September 2015 Book Club Vote
 

September 2015 MobileRead Book Club Vote

Help us choose a book as the September 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 http://wtsharpe3.com/Pictures/Multiple-Choice_C3.gif You may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.

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

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (UK title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) by J.K. Rowling
Goodreads

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Goodreads | Amazon US


• The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Goodreads | Amazon US


• The Golden Compass (UK title: The Northern Lights) the first volume in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Goodreads | Amazon UK / Amazon US


• Candide by Voltaire
Goodreads | Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle | Amazon US / Audible | Librivox: English (collaborative) / English (solo) / French (solo)


• Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce
Goodreads | Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle | Amazon US / Amazon UK


• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
Goodreads | Amazon UK / Amazon US


• Beloved by Toni Morrison
Goodreads | Amazon UK Amazon US / Audible


• The Castle by Franz Kafka
Goodreads


• Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Goodreads | Amazon US

FWIW, I posted some links in the nomination thread that aren't here yet. See this post.. Not comprehensive, certainly, but the results of my own poking around with those I had at least a mild interest in.

So my first thought was to limit my votes to a books that I have not read and would like to read based on investigation of all of them. That in large part I suppose with my ageist perspective would have limited me to one book. So I decided to cast votes for any book read or not that I think would make for a good discussion.

One of my motivations was not to vote for books I've read in the fairly recent past or that I read longer ago but didn't like much, which could keep me out of the discussion. I'm trying to cut down on rereads for the club; as with all of us, there's already so much I want to read and never enough time.

My ageism is showing, too!

Choices, choices, choices.

I sneaked a peak from Gutenburg at the Voltaire and the Bierce. The Voltaire at least reads better. I wanted to vote for Bierce's, but on reading half of the first story I'd throw myself in the fire to end my misery.

Both of those are available in our own Patricia Clark Memorial Library. :)

I vaguely remember reading Candide in my youth. And not being impressed. But that was a long, long time ago. Ambrose Bierce, however, is one I haven't read. OTOH, I'd really like an excuse to re-read Philip Pullman's trilogy. I devoured it the first time I encountered it a few years ago, and I'd like to read it more thoughtfully now. This would be a perfect opportunity. And at least I know it is a good read. And I'm not really interested in another month of unreadable. :(

In support of that aim, here's the WhisperSync Audible link for The Golden Compass

You might consider Ivan Denisovich, CRussel, as it's readable, it's short and it won Solzhenitsyn the Nobel prize. :)

If anyone likes reading previews, if you didn't already know Goodreads offers quick previews on most books and so for the books nominated all you have to do is click the Goodreads link in the first post then click the preview button and voila. (and thanks to Tom for graciously ensuring that each nomination has a Goodreads link)

Also since I was looking at all the pages anyway, here are the Goodreads rating for each nominee in descending order along with number of voters:

4.40 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (3,369,499 ratings)

4.20 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower (721,184 ratings)

3.99 - The Castle (22,853 ratings)
3.93 - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (58,215 ratings)
3.90 - The Northern Lights (788,056 ratings)

3.78 - Can Such Things Be? (306 ratings)
3.76 - The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things (19,370 ratings)
3.75 - Candide (134,081 ratings)
3.73 - Beloved (200,763 ratings)

3.03 - Mein Kampf (15,942 ratings)

I'm not overly impressed with goodreads voting, so nothing compelling there. But I'm certainly willing to consider Ivan Denisovich, though I confess to a strong (and long standing) anti-preference for Russian novels. I think I was scared in my youth by being forced to read too many of them.

That's understandable. As for Goodreads ratings, if I know I like/want to read or don't like/don't want to read a book then I don't pay much attention but I do find them helpful for books I'm iffy on. Besides people I know or of course MR, I think Goodreads is probably the most reliable place to find out what others in general think about a book. If I'm uncertain on one I usually look at the rating while considering whether the average rater for that book might have similar tastes as me and also read a few reviews on the site to help decide (and, I've begun to read more previews).

Anybody who votes for Mein Kampf is an unfeeling person who doesn't care about anyone else. This book should never have been allowed. I don't give a dam if this is censorship or not. It's something that is very personal and very hurtful to have it in the list and to have been allowed there. If it's not taken down, then I will be protesting to Alex to deal with it. What I would like to say about the people who nominated/voted for this book would get me banned from MR. And I feel very sorry for this book club when it's leader is allowing this to be here. This is something that needs to be addressed and addressed now! I never thought anyone on MR could be so mean and nasty.

Any book that uses the words 'my butt' in the title gets a nod from me. :D

Isn't that the whole point of this month's topic of "banned books", Jon? To explore and discuss why it is that people have found these books so controversial, disturbing, evil, or whatever other term one may wish to use, that they have put them on a "banned" list?

I've cast votes for Candide and Can Such Things Be? as they look like the most interesting selections, but I've only read Harry Potter out of all the nominations, so unless Harry Potter or Mein Kampf wins, I'll be participating in the discussion thread just as soon as I manage to find the rules for the book club...

The way the MobileRead Book Club works is pretty simple, really. We start with a nomination thread, followed by a vote (this thread), and the winner is discussed in a third thread on the 20th of the following month. See the Nomination Thread for September to see how we got here. The first post of that thread tell you pretty much everything you need to know to get you started.

Welcome to the Club, and be sure to check out the Literary Book Club as well. The emphasis is somewhat different, but many of the same people participate in both clubs.

The option is always open for people to simply not read a book if it arouses particular sensitivities. It makes perfect sense that this would actually happen when we are deliberately nominating books that have been banned. And we haven’t restricted the category to books that were banned for what most would universally accept as stupid reasons. The category is simply “banned books.”


It’s my sense that there is no one here who has been lurking in the club awaiting the opportunity to read an evil work by an evil man because they’re seeking some input and coaching on how to encourage fascism and genocide. Nor is anyone trying to be mean and nasty to others. The club seems pretty interested in reading banned books through the lens of our current world and sensibilities to discuss their literary, historical and possibly political merits. The reason I won’t vote for the book in question is because I have read it and can discuss ad nauseam the frightening horrors it contains. I have no desire to read it again.


There are many topics or themes, sexual abuse being one, that finds its way into many very good books worthy of reading and discussing. However, in the interest of avoiding painful triggers, some individuals bow out of the reading and discussions simply to protect themselves. They don’t accuse everyone who’s interested of being cruel, mean, nasty, insensitive, uncaring, unfeeling etc.



I don’t mind hearing why you’re not interesting in reading something, in fact I appreciate that. Really! But no one in the club benefits from being called names for their reading interests.

Well said ccowie. I considered voting for it since I haven't read it before (only HP from this list) and it could make for an interesting study but decided against it due to the length; the version I looked at is 600+ pages. I don't want to spend that much time reading a work that I would feel sickened by despite my curiosity.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in calling for a book to be banned when the very subject here is "banned books"? To my mind, "Mein Kampf" is the natural winner in this list, because it has far more justification to be banned than everything else in the list combined.

Yes, it's ironic. But going beyond that statement would get us into a discussion about politics that is definitely out of scope here. Personally, I have no truck with censorship. Full stop. And no desire to read Mein Kampf.

I didn’t know Beloved was ever banned...

Even as recently as 2013 it was called for to be banned:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...e79_story.html

Not at all. It and perhaps One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich are the only two books on the list that in my opinion one can argue have been banned in a broad sense as opposed to local efforts to suppress availability, access, or use in education. Just because some religiously motivated, or feminist motivated, or political point of view motivated group got worked up about a book does not really make for much in the term "banned." I mean Harry Potter?!

I did not vote for Mein Kampf during the nomination process or in this ongoing balloting for two reasons. One reason is pretty much what Issybird has stated. This group is probably just not the place to discuss it. My second reason is that having at one time attempted to read it I was unable to finish it not because of the point of view, but because it was just crap writing.

One mother demanding a book to be banned from on school’s curriculum does not make it a banned book though, does it?
No it doesn’t, Beloved never was a banned book! (it's a great book though)

I'd like to see some more love for Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce; especially seeing as how we have no short story category next year.

How about this ban:

http://www.care2.com/causes/banned-b...s-beloved.html

I believe "banned" is the short title for the category. The category also includes challenged books, IMO. :)

I admit that I assumed it was banned somewhere due to the controversial nature of some of the content.

I entirely agree - the writing is truly dire. It's one half largely fictitious autobiography and the other half interminable and incomprehensible ranting about his vision for a new Germany. An extremely tedious book.

That was my understanding of the category. It's been around a few years and it was always banned/challenged.

While I was really hoping for something a bit more modern, and an assured good read, which is why I've been hoping that Golden Compass gets a bit more love. Nothing against either Bierce or Voltaire, but I think Pullman's book will be a more enjoyable read.

Come on, folks, let's give Voltaire a bit of a challenge!

Hey, Candide is funny and it's short. Free, too. It doesn't get any more enjoyable than that.

This in contrast to the last two months, one of which was prohibitively long, the other prohibitively expensive and neither funny.

Although Bierce would be good, too. Let's do one now, the other in January! :celebrate:

This was actually my main concern too, but I decided that maybe I could wade through it. I have a feeling in this group most of the discussion will end up being how terribly it's written.

I did vote for it in the end. I tend not to shy away from things that outrage me and becoming familiar with the message might help me recognise it when it is spoken again.

I won't be sad if it loses the vote, though. :)

I find layers of irony in the reaction - but yes.

Of interest, Mein Kampf will become public domain in Germany at the beginning of 2016 and the outright ban will end with the publication of a scholarly edition of the book filled with critical analysis, raising its page count from the original 700 to over 2,000 and will be not only sold but also distributed to schools. Some object but The Central Council of Jews in Germany are in support.

I'm surprised that it's still in copyright, since Hitler "wrote" it in 1924 when he was in the German equivalent of Club Fed after the beer hall putsch. It was published in 1925-26; is there a 90 year copyright period in Germany?

A Hitler literary estate is a creepy thought. On the other hand, I suppose that it meant that Neo-Nazis were not able to have unlimited opportunity to distribute it since it was not PD.

Germany are life plus 70 and with year lumps that'd put Hitler the author as public domain in 2016. The state of Bavaria have the rights.

Candide is on this list, if anyone out there is hesitating about voting for it :)

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/...n-to-in-school

Just finished reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. It was a wonderful book, and an easy read - only 159 pages.

Last call for The Golden Compass. After all, we should all have read Candide in our youth (at least I can't imagine getting through school without it), but I'll bet most of you haven't read Philip Pullman's highly readable and controversial Dark Materials trilogy, of which Golden Compass is the first. And yes, it is more pages than Candide, but it's hardly a long book at well under 400 pages. And IME, it goes fast. Plus there's a superb audio version for those who wish to read it that way.

I've always wondered about Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy versus C.S. Lewis Narnia books. I've read neither, although I understood that the Narnia books were meant to be understood as a Christian metaphor. The only Lewis book I've "read" is a narration by John Cleese of The Screwtape Letters - I enjoyed that, although I'm not sure how much of that was due to Cleese or to Lewis. Likewise, I've heard that the Dark Materials books have encountered a lot of opposition from organized religion, which I supposed is where the banned/supressed aspect comes in.

Can anyone who has read both series comment on how they compare, both as fantasies and ideologically?

I've read The Golden Compass and not Candide.