MobileRead October 2015 Book Club Nominations

[WT Sharpe]

Help us select the book that the MobileRead Book Club will read for October, 2015.

The nominations will run through midnight EST September 26 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 October is: The Patricia Clark Memorial Library (The MobileRead Library)

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 Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

Thorne Smith's rapid-fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P.G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods—the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods—is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement.

Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultrarespectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage-cum-laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil-smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible.

With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art (if not the timing) of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art—setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition-era New York—the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker's. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty-two, in 1934.

The book was made into a Universal Pictures movie in 1935 starring Alan Mowbray.

(2) Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

Spirited, romantic, and full of danger, Kidnapped is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of high adventure. Beloved by generations, it is the saga of David Balfour, a young heir whose greedy uncle connives to do him out of his inherited fortune....

Acclaimed by Henry James as Robert Louis Stevenson's best novel, Kidnapped achieves what Stevenson called, "the particular crown and triumph of the artist...not simply to convince, but to enchant."

Orphaned and penniless, young David Balfour sets out to find his last living relative. But in doing so he will become caught up the greatest and most frightening adventure of his life.

(3) Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle (Both versions are illustrated)

Spoiler:

It's part a detective story, part comedy, and part social commentary.

(4) The Virginian by Owen Wister
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

In the untamed West, pioneers came to test their fortunes -- and their wills. The Wyoming territory was a harsh, unforgiving land, with its own unwritten code of honor by which men lived and died. Into this rough landscape rides the Virginian, a solitary man whose unbending will is his only guide through life. The Virginian's unwavering beliefs in right and wrong are soon tested as he tries to prove his love for a woman who cannot accept his sense of justice; at the same time, a betrayal by his most trusted friend forces him to fight against the corruption that rules the land. Still as exciting and meaningful as it was when first published one hundred years ago, Owen Wister's epic tale of a man caught between his love for a woman and his quest for justice exemplifies one of the most significant and enduring themes in all of American literature. With remarkable character depth and vivid passages, "The Virginian" stands not only as the first great novel of American Western literature, but as a testament to the eternal struggle between good and evil in humanity. With an engaging new introduction by Gary Scharnhorst, professor of English at the University of New Mexico, this volume is an indispensable addition to the library of American Western literature.

(5) The Haunted House and Other Horror Stories by Charles Dickens
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

The Haunted House was first published in 1859. It was part of a collection for the periodical All the Year Round that contained five other authors, but here only the three contributions from Charles Dickens are present.
• "The Mortals in the House"
• "The Ghost in Master B's Room"
• "The Ghost in the Corner Room"

(6) Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From a review by Joseph Pearce:

[Lord of the World] is truly remarkable and deserves to stand beside Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four as a classic of dystopian fiction. In fact, though Huxley's and Orwell's modern masterpieces may merit equal praise as works of literature, they are clearly inferior as works of prophecy. The political dictatorships that gave Orwell's novel-nightmare an ominous potency have had their day. Today, his cautionary fable serves merely as a timely reminder of what has been and what may be again if the warnings of history are not heeded. Benson's novel-nightmare, on the other hand, is coming true before our very eyes.

(7) Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: BBeB/LRF Books

Spoiler:

Zane Grey's very first Western.

(8) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From Goodreads

'It is very pleasant dinning with a bachelor...I only hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!'

A portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid nineteenth century, Cranford relates the adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle-aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances. Through a series of vignettes, Elizabeth Gaskell portrays a community governed by old-fashioned habits and dominated by friendships between women. Her wry account of rural life is undercut, however, by tragedy in its depiction of such troubling events as Matty's bankruptcy, the violent death of Captain Brown or the unwitting cruelty of Peter Jenkyns. Written with acute observation, Cranford is by turns affectionate, moving and darkly satirical.

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. Also, if you find one on the list that is no longer in operation, let me know and I'll remove it from the list.

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

*** The Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith [WT Sharpe, issybird, bfisher]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

Thorne Smith's rapid-fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P.G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods—the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods—is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement.

Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultra-respectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage-cum-laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil-smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible.

With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art (if not the timing) of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art—setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition-era New York—the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker's. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty-two, in 1934.

The book was made into a Universal Pictures movie in 1935 starring Alan Mowbray.

* Carmen by Mérimée [Hamlet53]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

This is the book upon which the Bizet opera was based.

*** Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson [issybird, bfisher, fantasyfan]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From Amazon:

Spirited, romantic, and full of danger, Kidnapped is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of high adventure. Beloved by generations, it is the saga of David Balfour, a young heir whose greedy uncle connives to do him out of his inherited fortune....

Acclaimed by Henry James as Robert Louis Stevenson's best novel, Kidnapped achieves what Stevenson called, "the particular crown and triumph of the artist...not simply to convince, but to enchant."

Orphaned and penniless, young David Balfour sets out to find his last living relative. But in doing so he will become caught up the greatest and most frightening adventure of his life.

*** The Haunted House and Other Horror Stories by Charles Dickens [WT Sharpe, Hamlet53, Dazrin]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

The Haunted House was first published in 1859. It was part of a collection for the periodical All the Year Round that contained five other authors, but here only the three contributions from Charles Dickens are present.
• "The Mortals in the House"
• "The Ghost in Master B's Room"
• "The Ghost in the Corner Room"

*** Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain [Hamlet53, WT Sharpe, GA Russell]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle (Both versions are illustrated)

Spoiler:

It's part a detective story, part comedy, and part social commentary.

*** The Virginian by Owen Wister [HomeInMyShoes, CRussel, Dazrin]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

In the untamed West, pioneers came to test their fortunes -- and their wills. The Wyoming territory was a harsh, unforgiving land, with its own unwritten code of honor by which men lived and died. Into this rough landscape rides the Virginian, a solitary man whose unbending will is his only guide through life. The Virginian's unwavering beliefs in right and wrong are soon tested as he tries to prove his love for a woman who cannot accept his sense of justice; at the same time, a betrayal by his most trusted friend forces him to fight against the corruption that rules the land. Still as exciting and meaningful as it was when first published one hundred years ago, Owen Wister's epic tale of a man caught between his love for a woman and his quest for justice exemplifies one of the most significant and enduring themes in all of American literature. With remarkable character depth and vivid passages, "The Virginian" stands not only as the first great novel of American Western literature, but as a testament to the eternal struggle between good and evil in humanity. With an engaging new introduction by Gary Scharnhorst, professor of English at the University of New Mexico, this volume is an indispensable addition to the library of American Western literature.

*** Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey [CRussel, fantasyfan, JSWolf]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: BBeB/LRF Books

Spoiler:

Zane Grey's very first Western.

*** Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson [GA Russell, issybird, din155]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From a review by Joseph Pearce:

[Lord of the World] is truly remarkable and deserves to stand beside Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four as a classic of dystopian fiction. In fact, though Huxley's and Orwell's modern masterpieces may merit equal praise as works of literature, they are clearly inferior as works of prophecy. The political dictatorships that gave Orwell's novel-nightmare an ominous potency have had their day. Today, his cautionary fable serves merely as a timely reminder of what has been and what may be again if the warnings of history are not heeded. Benson's novel-nightmare, on the other hand, is coming true before our very eyes.

*** Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell [sun surfer, bfisher, CRussel]
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub | Kindle

Spoiler:

From Goodreads

'It is very pleasant dinning with a bachelor...I only hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!'

A portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid nineteenth century, Cranford relates the adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle-aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances. Through a series of vignettes, Elizabeth Gaskell portrays a community governed by old-fashioned habits and dominated by friendships between women. Her wry account of rural life is undercut, however, by tragedy in its depiction of such troubling events as Matty's bankruptcy, the violent death of Captain Brown or the unwitting cruelty of Peter Jenkyns. Written with acute observation, Cranford is by turns affectionate, moving and darkly satirical.

The nominations are now closed.

[WT Sharpe]

I've tried to convince folks here in the past that Topper by Thorne Smith is a fun book that hasn't lost its humorous edge in nearly a century since its publication. The book is much more risqué than either the movies or TV show, but my efforts have seemingly come to naught. With that in mind, I won't nominate it again. Instead, I nomminate The Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith.

Thorne Smith's rapid-fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P.G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods—the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods—is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement.

Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultra-respectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage-cum-laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil-smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible.

With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art (if not the timing) of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art—setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition-era New York—the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker's. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty-two, in 1934.

The book was also made into a Universal Pictures movie in 1935 starring Alan Mowbray.

ePub
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=265452

Kindle
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18528

[issybird]

The Night Life of the Gods has been on my TBR for a long time, so seconded it is. I've read Topper and it's delightful.

I've read both Topper and the Night Life of the Gods. I found the latter funnier and more entertaining. I won't use up a vote to second Night Life of the Gods, but if it eventually makes it to the vote I will happily vote for it.

I would like to nominate Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. This is the book upon which the Bizet opera was based.


Here is the epub that actually includes three other stories by Mérimée. epub

Here is a the Carmen alone as a mobi file. mobi

[bfisher]

I'll third The Night Life Of The Gods.

[issybird]

I'd like to nominate Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best novels written in English; the citation says, "A thrilling adventure story, gripping history and fascinating study of the Scottish character, Kidnapped has lost none of its power."

I had a hard time finding a description that isn't too spoilery, so I've snipped a couple from Amazon.

Spirited, romantic, and full of danger, Kidnapped is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of high adventure. Beloved by generations, it is the saga of David Balfour, a young heir whose greedy uncle connives to do him out of his inherited fortune

<snip>

Acclaimed by Henry James as Robert Louis Stevenson's best novel, Kidnapped achieves what Stevenson called, "the particular crown and triumph of the artist...not simply to convince, but to enchant."

Orphaned and penniless, young David Balfour sets out to find his last living relative. But in doing so he will become caught up the greatest and most frightening adventure of his life.

pdurrant has uploaded a version which is combined with its (not as well regarded) sequel, Catriona. Kindle ePub

[bfisher]

I'll second Kidnapped. It's a great adventure story. The 39 Steps reminds me a lot of Kidnapped.

[fantasyfan]

I'll third Kidnapped.

[GA Russell]

I read Night Life of the Gods in 1973, and loved it.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'd like to nominate Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best novels written in English; the citation says, "A thrilling adventure story, gripping history and fascinating study of the Scottish character, Kidnapped has lost none of its power."

I had a hard time finding a description that isn't too spoilery, so I've snipped a couple from Amazon.





pdurrant has uploaded a version which is combined with its (not as well regarded) sequel, Catriona. Kindle ePub

Good choice. I also like the sequel and highly recommend reading both. When I saw the mini series with David McCallum as Allen Brek Stuart (aka 'Illya Kuriakin', 'Ducky') the mini series was based on both books. Although maybe not as well written the sequel makes for a much more complete story of David Balfour.

[WT Sharpe]

As Halloween is nearly upon us, what could be better to get us in the mood than three short stories from Charles Dickens?

The Haunted House was first published in 1859. It was part of a collection for the periodical All the Year Round that contained five other authors, but here only the three contributions from Charles Dickens are present.
• "The Mortals in the House"
• "The Ghost in Master B's Room"
• "The Ghost in the Corner Room"

ePub
Kindle

I'd like to nominate Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (aka The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson/Those Extraordinary Twins). I recall reading this when I was probably about 16 years old. I quite enjoyed it and I think I might enjoy reading it again with it being so long since the previous read. Others here might as well I believe.

It's part a detective story, part comedy, and part social commentary.

An epub with illustrations. (Warning there are a lot of spoilers in the description here).


A mobi with illustrations.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

As Halloween is nearly upon us, what could be better to get us in the mood than three short stories from Charles Dickens?



ePub
Kindle

I'll second this.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I'd like to nominate Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (aka The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson/Those Extraordinary Twins). I recall reading this when I was probably about 16 years old. I quite enjoyed it and I think I might enjoy reading it again with it being so long since the previous read. Others here might as well I believe.

It's part a detective story, part comedy, and part social commentary.

An epub with illustrations.


A mobi with illustrations.

I hope you don't mind that I'm going to sit on my last nomination for a bit, as I await developments. It's funny that you're nominating this, though, as it also occurred to me. It's a story that's amazingly, shockingly and sadly all too relevant today.