Help us choose a book as the September 2017 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://wtsharpe.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 immediately after a winner is chosen. You may join the discussion at any time. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:
She is the story of Cambridge professor Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey, and their journey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. The journey is triggered by a mysterious package left to Leo by his father, to be opened on his 25th birthday; the package contains an ancient shard of pottery and several documents, suggesting an ancient mystery about the Vincey family. Holly and Leo eventually arrive in eastern Africa where they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen, Ayesha, who reigns as the all-powerful "She" or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" and who has a mysterious connection to young Leo.
The story expresses numerous racial and evolutionary conceptions of the late Victorians, especially notions of degeneration and racial decline prominent during the fin de siècle. In the figure of She, the novel notably explored themes of female authority and feminine behaviour. It has received praise and criticism alike for its representation of womanhood.
• The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold Goodreads | Overdrive Print Length: 146 pages
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:
This classic work of science fiction is widely considered to be the ultimate time-travel novel. When Daniel Eakins inherits a time machine, he soon realizes that he has enormous power to shape the course of history. He can foil terrorists, prevent assassinations, or just make some fast money at the racetrack. And if he doesn't like the results of the change, he can simply go back in time and talk himself out of making it! But Dan soon finds that there are limits to his powers and forces beyond his control.
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Goodreads | Patricia Clark Memorial Library:ePub / Kindle / Librivox Print Length: 490 pages
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:
Jane Eyre is a nineteenth century proto feminist novel by Charlotte Bronte. It is a radical story of Jane Eyre, an unwanted orphan girl who is sent to live in a charity school by her aunt. Here she overcomes oppression to emerge a mature woman and lead life on her own terms. As an independent woman, she goes to Thornfield Hall as a governess, where she falls in love with the owner. However, it is on her most important day in life that she must take a difficult decision, which would change her life forever and of people around her.
Wimseys mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, rings her son with news of such a quaint thing. She has heard through a friend that Mr. Thipps, a respectable Battersea architect, found a dead man in his bathwearing nothing but a gold pince-nez. Lord Wimsey makes his way straight over to Mr. Thipps, and a good look at the body raises a number of interesting questions. Why would such an apparently well groomed man have filthy black toenails, flea bites and the scent of carbolic soap lingering on his corpse? Then comes the disappearance of oil millionaire Sir Reuben Levy, last seen on the Battersea Park Road. With his beard shaved he would look very similar to the man found in the bath, but is Sir Levy really dead?
From FadedPage:
"Whose Body" is something of an apprentice work. Lord Peter is here more a bundle of characteristics than a character: a collector of rare books and incunabula, facile with quotations, fluent in French and probably in Latin, a skillful and sensitive pianist who never needs to practise, slightly built but possessed of "curious" strength and speed which he maintains without exercise. Over subsequent books, this caricature smooths and deepens into one of the most interesting and attractive detectives in fiction.
In spite of its awkwardness, Whose Body is worth reading. The plot is clever, the villain is believable and sadistic, and most of the supporting characters are a delight. Some of these characters are further developed in later novels: Bunter, Parker, the Dowager Duchess, Freddy Arbuthnot. Others fortunately are not. Sayers is much better with people she might recognise as "like us" then with people from other social groups.
From Goodreads:
The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath.
Denis Stone, a naive young poet, is invited to stay at Crome, a country house renowned for its gatherings of 'bright young things'. His hosts, Henry Wimbush and his exotic wife Priscilla, are joined by a party of colourful guests whose intrigues and opinions ensure Denis's stay is a memorable one. First published in 1921, Crome Yellow was Aldous Huxley's much-acclaimed debut novel.
First published in 1921, Crome Yellow was Aldous Huxley's much-acclaimed debut novel. With the evident relish of the true satirist, he mocked the fads, foibles and spirit of his time with an unsurpassed wit and brilliance.
• A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes Goodreads Print Length: 298 pages
Spoiler:
From Goodreads:
A High Wind in Jamaica is not so much a book as a curious object, like a piece of driftwood torqued into an alarming shape from years at sea. And like driftwood, it seems not to have been made, exactly, but simply to have come into being, so perfectly is its form married to its content. The five Bas-Thornton children must leave their parents in Jamaica after a terrible hurricane blows down their family home. Accompanied by their Creole friends, the Fernandez children, they board a ship that is almost immediately set upon by pirates. The children take to corsair life coolly and matter-of-factly; just as coolly do they commit horrible deeds, and have horrible deeds visited upon them. First published in 1929, A High Wind in Jamaica has been compared to Lord of the Flies in its unflinching portrayal of innocence corrupted, but Richard Hughes is the supreme ironist William Golding never was. He possesses the ability to be one moment thoroughly inside a character's head, and the next outside of it altogether, hilariously commenting.
Irony finds a happy home indeed in the book's mixture of the macabre and the adorable. The baby girl, Rachel, "could even sum up maternal feelings for a marline-spike, and would sit up aloft rocking it in her arms and crooning. The sailors avoided walking underneath: for such an infant, if dropped from a height, will find its way through the thickest skull (an accident which sometimes befalls unpopular captains)." In that "such an infant" lies a world of mordant wit. In fact, throughout, Hughes's wildly eccentric punctuation and startling syntax make just the right verbal vehicle for this dark-hearted pirate story for grownups.
Hughes enjoys some coy riffing on the child mind, as with this description of the way Emily handles an uncomfortable social situation: "Much the best way of escaping from an embarrassing rencontre, when to walk away would be an impossible strain on the nerves, is to retire in a series of somersaults. Emily immediately started turning head over heels up the deck." Even so, Hughes never sentimentalizes his subject: "Babies of course are not human--they are animals, and have a very ancient and ramified culture, as cats have, and fishes, and even snakes." Children, as a race, are given rough treatment: "their minds are not just more ignorant and stupider than ours, but differ in kind of thinking (are mad, in fact)." That madness is here isolated, prodded, and poked to chilling effect. But Hughes never loses sight of his ultimate objective: A High Wind in Jamaica is, above all, a cracking good yarn.
Captain John Staple, back from the battlefront, is already bored with his quiet civilian life in the country. When he stumbles upon a mystery involving a disappearing toll-gate keeper, nothing could keep the adventure-loving captain from investigating.
But winning her will be his greatest yet...
The plot thickens when John encounters the enigmatic Lady Nell Stornaway and soon learns that rescuing her from her unsavory relatives makes even the most ferocious cavalry charge look like a particularly tame hand of loo. Between hiding his true identity from Nell and the arrival in the neighborhood of some distinctly shady characters, Captain Staple finds himself embarked on the adventure-and romance-of a lifetime.
From Goodreads:
Captain John Staple's exploits in the Peninsula had earned him the sobriquet 'Crazy' Jack amongst his fellows in the Dragoon Guards. Now home from Waterloo, life in peacetime is rather dull for the boisterous, adventure-loving Captain. But when he finds himself lost and benighted at an unmanned toll-house in the Pennines, his soldiering days suddenly pale away besides an adventure - and romance - of a lifetime.
Yet again Georgette Heyer shows the qualities that made her one of the most successful and best-loved romantic novelists of her age, and why her popularity endures to this day.
issybird
08-27-2017 09:16 PM
I've decided to start listening to the Nadia May narration of Jane Eyre and hope that the votes follow suit. :D
WT Sharpe
08-27-2017 10:52 PM
I didn't vote for it, but I plan to read David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself. It's $9.99 at Amazon, though, and not available in my local library, so it may be a while.
CRussel
08-28-2017 01:36 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3573601)
I've decided to start listening to the Nadia May narration of Jane Eyre and hope that the votes follow suit. :D
I'll be doing the same, but still hoping for another result. ;)
JSWolf
08-28-2017 06:29 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3573601)
I've decided to start listening to the Nadia May narration of Jane Eyre and hope that the votes follow suit. :D
I've started reading The Man Who Folded Himself in hopes that it wins.
JSWolf
08-28-2017 06:30 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
(Post 3573630)
I didn't vote for it, but I plan to read David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself. It's $9.99 at Amazon, though, and not available in my local library, so it may be a while.
There's always the travel to Taiwan and use the 40% off voucher code at Kobo for getting it cheaper.
JSWolf
08-28-2017 06:32 AM
One of the problems with Jane Eyre is that it's too large. I don't have time to read it. So please don't vote for it. Help me out with a shorter book.
The man Who Folded Himself is the perfect size book.
John F
08-28-2017 06:46 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3573720)
One of the problems with Jane Eyre is that it's too large. I don't have time to read it. So please don't vote for it. Help me out with a shorter book.
The man Who Folded Himself is the perfect size book.
Looking on Amazon, the paperbacks of She and The Man Who Folded Himself are both 144 pages, so a vote for She would also help Jon out. :p
JSWolf
08-28-2017 07:42 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
(Post 3573723)
Looking on Amazon, the paperbacks of She and The Man Who Folded Himself are both 144 pages, so a vote for She would also help Jon out. :p
Sorry, but She is 178 pages. So that makes it longer and that doesn't help at all. Plus, I won't read She because of the racism in Haggard's books.
And the publisher of the eBook says it's 330 pages. So really, there is no definitive page number.
So get me the ePub page number and then we'll talk since that's like for like.
CRussel
08-28-2017 12:12 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3573720)
One of the problems with Jane Eyre is that it's too large. I don't have time to read it.
I agree, it's a longish book. Definitely longer than we usually try to go with here, for just that reason. But if you start now, you should be able to get it in. And the discussion doesn't stop, so you can add your comments at any point. And there are excellent audio versions, both free and paid, along with plenty of free eBook versions. So that's not a problem.
For those wanting to vote for something shorter, also available free or very cheaply, and with excellent audio versions, I suggest Whose Body, which is within reaching distance of Jane Eyre in the voting.
BenG
08-28-2017 03:03 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3573720)
One of the problems with Jane Eyre is that it's too large. I don't have time to read it. So please don't vote for it. Help me out with a shorter book.
I read it in a week, even with driving down to South Carolina for the eclipse.
JSWolf
08-28-2017 03:09 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BenG
(Post 3573876)
I read it in a week, even with driving down to South Carolina for the eclipse.
But it does help to like that type of book and usually I don't.
issybird
08-29-2017 11:01 AM
The current Audible end-of-summer sale has the Thandie Newton narration of Jane Eyre on sale for $4.95 to members; however, anyone can get the Kindle edition for 99¢ and the audiobook for $1.99. :smack: But the sale drew my attention to what seems a very spiffy version, with a rating of 4.8 stars from over 2,600 reviews. Well worth $2.98 in toto with the added advantage of being able to Whispersync.
CRussel
08-29-2017 01:03 PM
Hmmm. Promising, issybird. Now I'm torn -- read the Thandie Newton version? Or the Nadia May version? Or the Wanda McCaddon version? Decisions, decisions, decisions. (Oh, and even though I'm kind of still hoping for Whose Body to win, I intend to read this as well. )
JSWolf
08-29-2017 01:05 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel
(Post 3574266)
Hmmm. Promising, issybird. Now I'm torn -- read the Thandie Newton version? Or the Nadia May version? Or the Wanda McCaddon version? Decisions, decisions, decisions. (Oh, and even though I'm kind of still hoping for Whose Body to win, I intend to read this as well. )
How to you read an audiobook?
JSWolf
08-29-2017 01:08 PM
Just a quick note. Jane Eyre is a long book. It's the end of August and will soon be September. For parents in the US, you won't have time to read this tome because you'll have kids that will need getting ready for school and then help with homework and other stuff. You'll need to give more time to the kids.
Also, September is a popular month for birthdays and you'll need to deal with birthdays and won't have time for such a tome. And then there's the transitioning from summer to fall.
So overall, September is a really busy month. Too busy for such a tome.
CRussel
08-29-2017 02:01 PM
Perhaps you meant tome, Jon? Yes, I'm sure that's just autocorrect...
But hey, if you want shorter, there's always Lord Peter Wimsey and Whose Body.
sun surfer
08-29-2017 03:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3574235)
The current Audible -of-summer sale has the Thandie Newton narration of Jane Eyre on sale for $4.95 to members; however, anyone get the Kindle edition for 99¢ and the audiobook for $1.99. :smack: But the sale drew my attention to what seems a very spiffy version, with a rating of 4.8 stars from over 2,600 reviews. Well worth $2.98 in toto with the added advantage of being able to Whispersync.
I'd be interested to hear how you think Newton did. You may remember I listened to Emma Thompson's reading of Turn of the Screw. She's a fantastic actress but she absolutely butchered the audiobook narration, so now I'm leery of famous actors narrating as a name 'get'. It could be that Thompson was just an outlier though.
JSWolf
08-29-2017 05:35 PM
Just remember, if you vote for the winning book, your expected to read it and participate in the discussion. So if Jane Eyre wins, then the 8 of you are expected to read it and participate in the discussion. So if you voted and won't be reading/participating, please say so now.
John F
08-29-2017 05:44 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3574352)
Just remember, if you vote for the winning book, your expected to read it and participate in the discussion. So if Jane Eyre wins, then the 8 of you are expected to read it and participate in the discussion. So if you voted and won't be reading/participating, please say so now.
I'll probably vote for it, and I probably won't be participating in the discussion.
And for those new to (or unfamiliar with) the book club, there is no requirement/obligation to join in the discussion thread.
issybird
08-29-2017 05:49 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by sun surfer
(Post 3574320)
I'd be interested to hear how you think Newton did. You may remember I listened to Emma Thompson's reading of Turn of the Screw. She's a fantastic actress but she absolutely butchered the audiobook narration, so now I'm leery of famous actors narrating as a name 'get'. It could be that Thompson was just an outlier though.
Off hand, I can think of three books narrated by famous actors that I've listened to and they were all quite good: Thérèse Raquin by Kate Winslet, Heart of Darkness by Kenneth Branagh and Our Man in Havana by Jeremy Northam. The last two were book club selections, now that I think of it.
JSWolf
08-29-2017 05:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
(Post 3574354)
I'll probably vote for it, and I probably won't be participating in the discussion.
And for those new to (or unfamiliar with) the book club, there is no requirement/obligation to join in the discussion thread.
But, it's totally unfair to those who want a different book to win. It means you've voted for a book you don't plan to read and/or participate in the discussion. It's especially unfair when you know this when you vote.
If you did vote and you started to read but stopped because you didn't like the book, you can post in the discussion why you stopped reading.
And for those new to the book club, it's sleazy to vote knowing you'll not read/participate.
I voted for two books I would read if they won and would participate. That's not to say I would not read any of the others. But there are two books I won't read and they are She and Jane Eyre.
John F
08-29-2017 05:57 PM
I thought this was interesting, from wiki on The Man Who Folded Himself:
Spoiler:
... References to both the American Airlines Flight 191 crash and the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, events which did not occur until 6 years and 28 years respectively after initial publication, were added in the 2003 edition.
So which version would the book club read?
JSWolf
08-29-2017 06:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3574356)
Off hand, I can think of three books narrated by famous actors that I've listened to and they were all quite good: Thérèse Raquin by Kate Winslet, Heart of Darkness by Kenneth Branagh and Our Man in Havana by Jeremy Northam. The last two were book club selections, now that I think of it.
You should listen to some John Scalzi read by Wil Wheaton. he's good at at. Plus, they are friends.
John F
08-29-2017 06:02 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3574361)
But, it's totally unfair ...
:rolleyes:
CRussel
08-29-2017 06:17 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3574356)
Off hand, I can think of three books narrated by famous actors that I've listened to and they were all quite good: Thérèse Raquin by Kate Winslet, Heart of Darkness by Kenneth Branagh and Our Man in Havana by Jeremy Northam. The last two were book club selections, now that I think of it.
Other examples -- the Robert B. Parker "Spenser" books, narrated by Joe Montegna, and the last few Harry Bosch books from Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver. Interestingly, in both cases, the narrators were also the actors who played the roles in the dramatizations of the series.
Fbone
08-29-2017 09:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
(Post 3573630)
I didn't vote for it, but I plan to read David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself. It's $9.99 at Amazon, though, and not available in my local library, so it may be a while.
It's available on Hoopla, if you have access.
JSWolf
08-30-2017 05:00 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
(Post 3574362)
I thought this was interesting, from wiki on The Man Who Folded Himself:
Spoiler:
... References to both the American Airlines Flight 191 crash and the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, events which did not occur until 6 years and 28 years respectively after initial publication, were added in the 2003 edition.
So which version would the book club read?
The 2003 edition.
sun surfer
08-30-2017 05:29 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
(Post 3574356)
Off hand, I can think of three books narrated by famous actors that I've listened to and they were all quite good: Thérèse Raquin by Kate Winslet, Heart of Darkness by Kenneth Branagh and Our Man in Havana by Jeremy Northam. The last two were book club selections, now that I think of it.
Thanks, good to know! In fact, I think I even listened to the Northam too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel
(Post 3574366)
Other examples -- the Robert B. Parker "Spenser" books, narrated by Joe Montegna, and the last few Harry Bosch books from Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver. Interestingly, in both cases, the narrators were also the actors who played the roles in the dramatizations of the series.
I would think actors who've already made a character theirs onscreen would do well, and neutrally, with a story. I think, with Thompson anyway, the feeling I got was that she wanted to 'do something different' than other narrators had with the story and 'make it her own'. This resulted in a histrionic mess. Narrators have to put some of themselves in a reading as they're forced to interpret character's voices and such, but still the best ones let the story speak for itself rather than purposely trying to 'put a new spin' on things. I think famous actors narrating would be in more danger of doing this, but to be fair I disliked Thompson's reading so much that that may just be confirmation bias!
ETA- I just realised another caveat is needed- it's famous actors narrating classic (probably public domain) books that already have many audiobook versions that I think may be most at risk of this.
BelleZora
08-30-2017 02:51 PM
The Man Who Folded Himself looks interesting, but I didn't vote for it because my library doesn't carry it, and I didn't want to spend the $10. I recommended that my library purchase it.
I began Jane Eyre last night and am enjoying it.
DNSB
08-30-2017 06:02 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
(Post 3573260)
September 2014 MobileRead Book Club Vote
2014???
WT Sharpe
08-31-2017 01:52 PM
:D :D
JSWolf
09-02-2017 07:00 AM
Are all 11 of you who voted for Jane Eyre going to read and/or listen to it and participate in the discussion thread?
John F
09-02-2017 08:39 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3575739)
Are all 11 of you who voted for Jane Eyre going to read and/or listen to it and participate in the discussion thread?
:rolleyes:
John F
09-02-2017 08:41 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3575739)
Are all 11 of you who voted for Jane Eyre going to read and/or listen to it and participate in the discussion thread?
Are all you people who didn't vote for it and whose user name begins with J and ends with f, are you going to hold your breath, stamp your feet, and whinge.
:p
JSWolf
09-02-2017 10:38 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by John F
(Post 3575771)
Are all you people who didn't vote for it and whose user name begins with J and ends with f, going to hold your breath, stamp your feet, and whinge.
:p
The thing is, we've had too many months where a winning book was voted for but a good number and not that many participated. It's time we try to deal with this.
Nyssa
09-02-2017 05:17 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
(Post 3575739)
Are all 11 of you who voted for Jane Eyre going to read and/or listen to it and participate in the discussion thread?