I didn't vote AK as I have better things to do with my life then fall asleep every time I try to read AK.

But seriously, I do think we should have some votes that only allow modern books to be nominated with authors who are still alive and have written a book in at least a year past. Sometimes it does get dull with all those musty old books.

Last edited by JSWolf; 05-26-2011 at 09:38 PM.
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:17 PM   #72
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But seriously, I do think we should have some votes that only allow modern books to be nominated with authors who are still alive and have written a book in at least a year past. Sometimes it does get dull with all those musty old books.
So start another BC (like the literary one) called the modern book club or something. There's nothing wrong with the current club.
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Old 05-27-2011, 08:43 AM   #73
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Yes, JSWolf you are correct 1984 is very dated, but then again so is most of the sci-fo books you come across. Someone said to me that sci-fi books are more characteristic of the age in which they were written then the future in any way. Take a look at 2001, a book that included a computer gone wild called Hal. Now ten years later we still look at that book and chuckle, 84 is very much dated since the concepts it deals with are not relevant any longer.
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Old 05-27-2011, 08:44 AM   #74
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I'm with Zespectre: Relax a bit!
It's not like we're in school and get reading assigments and get punished if we don't read them. I hope...
The choices have not gone "my way" in the few months I've been following the book club. Each month I have found something I want to read among the nominations. The winners I have had no desire to read (I did read Hal Spacejock anyway since it's a quick easy read). Soooo... I've been happy about the good suggestions, read what I wanted and disregarded the rest. What's the big deal?!
I'm sure that if someone starts a "anyone want to read and discuss xxx" it would get about as much (or as little) action as the "official" book club discussion. Does it really matter if it's "the official choice" or not?
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Old 05-27-2011, 08:50 AM   #75
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So start another BC (like the literary one) called the modern book club or something. There's nothing wrong with the current club.
In the time that I've been here JSWOLF seems to spend most of his time complaining about books being outdated (complaining in general), as if there could be such a thing.

Obviously, you need to read the book with period that it was written in, in mind. That's what makes a lot of the classics so enjoyable to read.
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