MobileRead February Book Club Vote

[WT Sharpe]

February 2014 MobileRead Book Club Vote

Help us choose a book as the February 2014 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 February 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Amazon US

Spoiler:

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.

• Dirty Little Secrets (Romantic Mystery) by Liliana Hartk
Amazon US

Spoiler:

Book Description from Amazon:
Publication Date: December 29, 2013
DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS: A J.J. GRAVES MYSTERY

J.J. Graves has seen a lot of dead bodies in her line of work...

She's not only in the mortuary business, but she's also the coroner for King George County, Virginia. When a grisly murder is discovered in the small town of Bloody Mary, it's up to J.J. and her best friend, Detective Jack Lawson, to bring the victim justice.

The murders are piling up...

When a popular mystery writer shows up on J.J.'s doorstep with plans of writing his new book about the Bloody Mary Serial Killer, J.J. has to decide if he might be going above and beyond the call of duty to create the spine tinglers he's so well known for.

Passions are rising...

J.J and Jack discover each victim had a shocking secret, and the very foundation of J.J.'s life is in danger of crumbling when it turns out she’s harboring secrets of her own—secrets that make her a perfect target in a deadly game.

• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Amazon Au - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Spoiler:

Book Description from Amazon:
Publication Date: January 3, 2011

The final curtain is closing on the Second World War, and Hana, a nurse, stays behind in an abandoned Italian villa to tend to her only remaining patient. Rescued by Bedouins from a burning plane, he is English, anonymous, damaged beyond recognition and haunted by his memories of passion and betrayal.

The only clue Hana has to his past is the one thing he clung on to through the fire - a copy of The Histories by Herodotus, covered with hand-written notes describing a painful and ultimately tragic love affair.

• Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan
Amazon UK - Amazon US

Spoiler:

It's a gentle, beautiful, and moving time-slip romance between two people living in different eras.

The film with Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones is justly famous, but the book is even more engaging.

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Amazon UK - Amazon US

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

• Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer
Amazon UK - Amazon US

Spoiler:

Though a mystery, it apparently has romance as well and is sometimes referred to as a romance in disguise or a romance for people who don't normally like romance.

From Amazon:

It's no ordinary morning at the Poplars - the master is found dead in his bed and it turns out that his high blood pressure was not the cause of death. Heyer uses her attention to detail and brilliant characterizations to concoct a baffling crime for which every single member of the quarrelsome family has a motive, and none, of course, has an alibi. Heyer's sparkling dialogue is a master class in British wit, sarcasm and the intricacies of life above and below stairs.

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Zola (Exclusive)

Spoiler:

Full Description (from Zola):

The Time Traveler’s Wife, one of the best romance books of all time, is now available as an eBook!

Audrey Niffenegger's dazzling debut is the story of Clare, a beautiful, strong-minded art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: his genetic clock randomly resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous and unpredictable, and lend a spectacular urgency to Clare and Henry's unconventional love story. That their attempt to live normal lives together is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control makes their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Plus, the long-awaited sequel to Audrey Niffenegger’s time-traveling love story is finally here!

The ebook includes the first 25 pages of Niffeneger’s sequel featuring Henry and Clare’s daughter, Alba. Gifted with Clare’s beauty and Henry’s unique abilities, Alba finds herself caught between her real-time husband, Zach, and her other husband, Oliver, a fellow time-traveler and musician.

Get your ebook today and dive into this classic romance novel. Find the rest of Audrey Niffenegger’s books here and more of the best love story books. Shop eBooks today!

• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Amazon UK - Amazon US

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

I Capture the Castle has inspired writers as diverse as Armistead Maupin and Joanna Trollope and remains a classic tale of the triumph of youthful naivety over middle-aged cynicism.

'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' is the first line of this timeless, witty and enchanting novel about growing up. Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Her journal records her life with her beautiful, bored sister, Rose, her fadingly glamorous stepmother, Topaz, her little brother Thomas and her eccentric novelist father who suffers from a financially crippling writer's block. However, all their lives are turned upside down when the American heirs to the castle arrive and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time.

• Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
the omnibus from Baen

Spoiler:

Master Trader Er Thom yos'Galan knows that Liaden custom is to be matched with a proper bride and provide his clan, Korval, with an heir. Yet his heart is immersed in another universe, influenced by another culture, and lost to a woman not of his world. And to take a Terran wife such as scholar Anne Davis is to risk both his honor and reputation—not to mention the lives of loved ones.

[John F]

Interesting month. I was interested to see how Dirty Little Secrets would do as it is available for free through Kindle Prime. I guess the Kindle has less pull than I thought.

[WT Sharpe]

There were three front runners in this very close vote, but February's winner—with 37.04% of the vote—is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

[ClareK]

In case this hasn't already been mentioned, in some countries (eg England, Australia) "Outlander" is titled "Cross Stitch". Apparently this was the title originally chosen by the author, but the American publishers thought it sounded too much like an embroidery book! When I searched my local library catalogue, "Outlander" was only available as an ebook (with several holds on it), but there are three copies of "Cross Stitch" available for loan.