December 2015 Special Run-Off Vote
 

December 2015 Mobile Read Book Club Special Run-Off Vote

Since this month's vote resulted in a tie, we are having a Special Run-Off Vote between the two leading candidates. I will not vote in this poll unless my vote is needed to break a tie. This poll will be open for 3 days, and all MobileRead members are invited to participate. This is a visible, multiple-choice poll.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on December 20th. Please select from the following two Choices:

• The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler
Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo


• Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx
Goodreads | Amazon Au / Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Kobo

Only one vote separates the books at this point. I really don't want to see a tie, as I really don't want to have to choose between these two. I really don't mind which wins as they both look excellent. Someone needs to some campaigning here. Christmas Mysteries looks excellent and I love a good mystery, but is everyone going to have time to read 674 pages by the 20th? Annie Proulx is an unknown for me, but she has a solid core of fans, and some of the samples they have posted elsewhere of her writing makes the book seem like a sure bet, and it's only 295 pages (or 323, depending on where you buy the book). And, of course, one of the stories was made into a major motion picture.

OK, I'll lobby hard for Annie Proulx. Not based on content -- both look excellent, and like Tom, I love a good mystery. But the price of the Penzler book is just way, way more than I can justify right now. And I'm also unlikely to be able to read 600+ pages. (Though with a short story book, we could easily agree to only discuss some subset of the total # of stories. And if we do select the Penzler book, I'd strongly suggest that.)

The Penzler will be fun as well as timely. I can see people dipping into it as sheer refreshment or pleasure during a frazzled run-up to the holidays. I doubt it takes the attention or concentration of Proulx, so if you've got a little time to kill (heh, I punned), pull out your phone or whatever and read a story. So pick the fun option, folks, and if you're willing to put on your traveling shoes there's a cheap way to get it.

And then Proulx might get picked next month but no one's gonna want to read Christmas stories in January!

Orthodox Christians, who celebrate Christmas on 7th Jan?

:D Well, the discussion thread won't start until January 20, so it's stale by then!

Nice cop. :hatsoff: :drinks:

I should have kept my mouth shut. Now they're tied! :eek:

You wanted this! :D

helped.

I bought the Penzler Christmas book two years ago, and have enjoyed reading a number of the stories the past two Decembers. So I can vouch for the quality of the selections.

In regard to CRussel's point, I can't imagine anyone reading the entire volume in only one month! It's a Christmas gift to yourself that will last quite a few Decembers.

As an aside, a few years ago I decided that the Christmas season is too short for me, so I now celebrate it till the mid-January Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. Did you know that the Twelve Days of Christmas begin Dec. 25?

Of course. When else would it begin?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday))

I would have thought that 1448 years would be a sufficient length of time to get the message across :).

(Much) cheaper source for the Christmas Mysteries anthology
 

New member, long-time lurker here.

Thought I'd pass on that The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries runs for about 5.3 USD / 4.9 Euro on Google Play Store (at least when accessed from Indonesia. Not sure if region has any bearing on pricing).

I personally didn't vote since I'm okay with either title, but it seems like many of you are interested in the book but find it cost prohibitive. Thought you'd like to know a source where it's cheaper :2thumbsup

Be aware though that Google Play lists two editions of the book, one at around 14.3 USD / 13.15 Euro.

The link to the cheaper one is https://play.google.com/store/books/...AgAAQBAJ&hl=en

To the best of my knowledge, there is no difference in content between the two editions. At first I thought the cheaper edition is an abbreviated version of the anthology, but it has the complete list of titles when I opened the book.

For comparison purposes, it's 1225 pages in Google Play Book and 1212 when opened on my Kobo H2O. Maybe those who already own the book can confirm whether that sounds about right?

Regards,
-Andie

I've voted for the Christmas stories. Only £1.69 at Amazon UK, and it sounds great.

Me too :). Great value for money!

Welcome aboard, Andie, and glad to see you no longer lurking!

Unfortunately the only copy I can access on Google Play is $15.99. It's probably a regional thing. The link you kindly provided only leads to an "Add to Wishlist" option here in the U.S.

And, in case no one noticed, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries: The Most Complete Collection of Yuletide Whodunits Ever Assembled edited by Otto Penzler is our winner. Those of us in the USA have our choice of buying it for $15.99 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Google Play. On the plus side, you can cram a lot of cozy mysteries into 672 pages. That's a lot of entertainment from the creators of Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, Nero Wolfe, and more!

Here's the Amazon UK link, where it's an absolute bargain at £1.69 (about US$2.50).

It's also available (& couponable, I think) for £4.07 at Kobo UK for anyone visiting the UK but doesn't want the hassle of setting up an Amazon UK account.

... or you could just buy the paperback for £16.58 :).

December 2015 Special Run-Off Vote
 

The typical reading time according to Amazon is 22 hours and 25 minutes, so assuming we all sleep for only an hour and 35 minutes, take no brakes, and don't eat, there's no reason why any of us can't polish this thing off in a day.

Sounds like a good plan to me! When do we start? Christmas Eve?

Speedreading without caution and with abandon, eh?

The best thing about using both Swype and autocorrect on my mobile devices is that I never have to take the blame for my own mistakes! :D

Harry, I strongly suspect that if you asked most Americans, they would guess that Dec. 25 is the last of the twelve days of Christmas. Stores and radio stations behave as if the Christmas season is over Dec. 26.

Thanks for the warm welcome, WT! :D I wonder if Asia gets both UK/Europe and US editions of the anthology. That would explain the two copies. I've seen other books with both US and UK editions available, though never at such a huge price gap.

And if I recall correctly, Russell, that it starts right on 1 November after Halloween :P I remember during my years in the US, the holiday season started progressively earlier each year haha....

My thanks to everyone who voted for my nominee!

*****

Andie, I don't know what happened this year; but for the past ten or so years, it has been common for radio stations to move to the 100% Christmas music format on Nov. 15!

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries is way too large to read for December. We really need a limit on the size of a book for December no matter the category. There's a lot doing in December and not enough time to read a book that's that large.

I think we should scrap this one and go for a smaller book.

You have until 20th Jan to read it - that's almost a month and a half. You don't have to read the whole thing; it is, after all, a book of short stories.

We wish you a mysterious Christmas
We wish you a mysterious Christmas
We wish you a mysterious Christmas
and a haunting New Year!

:D

I'm finding that it's a quick read and easy to dip into, thus a friendly choice for a busy season. I suspect most, including me, won't have finished it when the discussion starts December 20, but one would only have to have read some of the stories to participate.

I am reading one story per night.

I am glad that the group chose a Christmastime item to reinforce for me aspects of the season other than what stores are doing.

Well, I think I'm taking a short trip to the UK for this one. Now, I wonder if there are any spare coupons around?

ETA: My quick trip to the UK is finished, and I have a new book to show for it. I look forward to starting it tonight.

I've started on this now.

Apropos, there is a single-panel comic "strip" in our local paper each day called Argyle Sweater. The Christmas Day comic has a woman returning her Christmas presents to the store (the birds a-laying) "On the 13th Day of Christmas." !!!

http://www.theargylesweater.com/