July '10 Reading Poll

[Scheherazade]

Please nominate the books you would like to read in July in this thread.

[applepie]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

I've been wanting to read this for some time, so it tops my list

[papayahed]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

I've been wanting to read this for some time, so it tops my list

Allll riiiigghhttt!! I've been wanting to read that one.

[JuniperWoolf]

Hmmm, July eh? I like to read according to the seasons, so I think that something nature-ey would be nice. I'll nominate Walden.

[Dark Muse]

The Outsider by Richard Wright

[Scheherazade]

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

[motherhubbard]

I'm getting back to my roots this summer :) I've been reading things that take place here in the Ozarks. I'd like to nominate When Money Grew on Trees: The True Tale of a Marijuana Moonshiner and the Outlaw Sheriff of Madison County, Arkansas This is a true story and I know some of the people in the book.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Grew-Trees-Moonshiner/dp/1403376131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272852555&sr=1-1

[Wilde woman]

I'll nominate Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and I haven't had time to get around to it.

[Nikhar]

The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle.

[TheFifthElement]

Empire of the Sun - J G Ballard

[Satan]

Great nominations so far.

Hopscotch (http://www.amazon.com/Hopscotch-Pantheon-Modern-Writers-Cortazar/dp/0394752848/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272993241&sr=1-1) by Julio Cortázar.

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

2. Walden

3. The Outsider by Richard Wright

4. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

5. When Money Grew on Trees: The True Tale of a Marijuana Moonshiner and the Outlaw Sheriff of Madison County, Arkansas

6. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez

7. The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

8. Empire of the Sun - J G Ballard

9. Hopscotch (http://www.amazon.com/Hopscotch-Pantheon-Modern-Writers-Cortazar/dp/0394752848/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272993241&sr=1-1) by Julio Cortázar

Last nomination up for grabs!

[Jay]

Temeraire by Naomi Novik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Dragon) :p

[papayahed]

I'm getting back to my roots this summer :) I've been reading things that take place here in the Ozarks. I'd like to nominate When Money Grew on Trees: The True Tale of a Marijuana Moonshiner and the Outlaw Sheriff of Madison County, Arkansas This is a true story and I know some of the people in the book.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Grew-Trees-Moonshiner/dp/1403376131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272852555&sr=1-1

oh heck that one looks good too!!!

[applepie]

oh heck that one looks good too!!!

I'm going to have trouble picking from the list :) I want to read my suggestion (of course), but if I'm going to read it anyway then it makes more sense to pick another one that I may not have planned on.

[lallison]

I've always wanted to read Thoreau's Waldon. I'll second that one.

[scaltz]

Lonesome Dove..mmm isn't that book in a tetralogy? Wouldn't it feel incomplete reading a single book from a series?

I'll second for the Empire of the Sun, the plot looks very promising to me and I would nominate Hopscotch and Wald. Hopscotch for it's metaphors and Wald for it's plot.

It will be kinda hard to find the book "When Money Grew on Trees: The True Tale of a Marijuana Moonshiner and the Outlaw Sheriff of Madison County, Arkansas" for those who don't live in the US and also for those who don't have an electric book :/.

[Jesterhead]

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

[Scheherazade]

We have the 10 nominations we need:

1. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

2. Walden

3. The Outsider by Richard Wright

4. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

5. When Money Grew on Trees: The True Tale of a Marijuana Moonshiner and the Outlaw Sheriff of Madison County, Arkansas

6. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez

7. The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

8. Empire of the Sun - J G Ballard

9. Hopscotch (http://www.amazon.com/Hopscotch-Pantheon-Modern-Writers-Cortazar/dp/0394752848/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272993241&sr=1-1) by Julio Cortázar

10. Temeraire by Naomi Novik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Majesty%27s_Dragon)

Those who have nominated after the 10th book can nominate their books for the next month's reading.

[lallison]

Lonesome Dove was originally written to stand on its own and feels complete after reading it. Because it was so popular and after winning the Pulitzer Prize, McMurtry wrote a few others in the series. If you read it, you'll see why. It's a book one never wants to reach the end of.

[_Shannon_]

My vote is for Lonesome Dove, though Ballard is a close second. Empire of the Sun has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid.

I think I'd rather have white hot pokers stabbed into my eyes than to have to read Love In The Time of Cholera again. I loathe that book-it's in my top three of books which I hated and were torturous to read.

[Sirkka]

I hope I can vote, I try to reach the 50 posts minimum. =)

First, when I saw the current nominations, I just spotted a few know titles. Like "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez, and "I Am Legend" - but here I just know the movie. The Movie was, well, in my opinion okay, nothing I need to see again and again. The book seemed uninteresting to me, I hadn't the urge to investigate it, because the movie was okay, but not *wow*. Due to the fact I didn't know a few titles I researched all the titles of the list (mabe i know them, but forgot them), and read @ wikipedia a summary of the book plot. As is mostly the case, the book seems to be better than the movie adaption.

So, I think - if I reach the 50+, I will vote for "I am Legend".

[David Lurie]

8. Empire of the Sun - J G Ballard

9. Hopscotch (http://www.amazon.com/Hopscotch-Pantheon-Modern-Writers-Cortazar/dp/0394752848/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272993241&sr=1-1) by Julio Cortázar[/B]

I have these two on shelf - it could be the right time to read them!

[wokeem]

I shall third walden. I was already intending to read it in July anyways

[Scheherazade]

David and Wokeem>The voting will start in June but you need at least 50 posts to be able to take part so better bring up the count!

:D

[Scheherazade]

Let there be voting!

[_Shannon_]

I think I'll hold my vote for awhile...Love In The Time of Cholera is one of my most hated books ever...so I'll wait and see if my vote matter. I'd Like to read Lonesome Dove--I've only read The Last Picture Show and thought it was bleak--but good. A very close second is Empire of The Sun which was one of my beloved childhood movies. I've seen it like 50 times....I'd love to read it!

[Scheherazade]

I won't mind reading Lonesome Dove or I Am Legend.

[papayahed]

Come on ya'll I am Legend! The cool kids are doing it!!

[Aragorn Elessar]

Of those displayed, I definitely want to read Walden. Empire of the Sun was a good movie, and I Am Legend was not a good movie, but I don't want to read either one. :) And besides, Walden is a classic... one which I've never read.

[IceM]

You can't go wrong with the biggest badass of the Romantic Era; Henry David Thoreau. =]

[L.M. The Third]

I want to read "Walden" too. It seems like a perfect book for summer reading in the garden and woods. And andave ya and I were just talking about it.

[_Shannon_]

But Walden is just so...boring..... summer should be for adventure novels!!!

[aliengirl]

I want to read Love in the Time of Cholera. I've read One Hundred Years of Solitude and would like to read more of Marquez.

[applepie]

Of those displayed, I definitely want to read Walden. Empire of the Sun was a good movie, and I Am Legend was not a good movie, but I don't want to read either one. :) And besides, Walden is a classic... one which I've never read.

Never judge a book by its movie :D

[The Comedian]

I'm shocked that Walden is even in contention. Glad. But shocked.

[Nikhar]

But Walden is just so...boring..... summer should be for adventure novels!!!

The wiki article that I read suggests the same.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I would love to read Walden, but I'm going to skip this month, because I just have so much on my list to read... Walden's going on my wishlist though and I might buy Lonesome Dove for my dad's birthday, because it sounds like something he would like a lot.

[_Shannon_]

Well--so far it looks like another month I won't be reading along. :( Everything everyone is picking is stuff I've already read--and often it's stuff I have no interest in ever reading again.

Walden vs. Love In The Time....it's like a battle of meh. :D

[Scheherazade]

Well--so far it looks like another month I won't be reading along. :( Same here.

Not that I am complaining. I have got a long list of "to-be-read".

[_Shannon_]

Same here.

Not that I am complaining. I have got a long list of "to-be-read".
Me too! Plus I have ultimate power on my FB book club, where I pick everything.:aureola:

[applepie]

I'll give it a shot if it is Walden, but Love in the Time of Cholera is out. I read it years ago, and I just didn't like it. I've not read Walden, but I enjoy some of Thoreau's shorter works.

Now everyone could surprise me and make a mad dash to vote for I am Legend :D I'm reading that anyway.

[_Shannon_]

I'll go ahead and vote since it appears that the choice shall be between the ungood and the ungooder. :D

[dicer]

I want to vote for Walden, but either the poll is closed or I don't have voting permissions. I guess I don't have enough posts. I haven't read either though, so I hope I can read along.

[The Comedian]

I want to vote for Walden, but either the poll is closed or I don't have voting permissions. I guess I don't have enough posts. I haven't read either though, so I hope I can read along.

You have to have a minimum post count to participate in the book club polls. I think the minimum is 50.

[Scheherazade]

I want to vote for Walden, but either the poll is closed or I don't have voting permissions. I guess I don't have enough posts. I haven't read either though, so I hope I can read along.Dicer,

As The Comedian mentioned, you need to have at least 50 posts to be able to take part in the Book Club polls, which means you have got 10 days to increase your post count and vote! :)

Welcome to the Forum.

[Dark Muse]

Haha this is one of the most exciting polls

[papayahed]

noooooooooooo

[Scheherazade]

Which reminds me...

Papaya, have you voted yet? :D

In this poll and the summer reading one?

[applepie]

noooooooooooo

I'm seconding that :D I found my copy of Love in the Time of Cholera. I really thought I had gotten rid of it, but maybe I'll give it another shot since I've got the book just sitting around.

[papayahed]

Which reminds me...

Papaya, have you voted yet? :D

In this poll and the summer reading one?


Not exactly. :cool:

Thanks for the reminder!!

[Whistle]

Oooooh, I would vote for Love in the Time of Cholera if I had enogh posts.

[applepie]

Oooooh, I would vote for Love in the Time of Cholera if I had enogh posts.

You have time. The games and General Chat areas are good places to go and get your post count up. Not that I'm encouraging you to vote for Love in the Time of Cholera. I would love it if we have a mass of votes suddenly go for I am Legend :D

[Aragorn Elessar]

Never judge a book by its movie :D

True, true. Nevertheless, I stick with Walden.

[Aragorn Elessar]

I just read the Wikipedia descriptions of each chapter of Walden, and I must say, although I haven't read it yet, this looks like a very interesting book! I really feel a lot of empathy toward Henry David Thoreau now. The ideas about simple living and self-sufficiency, I couldn't agree more with. I concur with the initiatives of the Transcendentalism movement, especially the pro-individualism aspects.

"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."
- Henry David Thoreau

This is all very good stuff. I think I'm an individualist anarchist, perhaps not by strict definition, but something close to it. I should have read Walden long ago. :)

[_Shannon_]

I just read the Wikipedia descriptions of each chapter of Walden, and I must say, although I haven't read it yet, this looks like a very interesting book! I really feel a lot of empathy toward Henry David Thoreau now. The ideas about simple living and self-sufficiency, I couldn't agree more with. I concur with the initiatives of the Transcendentalism movement, especially the pro-individualism aspects.

"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."
- Henry David Thoreau

This is all very good stuff. )

That's a really swell thought before interstates and bridges and public water and sewer systems and multinational agribusiness and atomic weapons. It's a really nifty thought in a young Republic before it's civil war. It's really fine thought before megalopolises appeared. Heck- it's even before the railroad was firmly established in America.

I dunno, it's all just so antiquated and simplistic and idealistic and he's just so dratted pretentious. I spend the whole book wanting to jack him in the jaw and tell him to suck out the marrow from THAT. :incazzato:

[The Comedian]

Antiquated! You mean like wine, love, honor, the muscle ache from a good day's work, a garden full of vegetables, a paper-bound book, sex, and all that other worthless out-dated riff-raff? ;)

[_Shannon_]

Antiquated! You mean like wine, love, honor, the muscle ache from a good day's work, a garden full of vegetables, a paper-bound book, sex, and all that other worthless out-dated riff-raff? ;)
Unless you are dead none of those things are antiquated....all of that is hip and cool right now.:cool: I mean this is the Oprah Empire, afterall.

But Thoreau's ideas about government are not compatible with modern life....and people who are all "down with the government" generally still want to drive a car they know is safe, on a road that was built for them by the government, after eating food they know hasn't been unduly contaminated, coming from and going to a building they feel pretty sure isn't going to fall down around them or catch fire if the wind blows just right.

Individualism is all hunky dory--except that we're really interdependent. Speaking of sex--just think how different Walden would have been has Thoreau had a girl (or a boy).....then I might be up for reading it yet again.

[Aragorn Elessar]

Shannon, I disagree with you. :)

[The Comedian]

But Thoreau's ideas about government are not compatible with modern life....and people who are all "down with the government" generally still want to drive a car they know is safe, on a road that was built for them by the government, after eating food they know hasn't been unduly contaminated, coming from and going to a building they feel pretty sure isn't going to fall down around them or catch fire if the wind blows just right.

I've read Walden a number of times, and I'd say that this is a common understanding of the text. But not an exact one. Thoreau's ideas were considered antiquated in his day too -- that's why he wanted to try them.

He's also not a extreme as we want him to be. He lives walking distance to town, goes there "almost ever day", and spends much of the book figuring out the proper relationship between an individual and society. His complaint is that too many assume that a strict and unthinking devotion to societal values is a necessary part modern existence. Sure, he rants and raves about this. But he does not dismiss the need for a proximity to society and use for it. He just assumes that he doesn't really know what that "use" is.

But that noble book has not won the nomination yet, so I'll keep my yapper shut.


Individualism is all hunky dory--except that we're really interdependent. Speaking of sex--just think how different Walden would have been has Thoreau had a girl (or a boy).....then I might be up for reading it yet again.

If he had a girl or a boy at Walden it would be Walden: Friday the 13 -- Thoreau Kills -- undoubtedly a much more popular read than it is today. ;)

[Aragorn Elessar]

“That's a really swell thought before interstates and bridges and public water and sewer systems and multinational agribusiness and atomic weapons. It's a really nifty thought in a young Republic before it's civil war. It's really fine thought before megalopolises appeared. Heck- it's even before the railroad was firmly established in America.”

Well, to be honest, we don't really need much of that. Technology has gone over the top as far as real necessities. Do we really need the automobile? Well, to get places, yes, but do we really need to get places in order to survive? No, not places that need that kind of technology. Obviously, the other animals of the planet are living without such great technology.

“I dunno, it's all just so antiquated and simplistic and idealistic and he's just so dratted pretentious. I spend the whole book wanting to jack him in the jaw and tell him to suck out the marrow from THAT.”

Simplicity is good. And there's nothing wrong with being old-fashioned.

“But Thoreau's ideas about government are not compatible with modern life”

I don't understand why they wouldn't be compatible.

“Individualism is all hunky dory--except that we're really interdependent.”

We're interdependent in two ways - reproduction and retrieving food. Both for survival. That's it, really.

Remember that humans are animals. And as dominant and advanced as we may be, we still only NEED pretty much the same things other animals do: food and water, as well as reproduction to keep the species going. Technology is only necessary to an extent - maybe the tools needed to kill another animal for food, or the tools needed for farming. Basic stuff - not all the things we have nowadays like computers and automobiles, that people growing up in such societies now find "necessary."

[_Shannon_]

I suppose we ought to move the discussion somewhere else...lol! Or just wait until the inevitable happens and Walden is chosen. :D

I still think another book, except Love In The Time of Cholera would be more fun! Lonesome Dove would be fun.....

As an aside--does this mean we can nominate literary nonfiction from now on?? For some reason I thought we could only nominate novels. But there's a good chance I am just making that up completely.

[dicer]

Dicer,

As The Comedian mentioned, you need to have at least 50 posts to be able to take part in the Book Club polls, which means you have got 10 days to increase your post count and vote! :)

Welcome to the Forum.


You have to have a minimum post count to participate in the book club polls. I think the minimum is 50.

Thanks both. I don't think I will be reaching 50 posts for about five years, but hopefully someone else will vote Walden and break the tie. I've just bought my copy with a book voucher so I'll be quite gutted otherwise. :prrr: Well, I'll read it anyway, but still.