MobileRead March 2014 Book Club Nominations

[WT Sharpe]

MobileRead Book Club
March 2014 Nominations

Help us select the book that the MobileRead Book Club will read for March, 2014.

The nominations will run through midnight EST February 28 or until 10 books have made the list. The poll will then be posted and will remain open for five days.

Book selection category for March is:

Travel/Adventure

In order for a book to be included in the poll it needs THREE NOMINATIONS (original nomination, a second and a third).

How Does This Work?
The Mobile Read Book Club (MRBC) is an informal club that requires nothing of you. Each month a book is selected by polling. On the last week of that month a discussion thread is started for the book. If you want to participate feel free. There is no need to "join" or sign up. All are welcome.

How Does a Book Get Selected?
Each book that is nominated will be listed in a poll at the end of the nomination period. The book that polls the most votes will be the official selection.

How Many Nominations Can I Make?
Each participant has 3 nominations. You can nominate a new book for consideration or nominate (second, third) one that has already been nominated by another person.

How Do I Nominate a Book?
Please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a book, please try to provide an abstract to the book so others may consider their level of interest.

How Do I Know What Has Been Nominated?
Just follow the thread. This message will be updated with the status of the nominations as often as I can. If one is missed, please just post a message with a multi-quote of the 3 nominations and it will be added to the list ASAP.

When is the Poll?
The poll thread will open at the end of the nomination period, or once there have been 10 books with 3 nominations each. At that time a link to the initial poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.

The floor is open to nominations. Please comment if you discover a nomination is not available as an ebook in your area.


Official choices with three nominations each:

(1) The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Amazon US / Project Gutenberg

Spoiler:

The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1922) As War and Peace is to novels, so is The Worst Journey in the World to the literature of polar travel: the one to beat. The author volunteered as a young man to go to the Antarctic with Robert Falcon Scott in 1910; that, and writing this book, are the only things of substance he ever did in life. They were enough. The expedition set up camp on the edge of the continent while Scott waited to go for the Pole in the spring. But first, Cherry-Garrard and two other men set out on a midwinter trek to collect emperor penguin eggs. It was a heartbreaker: three men hauling 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of gear through unrelieved darkness, with temperatures reaching 50, 60, and 70 degrees below zero (-46, -51, and -57 degrees Celsius); clothes frozen so hard it took two men to bend them. But Cherry-Garrard's greater achievement was to imbue everything he endured with humanity and even humor. And—as when he describes his later search for Scott and the doomed South Pole team—with tragedy as well. His book earns its preeminent place on this list by captivating us on every level: It is vivid; it is moving; it is unforgettable.
— National Geographic Books, 2002.

(2) On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads by Tim Cope
Amazon US / Kobo

Spoiler:

From National Geographic:

In 2004, explorer Tim Cope set out to travel 6,000 miles by horse from Mongolia to Hungary across the great Eurasian Steppe. It was a quest to retrace the route taken by Mongolian conquerors, who under Genghis Khan created the largest empire in history, and an odyssey into the spirit of the nomadic way of life. As described in his new book, On the Trail of Genghis Khan, Cope, accompanied by his canine companion, Tigon, and the occasional camel, spent more than three years in the saddle. From the ice-capped Altai Mountains to the burning heat of the Kazakh desert, Cope experienced both rugged trails and nomad hospitality—the linchpin of survival on the steppe. He traveled across a kaleidoscope of countries and came to a deep understanding of the steppe’s rich and diverse nomadic peoples—their rich heritage and the precarious place that the traditional culture finds itself in the modern era. Journey with the 2006 Australian Adventurer of the Year on his fascinating epic across time and space.

(3) Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle / ePub

Spoiler:

The sequel to King Solomon's Mines. Allan, and the Zulu warrior, Umslopogaas, find a lost civilization in the heart of Africa.

(4) Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
No links provided.

Spoiler:

No description provided.

(5) The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Amazon Ca / Amazon US / Barnes & Nobel / Kobo

Spoiler:

From National Geographic:

With all the flash and fireworks of Wolfe's writing, it's easy to overlook that, at bottom, he's a great reporter. And this long and intimate look into the lives, minds, and deeds of the men who rode the first American rockets into space remains Wolfe's best book and the first true classic from the dawn of space exploration. The race with the Russians, the dauntless Chuck Yeager—Wolfe piles story upon story, and the pile glows.
Bantam, 1996.

(6) South: The Endurance Expedition to Antarctica by Ernest Shackleton
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle

Spoiler:

This is one of the most astonishing and heroic true stories ever told. Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica and his amazing exploits are the stuff of legend. One reader on the Amazon site had this to say:

"If you thought you were a hard man - read this book, THEY were hard men. They never complained - except that -20°F was too warm!! Hard to credit this happened not quite a century ago. Rubbish equipment, rubbish food, no contact with the outside world for months at a time. A walk over South Georgia, over the glaciers at 4000 feet in rotten boots and torn clothing! Barely believable. After reading this you will think twice about complaining about anything ever again!!!"

It is available free from Project Gutenberg and Amazon or one can buy it in a number of formats quite easily and inexpensively. There is also a fascinating DVD about the expedition.

(7) Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Amazon US / Kobo

Spoiler:

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

(8) Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

Classic of sea adventure conveys all the excitement of being the first man to sail around the world, alone, in small boat. Pirates, perils, witty observations, stories. 67 illustrations.


About the Author:

Joshua Slocum was a Canadian-American seaman and adventurer, a noted writer, and the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.


"This book has literary merit, thoughtful and beautifully written and packed with incident." - The Nautical Magazine

"As a writer Slocum is given to plain understatement, dry wit, wry humor and Yankee observations about nature that led some to call him a sea-locked Thoreau. ... he offers descriptive glances at the sea, in storm or calm, that can rival those of Joseph Conrad." - Smithsonian

"A literary gem, adroitly and engagingly written." - National Fisherman

"A literate and absorbing yarn published in 1900 and still in print... His story is a convincing tale of the intelligence, skill and fortitude that drove a master navigator." - The New York Times

"One of the most readable books in the whole library of adventure." - Sports Illustrated

"Yet, he seems to almost casually find his way around the world, meeting interesting people, avoiding mishaps and just generally having a great time." - Amazon Reviewer (Robert R. Briggs)

"Fantastic adventure! ... He writes about the practical and technical challenges of long distance sailing in the 19th century and about his encounters with the peoples and tribes on his route. The writing style is short and factual, but that almost makes the impression even stronger given that more often than not Joshua Slocum had to face death and only escaped with the narrowest of margins." - Amazon Reviewer (Robert Pajor)

"Sailing Alone Around the World is a great read, and the adventure it describes is an amazing testament to courage, perseverance, and the human spirit of exploration." - Amazon Reviewer (Carlene Garrick)

The nominations are now closed.

[WT Sharpe]

Wondering if a particular book is available in your country? The following spoiler contains a list of bookstores outside the United States you can search. If you don't see a bookstore on this list for your country, find one that is, send me the link via PM, and I'll add it to the list. In addition, if members let me know that an ebook is unavailable in a particular geographic location, I'll note it in this post, right beside the Inkmesh search for that particular book.

Spoiler:

Australian
Angus Robertson
Booktopia
Borders
Dymocks
Fishpond
Google

Canada
Amazon. Make sure you are logged out. Then go to the Kindle Store. Search for a book. After the search results come up, in the upper right corner of the screen, change the country to Canada and search away.
Google
Sony eBookstore (Upper right corner switch to/from US/CA)

UK
BooksOnBoard (In the upper right corner is a way to switch to the UK store)
Amazon
Foyle's
Google
Penguin
Random House
Waterstones
WH Smith

*** Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard [Dazrin, GA Russell, sun surfer]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle / ePub

Spoiler:

The sequel to King Solomon's Mines. Allan, and the Zulu warrior, Umslopogaas, find a lost civilization in the heart of Africa.

*** The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard [WT Sharpe, issybird, Richard Moody]
Amazon US / Project Gutenberg

Spoiler:

The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1922) As War and Peace is to novels, so is The Worst Journey in the World to the literature of polar travel: the one to beat. The author volunteered as a young man to go to the Antarctic with Robert Falcon Scott in 1910; that, and writing this book, are the only things of substance he ever did in life. They were enough. The expedition set up camp on the edge of the continent while Scott waited to go for the Pole in the spring. But first, Cherry-Garrard and two other men set out on a midwinter trek to collect emperor penguin eggs. It was a heartbreaker: three men hauling 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of gear through unrelieved darkness, with temperatures reaching 50, 60, and 70 degrees below zero (-46, -51, and -57 degrees Celsius); clothes frozen so hard it took two men to bend them. But Cherry-Garrard's greater achievement was to imbue everything he endured with humanity and even humor. And—as when he describes his later search for Scott and the doomed South Pole team—with tragedy as well. His book earns its preeminent place on this list by captivating us on every level: It is vivid; it is moving; it is unforgettable.
— National Geographic Books, 2002.

*** The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe [WT Sharpe, Hamlet53, samhy]
Amazon Ca / Amazon US / Barnes & Nobel / Kobo

Spoiler:

From National Geographic:

With all the flash and fireworks of Wolfe's writing, it's easy to overlook that, at bottom, he's a great reporter. And this long and intimate look into the lives, minds, and deeds of the men who rode the first American rockets into space remains Wolfe's best book and the first true classic from the dawn of space exploration. The race with the Russians, the dauntless Chuck Yeager—Wolfe piles story upon story, and the pile glows.
Bantam, 1996.

*** On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads by Tim Cope [Hamlet53, issybird, BelleZora]
Amazon US / Kobo

Spoiler:

From National Geographic:

In 2004, explorer Tim Cope set out to travel 6,000 miles by horse from Mongolia to Hungary across the great Eurasian Steppe. It was a quest to retrace the route taken by Mongolian conquerors, who under Genghis Khan created the largest empire in history, and an odyssey into the spirit of the nomadic way of life. As described in his new book, On the Trail of Genghis Khan, Cope, accompanied by his canine companion, Tigon, and the occasional camel, spent more than three years in the saddle. From the ice-capped Altai Mountains to the burning heat of the Kazakh desert, Cope experienced both rugged trails and nomad hospitality—the linchpin of survival on the steppe. He traveled across a kaleidoscope of countries and came to a deep understanding of the steppe’s rich and diverse nomadic peoples—their rich heritage and the precarious place that the traditional culture finds itself in the modern era. Journey with the 2006 Australian Adventurer of the Year on his fascinating epic across time and space.

*** Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne [John F, Dazrin, GA Russell]
No links provided.

Spoiler:

No description provided.

*** Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum [sun surfer, BelleZora, fantasyfan]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

Classic of sea adventure conveys all the excitement of being the first man to sail around the world, alone, in small boat. Pirates, perils, witty observations, stories. 67 illustrations.


About the Author:

Joshua Slocum was a Canadian-American seaman and adventurer, a noted writer, and the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.


"This book has literary merit, thoughtful and beautifully written and packed with incident." - The Nautical Magazine

"As a writer Slocum is given to plain understatement, dry wit, wry humor and Yankee observations about nature that led some to call him a sea-locked Thoreau. ... he offers descriptive glances at the sea, in storm or calm, that can rival those of Joseph Conrad." - Smithsonian

"A literary gem, adroitly and engagingly written." - National Fisherman

"A literate and absorbing yarn published in 1900 and still in print... His story is a convincing tale of the intelligence, skill and fortitude that drove a master navigator." - The New York Times

"One of the most readable books in the whole library of adventure." - Sports Illustrated

"Yet, he seems to almost casually find his way around the world, meeting interesting people, avoiding mishaps and just generally having a great time." - Amazon Reviewer (Robert R. Briggs)

"Fantastic adventure! ... He writes about the practical and technical challenges of long distance sailing in the 19th century and about his encounters with the peoples and tribes on his route. The writing style is short and factual, but that almost makes the impression even stronger given that more often than not Joshua Slocum had to face death and only escaped with the narrowest of margins." - Amazon Reviewer (Robert Pajor)

"Sailing Alone Around the World is a great read, and the adventure it describes is an amazing testament to courage, perseverance, and the human spirit of exploration." - Amazon Reviewer (Carlene Garrick)

** Beyond the Horizon by Colin Angus [ccowie, Billi]
No links provided.

Spoiler:

In June, 2004, Colin Angus left Vancouver on his bicycle. Nearly two years later, he rolled back in, looking like a castaway, and having completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe.

Angus cycled, skiied, and rowed a route that took him to Alaska, across the Bering Sea and the Siberian winter, across Europe from Moscow to Portugal, then across the Atlantic to Costa Rica–a 156-day rowing odyssey. From there it was a short 8,300 kilometre ride back to Vancouver. Along the way he burned through 4,000 chocolate bars, 72 inner tubes, 250 kgs of freeze-dried foods, 31 dorado fish (caught from the sea), 2 offshore rowboats, 4 bicycles, 80 kgs of clothing. And he showed the world that if he can travel 43,000 kilometres without polluting the planet, then the rest of us can get off our butts, and clean up our own acts.

*** South: The Endurance Expedition to Antarctica by Ernest Shackleton [fantasyfan, Dazrin, Billi]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: Kindle

Spoiler:

This is one of the most astonishing and heroic true stories ever told. Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica and his amazing exploits are the stuff of legend. One reader on the Amazon site had this to say:

"If you thought you were a hard man - read this book, THEY were hard men. They never complained - except that -20°F was too warm!! Hard to credit this happened not quite a century ago. Rubbish equipment, rubbish food, no contact with the outside world for months at a time. A walk over South Georgia, over the glaciers at 4000 feet in rotten boots and torn clothing! Barely believable. After reading this you will think twice about complaining about anything ever again!!!"

It is available free from Project Gutenberg and Amazon or one can buy it in a number of formats quite easily and inexpensively. There is also a fascinating DVD about the expedition.

*** Wild by Cheryl Strayed [samhy, Billi, orlok]
Amazon US / Kobo

Spoiler:

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

The nominations are now closed.

[Dazrin]

Since the first of these has already been selected (King Solomon's Mines, June 2009), I will nominate Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard.

From Amazon:

In King Solomon's Mines, Haggard introduces the reader to Allan Quatermain, now one of the most famous literary adventure characters. Second in the series, this book, Allan Quatermain, continues the story of this daring man and chronicles in first person (and through correspondence from some of his fictitious companions) his adventures in Africa. Thought to be one of the fictional characters upon which another such person, Indiana Jones, is based, Quatermain is nevertheless a humble man. By his own definition, he is an ". . . 'Adventurer' -- he that goes out to meet whatever may come. Well, that is what we all do in the world one way or another . . ."

Available in Kindle or ePub formats here in the MR library. Thanks HarryT!

[WT Sharpe]

I nominate The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Not only does National Geographic say that of all the literature of polar travel, this is "the one to beat" (It's #1 on their list of adventure books), it's free at several locations.

"The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1922) As War and Peace is to novels, so is The Worst Journey in the World to the literature of polar travel: the one to beat. The author volunteered as a young man to go to the Antarctic with Robert Falcon Scott in 1910; that, and writing this book, are the only things of substance he ever did in life. They were enough. The expedition set up camp on the edge of the continent while Scott waited to go for the Pole in the spring. But first, Cherry-Garrard and two other men set out on a midwinter trek to collect emperor penguin eggs. It was a heartbreaker: three men hauling 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of gear through unrelieved darkness, with temperatures reaching 50, 60, and 70 degrees below zero (-46, -51, and -57 degrees Celsius); clothes frozen so hard it took two men to bend them. But Cherry-Garrard's greater achievement was to imbue everything he endured with humanity and even humor. And—as when he describes his later search for Scott and the doomed South Pole team—with tragedy as well. His book earns its preeminent place on this list by captivating us on every level: It is vivid; it is moving; it is unforgettable."
— National Geographic Books, 2002.

Amazon US / Project Gutenberg

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Since the first of these has already been selected (King Solomon's Mines, June 2009), I will nominate Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard.

From Amazon:

Available in Kindle or ePub formats here in the MR library. Thanks HarryT!

As a rule, most people would never consider a book that's not the first in the series, but I'll throw it up there and see if it sticks.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

As a rule, most people would never consider a book that's not the first in the series, but I'll throw it up there and see if it sticks.

I know, but since the first has already been a selection and since they are fairly well known books, I thought it was worth a shot.

Besides, I wanted to find something that probably wouldn't fit in the literary club. It feels like too many of the selections here should have been there instead. I like a fun read more than something with exceptional literary quality.

[WT Sharpe]

Because some of the most fascinating adventures are in the direction of up, I nominate The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe.

Amazon US / Barnes & Nobel / Kobo

From National Geographic:

With all the flash and fireworks of Wolfe's writing, it's easy to overlook that, at bottom, he's a great reporter. And this long and intimate look into the lives, minds, and deeds of the men who rode the first American rockets into space remains Wolfe's best book and the first true classic from the dawn of space exploration. The race with the Russians, the dauntless Chuck Yeager—Wolfe piles story upon story, and the pile glows.
Bantam, 1996.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I know, but since the first has already been a selection and since they are fairly well known books, I thought it was worth a shot.

Besides, I wanted to find something that probably wouldn't fit in the literary club. It feels like too many of the selections here should have been there instead. I like a fun read more than something with exceptional literary quality.

Good show!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I nominate The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Not only does National Geographic say that of all the literature of polar travel, this is "the one to beat" (It's #1 on their list of adventure books), it's free at several locations.

It's been nominated twice before (once by me ) and didn't make it to the vote. Maybe the third time's the charm.

Seconded.

[Richard Moody]

Thirded!

[GA Russell]

I second Allan Quatermain.

I would have endorsed The Worst Journey in the World, but I see it is already fully nominated. I will second The Right Stuff.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by issybird

It's been nominated twice before (once by me ) and didn't make it to the vote. Maybe the third time's the charm.

Seconded.

I didn't realize it had been nominated twice before, but I did notice that you had nominated it in March 2011, I believe. Truth be told, I was counting on your second!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I didn't realize it had been nominated twice before, but I did notice that you had nominated it in March 2011, I believe. Truth be told, I was counting on your second!

Clearly, I'm far too predictable!

I didn't know about the March 2009 nomination, either, until I did a search to find when I'd nominated it. Before my time and yours also.

I would like to nominate On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads by Tim Cope.

Amazon | Kobo

National Geographic

In 2004, explorer Tim Cope set out to travel 6,000 miles by horse from Mongolia to Hungary across the great Eurasian Steppe. It was a quest to retrace the route taken by Mongolian conquerors, who under Genghis Khan created the largest empire in history, and an odyssey into the spirit of the nomadic way of life. As described in his new book, On the Trail of Genghis Khan, Cope, accompanied by his canine companion, Tigon, and the occasional camel, spent more than three years in the saddle. From the ice-capped Altai Mountains to the burning heat of the Kazakh desert, Cope experienced both rugged trails and nomad hospitality—the linchpin of survival on the steppe. He traveled across a kaleidoscope of countries and came to a deep understanding of the steppe’s rich and diverse nomadic peoples—their rich heritage and the precarious place that the traditional culture finds itself in the modern era. Journey with the 2006 Australian Adventurer of the Year on his fascinating epic across time and space.