MobileRead November 2014 Book Club Vote

[WT Sharpe]

November 2014 MobileRead Book Club Vote
November
Help us choose a book as the November 2014 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 You may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on November 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each:

• Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Overdrive

Spoiler:

From Amazon (some possible plot spoilers?):

They are the "Others," an ancient race of supernatural beings—magicians, shape-shifters, vampires, and healers—who live among us. Human born, they must choose a side to swear allegiance to—the Dark or the Light—when they come of age.

For a millennium, these opponents have coexisted in an uneasy peace, enforced by defenders like the Night Watch, forces of the Light who guard against the Dark. But prophecy decrees that one supreme "Other" will arise to spark a cataclysmic war. ...

• The Bat by Jo Nesbø
Amazon US / Google / Kobo / Overdrive

Spoiler:

Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case. Harry is free to offer assistance, but he has firm instructions to stay out of trouble. The victim is a twenty-three year old Norwegian woman who is a minor celebrity back home. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Harry befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case. Together, they discover that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders, and the pattern points toward a psychopath working his way across the country. As they circle closer and closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating the case.

• Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Amazon US / Overdrive

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

In this hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive novel, Japan’s most popular (and controversial) fiction writer hurtles into the consciousness of the West. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World draws readers into a narrative particle accelerator in which a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is simultaneously cooler than zero and unaffectedly affecting, a hilariously funny and deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.

• The Iron King by Maurice Druon
Amazon US / Kobo CA / Kobo US / Overdrive

Spoiler:

Goodreads blurb:

The Iron King – Philip the Fair – is as cold and silent, as handsome and unblinking as a statue. He governs his realm with an iron hand, but he cannot rule his own family: his sons are weak and their wives adulterous; while his red-blooded daughter Isabella is unhappily married to an English king who prefers the company of men.

A web of scandal, murder and intrigue is weaving itself around the Iron King; but his downfall will come from an unexpected quarter. Bent on the persecution of the rich and powerful Knights Templar, Philip sentences Grand Master Jacques de Molay to be burned at the stake, thus drawing down upon himself a curse that will destroy his entire dynasty

Originally published in 1955 in French.

• As Red as Blood by Salla Simukka
Amazon US / Goodreads

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

In the midst of the freezing Arctic winter, seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson walks into her school’s dark room and finds a stash of wet, crimson-colored money. Thousands of Euros left to dry—splattered with someone’s blood.

Lumikki lives alone in a studio apartment far from her parents and the past she left behind. She transferred into a prestigious art school, and she’s singularly focused on studying and graduating. Lumikki ignores the cliques, the gossip, and the parties held by the school’s most popular and beautiful boys and girls.

But finding the blood-stained money changes everything. Suddenly, Lumikki is swept into a whirlpool of events as she finds herself helping to trace the origins of the money. Events turn even more deadly when evidence points to dirty cops and a notorious drug kingpin best known for the brutality with which he runs his business.

As Lumikki loses control of her carefully constructed world, she discovers that she’s been blind to the forces swirling around her—and she’s running out of time to set them right. When she sees the stark red of blood on snow, it may be too late to save her friends or herself.

• How to Make Love To a Negro Without Getting Tired by Dany Laferriere
No links provided.

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

Racial and sexual politics collide in this cult classic that launched Laferrière as one of North America’s finest literary provocateurs.

Brilliant and tense, Dany Laferrière’s first novel, How to Make Love to a Negro without Getting Tired, is as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published in 1985. With raunchy humor and a working-class intellectualism, Laferrière’s narrator wanders the slums of Montreal, has sex with white women, and writes a book to save his life.

With this novel, Laferrière began a series of internationally acclaimed social and political novels about the love of the world, and the world of sex, including Heading South and I Am a Japanese Writer.

• Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier
Amazon US Search / Goodreads

Spoiler:

AKA The Lost Estate or The Lost Domain or Big Meaulnes (the title "Le Grand Meaulnes" literally translates to "Meaulnes the Great")

This is his only novel, he having died fighting in WWI in 1914 at age 27.

From Goodreads:

When Meaulnes first arrives in Sologne, everyone is captivated by his good looks, daring, and charisma. But when he attends a strange party at a mysterious house with a beautiful girl hidden inside, he is changed forever. This evocative novel has at its center both a Peter Pan in provincial France-a kid who refuses to grow up-and a Parsifal, pursuing his love to the ends of the earth. Poised between youthful admiration and adult resignation, Alain-Fournier's narrator compellingly carries the reader through this indelible portrait of desperate friendship and vanished adolescence.

[din155]

What? No responses?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by din155

What? No responses?

Need to wait and see what the selection is first. Voting doesn't tend to be very animated.

I am wondering what WT Sharpe has against Night Watch. Care to share?

[wawasteele]

Originally Posted by din155

What? No responses?

OK, I'll respond. I hope it's alright that I voted. I mostly lurk the Book Clubs forum. I've read several of the books in both clubs over time, although not always in the right month for the club.

I voted for "The Bat". I'd never heard of the author. When I searched my various OD libraries, I was very surprised. Not only did every library have it, but most had multiple copies in both e and audio formats. I don't remember ever seeing that before on an author I didn't know about. So, since I must be about the only person around who hasn't at least heard of Jo Nesbø, I am going to read that book. I hope it wins. It would be nice to be reading the book while the rest of the club is too.

[din155]

I voted for the Bat and How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired. I would have gone for any of the books this month. I have read night watch and enjoyed it immensely. Really looking forward to my second book by Jo Nesbo if it wins

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by wawasteele

OK, I'll respond. I hope it's alright that I voted. I mostly lurk the Book Clubs forum. I've read several of the books in both clubs over time, although not always in the right month for the club.

I voted for "The Bat". I'd never heard of the author. When I searched my various OD libraries, I was very surprised. Not only did every library have it, but most had multiple copies in both e and audio formats. I don't remember ever seeing that before on an author I didn't know about. So, since I must be about the only person around who hasn't at least heard of Jo Nesbø, I am going to read that book. I hope it wins. It would be nice to be reading the book while the rest of the club is too.

There are no rules for nominating or voting.

As usual I see my choices are falling to the bottom of the pile.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Need to wait and see what the selection is first. Voting doesn't tend to be very animated.

I am wondering what WT Sharpe has against Night Watch. Care to share?

I have nothing against it; it's just that the only selections looked more interesting to me. For all I know, it may be the best of the bunch.

[din155]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

There are no rules for nominating or voting.

As usual I see my choices are falling to the bottom of the pile.

To be honest, I missed to vote for "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World". It has been on my list for quite some time but if you ever want to go around reading it, let me know

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have nothing against it; it's just that the only selections looked more interesting to me. For all I know, it may be the best of the bunch.

Fair enough, was mostly wondering if this was something like the backlash against Orson Scott Card for the author's political views. While I haven't looked into them much, the little I saw certainly doesn't paint him in a very good light. Hopefully, like OSC, they aren't reflected in the writing.