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View Poll Results: Which books are your picks for the March 2015 MobileRead Book Club selection?
West with the Night by Beryl Markham 12 50.00%
The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby 4 16.67%
Timeline by Michael Crichton 6 25.00%
Lost Horizon by James Hilton 12 50.00%
A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson 3 12.50%
South by Ernest Shackleton 1 4.17%
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Albert Lansing 10 41.67%
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain 8 33.33%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 24. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-01-2015, 12:31 AM   #1
WT Sharpe
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March Book Club Vote

March 2015 MobileRead Book Club Vote

Help us choose a book as the March 2015 eBook for the MobileRead Book Club. The poll will be open for 5 days. There will be no runoff vote unless the voting results a tie, in which case there will be a 3 day run-off poll. This is a visible poll: others can see how you voted. It is You may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on March 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Amazon US / Audible / Kobo
Spoiler:
[I]From Amazon:

Beryl Markham’s classic, engrossing memoir—a triumph of the pioneer spirit and an adventure-charged chronicle of a life lived to the fullest.

Beryl Markham’s life was a true epic, complete with shattered societal expectations, torrid love affairs, and desperate crash landings. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya’s unforgiving farmlands. She learned to be a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Her successes and her failures—and her deep, lifelong love of the “soul of Africa”—are all chronicled here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed by National Geographic as one of the greatest adventure books of all time, West with the Night is the sweeping account of a fearless and dedicated woman.


The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby
No links provided.
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:

In 1938 an eighteen-year-old boy signed on for the round trip from Europe to Australia in the last commercial sailing fleet to make that formidable journey. The four-masted barque Moshulu ended up as a dockside restaurant in Philadelphia; the young apprentice went on to become one of the greatest travel writers of this century. The Last Grain Race is Eric Newby's spell-binding account of his time spent on the Moshulu's last voyage in the Australian grain trade.

As always, Eric Newby's sharp eye for detail captures the hardships, danger, squabbles, companionship and sheer joy of shipboard life - bedbugs, ferocious storms, eccentric Finnish crew and all. By pure chance, Eric witnessed the passing of the era of sail, and his tale is all the more significant for being the last of its kind.

From reviews cited at Amazon:

'Enthralling - I know of no other book about square-riggers that gives such a lively account of the daily round of men in the fo'c'sle' Sunday Times 'Indescribably pungent ... impossible to read without laughing' Observer 'Mr Newby proves himself to be a first-rate writer ... Years have dulled nothing of the spirit of his first voyage; he gives exactly the feel of working a tall ship in hard conditions; he did not just see these things; he felt and can convey them; the crew of "Moshulu" live, move and are real human beings - and go on living when the book is closed' Times Literary Supplement


Timeline by Michael Crichton
Goodreads | Amazon US / Google Play / Kobo CA / Overdrive US / Overdrive
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:In an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened up to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival -- six hundred years ago.


Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Goodreads | Amazon Au / Amazon Ca / Amazon US / Kobo
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:

While attempting to escape a civil war, four people are kidnapped and transported to the Tibetan mountains. After their plane crashes, they are found by a mysterious Chinese man. He leads them to a monastery hidden in "the valley of the blue moon" -- a land of mystery and matchless beauty where life is lived in tranquil wonder, beyond the grasp of a doomed world.

It is here, in Shangri-La, where destinies will be discovered and the meaning of paradise will be unveiled.


A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
Amazon US
Spoiler:
No synopsis provided


South by Ernest Shackleton
Goodreads | Amazon US / Kobo US
Spoiler:
No synopsis provided.


Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Albert Lansing
Amazon US / Kobo
Spoiler:
No synopsis provided.


The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
The Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub / Kindle
Spoiler:
From Wikipedia:

The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain published in 1869 which humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City) through Europe and the Holy Land with a group of American travelers in 1867. It was the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime, as well as being one of the best-selling travel books of all time.

Last edited by WT Sharpe; 03-01-2015 at 12:36 AM.
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Old 03-01-2015, 02:34 PM   #2
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OK, I'm pushing for either West with the Night, or Endurance. I've already started reading West with the Night, and it's every bit as good as I remembered, if not better, and I'm enjoying this re-read as I'd forgotten many things in the roughly 18 years since I read it. OTOH, if we do Endurance, I'll have a good reason to re-read it, and it's been 16 years since I read it. At least the Lansing book is available in KU, so I won't have to spend any $$ on it.
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:40 PM   #3
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Some complained about too many classic "dusty" books in the selections. Look at the publishing dates of the nominees:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham 1942
The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby 1956
Timeline by Michael Crichton 1999
Lost Horizon by James Hilton 1933
A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson 2012
South by Ernest Shackleton 1919
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage 1931
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain 1869

:cough cough:

If you are one of those people, you may want to consider voting for either Timeline or A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar.

And next month's category is..... Classics.
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Old 03-03-2015, 11:30 PM   #4
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OK, I'm pushing for either West with the Night, or Endurance. I've already started reading West with the Night, and it's every bit as good as I remembered, if not better, and I'm enjoying this re-read as I'd forgotten many things in the roughly 18 years since I read it. OTOH, if we do Endurance, I'll have a good reason to re-read it, and it's been 16 years since I read it. At least the Lansing book is available in KU, so I won't have to spend any $$ on it.
Have you read South CRussel? And if so how do Endurance and South compare to one another?
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Old 03-04-2015, 01:33 AM   #5
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Have you read South CRussel? And if so how do Endurance and South compare to one another?
As I commented when I nominated Endurance, it's a much better read than South. For one thing, it is telling the story, not recording a journal. Also, it includes the viewpoints of several of the participants, not just Shackleton. I think South is an excellent read for those who want to dive really deep into the subject, but the best starting place is Lansing's book.
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Old 03-04-2015, 01:55 AM   #6
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As I commented when I nominated Endurance, it's a much better read than South. For one thing, it is telling the story, not recording a journal. Also, it includes the viewpoints of several of the participants, not just Shackleton. I think South is an excellent read for those who want to dive really deep into the subject, but the best starting place is Lansing's book.
Ah. Ok thanks. Sorry I missed that part of your earlier post. I probably saw the words but they didn't register for some reason. Endurance sounds an interesting read.
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Old 03-04-2015, 02:10 AM   #7
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West with the Night is one of the best books I have ever read, Travel or no travel.
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Old 03-04-2015, 12:26 PM   #8
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It's looking like we might be headed to Shangri-la soon.
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Old 03-04-2015, 12:53 PM   #9
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It's looking like we might be headed to Shangri-la soon.
Maybe, maybe not. 3-way tie for first right now. I just hope I can get a couple of the titles I voted for before the 20th.
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Old 03-04-2015, 01:36 PM   #10
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All three frontrunners look good to me. I voted for West because at the moment it was behind the other two, but I'd love to see Lost win, although I wouldn't cry if Endurance won either.
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Old 03-04-2015, 02:00 PM   #11
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I'm definitely pulling for Endurance or Lost Horizon here. I might not pick the winner up to read for a little bit though.
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Old 03-04-2015, 02:27 PM   #12
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Well I have a 2 out of 3 chance of winning then since I voted for two of the three in the three way tie.
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Old 03-04-2015, 03:11 PM   #13
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I've already read Endurance , so I voted for West with the Night based on comments in this thread. I've recommended it for purchase to my library, so hopefully I'll be able to borrow it if it wins.
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Old 03-04-2015, 05:38 PM   #14
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I'd prefer not to do a reread, so I voted for only one of the frontrunners. C'mon, Endurance. Although I'd also be happy if Twain won as a dark horse.
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Old 03-04-2015, 07:36 PM   #15
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Oh, but missing a chance to do a re-read of West with the Night? Having just finished it today, I'm even more impressed with the book than I was the first time.

That being said, I'd be happy to re-read Endurance (and grabbed a copy from KU, just in case), and I'd certainly give Lost Horizon a try, though it would definitely be a third choice here.
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