Literary Open Run-Off • December 2012

[sun surfer]

Help us choose the December 2012 selection to read for the MR Literary Club! The run-off poll will be open for one day.

The run-off vote is single-choice. A discussion thread will begin shortly after a winner is chosen.

In the event of a tie, the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all of its initial nominations first.


Select from the following works:


Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Spoiler:

The novel that raised Haruki Murakami to literary superstardom ranges across the seasons, but the heart of its meaning is found in winter. When 30-something Toru Watanabe hears a fragment of the titular Beatles track after a long airplane flight, his memories are returned to his days as a young student and his love affair with the beautiful but damaged Naoko. from UK Guardian.

Kindle edition at Amazon

Nook edition at Barnes & Noble

EPUB at Sony Reader Store

Ebook at Kobo

Kindle or EPUB at Free Library of Philadelphia

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Spoiler:

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.


Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
B&N (US)
Kobo

Found also in many e-libraries through overdrive and is fulfilled in epub and even in Kindle format (for applicable regions/libraries). Even Australia hasn't missed out.

[paola]

I stuck to my guns - and if we all do we'll need the runoff of the runoff

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by paola

I stuck to my guns - and if we all do we'll need the runoff of the runoff

Not so fast, I had no guns in this battle, since I never voted for either book. However, between these two I'm more interested in Norwegian Wood, so it gets my vote this time.

[spindlegirl]

I voted for both of those, so now I have to choose one, and it was Norwegian Wood.

[caleb72]

I'm really liking the spread with these multiple choice votes.

[fantasyfan]

I'll stay with my original vote but they're both interesting.

[Synamon]

Fooey. I got a notification that Norwegian Wood is ready for me at the library today. Might as well let that expire.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Synamon

Fooey. I got a notification that Norwegian Wood is ready for me at the library today. Might as well let that expire.

Yep. Checked the listing at the local U and its status was: Recently returned. Bingo, I thought.

[caleb72]

Oooh! It might actually be a case of be careful what you wish for. I nominated this because I wanted to read it - but how to fit it in before the end of the year??!!

Don't be surprised if my comments come in January are a bit later than they should be.

Now - back to Ethan Frome, Sea of Crises, The Chimes and Brilliance of the Moon. I really should just stop posting for a while.

[sun surfer]

Year of Wonders it is! That was also an interesting vote to watch with the back and forth - at one point, Norwegian Wood was ahead six to one, but then Year of Wonders caught up in a big way.

Of the two, I was hoping for Norwegian Wood - it just sounded like a great read to finish the year with - but I'm also interested in Year of Wonders (which is why I supported it in noms) and curious to read it, and now that it's won I will be.

I'll post the discussion thread today.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Year of Wonders had me until I read "lure of illicit love" and then I ran screaming from the room. I'm probably wrong, but the description gave me the Heebie Jeebies. When a book says something my mom would read I tend to pass. She's too historical doorstopper for my liking. Book suggestions between us generally run one direction only.

[paola]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Year of Wonders had me until I read "lure of illicit love" and then I ran screaming from the room. I'm probably wrong, but the description gave me the Heebie Jeebies. When a book says something my mom would read I tend to pass. She's too historical doorstopper for my liking. Book suggestions between us generally run one direction only.

I also have bad vibes about this one - partly it is prejudice (I tend not to like journalists that turn to literature, and as Geraldine Brooks is Australian I fear the over-research a la Philip Roth to show how into the typical seventeenth century Derbyshire town), partly because of the many Italian classics that deal with the effects of contagious diseases in general and the plague in particular on all sorts of social classes, you name then, they've done it. But I know I am sounding sooo very smug, conceited and stuck up that I'll have to bite the bullet and read it

[caleb72]

I hope I didn't end up nominating a bomb.

[paola]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I hope I didn't end up nominating a bomb.

Hey Caleb, please don't worry, my comment above was meant in jest

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I hope I didn't end up nominating a bomb.

I doubt it's a bomb. Good books aren't good for everyone at every point in their life. Although I have my doubts about Joyce.