MobileRead December 2016 Book Club Nominations

[JSWolf]

Seems like a slow month.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Seems like a slow month.

It shouldn't be; 27 people voted for fantasy in the selection poll. It got more votes than any other category except science fiction.

[Dazrin]

It might just be timing with Thanksgiving coming up. ???

I know I haven't used my other two votes yet since there is very little that is available from my library so far but I haven't checked the last two. I will vote for something even if they aren't available before the deadline though.

[BenG]

I nominate Anita by Keith Roberts.

Goodreads
Audible

Originally written in the late sixties.

Anita lives in two worlds: the modern world of supermarkets and sports cars, radio and rock & roll, where she is a thoroughly modern girl with a thoroughly modern interest in boys and fast living and her own independence. But the ancient and rustic world of traditions, cauldrons, and familiars , where she and her Granny (a witch of the Old School, broom and all) invoke elemental spirits int he service of Him Wot's Down Under.

From Neil Gaiman's intro to the audiobook (which is excellent):

Spoiler:

"Anita is an almost forgotten novel by one of the finest UK writers. But it is a favorite of mine. Anita works on two levels: on the one hand, the stories are a product of the 1960s - they come out of a swinging world and a "Georgy Girl" time, and Keith Roberts, then a young art director, has captured the feel of the sixties. At the same time, he writes about a teenage witch being brought up by her Granny; he writes about a young witch falling in love, getting her heart broken, about change and growing up and compromise, about what magic is and how you can lose it sometimes and how you can get it back. And the character of Anita's Granny is amazing, one of Keith Roberts' best characters…. [Anita] set the template for all the teenage witch stories that come after, and she did it better and more magically. I wanted these stories back in "print", where people could hear them and could fall in love with Anita and Granny, as I did."

[BenG]

I also third Silverlock.

[CRussel]

Well, I apologize for not checking in to the thread until now, but plead "life" and "work". I've been living out of hotels for the last month and a half, and I don't have much time for anything except surviving.

So, Fantasy. First, NO DARK STUFF. And preferably no zombies. I just really don't want to go there right now. So, how about something a bit more fun. I'll nominate Sharon Lee's wonderful Carousel Tides. This is set in coastal Maine, in the fictitious Archer's Beach.

Amazon Blurb:

Spoiler:

Kate Archer left home years ago, swearing that she would die before she returned to Maine. As plans go, it was a pretty good one — simple and straightforward.

Not quite fast enough, though.

Before she can quite manage the dying part, Kate gets notice that her grandmother is missing, leaving the carousel that is the family business untended.

And in Archers Beach, that means ‘way more trouble than just a foreclosure.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Goodreads Blurb:

Spoiler:

Carousel Tides pulls you into the chill foggy reality of peeling-paint sand-grit coastal Maine outside of tourist season and then hands you something else -- the hidden world lurking in shadows or under the land's surface or just offshore, where black dogs hunt the night and selkies toss unpleasant truths over their shoulders before diving into the next wave. In the center of this, Kate Archer tends and guards one of the spookiest carousels this side of Ray Bradbury and wonders what has happened to her grandmother. The old woman sent her a letter, left papers deeding over the carousel and old house and the Land (meaning much more than property), and vanished, telling the spirits of the land and sea that she expected to be back before the turning of the year.

Now March has come and gone and Kate must return from self-exile to take up powers and responsibilities she has renounced, or dying will be the least of her problems . . .

Sharon Lee weaves fantasy into reality so deftly that you scarcely notice when you slip across the edge. And once you're there, the story's own magic won't let you turn back from the strong characters, deep mysteries, and even deeper danger.

--James A. Hetley, author of Dragon's Eye, Dragon's Teeth, and Dragon's Bones. (less)

304 Pages, list price $6.99 on Amazon (but I saw it for ~$5.) WhisperSync for Voice for an additional $1.99.

Amazon.com ($5.16)

Kobo ($6.99)

Audible (1 Credit, $1.99 Whispersync, $17.47)

Baen E-Books ($6.99)

This is an enjoyable, fun read of a reasonable length and reasonable price. (No overdrive, however.) Recommended.

[CRussel]

I'll second Sorcerer to the Crown, even though it's a bit expensive. Sounds possible.

[CRussel]

Finally, even though the Barbara Hambly looks possible, I have to give my last vote to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale. It's free for those of us in KU, has a good WhisperSync price, sounds interesting, and is, of course, from a revered Canadian.

[JSWolf]

A Monster Calls just needs two nods. It's a good way to know if you want to go see the movie or not.

[CRussel]

I don't, and I'm not even vaguely interested in it. Besides, I just spent my last nomination.

[JSWolf]

Right now there are only two books I would vote for. Problem is both have not yet gotten three nods.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Right now there are only two books I would vote for. Problem is both have not yet gotten three nods.

I third The Lightning Thief.

[Luffy]

I third The Handmaid's Tale.

[Luffy]

I second A Monster Calls.

[Moe The Cat]

I will third A Monster Calls. I've read and enjoyed several from Patrick Ness, but haven't read this one yet.