MobileRead September 2011 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is Chinese Maze Murders a continuation from Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is it the same Judge Dee? If so, it has to be #2 since even though Robert didn't write it, he continued from there.

"Even though Robert didn't write it." Exactly! You've got it now. Chinese Maze Murders is the first book he wrote.

I'm glad you agree at long last.

[Hamlet53]

Well so that issue regarding the The Chinese Maze Murders has been well aired. These all look good to me expect for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (there is no way I'm reading that twice ), A Study in Scarlet (it would be dull to read that for the umpteenth time, although it is real short), or Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files (the 13th book in a series that does not really interest me).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

"Even though Robert didn't write it." Exactly! You've got it now. Chinese Maze Murders is the first book he wrote.

I'm glad you agree at long last.

I agree it's Robert's first book second in the series.

[Nyssa]

I had originally planned to vote for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but I've been wanting to read Storm Front for months now, so I voted for that instead. Unfortunately, if the vote holds its current course I won't get to read either as the book club selection.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I had originally planned to vote for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but I've been wanting to read Storm Front for months now, so I voted for that instead. Unfortunately, if the vote holds its current course I won't get to read either as the book club selection.

The way it's going, we'll be reading #2 in a series instead of #1.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The way it's going, we'll be reading #2 in a series instead of #1.

Jon, you've got to stop beating all those dead horses. Do you really think it ingratiates anyone to you? It is old and annoying.

BOb

[JSWolf]

delete this post

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is Chinese Maze Murders a continuation from Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is it the same Judge Dee? If so, it has to be #2 since even though Robert didn't write it, he continued from there....

From Wikipedia:

Van Gulik's novels and stories made no direct reference to the original Chinese work and so Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is not considered to be part of the Judge Dee series.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

From Wikipedia:

Is this the same character? If so, then regardless if there is a direct reference or not, it's still #2 given that it was written after.

[HarryT]

PLEASE give it a rest, Jon. We all get it. Nobody gives two hoots about it.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

PLEASE give it a rest, Jon. We all get it. Nobody gives two hoots about it.

Except perhaps for the members whose votes have rocketed The Chinese Maze Murders by Robert van Gulik to a commanding lead since Jon's complaints began drawing attention to it.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^That brings up an interesting point. I'm thinking the votes for book club selections should be anonymous. People should be voting based on whhat they think about the books up for election and not based on what someone else may have voted for.

Fairness in the electoral process is something we should be striving for.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^That brings up an interesting point. I'm thinking the votes for book club selections should be anonymous. People should be voting based on whhat they think about the books up for election and not based on what someone else may have voted for.

Fairness in the electoral process is something we should be striving for.

It never bothered me, but I must confess to being a bit nosy. I've always liked seeing who voted for what.

But it's not up to me. The members rule: What do the rest of you think? Is there enough interest to start a poll on this?

[issybird]

I like seeing what people have voted for. It doesn't affect my choice (although number of votes might--I'm more likely to throw my support to my second choice if it's a contender and my first isn't). Seeing the voters serves a purpose, though. I like getting a handle on what people like to read; it helps me to know if a recommendation might be to my taste or if my tastes are entirely incongruent with another poster's.

I don't see what's inherently unfair about knowing. So long as no sockpuppets are voting (and I'm not suggesting they are), it's a fair vote. Other than that, any influence is legit. Adding to my point above, if someone whose taste I trust is campaigning heavily for a particular book, that might convince me, and why not?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

It never bothered me, but I must confess to being a bit nosy. I've always liked seeing who voted for what.

But it's not up to me. The members rule: What do the rest of you think? Is there enough interest to start a poll on this?

We've wanted a hidden poll for a good while now. The forum software does not currently support this. But what we could do is PM you our vote and you can tally them and let us know what the votes come out to be. That would be the most fair. I do think that a lot of people don't vote the way they want because it would be a wasted vote. But if we do not know, then there's no reason to vote for a book that has a lot of votes. There are two books that have a shot and the problem is that none of the others now will get voted upon due to the other two.

I would be interested in trying this for a few votes and see how the spread actually goes. If the spread turns out to be more even, then it's the open vote influencing people. And while the vote is going on, we don't say what we've voted for.