Spacepirate
06-17-2010, 07:22 PM
:cool:
We are here children. I've got enough nominations and I'm opening it up like the crazy floodgates this is. Though we have plenty here, if you would like to nominate then gimmie a VM/PM or just shout at me. If you want me to change anything below then just gimmie a shout.
Basically, you'll have 1-2 weeks to vote and the book which has the biggest number of votes will be read for the month of July. That's 4 weeks children, and should be plenty. If you're a slow reader then we can hold "reading wars" (WTF?) and help each other, and if you read fast then I can go find some other things and such. Or something.
Anyway, here are the (very varied) nominations. You can vote as much as you like, but don't go wild (maximum 5 perhaps?). Have fun!
Remember! If you do plan to buy through Amazon, then do it through YWO. That way YWO gets a little bit of money and that's always good. To do so, then just click the Store button at the top of the page, and then choose which country you'd like to buy from (UK, USA, Canada) and it'll link you to the Amazon main page. Links below are in Amazon UK cause Britain is awesome, and the pound trumps the dollar any day.
:)
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Kraken by China Mieville -- Science Fiction
"Because it sounds interesting and I've been dying to read some of his stuff lately. Should be a KRAKEN read, aye! Spacepirate fails at humour. Basically it's a dark-comedy genre book about giant squids, evil cults and weird magic like that.
Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears? For curator Billy Harrow it's the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he's been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it's a god. A god that someone is hoping will end the world.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kraken-China-Mieville/dp/0333989503/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276798110&sr=1-1)
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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- Classic
Totally crazy book, but interesting - you could open a page at random and start reading, and it would probably make sense...
I'd disagree, but the rest is completely and utterly true. Although it is a classic, it's choked to the brim with gritty comedic situations, and characters that are so real (but also weird) that they would be the envy of every writer. A little slow to start but by the end it is a real treat to read.
At the heart of Joseph Heller's bestselling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indicement of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it. It is a tale of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catch-22-Joseph-Heller/dp/0099477319/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276798084&sr=1-1)
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Picture This by Joseph Heller -- Classic
This wasn't nominated by any-one in particular, but Simmi wanted to nominate anything by Joseph Heller so I looked at his work and this is one that caught my eye. A much less known book, somewhat over shadowed by Catch-22 but nonetheless interesting due to its quasi-fantasy plot (different sources vary on what the book is actually about though but there's a moving painting, time travel and bringing alive dead people), and the fact that the book revolves around one painting. (Almost like Doctor Who's Van Gogh escapade)
Some of the Amazon reviews say it's tough, and it should be a challenge. There's little plot but hopefully people will, at least, try to read something different. Borders on slight non-fiction, and the novel is divided in almost time-travel like narrative, hopping between Ancient Athens, the Golden Age of Holland and USA.
The Painting by Rembrandt (http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/1650/aristotle-homer.jpg)
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Picture-This-Joseph-Heller/dp/0684868199/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276798287&sr=1-4)
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Going Postal by Terry Pratchett -- Fantasy
"Mainly because it's apparantly sort of steampunk, I want to read it because I also want to see the TV programme after, and Pratchett is awesome, and it sounds interesting. It's a totally selfish nomination . . ."
A book in the long line of his famous Discworld Series, recently turned into a TV show, it sounds very interesting. A mix of fantasy and comedy perhaps? A perfect read for Summer.
Moist von Lipwig is a con artist...and a fraud and a man faced with a life choice: be hanged, or put Ankh-Morpork's ailing postal service back on its feet. It's a tough decision. But he's got to see that the mail gets through, come rain, hail, sleet, dogs, the Post Office Workers' Friendly and Benevolent Society, the evil chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, and a midnight killer. Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice, too...
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Postal-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0552149438/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276798913&sr=1-1)
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The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan -- Realistic
"Because Waterstones reviews says it's awesome, the blurb sounds interesting, and the cover is pretty."
Gwenni Morgan is not like any other girl in this small Welsh town. Inquisitive, bookish and full of spirit, she can fly in her sleep and loves playing detective. So when a neighbour mysteriously vanishes, and no one seems to be asking the right questions, Gwenni decides to conduct her own investigation. She records everything she sees and hears: but are her deductions correct? What is the real truth? And what will be the consequences of finding out, for Gwenni, her family and her community?
What else is there to say? A realistic, detective-esqe story about a little girl set in the 1950s. Almost sounds like Curious Incident with the recording everything but it looks much different.
Oh yeah, the cover is amazing as well.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Earth-Hums-B-Flat/dp/184767304X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276799193&sr=1-2)
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The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer -- SF for YA
Two people on YWO have mentioned reading The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, so I got it from the library yesterday. It seems more science fiction-y than what I usually read, but interesting nonetheless, so I'm giving it a shot.
Not really one for reading children's fiction, but the science fiction aspect of this seems good enough to get me interested. Been reviewed as a very suspenseful tale and it sounds like it could fit in with any "adult" book. The synopsis is honestly interesting for a start.
Matt is six years old when he discovers that he is different from other children, from other people. To most people Matt isn't a boy, but a beast, dirty and disgusting. But to El Patron, lord of a country called Opium, Matt is the guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself - for Matt is himself. They share the same DNA. As Matt struggles to understand his existence and what that existence truly means, he is threatened by a host of sinister and manipulating characters, from El Patron's power-hungry family to the brain-deadened eejits and mindless slaves that toil Opium's poppy fields. Surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards, Matt longs for escape. But even escape is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked but his difference in ways that he doesn't even suspect.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Scorpion-Nancy-Farmer/dp/0689837704/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276799764&sr=1-1)
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City of Saints and Mad Men by Jeff Vandermeer -- Weird Fantasy
It's a lot of fun. Crazy. Weird. And I just read it (well, most of it; I haven't read the appendices yet). I think it would be an interesting one to start off with and talk about just because it's a very strange book. There'd be a lot to say. It's sort of a collection of stories in the same world, all playing off one another, and all in vastly different styles (one is sort of horror, one is a faux historical pamphlet written by an historian, one is a mixture of those two, and one is a really strange patient/psychologist interview/interrogation). Really quite brilliant and it should be easily accessible for everyone. I got mine on Amazon and I imagine your local bookstore would carry it.
He said it all. This is very interesting though since it's a collection of short stories. And that's allowed. Different but allowed. I like different. And so should you.
Once upon a time, on the banks of the River Moth, a city sprang up like no other in or out of history. Founded on the blood of the original inhabitants after the defeat of the stealthy grey caps, and steeped for centuries in the aftermath of that struggle, Ambergris has become a cruelly beautiful metropolis - a haven for artists and thieves, for composers and murderers. For anyone privileged to venture there, the name Ambergris conjures up one of the great and unforgettably fantastic cities of contemporary literature. Readers worldwide have become increasingly beguiled by Jeff VanderMeer's strange and ancient metropolis. And for those who have once visited this uniquely complex and comprehensive society, it will remain forever a favourite haunt - a bustling, grotesque, magnificent, brilliantly realized community full of shocking and beautiful revelations. "City of Saints & Madmen" collects all of the Ambergris novellas (including the World Fantasy Award winner "The Transformation of Martin Lake").
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Saints-Madmen-Jeff-VanderMeer/dp/1405033967/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276800222&sr=1-1)
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House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski -- Realistic Horror Thriller
I honestly have no idea what genre this is. Let's see what Caleb has to say?
House of leaves.
Everyone should read it.
Thanks for that. His brevity shall be made up by this, somewhat slightly confusing, blurb.
Johnny Truant, a wild and troubled sometime employee in a LA tattoo parlour, finds a notebook kept by Zampano, a reclusive old man found dead in a cluttered apartment. Herein is the heavily annotated story of the Navidson Report. Will Navidson, a photojournalist, and his family move into a new house. What happens next is recorded on videotapes and in interviews. Now the Navidsons are household names. Zampano, writing on loose sheets, stained napkins, crammed notebooks, has compiled what must be the definitive work on the events on Ash Tree Lane. But Johnny Truant has never heard of the Navidson Record. Nor has anyone else he knows. And the more he reads about Will Navidson's house, the more frightened he becomes. Paranoia besets him. The worst part is that he can't just dismiss the notebook as the ramblings of a crazy old man. He's starting to notice things changing around him...Immensely imaginative, impossible to put down and impossible to forget, "House of Leaves" is thrilling, terrifying and unlike anything you have ever read before.
I would read this.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/038560310X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276800249&sr=1-1)
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American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang -- Graphic Novel Realistic Fantasy Pretty
Our third interesting nomination (with Picture This being the first, and Shaun's anthology being the second) is a graphic novel. Controversial. Hells yeah. Graphic novels in a book club? In some states, I'd get arrested. Thankfully the UK is much nicer.
This sounds like 240 pages of pure gold. The cover is almost gold as well.
This is a tour-de-force new work by rising indie comics star Gene Yang. "American Born Chinese" maps the adolescent Chinese-American experience through three separate but interwoven stories. One story centres on Jin Wang, a Chinese-American student at an all-white California high school. Jin is plagued by jocks and bullies, so when another Chinese student transfers to the school, Jin wants nothing to do with him. Next is a comic update of the legendary story of the Monkey King, an ancient Chinese morality tale. Finally, there's the gross and surreal stereotype of Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese cliche, complete with a sitcom-style "laugh track". These three apparently unrelated tales come together in an astonishing climax - all with a mighty blast of humour, surprising poignancy and skilled artistry.
Don't dismiss this just because it's a graphic novel. I, for one, am not a graphic novel reader but doesn't mean that I won't vote for it. Read outside the box. Read between the lines.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Born-Chinese-Gene-Luen/dp/1596431520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276800603&sr=1-1)
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Sharp North by Patrick Cave -- Adventure SF YA
Go Scottish plot! WOOP WOOP!
Mira lives quietly in a small rural community in Scotland - until one day she witnesses a stranger running for her life through the forest. Shot and killed in front of her, the body is soon removed, the only clue to the death a spot of blood and a crumpled piece of paper. Mira discovers a list of names on the paper, including her own, and the word 'Watcher' beside one of her contemporaries in the village. Suddenly Mira feels threatened and, increasingly paranoid about the motives of those around her, she plans her escape from the community she's known all her life. Heading towards the capital, she soon discovers an urban nightmare she'd never suspected. A city led by ruling families, where the families are kept in power through their reliance on 'spares' - or clones. Mira herself is a clone of Clarissa, the daughter of one of the governors. Clarissa's brother spots Mira on the streets and is intrigued by her. As he discovers the truth behind his family situation, he determines to help her escape. She is too dangerous to be left 'at large' and is being pursued. Together they head for France, where they know a third 'spare' is being brought up. In a tense denouement, Clarissa and Mira
This is what Alice had to say about the book.
Sharp North by Patrick Cave. I've read it before, a few years ago, and I really liked it. It's science fiction, and takes place in a dystopian, icy-wasteland version of Britain. It's a little long (about the same length as Kraken, so I suppose that's all right?) but the premise of the book, without giving anything away, is a great take on something that has been written about before.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharp-North-Patrick-Cave/dp/0689872771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276803095&sr=1-1)
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The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty -- Light Romantic Comedy. Religious Horror
Even though some of these details can be a bit controversial, I recommend The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. It is, in fact, a lot different from the movie, and is a generally quick read. It's very thought provoking with the arguments, both of medical (which is explained in the text) and of religion (again, explained in the text), over whether or not a young girl named Regan McNeil is, indeed, posessed. That is a religious horror novel, which was published in the 1960's.
Controversial, we can deal with. Add in religion and you've got YWO bristling with anticipation slash bloodlust. Talk about conversation starter. This sure will be if it get's chosen. Hell, we can even have a YWO exorcism on some of the more troll-esque newbs.
Father Damien Karras: 'Where is Regan'. Regan MacNeil: 'In here. With us'. The terror begins unobtrusively. Noises in Regan's room, an odd smell, the displacement of furniture, an icy chill. Easy explanations are offered. Then frightening changes start in the eleven-year-old girl. Medical tests shed no light on her symptoms, but it is as if a different personality has invaded the child. Father Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest, is called in. Is it possible that a demonic force is present in the child? Exorcism is the only answer...
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exorcist-William-Peter-Blatty/dp/0552156884/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276801026&sr=1-1)
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Faces of Fear by John Saul -- Suspense
The other book I'd like to tell you about is Faces of Fear by John Saul. Taking place in present day Santa Monica, California, the novel is about a teenage girl whose mother remarries a plastic surgeon. Once the family is settled in Bel Air, the suspense starts. This one is also a very quick read, but makes you very curious about what will happen next throughout the storyline. Granted, it has a controversial side subject, but nothing so major to take away from the plot. The suspense is AMAZING. Smiley face.
From my google searches, this is a lesser known book of John Saul but apparently just as good.
A lack of synopsis on Amazon is also frustrating. So yeah. EDIT: Found one, but the last line wasn't flattering so I've deleted it. :P
Alison Shaw, 16, is OK with herself as she is; that is, physically fit and not obsessive about her plain face and flat chest. But a cascade of coincidences leads her to self-doubt. First, supermodel Margot Dunn, sidelined by an accident that minced one side of her perfect puss, takes a header onto some California coastal rocks. Then Alison’s parents, real estate agent Risa and TV-station production manager Michael, split over his affair with another man. Then Risa is wooed and won by her wealthy client Conrad Dunn, Margot’s cosmetic supersurgeon widower, which shifts Alison from normal upper-middle-class neighborhood and friends to Dunn’s super-upscale haunts and a school full of rich girls who’ve already gone under his scalpel. Surrounded by feminine perfection, Alison reluctantly reassesses herself. Dunn has already assessed her and found bone structure to match Margot’s. He made Margot. Can he remake her? Meanwhile, a series of horrific murders is under way, in which each victim is left lacking a different facial feature.
Amazong Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faces-Fear-John-Saul/dp/0345487060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276801206&sr=1-1)
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Incarceron by Catherine Fisher -- Fantasy YA
I haven't read it yet, so I dunno, but it's supposed to be a fantasy about a living prison that is made up of metal and keeps its "prisoners" securely locked in. The premise sounded interesting.
And indeed, the premise does sound interesting. Living prison is just one big fat amazing plot bunny. Wish I had thought of that. Damn you Fisher!
Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Incarceron-Catherine-Fisher/dp/0340893605/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276801509&sr=1-1)
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie -- YA Adventure
It's basically about a boy named Arnold Spirit, who lives on a poor Spokane reservation. He was "born with water on the brain," and has many other issues that cause him to be constantly beat up by his fellow Indians. When he decides to go to an all-white school, things spiral out of control. This book was by turns hilarious and sad, and it's a relatively fast read, but some of its topics (racism, masturbation O_o, death, religion) might not be best for younger readers.
Bold was me by the way. Iri is way too classy to go "lolwhut?"
This book can be read in 2 days apparently? That ticks my boxes. Although Iri did a fantastic blurb, here's the proper one.
In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. This heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written tale, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, is based on the author's own experience and chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live. It is illustrated in a contemporary cartoon style by Ellen Forney.
It's a cartoon? I guess it's another graphic novel-esque thingy. Illustrated. We're getting a wonderful variety.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolutely-True-Diary-Part-time-Indian/dp/1842708449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276801733&sr=1-1)
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The Passage by Justin Cronin -- Realistic Thriller? Horror? Fantasy? Who cares?
Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old and her mother thinks she's the most important person in the whole world. She is. Anthony Carter doesn't think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row. He's wrong. FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming. It is. THE PASSAGE. Deep in the jungles of eastern Colombia, Professor Jonas Lear has finally found what he's been searching for - and wishes to God he hadn't. In Memphis, Tennessee, a six-year-old girl called Amy is left at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and wonders why her mother has abandoned her. In a maximum security jail in Nevada, a convicted murderer called Giles Babcock has the same strange nightmare, over and over again, while he waits for a lethal injection. In a remote community in the California mountains, a young man called Peter waits for his beloved brother to return home, so he can kill him. Bound together in ways they cannot comprehend, for each of them a door is about to open into a future they could not have imagined. And a journey is about to begin. An epic journey that will take them through a world transformed by man's darkest dreams, to the very heart of what it means to be human. And beyond. THE PASSAGE.
Yes, cause The Passage in CAPITAL LETTERS is needed just in case you forget what kind of passage this book is about. Not the passage to school, nor is it the passage to redemption. It is the CAPITAL LETTERED passage.
Summer's big thing is this book. And my deal with Waterstones means I have to nominate it.
Lots of overlapping genres. Meh.
Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passage-Justin-Cronin/dp/0752897845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276802351&sr=1-1)
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THAT'S IT! God this was an effort.
Remember, any insults, jokes, comments, discussions can go in this thread.
You get until June the 27th and everyone must vote. Or Spacey comes and chops off your legs. :)
EDIT: That will take a while to read through, and frankly, not even I can be bothered. If you get bored just vote for the ones with the good titles. No one will know, and even less people will care.
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