MobileRead August 09 Book Club Nominations

pilotbob · 07-20-2009, 11:29 AM

Help us select the next book that the Mobile Read Book Club will read for August 2009.

The nominations will run through Jul 26th.
Voting (new poll thread) will run for 5 days starting Jul 27.

Book selection category for February per the "official" club opening thread is:

August
Contemporary (can be any genre)

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 selec
tion.

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 poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.

The floor is open to nominations.

Official choices each with three nominations:

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy
"The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself on the same spot (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia."

The Road Home by Rose Tremain
"In the wake of factory closings and his beloved wife's death, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to London, seeking work to support his mother and his little daughter. After a spell of homelessness, he finds a job in the kitchen of a posh restaurant, and a room in the house of an appealing Irishman who has also lost his family. Never mind that Lev must sleep in a bunk bed surrounded by plastic toys--he has found a friend and shelter. However constricted his life in England remains he compensates by daydreaming of home, by having an affair with a younger restaurant worker (and dodging the attentions of other women), and by trading gossip and ambitions via cell phone with his hilarious old friend Rudi who, dreaming of the wealthy West, lives largely for his battered Chevrolet. Homesickness dogs Lev, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new country-but can he really go home again?"

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Jules is a young man barely a century old. He’s lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer “ad-hocs” who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, it seems the “ad-hocs” are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It’s only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it’s war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.
From user hudson on Feedbooks: "One of the best longer Lovecraft novels, a story of a doomed antarctic exploration party that uncovers the eldritch nightmares buried and sleeping under the snow." I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft recently, but haven't read this one yet.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to "help people with problems in their lives." Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement.

JSWolf · 07-20-2009, 11:36 AM

August - MobileRead Contemporary

That is August and it does not say it has to just be in the MR library.

My question is how far back are we going to go to still consider a book contemporary?

As to the Addendum, who decided that the book for August has to be free? I do not remember anyone asking if that's what we want.

pilotbob · 07-20-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why are you listing for February when it's August?

Opp...sorry, Feb and August were the same category. Will fix it.

BOb

JSWolf · 07-20-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Opp...sorry, Feb and August were the same category. Will fix it.

BOb

Please reread post #2. I completely changed it. Oh and you've gotten August again mixed up with February. August is ANY contemporary eBook and not just in the MR library or free.

pilotbob · 07-20-2009, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

August - MobileRead Contemporary

That is August and it does not say it has to just be in the MR library.

It is a repeat category of February. Joanne just didn't add the parenthetical part.

We decided in February that the point of "Mobileread" was that it was in our library here. But, the reason these months were done was so that there would be some "FREE" selections.

(Go back and read the initial welcome start thread and the Feb nomination thread if you don't recall these discussions.)

So, in february we expanded "Mobileread" to mean FREE. This is how we ended up with the book we did in February, because the author provided it to all for free.

So, basically, this month (the same as February) is a FREE Contemporary ebook.

BOb

JSWolf · 07-20-2009, 11:56 AM

This time can we stick to the meaning of contemporary and not have any books set in the future?

pdurrant · 07-20-2009, 12:01 PM

I nominate

Resonance by Chris Dolley.

Free in the Baen Free Library. Stand-alone Science Fiction novel. http://www.webscription.net/p-344-resonance.aspx

[Although SF, this is set in the present day.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

August
MobileRead Contemporary (can be any genre, but must be contemporary and must be available in our library)

ADDENDUM: By club member decision ANY freely available books can be nominated. As long as it can be downloaded for free at the end of the voting period and for some time afterwards.

Elsi · 07-20-2009, 12:31 PM

I'd like to nominate Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. In response to Jon, one could consider this one as set in the future (near-future?), but it is also terribly contemporary.

pilotbob · 07-20-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This time can we stick to the meaning of contemporary and not have any books set in the future?

What book was not contemporary? Are you talking about Refuge? That was/is set in present day. Just because we don't live in a time where a plague whipped out most of our population?

BOb

JSWolf · 07-20-2009, 12:47 PM

How far back are we allowed to go before it's no longer contemporary?

pilotbob · 07-20-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How far back are we allowed to go before it's no longer contemporary?

Hmm... didn't we have this discussion before? Also, is "contemporary" based on when it was written or what the setting was.

Seeing as this is an informal group I would say we are pretty lenient. I would say anything from 1900 or later that is not science fiction/fantasy type stuff is going to be ok. But, if you are not sure... post it and we can decide as a group.

BOb

BenG · 07-20-2009, 01:23 PM

I would say it is contemporary if the author is still alive and writing.

=X= · 07-20-2009, 02:08 PM

Yeah, I agree with BenG, I always understood contemporary author or works to mean the author is alive and writing in our era, but that doesn't mean the place of the work has to take place in our time.

To say "contemporary works" is not the same to say a "work that takes place in contemporary time".

=X=

JSWolf · 07-20-2009, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

Yeah, I agree with BenG, I always understood contemporary author or works to mean the author is alive and writing in our era, but that doesn't mean the place of the work has to take place in our time.

To say "contemporary works" is not the same to say a "work that takes place in contemporary time".

=X=

I would use the term contemporary to mean something written that takes place now or not too far in the past from now.

If I was to say nominate the one Star Trek eBook we have in the MR library, it would not fit. It's not contemporary even though the author is still alive and writing. So using contemporary to mean the author is alive does not fit (IMHO).

BenG · 07-20-2009, 02:56 PM

It all depends on what was intended when the category was created, though when most people use "Contemporary" to refer to when the book was written.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Literature

If you mean the setting then Golf in the Year 2000 would be contemporary even though it was written in the 19th century.

07-20-2009, 11:29 AM	#1
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	August 09 Book Club Nominations Help us select the next book that the Mobile Read Book Club will read for August 2009. The nominations will run through Jul 26th. Voting (new poll thread) will run for 5 days starting Jul 27. Book selection category for February per the "official" club opening thread is: August Contemporary (can be any genre) 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 selec tion. 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 poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed. The floor is open to nominations. Official choices each with three nominations: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy "The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself on the same spot (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia." The Road Home by Rose Tremain "In the wake of factory closings and his beloved wife's death, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to London, seeking work to support his mother and his little daughter. After a spell of homelessness, he finds a job in the kitchen of a posh restaurant, and a room in the house of an appealing Irishman who has also lost his family. Never mind that Lev must sleep in a bunk bed surrounded by plastic toys--he has found a friend and shelter. However constricted his life in England remains he compensates by daydreaming of home, by having an affair with a younger restaurant worker (and dodging the attentions of other women), and by trading gossip and ambitions via cell phone with his hilarious old friend Rudi who, dreaming of the wealthy West, lives largely for his battered Chevrolet. Homesickness dogs Lev, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new country-but can he really go home again?" Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow Jules is a young man barely a century old. He’s lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer “ad-hocs” who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, it seems the “ad-hocs” are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It’s only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it’s war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft. From user hudson on Feedbooks: "One of the best longer Lovecraft novels, a story of a doomed antarctic exploration party that uncovers the eldritch nightmares buried and sleeping under the snow." I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft recently, but haven't read this one yet. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to "help people with problems in their lives." Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement. Last edited by pilotbob; 07-27-2009 at 08:27 PM.

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07-20-2009, 11:36 AM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,495 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	August - MobileRead Contemporary That is August and it does not say it has to just be in the MR library. My question is how far back are we going to go to still consider a book contemporary? As to the Addendum, who decided that the book for August has to be free? I do not remember anyone asking if that's what we want. Last edited by JSWolf; 07-20-2009 at 11:41 AM.

07-20-2009, 11:56 AM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,495 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	This time can we stick to the meaning of contemporary and not have any books set in the future?

07-20-2009, 12:31 PM	#8
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	I'd like to nominate *Little Brother* by Cory Doctorow. In response to Jon, one could consider this one as set in the future (near-future?), but it is also terribly contemporary.

07-20-2009, 12:47 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,495 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	How far back are we allowed to go before it's no longer contemporary?

07-20-2009, 01:23 PM	#12
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	I would say it is contemporary if the author is still alive and writing.

07-20-2009, 02:08 PM	#13
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Yeah, I agree with BenG, I always understood contemporary author or works to mean the author is alive and writing in our era, but that doesn't mean the place of the work has to take place in our time. To say "contemporary works" is not the same to say a "work that takes place in contemporary time". =X=

07-20-2009, 02:56 PM	#15
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	It all depends on what was intended when the category was created, though when most people use "Contemporary" to refer to when the book was written. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Literature If you mean the setting then Golf in the Year 2000 would be contemporary even though it was written in the 19th century.

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