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HAF Book Club: December Poll

Started by Sandra Craft, November 15, 2017, 12:05:36 PM

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Sandra Craft

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini
In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, by Haruki Murakami
From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes this superb collection of twenty-four stories that generously expresses Murakami's mastery of the form. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit his ability to transform the full range of human experience in ways that are instructive, surprising, and relentlessly entertaining.
Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an iceman, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we might wish for. Whether during a chance reunion in Italy, a romantic exile in Greece, a holiday in Hawaii, or in the grip of everyday life, Murakami's characters confront grievous loss, or sexuality, or the glow of a firefly, or the impossible distances between those who ought to be closest of all.

Dark Intelligence, by Neal Asher
Thorvald Spear has been brought back from the dead. Killed a century earlier by Penny Royal, an unstable AI who turned rogue in the middle of a human versus alien war, the resurrected Spear has one thing on his mind: revenge.  Crime lord Isobel Satomi got more than she bargained for when she struck a deal with Penny Royal. Turning part-AI herself gave her frightening power, but the upgrade came with horrifying repercussions—and it's turning Isobel into something far from human.  Spear hires Isobel to track down Penny Royal, but as she continues her metamorphosis, it's clear that Isobel's monstrous transformations will eventually become uncontrollable. Will Spear finish his hunt before becoming the hunted?

The Glass Bead Game, by Hermann Hesse
Set in the 23rd century, The Glass Bead Game is the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castalia, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and scientific arts, such as mathematics, music, logic, and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master of the Game).

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, by José Saramago
A brilliant skeptic, José Saramago envisions the life of Jesus Christ and the story of his Passion as things of this earth: A child crying, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat, a prayer uttered in the grayish morning light. His idea of the Holy Family reflects the real complexities of any family, and—as only Saramago can—he imagines them with tinges of vision, dream, and omen. The result is a deft psychological portrait that moves between poetry and irony, spirituality and irreverence of a savior who is at once the Son of God and a young man. In this provocative, tender novel, the subject of wide critical discussion and wonder, Saramago questions the meaning of God, the foundations of the Church, and human existence itself.

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Isolated by a disfiguring injury since the age of seventeen, Sean Phillips crafts imaginary worlds for strangers to explore. As the creator of "Trace Italian"-a text-based role-playing game that's played through the mail-Sean guides subscribers through his intricately imagined terrain, turn by turn, as they search out sanctuary in a ravaged, savage future America. But when Lance and Carrie, two teenaged seekers of the Trace, take their play outside the game, disaster strikes, and Sean is called on to account for it. In the process, he is pulled back through time, toward the beginning and the climax: the moment of his own self-inflicted departure from the world in which most people live.

Underground Airlines, by Ben Winters
It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred.  Underground Airlines is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon
For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Sandra Craft

Wish I could figure out a way to avoid these 5-way ties.  I'm not even going to put names in a hat -- I'm arbitrarily casting my tie-breaking vote for The Gospel According to Jesus Christ for our December read.  It just seems appropriate.  Go get your book.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Biggus Dickus

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 24, 2017, 05:36:37 AM
Wish I could figure out a way to avoid these 5-way ties.  I'm not even going to put names in a hat -- I'm arbitrarily casting my tie-breaking vote for The Gospel According to Jesus Christ for our December read.  It just seems appropriate.  Go get your book.


Alright, good choice Books ;D. That was one of my original submissions, and have been wanting to read it for some time. I love Saramago.

I may beat Davin with this one.
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Davin

I ordered it, should arrive today. I'll be starting it on Wednesday.
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Sandra Craft

By the way, since these ties seem to be a running theme here I've decided to try something new in breaking them.  I think if I always break them the books will be too much of a reflection of my tastes and interests.

So starting in January whenever there's a tie I'll ask one of the voting members of the book club to cast the tie-breaking vote.  Davin, as our ace reader, I'm going to ask you to cast the deciding vote the next time we have a tie.

Which brings up a related question: who routinely votes on our polls?  I'm pretty sure of at least 3 people but we usually get more voting than that.  If you don't mind saying so (and want a chance to be a tie-breaker), fess up.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Biggus Dickus

Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on November 28, 2017, 01:28:05 AM
By the way, since these ties seem to be a running theme here I've decided to try something new in breaking them.  I think if I always break them the books will be too much of a reflection of my tastes and interests.

So starting in January whenever there's a tie I'll ask one of the voting members of the book club to cast the tie-breaking vote.  Davin, as our ace reader, I'm going to ask you to cast the deciding vote the next time we have a tie.

Which brings up a related question: who routinely votes on our polls?  I'm pretty sure of at least 3 people but we usually get more voting than that.  If you don't mind saying so (and want a chance to be a tie-breaker), fess up.






me.
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Sandra Craft

Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Davin



I'll try not to let all that power go to my head.

[gifv]https://i.imgur.com/AnkJmE2.gifv[/gifv]
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Magdalena


"I've had several "spiritual" or numinous experiences over the years, but never felt that they were the product of anything but the workings of my own mind in reaction to the universe." ~Recusant

Biggus Dickus

Quote from: Magdalena on November 28, 2017, 04:17:49 PM
You guys are funny.  :lol:

You damn right we is funny! Only the coolest, hippest, funniest folk hang out here in the Book Club.

:terrapin: :cow: :headbang: :far out: :guitar: :levitate: :maracas:
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Biggus Dickus

Quote from: Davin on November 27, 2017, 02:07:53 PM
I ordered it, should arrive today. I'll be starting it on Wednesday.

So I ordered the book back on the 28th. An e-book for my Nook, however. Having issues getting it to downloaded. When my Nook attempts to download it alerts me that my email has changed, which is correct. When I go to update the email address it then tells me that email address is already registered, but it won't allow my to input that email address into the Nook, because the Nook say's it's not fucking registered.

Circle of hell.

Need to go to Barnes and Noble...online chat, and call in customer service were zero fucking help.

I may cancel the ebook and simply buy the paperback...
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Davin

Quote from: Father Bruno on December 05, 2017, 05:34:53 PM
Quote from: Davin on November 27, 2017, 02:07:53 PM
I ordered it, should arrive today. I'll be starting it on Wednesday.

So I ordered the book back on the 28th. An e-book for my Nook, however. Having issues getting it to downloaded. When my Nook attempts to download it alerts me that my email has changed, which is correct. When I go to update the email address it then tells me that email address is already registered, but it won't allow my to input that email address into the Nook, because the Nook say's it's not fucking registered.

Circle of hell.

Need to go to Barnes and Noble...online chat, and call in customer service were zero fucking help.

I may cancel the ebook and simply buy the paperback...
Could try a third email. But tech support should be able to fix that.

I bought the paperback because I like reading books more than screens. Don't know why, the Nook screens are easy on the eyes.
Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Velma

Quote from: Davin on December 05, 2017, 06:41:27 PM
Quote from: Father Bruno on December 05, 2017, 05:34:53 PM
Quote from: Davin on November 27, 2017, 02:07:53 PM
I ordered it, should arrive today. I'll be starting it on Wednesday.

So I ordered the book back on the 28th. An e-book for my Nook, however. Having issues getting it to downloaded. When my Nook attempts to download it alerts me that my email has changed, which is correct. When I go to update the email address it then tells me that email address is already registered, but it won't allow my to input that email address into the Nook, because the Nook say's it's not fucking registered.

Circle of hell.

Need to go to Barnes and Noble...online chat, and call in customer service were zero fucking help.

I may cancel the ebook and simply buy the paperback...
Could try a third email. But tech support should be able to fix that.

I bought the paperback because I like reading books more than screens. Don't know why, the Nook screens are easy on the eyes.
Wish I could help you with your download issue. When I changed my email, I didn't have any issues.

I bought the new Nook Glowlight 3 last month shortly after it came out. I'm loving it. It has the option to set the screen to a warmer color. I find myself preferring it to paper books for reading in bed.
Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.~Carl Sagan

xSilverPhinx

I have yet to read one of Saramago's works (the shame!). I am told he is quite brilliant.

I would need a translated version though, European Portuguese is really weird! :grin:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Sandra Craft

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 05, 2017, 09:20:57 PM
I have yet to read one of Saramago's works (the shame!). I am told he is quite brilliant.

I would need a translated version though, European Portuguese is really weird! :grin:

Am now intrigued.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany