September 2013 MobileRead Book Club Vote
Help us choose a book as the September 2013 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
multiple-choice: you may cast a vote for each book that appeals to you.
We will start the discussion thread for this book on September 20th. Select from the following
Official Choices with three nominations each:
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Amazon US /
Barnes & Noble /
Kobo
• Complete Works of Sappho (Delphi Ancient Classics) by Sappho of Lesbos (Author), Peter Russell (Translator)
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Apple Store /
Delphi Classics
• Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: lrf
• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Barnes & Noble /
Kobo /
Sony (Also available on Overdrive.)
• Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
ePub and Kindle Links at bottom of page
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Barnes & Noble /
Kobo /
Sony (Also available on Overdrive.)
Spoiler:
Quote:
From Wikipedia:
Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received for its rejection of racial uplift literary prescriptions. Today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African-American literature and women's literature. Time included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.
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It has been banned for frank sexual content as well as it's depiction of life for a black woman in America at the time published (1937).
• No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
Barnes & Noble /
Kobo
Spoiler:
This novel is now widely regarded as one of the top thrillers of the last century. When it was originally published it pushed the social boundaries of the time through its relentless exploration of crime and sexual exploitation. Unlike most crime novels of that era, the characters are rich, deeply realized portraits of those who lived on the fringes of society during the Great Depression -- namely the gangsters, their women, and the men who hunted them. The novel broke sales records when published and has gone onto to sell over four million copies worldwide. Historically important, such literary greats as George Orwell and Graham Greene instantly recognized its merits. In a lengthy essay that securely placed NO ORCHIDS in an honored position in crime fiction, George Orwell wrote that, "In a book like NO ORCHIDS one is not, as in the old-style crime story, simply escaping from dull reality into an imaginary world of action. One's escape is essentially into cruelty and sexual perversion...a brilliant piece of writing, with hardly a wasted word or a jarring note anywhere."
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Amazon UK /
Amazon US /
B&N (US) /
Google Play (AUS)
Spoiler:
Challenged/Banned Info:
Flowers for Algernon
Banned in Emporium, PA, due to sexually explicit passages that parents feared would awaken their children’s “natural impulses.” 1977
Challenged in Oberlin, OH, due to sexually explicit passages. 1984
Banned in Glen Rose, AR, due to language and sexually explicit passages. Objectors compared
Flowers for Algernon to “books in plastic covers you see at newsstands.” 1981
Challenged in Glenrock, WY for sexually explicit passages and language. Objector compared the novel to
Playboy and
Hustler among other, um, photo-centric publications. 1984
Challenged in Plant City, FL, (and Arizona, Virginia, and Georgia) for sexually explicit passages, adult themes, and profanity. 1976, 1981, 1996, 1997
Banned from Aledo (Texas) Middle School, subsequently re-shelved at the school library, but not reinstated into the curriculum. (1999)
Frequently challenged due to objections to “sexually explicit” content.
Ranks no. 47 on ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.
Full link at:
http://suvudu.com/2008/10/challenged...-algernon.html[/i]
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
No links provided.
• Fade by Robert Cormier
Amazon US /
Barnes & Noble /
Google /
Kobo
Spoiler:
In the summer of 1938, the young Paul Moreaux who lives in a town outside of Boston called Monument, discovers he can "fade". "Fading" is the term used for being invisible and becoming invisible to the world. His family has had this ability generation after generation. It is passed down from uncle to nephew. First bewildered, then thrilled with the possibilities of invisibility, Paul experiments with his "gift". This ability shows him things that he should not witness. His power soon overloads him, shows him shocking secrets, pushes him over the edge, and drives him toward some chilling and horrible acts from which there is no forgiveness, no forgetting, and no turning back. His depressing downfall impacts the reader. Paul discovers how cruel, evil, and disgusting the world can be.
Paul sees so much by his gift. The ability to fade becomes a nightmare because he learns so much that he did not want to see or hear.
Because of the novel's content that includes scenes of murder and incest, it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number sixty-five (Wikipedia)