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LoT Book CLub - Book 3 is what?
Okay, now that I am settling in, unpacking, I'm ready to start reading again.
So has there been a vote/poll/decision on LoT book #3?? |
Shoot, I just started reading Wind-Up Bird.
However, if we get another selection in the next week or so, I can jump to that one instead. I'm not invested in the Wind-Up Bird, at least not yet. |
I think we need to have another poll. I'd like to add TC Boyle's WATER MUSIC to the list.
This was the last poll and results. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 1 4.17% I, Lucifer by Duncan Glenn 3 12.50% Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen 4 16.67% Marley and Me by John Grogan 3 12.50% Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 6 25.00% Howard's End by E.M Forster 2 8.33% Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami 5 20.83% |
oooh...are we opening the poll again? Because I have another one to add. (New release, not classic.)
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Well, what is it?
Are the leftovers automatically going on the poll? |
I am racing through The Time Traveler's Wife and I HIGHLY recommend it for the club. It's incredible. I know Traci has read it, anyone else?
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I'd like to read the TTW too, CP. Another good one is Howard's End- plus, I already have it.:D
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I'll ask Munchking what book he'd like to chew on.
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I love TTW. EH has read it too.
I would add "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" to th list, in case you haven't all read it yet. |
I'd prefer not to have the old poll selections automatically carry over. If someone wants one of the old selections in the new poll, perhaps they could nominate it again.
I nominate House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. The weirdest book you'll ever read. It's huge though, and takes some time. |
I also nominate Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
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'The Crimson Petal and the White', by M. Faber. Weird book, but good.
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I nominate "A Small Death in Lisbon", which is apparently some local phenomenon now because someone at Elliot Bay listed it as a staff recommendation and has held the top spot in sales there for months.
In keeping with the contemporary works in translation theme from book 2, I also nominate "The Seducer" -- from the Seattle P-I review: "His wife's murder sets off a picaresque journey of mystery, discovery and remembrance for a famed European TV documentary producer, a celeb noted for his unerring success with women. This creative and enthralling mega-novel won Scandinavia's highest honor and is the first American translation of a work by one of Norway's (and Europe's) reigning masters of fiction." |
Can Mods only do polls?
Here's the old list (minus the first two books) and the new list based on the posts here: Old poll Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell I, Lucifer by Duncan Glenn Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen Marley and Me by John Grogan Howard's End by E.M Forster New Poll The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides The Crimson Petal and the White by M. Faber Shall we combine the poll or just do the new list? |
Let's see what else gets nominated from the old list first, (or if we have any other additions) then we can do a poll. I'm going to retract Water Music (Snowflake read my mind) for later. It's a tome and, after reading a fairly hefty book, I think a shorter one would be better. I, Lucifer is still on my "must read" list, so I will nominate that one from the old list.
We can have up to 10 on a Poll but I think that's a bit much. I've read both Devil in the White City (recently, so I can discuss), Middlesex (which was about a year ago and I won't read it again, but remember enough) and Howards End (ages ago). |
I'd like to renominate Cloud Atlas, since upon purchase I discovered it was Booker Prize nominie. I will read and comment on it regardless, I'm sure just maybe not in the next month.
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Do my nominees not count?
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I do enjoy POE's "Haunted" CD, however, which I'm told is a sort of "companion" to the book. (Poe is Mark D's sister.) I'll be blinkered if I could tell you how it relates to the novel, but it's a nifty album. |
Would there be any willingness to consider non-fiction titles. I know I'm weird in that 90% of my reading is non-fiction.
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What about 'The Kite Runner'?
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Good book, GC.
I love biographies and history, so I'm up for anything in those genres, Alex. |
Well, I'll go ahead and nominate Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner. I'm going to be rereading it soon anyway and it is a book I think anybody who lives west of the Mississippi should read.
It is a history of water policy in the American west with a particular emphasis on the great dam building era of the 1930s-1950s. Very accessibly written without much technical jargon. |
CADILLAC DESERT is a great choice. I even have a copy.
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The guy that wrote it is a wonderful writer. The story has a few elements that I consider weak, but overall it's a phenomenal book with many layers ripe for discussion. It might be one of those love it or hate it books though. It's hard to decide at points whether it is gimmicky or genius. Quote:
Yes, it is quite the undertaking. For that reason I retract it from the nominees, unless anyone else wants it there. The CD correlates in quite a few ways. It's been years since I read/listened, but I do remember that the answering machine messages on the CD are also from the book. |
'Running with Scissors' ?
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Here's one of her prints: http://www2.colum.edu/centers/bpa/ga...iffenegger.jpg |
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:) |
I nominate Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.
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I'll add Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall. Some of the funniest, best writing I've read in a while. I'm only 70 pages in.
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OK, what's on our list? We can't have more than 10 on a poll - and I think even 10 choices is too many to select from. Can we get a short list?
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A poll for the poll, very good! |
A Metapoll - as Chris would say.
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The current nominees (lucky #13!):
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides The Crimson Petal and the White by M. Faber A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson The Seducer (by Jan Kjaerstad ?) Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall |
That's three too many for a poll. What to do?
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The only one on that list that I really know anything about is The Kite Runner, which, I'm sorry to say, I won't be trying to finish again.
So, once the metapoll gets going, I'll have to do some research before I make my vote. |
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THen how do we divide the selections up so as to not skew the polls?
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What do you mean? How is anything going to get skewed? The book the majority of people want to read should "win" regarless.
You want the books to each compete with each other first so that we can have proper seeding in the playoffs? |
How about everybody just rank the top 5 books in the order of their interest. Once that is done it is 10 minutes work to do a weighted calculation of everybody's list and see what comes out on top.
This way all nominations remain equally in play. So for example, my vote might be: 1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 2. The Seducer (by Jan Kjaerstad ?) 3. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner 4. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson 5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers In the calcuation (which again is easy with two minutes in Excel), #1 gets 5 points, #2 gets 4 ,#3 gets 3, #4 gets 2, and #5 gets 1. Most points wins. And I'll volunteer to do the math. |
Or, in the long lasting book clubs I'm aware of the book selection is not a democracy. They have a system for rotating the book selection among the participants so that every regular gets a turn just picking something for the whole group.
They find this leads to greater diversity where voting tends to produce the similar middle ground. |
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What happened to I, Lucifer? |
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1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Seducer (by Jan Kjaerstad ?) 3. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 4, Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner 5. I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan Or, if the Duncanbook isn't an option: 5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers I did not even votefor the books I have already read. |
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I really like this idea, as I'd love to read something picked by various people. |
How about each of us that has nominated multiple books just pare it down to one for this month?
I'll keep Miracle Life of Edgar Mint and eliminate Middlesex. |
1. The Kite Runner
2. Cadillac Desert 3. I, Lucifer 4. The Time Traveler's Wife 5. Devil In The White City |
This is too hard. And I'm way too lazy to look all these up on amazon in order to rank them.
I'll see what y'all settle on and if I have the time and am interested in the book, I'll read with you. If not, I won't. Apathy. Sometimes it's a good thing. |
Bum
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My nominees
The Crimson Petal and the White by M. Faber A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson The Seducer (by Jan Kjaerstad ?) Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner |
Have we settled on the top five ranking? Because I could totally go along with the each person only nominates one book idea.
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I like the idea of rotating who picks. Also - if you nominate a book you should also cut/paste a blurb.
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I finally got The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this past weekend. [/lagging behind miserably]
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I prefer voting to rotating. I'll have to post my list later, though.
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1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 2. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner 3. The Seducer by Jan Kjaerstad 4. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 5. Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall |
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I have an extra book, if anyone wants to join in round 2?
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I'm still working on the wind-up bird and his chronicle, as well, it's just been slow going for me -- too many distractions.
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Hey there's no rule against having a round two of Wind Up Bird... is there? How about a late-comers book club? :D I still have to finish about 5 chapters of a friend's novel before picking up Bird...I could start after the weekend!
What say you others who have yet to really get going on Bird? :confused: |
I may end up bailing in a couple weeks when things get busier, but I'll do my best.
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Threads can always be bumped. Another round of swankers may already be discussing the next book, and some might skip a book or two - it's all good. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. :)
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Cheers Mr. Crowley :evil: :cheers: |
Ok, since the vote seems to be the annoying top five ranking thing, I shall rank. Actually, I only really know anything about my books and Kite Runner, and my books don't have votes so far, so I shall just rank one book.
1. The Kite Runner. I really really recommend that everyone read The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint at some point. It's hilarious, and heartbreaking, and lots of other adjectives. One of my favorite books ever. Which is saying something considering I just read Murakami. |
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*tips hat to Crowley and his admirers* :cheers: Quote:
If I can pick one book I pick my own recommendation, Time Traveler's Wife. If that doesn't work within the top 5 system then don't worry about it. |
I just started Wind-Up Bird, too - so I guess we can have a tiny latecomers thread somewhere...
As for the next book - here's a left-field suggestion based entirely on my own selfish I-just-bought-it-today-at-Borders-and-I-want-someone-else-to-read-it-too reason: "The Queen of the South" by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Due to some odd case of synchronicity where both my bookshop-owner pal recommended his books and Alex praising him in another thread (I think specifically "The Club Dumas" in the Movie Musings thread), I went and bought this one. I'm gonna read it, dammit, and if anyone wants to talk about it with me, well... Quote:
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