MobileRead February 2011 Book Club Nominations

[pilotbob]

Dreams... Time Travelers Wife isn't available as an eBook... I recall the discussion about the authors views on that.

BOb

[HarryT]

In order to be eligible for the vote, a book HAS to be legally available as an eBook. This rules out "The Time Traveller's Wife".

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I'll nominate A Room With A View, by E. M. Forster.

From Wikipedia:

"A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century."

I'll 2nd A Room with a View

[VioletVal]

I second Pride and Prejudice.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When did we agree on romance for 2011?

Can we find a category that actually doesn't have a number of people saying no to?

I think you need to start your own book club, as that appears to be the only way to guarantee your satisfaction.

[pholy]

I'll second A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold - I enjoyed The Mountains of Morning, and I'd like to ease into the series.

[doreenjoy]

I'll third A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold (mainly because I haven't read it and I like to try new things).

[dreams]

Please let me know of any errors or corrections needed.

It appears we have 9 fully nominated books.

NOTE: Please check if the book you would like is available to your geographic location, in the format you want, and at a purchase price acceptable to you.

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte [VioletVal, astrangerhere, Nyssa, mayoi]
  Spoiler:

  Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre is narrated by the title character, an orphan who survives neglect and abuse to become a governess at the remote Thornfield Hall. She finds a kindred spirit in her employer, the mysterious and brooding Mr. Rochester, but he hides a terrible secret that threatens their chances of happiness. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)
  
  @ MobileRead - (Illustrated) Mobi/PRC & (Illustrated) LRF by HarryT | German ePub by J.U. | French LRF by Madam Broshkina | Inkmesh search | LibriVox audio
  
  
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë [John F, jenieliser, MsAstoria]
  Spoiler:

  Emily Brontë’s only novel, published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.
  
  Now considered a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared, with many horrified by the stark depictions of mental and physical cruelty. Though Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was originally considered the best of the Brontë sisters’ works, many subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior. (Summary by Wikipedia)
  
  
  @ MobileRead ePub & LRF by HarryT | Inkmesh search | LibriVox audio
  
  
• Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence [caleb72, Latinandgreek, lila55]
  
  Spoiler:

  
  A quote:"Sons and Lovers was the first modern portrayal of a phenomenon that later, thanks to Freud, became easily recognizable as the Oedipus complex. Never was a son more indentured to his mother's love and full of hatred for his father than Paul Morel, D.H. Lawrence's young protagonist. Never, that is, except perhaps Lawrence himself. In his 1913 novel he grappled with the discordant loves that haunted him all his life--for his spiritual childhood sweetheart, here called Miriam, and for his mother, whom he transformed into Mrs. Morel. It is, by Lawrence's own account, a book aimed at depicting this woman's grasp: "as her sons grow up she selects them as lovers--first the eldest, then the second. These sons are urged into life by their reciprocal love of their mother--urged on and on. But when they come to manhood, they can't love, because their mother is the strongest power in their lives."
  
  @ MobileRead Mobi/PRC by NedC - LRF by Dr. Drib | Inkmesh search
  
  
• Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence [caleb72, doreenjoy, montsnmags]
  
  Spoiler:

  From one source:
  
  "Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned for a time in both the UK and the US as pornographic. In the UK it was published in unexpurgated form in 1960 after an obscenity trial, where defense witnesses included E.M. Forster, Helen Gardner, and Richard Hoggart.
  
  "Printed privately in Florence in 1928, it was not printed in the United Kingdom until 1960. Lawrence considered calling this book Tenderness at one time and made significant alterations to the original manuscript in order to make it palatable to readers. It has been published in three different versions."
  
  And from the Wik:
  
  "The publication of the book caused a scandal due to its explicit sex scenes, including previously banned four-letter words, and perhaps particularly because the lovers were a working-class male and an aristocratic female..."
  
  This is an important novel, as both literature and social commentary.
  
  @ MobileRead LRF by Dr. Drib - IMP by DaleDe | Inkmesh search
  
  
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon [voodoo_pepperweb, inkyness, bjones6416]
  
  Spoiler:

  In Outlander , a 600-page time-travel romance, strong-willed and sensual Claire Randall leads a double life with a husband in one century, and a lover in another. Torn between fidelity and desire, she struggles to understand the pure intent of her heart. But don't let the number of pages and the Scottish dialect scare you. It's one of the fastest reads you'll have in your library. While on her … more »second honeymoon in the British Isles, Claire touches a boulder that hurls her back in time to the forbidden Castle Leoch with the MacKenzie clan. Not understanding the forces that brought her there, she becomes ensnared in life-threatening situations with a Scots warrior named James Fraser. But it isn't all spies and drudgery that she must endure. For amid her new surroundings and the terrors she faces, she is lured into love and passion like she's never known before. I was lame and sore in every muscle when I woke next morning. I shuffled to the privy closet, then to the wash basin. My innards felt like churned butter. It felt as though I had been beaten with a blunt object, I reflected, then thought that that was very near the truth. The blunt object in question was visible as I came back to bed, looking now relatively harmless. Its possessor [Jamie] woke as I sat next to him, and examined me with something that looked very much like male smugness." Gabaldon creates characters that you'll remember, laugh with, cry with, and cheer for long after you've finished the book. --Candy Paape Absorbing and heartwarming, this first novel lavishly evokes the land and lore of Scotland, quickening both with realistic characters and a feisty, likable heroine. English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she's somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank's evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, a gallant, merry redhead, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack. Scenes of the Highlanders' daily life blend poignant emotions with Scottish wit and humor. Eventually Sassenach (outlander) Claire finds a chance to return to 1945, and must choose between distant memories of Frnak and her happy, uncomplicated existence with Jamie. Claire's resourcefulness and intelligent sensitivity make the love-conquers-all, happily-ever-after ending seem a just reward. Doubleday Book Club main selection, Literary Guild alternate. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. (from Amazon.com)
  
  Inkmesh search
  
  
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro [lila55, John F, inkyness]
  
  Spoiler:

  Description: The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, … more »there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence. Greeted with high praise in England, where it seems certain to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Ishiguro's third novel (after An Artist of the Floating World ) is a tour de force-- both a compelling psychological study and a portrait of a vanished social order. Stevens, an elderly butler who has spent 30 years in the service of Lord Darlington, ruminates on the past and inadvertently slackens his rigid grip on his emotions to confront the central issues of his life. Glacially reserved, snobbish and humorless, Stevens has devoted his life to his concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and a ruthless suppression of sentiment. Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father's death and his "correct" behavior with the spunky former housekeeper, Miss Kenton. Ishiguro builds Stevens's character with precisely controlled details, creating irony as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. In the poignant denouement, Stevens belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a foolish man and that he has never discovered "the key to human warmth." While it is not likely to provoke the same shocks of recognition as it did in Britain, this insightful, often humorous and moving novel should significantly enhance Ishiguro's reputation here. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. (from Amazon.com)
  
  Inkmesh search
  
  
• A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold [pdurrant, pholy, doreenjoy]
  Spoiler:

  from Baen: Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson. Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan . . .
  
  Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Commodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again. But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might. He has a cunning plan . . .
  
  @ Baen
  
  
• A Room With A View by E. M. Forster [montsnmags, Nyssa, bjones6416]
  
  Spoiler:

  This Edwardian social comedy explores love and prim propriety among an eccentric cast of characters assembled in an Italian pensione and in a corner of Surrey, England. A charming young English woman, Lucy Honeychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson--who is entirely unsuitable and whose father just may be a Socialist--Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class and her own conflicting desires.
  Back in England she is courted by a more acceptable, if stifling, suitor, and soon realizes she must make a startling decision that will decide the course of her future: she is forced to choose between convention and passion.
  The enduring delight of this tale of romantic intrigue is rooted in Forster's colorful characters, including outrageous spinsters, pompous clergymen and outspoken patriots. Written in 1908, A Room With A View is one of E.M. Forster's earliest and most celebrated works.
  
  @MobilRead ePub by weatherwax | Inkmesh search
  
  
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [CO'Neil, VioletVal, Nyssa]
  
  Spoiler:

  A fully illustrated version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". This is the fully proofed first-edition text of the book, with 24 full page illustrations by C.E.Brock added.
  
  Plot summary from Amazon:
  
  Pride and Prejudice has delighted generations of readers with its unforgettable cast of characters, carefully choreographed plot, and a hugely entertaining view of the world and its absurdities. With the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out and upside down. Pride encounters prejudice, upward-mobility confronts social disdain, and quick-wittedness challenges sagacity, as misconceptions and hasty judgements lead to heartache and scandal, but eventually to true understanding, self-knowledge, and love. In this supremely satisfying story, Jane Austen balances comedy with seriousness, and witty observation with profound insight. If Elizabeth Bennet returns again and again to her letter from Mr Darcy, readers of the novel are drawn even more irresistibly by its captivating wisdom.
  
  Illustrations are used, with thanks, from http://www.mollands.net and http://www.solitary-elegance.com. Both these web sites are great resources for all fans of Jane Austen!
  
  @ MobileRead (Illustrated) ePub & (Illustrated) LRF & (Illustrated) Mobi/PRC by HarryT

============

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart [obs20]

[2]Second Sight by Amanda Quick [hedwig, DixieGal]

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb [JSWolf]

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - Not available as an ebook

Lolita by by Vladimir Nabokov [sun surfer] was there a clear first nomination on this?

[2]The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough [sun surfer, VioletVal]

Spoiler:

One of the most beloved novels of all time, Colleen McCullough's magnificent saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian outback has enthralled readers the world over. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.

[2]The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway [sun surfer, lila55]

Spoiler:

The Sun Also Rises first appeared in 1926, and yet it's as fresh and clean and fine as it ever was, maybe finer. Hemingway's famously plain declarative sentences linger in the mind like poetry: "Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy's. She started all that." His cast of thirtysomething dissolute expatriates-… more »-Brett and her drunken fiancé, Mike Campbell, the unhappy Princeton Jewish boxer Robert Cohn, the sardonic novelist Bill Gorton--are as familiar as the "cool crowd" we all once knew. No wonder this quintessential lost-generation novel has inspired several generations of imitators, in style as well as lifestyle. Jake Barnes, Hemingway's narrator with a mysterious war wound that has left him sexually incapable, is the heart and soul of the book. Brett, the beautiful, doomed English woman he adores, provides the glamour of natural chic and sexual unattainability. Alcohol and post-World War I anomie fuel the plot: weary of drinking and dancing in Paris cafés, the expatriate gang decamps for the Spanish town of Pamplona for the "wonderful nightmare" of a week-long fiesta. Brett, with fiancé and ex-lover Cohn in tow, breaks hearts all around until she falls, briefly, for the handsome teenage bullfighter Pedro Romero. "My God! he's a lovely boy," she tells Jake. "And how I would love to see him get into those clothes. He must use a shoe-horn." Whereupon the party disbands. But what's most shocking about the book is its lean, adjective-free style. The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's masterpiece--one of them, anyway--and no matter how many times you've read it or how you feel about the manners and morals of the characters, you won't be able to resist its spell. This is a classic that really does live up to its reputation. --David Laskin The publisher is using these two perennial favorites to launch its new Scribner Paperback Fiction line. This edition of Paradise marks the 75th anniversary of the smash 1920 first novel that skyrocketed Fitzgerald to literary stardom at the ripe old age of 23. Several years later, The Sun (1926), Hemingway's own first novel, performed an identical service for him at age 26. The line will eventually include additional titles by these giants as well as works by Edith Wharton, Langston Hughes, and other greats. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. (from Amazon.com)

Inkmesh search

[JSWolf]

To those who nominated Outlander...

I've read it and really bad. It was not even good. The best part was the bit at the end where you close the back cover because it's done and you can then wonder why you wasted part of your life reading it.

[JSWolf]

I'll nominate Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

The novel that started it all.

Writing as J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts has won new fans with her futuristic series of romantic crime novels. New York police lieutenant Eve Dallas gets involved with Roarke, a suspect in her latest murder case. But passion and seduction have rules all their own....

It's a good book for those who like a good mystery and for those who like or dislike romance.

If you read it and you like it, there are over 30 more you can read and enjoy. I've read up to #8 and plan on reading #9 soon.

[Nyssa]

My final nomination (as I believe we can only pick 3) will be to 3rd Pride and Prejudice.

That would give us out ninth books from which to choose - with one more spot remaining.

[sun surfer]

Hello all! I have just found this and may try and join you for next month. I read the rules and the thread so far. There are some I'd nominate but they already have three nominations. So, here's where I'll use my three:

-I second Lolita.

-I nominate The Thornbirds, Colleen McCullough

-I nominate The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

Well, I'm out of nominations but I was also considering nominating "Tropic Of Cancer" by Henry Miller.

[dreams]

I have updated post #53 with the 9 fully nominated books.

Please check for any errors. Thank you.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To those who nominated Outlander...

I've read it and really bad. It was not even good. The best part was the bit at the end where you close the back cover because it's done and you can then wonder why you wasted part of your life reading it.

I loved Outlander, and the whole rest of the series. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[sun surfer]

Thank you dreams. I thought someone had nominated Lolita but maybe they'd just suggested it.



Here's a description for The Thorn Birds:

One of the most beloved novels of all time, Colleen McCullough's magnificent saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian outback has enthralled readers the world over. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.