MobileRead December 2009 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

[pilotbob]

Help up choose a book as the December 2009 eBook for the Mobile Read Book Club. The poll will be open for 7 days. We will start the discussion thread for this book on December 27th.

Addendum:

This month is "wild card" and the original plan was to poll all the books that didn't win for the year. But, I realized this would be over 100 books...(the poll only allows up to 30 items) and many people were unhappy with the last poll since the "majority" didn't vote for the winner. Although mathematically with that many books to choose from that will probably always happen.

So, I am making a wholesale decision to change December to "Second Chance" month. We will poll among all the "runners up" from this year. I hope no one is too upset by this.

Select from the following books.

November:
The Picture (or Portrait) of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Spellbound before his own portrait, Dorian Gray utters a fateful wish. In exchange for eternal youth he gives his soul, to be corrupted by the malign influence of his mentor, the aesthete and hedonist Lord Henry Wotton. The novel was met with moral outrage by contemporary critics who, dazzled perhaps by Wilde's brilliant style, may have confused the author with his creation, Lord Henry, to whom even Dorian protests, 'You cut life to pieces with your epigrams.'. Encouraged by Lord Henry to substitute pleasure for goodness and art for reality, Dorian tries to watch impassively as he brings misery and death to those who love him. But the picture is watching him, and, made hideous by the marks of sin, it confronts Dorian with the reflection of his fall from grace, the silent bearer of what is in effect a devastating moral judgement.

October:
Verdant Skies by Steven Jordan
The summary is here: http://www.stevejordanbooks.com/novels/verdant.htm

September:
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers
When advertising executive Victor Dean dies from a fall down the stairs at Pym's Publicity, Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to investigate. It seems that, before he died, Dean had begun a letter to Mr. Pym suggesting some very unethical dealings at the posh London ad agency. Wimsey goes undercover and discovers that Dean was part of the fast crowd at Pym's, a group taken to partying and doing drugs. Wimsey and his brother-in-law, Chief-Inspector Parker, rush to discover who is running London's cocaine trade and how Pym's fits into the picture--all before Wimsey's cover is blown.

August:
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother is my first young adult novel, a story about hacker kids in San Francisco who use technology to reclaim democracy from the Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack and the concomitant crackdown. It was published by Tor Books on April 29, 2008.

July:
My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
In this 1919 short story collection, P.G. Wodehouse’s beloved star characters, the very silly Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, must face the perils of pushy relatives, swooning debutantes, and the hare-brained schemes of well-meaning friends.

This collection also features the fictional hi-jinks of another favorite Wodehouse character, the hapless Reggie Pepper, whose piles of money never seem to make up for his utter lack of intelligence. Wodehouse will keep every reader giggling at the wild adventures in which Reggie manages to find himself and the ridiculous dilemmas from which the lucky Bertie is rescued, without fail, by the ingenious Jeeves.

June:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
In a remote Hertfordshire village, far off the good coach roads of George III's England, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet -- a country squire of no great means and his scatterbrained wife -- must marry off their five vivacious daughters. At the heart of this all-consuming enterprise are the headstrong second daughter Elizabeth and her aristocratic suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy, two lovers in whom pride and prejudice must be overcome before love can bring the novel to its magnificent conclusion.

May:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The classic horror story of the scientist that learns how to reanimate flesh and creates a being in the likeness of man out of body parts taken from the dead. A story originally written in 1831 yet still has incredible meaning today.

April:
Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I by Tracy Falbe
Dreibrand Veta has killed for his country. At the frontlines of imperial expansion, he seeks to rebuild the fortune of his noble family. In his daring travels he encounters the rys, a race far more powerful than the human empire that bred him. More here: http://www.falbepublishing.com/brave...Renegades.html

March:
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains is a rare, gem of a book which contains letters written to her sister during her six-month journey through the Colorado Rockies in 1873. Traveling alone, usually on horseback, often with no clear idea of where she will spend the night in what is mostly uninhabited wilderness, she covers over a thousand miles, most of it during the winter months.
A well-educated woman who had known a comfortable life, she thinks nothing of herding cattle at a hard gallop, falling through ice, getting lost in snowstorms, and living in a cabin where the temperatures are well below zero and her ink freezes even as she writes. She befriends desperados and climbs 14,000 foot mountains, ready for any adventure that allows her to see the unparalleled beauty of nature. Her rare complaints have more to do with having to ride side-saddle while in town than with the conditions she faces. An awe-inspiring woman, she is also a talented writer who brings to life Colorado of more than one hundred years ago, when today's big cities were only a small collection of frame houses, and beautiful areas were still largely untouched".

February: ( Tie for second place )
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
My first novel was published in January 2003. It concerns the machinations of technologically immportals who have occupied Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion and who aim to preserve it from the depredations of modernizers who would renovate it.
The book won the 2003 Locus Award for Best First Novel and is a finalist for the 2004 Nebula for Best Novel.

Prague by Arthur Phillips
A first novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune—financial, romantic, and spiritual—in an exotic city newly opened to the West. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague, where the atmospheric decay of post–Cold War Europe is even more cinematically perfect, have it better. Still, they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making. What they actually find is a deceptively beautiful place that they often fail to understand. What does it mean to fret about your fledgling career when the man across the table was tortured by two different regimes? How does your short, uneventful life compare to the lives of those who actually resisted, fought, and died? What does your angst mean in a city still pocked with bullet holes from war and crushed rebellion?

January:
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
When a Victorian scientist propels himself into the year 802,701 AD, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment and peace. Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realises that this beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culture ? now weak and childishly afraid of the dark. They have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanity ? the sinister Morlocks. And when the scientist's time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels, if he is ever to return to his own era.

[poshm]

A good selection of books and I wouldn't be disappointed to read any of these. But in the end plumped for The Tim Machine as it's been on my own "to-read" list for ages.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by poshm

A good selection of books and I wouldn't be disappointed to read any of these. But in the end plumped for The Tim Machine as it's been on my own "to-read" list for ages.

Nice.

I'm not sure yet this month. I have already read Little Brother, Down And Out in the MK, Verdant Skies. I enjoyed them all, although Down and Out is a bit bizarre. I read about 3-4 chapters of Prauge and gave up on it... I just couldn't get into it.

I am leaning towards Union of Renegades and A Lady's Life, which I voted for during the Non-fiction month.

Decisions, decisions....

BOb

[lilac_jive]

I voted for Murder Must Advertise, but I'd be pretty happy with most of these (exccept for the ones that I read).

[jgaiser]

A good selection. I *just* finished reading Murder Must Advertise (a good read) and since I love historical non-fiction I voted for A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains.

[HarryT]

This is a wonderful choice of books; I honestly don't know what to vote for!

[khalleron]

Good choices, good choices. I voted for Lady's Life, too - haven't read it but the description sure makes me want to.

Will have to read it whether it wins or not!

[Mike L]

Don't know if I'll take part in the discussion -- or even bother to vote -- but I'm delighted to hear about A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird. It sound just like my kind of book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Apart from that, Dorothy L Sayers is also a good choice, and Murder Must Advertise is one of her best.

[Latinandgreek]

There are a lot of good books here, I'm going to have to sleep on this one before I vote!

[GA Russell]

Looks great! Are they all available from the MR download section?

[jgaiser]

I believe Verdant Skies and Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I are both available offsite.

[dreams]

Here are a quick few places for some of the books up for vote.

Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I by MR member Tracy Falbe (Falbe Publishing). Here on MR in mobi/prc, ePub, and lrf. Also at her website, feedbooks, and smashwords.

Verdant Skies by MR member Steve Jordan at his website and on smashwords.

Little Brother by MR member Cory Doctorow on MR in lrf and at his website and feedbooks.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by MR member Cory Doctorow on MR in mobi/prc, ePub, lrf, and imp. Also at his website and feedbooks

The Picture (or Portrait) of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Here on MR in mobi/prc, ePub, and lrf. Also, at feedbooks.

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers on MR in mobi/prc, lrf, Lit, and Imp.

My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse on MR in lrf. Also at feedbooks.

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird on MR in mobi/prc, lrf, and imp. Also at manybooks.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley on MR in mobi/prc, lrf. Also at feedbooks

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on MR in mobi/prc, imp, ePub, lrf. Also at feedbooks

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells on MR in mobi/prc, ePub, and lrf. Also at feedbooks

Prague by Arthur Phillips

[goldilocks]

This was a very tough decison. Most of these selections sound interesting. But after sleeping on it decided to vote on "Murder Must Advertise" by Dorothy Sayers.

Thanks dreams for the links!

[GA Russell]

Thanks dreams!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by dreams

Little Brother by MR member Cory Doctorow on MR in lrf and on feedbooks.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by MR member Cory Doctorow on MR in mobi/prc, ePub, lrf, and imp also on feedbooks

You can also get his ebooks on his own web site in DRM free ePub and other formats (for free)

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/

http://craphound.com/down/download.php

BOb