MobileRead Forums - MobileRead April 2015 Book Club Nominations

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I nominate a play - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Contributed to our Patricia Clark Library by Patricia herself!

Kindle/mobi
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13582

ePub
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=178301
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/844

Amazon says: "Here is Oscar Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London's St. James' Theatre on February 14, 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation."

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf (Post 3068156)

That's why this category needs to go away and never see the light of day.

No, it doesn't need to. You're free to nominate modern classics, and we're all free to vote on the ones we want to read. I see at least three in the list already that I'd happily read and discuss. I could wish you'd chosen a different Terry Pratchett, this would have been a perfect time for him but I really don't want to read anything as dark as Good Omens, no matter how well written.

On the other hand, how about Guards! Guards!, also by Terry Pratchett and a good entry point to his whole Discworld universe.
Amazon
WhisperSync Audible
Kobo (at a ridiculous price compared to Amazon)

Quote:

Welcome to Guards! Guards!, the eighth book in Terry Pratchett’s legendary Discworld series.
Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all...). How did it get there? How is the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night involved? Can the Ankh-Morpork City Watch restore order – and the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork to power?

Magic, mayhem, and a marauding dragon...who could ask for anything more?

Review
"'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended'" The Times "'Pratchett is at the peak of his powers; it's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him...A masterful ear for dialogue, a keen eye for the ridiculous and a real feel for language'" Time Out "'The best humorous English author since P.G. Wodehouse'" --Sunday Telegraph

Review
"Discworld takes the classic fantasy universe through its logical, and comic evolution".-- Cleveland Plain Dealer

And for my other two, I'll second The Importance of Being Earnest, a delightfully witty and irreverent work, and third Shōgun by James Clavell, a very well written and enjoyable book I haven't read since forever.

I'll second Guards! Guards!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel (Post 3068767)

On the other hand, how about Guards! Guards!, also by Terry Pratchett and a good entry point to his whole Discworld universe.

It's a not a good entry point into Discworld. It's the 8th book and you miss out so very much that a lot of it won't make sense. The best entry point is The Colour of Magic.

I am surprised that nobody has seconded Good Omens. Even BBC has done a radio drama of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf (Post 3068780)

Others have posted differing views on entry points, and it is the start of a new arc. That being said, I'd be much happier with The Colour of Magic than Good Omens. If I want to read Pratchett, and I do, I want to start in his main, core, universe. I'll happily fill in other stuff later, once I've decided I like him. (I did read some of the very first Discworld book many, many, many years ago. I no longer remember anything except the premise.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc (Post 3068653)

It's also a sf novel by a buddy of mine. ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Stith

Brainiac once did a Metropolis transfer, but Superman saved the day.

http://livingbetweenwednesdays.com/w...20brainiac.jpg

I will third Guards! Guards!

I didn't care much for Good Omens.

A comment about Shogun, which I thirded. I do think it is both appropriate to this category, and that I would like to re-read it. If you think we're going to choose it, I recommend you start reading NOW. This is a long book, over 1,000 pages if I remember correctly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc (Post 3068256)

Ooooh! Oooooh! Cannery Row! Everyone must read Cannery Row!

Seconded or whatever....

You could have at least quoted me on that. :rofl:

I will second Manhattan Transfer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes (Post 3069144)

You could have at least quoted me on that. :rofl:

:p:p:p

But you're right. :D You are the reason for my obsession, you're like a drug pusher! :rofl:

I actually just started another re-read of it a few weeks ago interspersed with a bunch of other reading....

:thumbsup:

In order to be able to read Discworld in order, I am going to nominate The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett which is the first book in the Discworld series.

http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n0/n1975.jpg

Quote:

Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the Discworld. Tourist, Rincewind decided, meant idiot.

Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. It plays by different rules. Certainly it refuses to succumb to the quaint notion that universes are ruled by pure logic and the harmony of numbers.

But just because the Disc is different doesn't mean that some things don't stay the same. Its very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the arrival of the first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. But if the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death is a spectacularly inept wizard, a little logic might turn out to be a very good idea...

Overdrive UK: https://www.overdrive.com/media/2126...olour-of-magic
Overdrive: US: https://www.overdrive.com/media/1446...color-of-magic
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Magic-Di...color+of+magic
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colo...color+of+magic
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=q-D-0aq__BsC
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...lor-of-magic-1
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/ebook/th.../9781407034379

I'll second the Colour of Magic. I would like to read a Terry Pratchett novel but I didn't want my first exposure to Terry Pratchett tainted with Neil Gaiman.

Quote:

Originally Posted by treadlightly (Post 3069316)

I'll second the Colour of Magic. I would like to read a Terry Pratchett novel but I didn't want my first exposure to Terry Pratchett tainted with Neil Gaiman.

Thanks! I've also gone back and edited the nomination to add in some places where to get The Colour of Magic.