Greek Chat Book Club Vote 5/20
 

Since I have no idea how to post a poll just post a reply for which book you want to vote for. There are 15 listed, where the suggestor bothered to post a description I reposted it.

Try to pick something fun people. Also, not a Lifetime movie in book form please. *Gags*

1. Illium by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons' work is easily some of the most intelligent in science fiction. His 'Hyperion Cantos' became an instant classic, and stands as a landmark work of literature, a masterpiece in any genre. With 'Ilium', Simmons brings a new vision to life, full of fascinating insights and riveting storylines.

Mars has... changed. It no longer resembles the red planet that haunted the skies of Earth throughout human history. Gods rule Mars now, and they have remade it in the image of ancient earth. The father of all gods, Zeus, and hundreds of dieties from the greek Pantheon rule over Mars and the titanic struggle taking place on its changed surfaces. The entire Trojan war is being fought, a quarter of a million humans living and dying in a re-enactment of one of the greatest conflicts of all time.

Thomas Hockenberry was a twentieth century expert on the Trojan War, now resurrected by the awe-inspiring technology of the 'gods' two millenia after his death. His role is to act as a sholar, and document the fidelity of the re-enactment, as well as observing pivotal moments he could only dream about in his former life. Aside from Zeus, the gods themselves do not know the outcome of the great war, and Hockenberry is forbidden to reveal it. The gods cannot help jockeying amongst themselves, each intent on defending their respective worshippers. Hockenberry's role will change from one of observer to active participant, as Aphrodite herself enlists his unwilling aid as she conspires against her immortal sister.

2. "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac...description below from Barnes & Noble.com:
...One of the most influential and important novels of the 20th century, this is the book that launched the Beat Generation and remains the bible of that literary movement. On the Road's publication in 1957 was a wake-up call to the American public that not all its youth were modeled after characters on Ozzie and Harriet: it portrayed Ivy League-educated white kids who smoked dope, hitchhiked, and frequented black jazz joints and Mexican whorehouses. It was the harbinger of the radical changes that would soon sweep society in the 1960s.

3.Family Trust
High powered business woman and born-rich philantropist inherit guardianship of child.
This books is hysterical....

4. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, Douglas Adams

5. Author: Brad Meltzer.

Title: The First Consel or The Tenth Justice. Legal thrillers. Way better than Grishom.

6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Description from Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bo...erid=O9t1vATsXG

Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors the book received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America. In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens whole worlds of emotion. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged marriage, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name. Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along a first-generation path strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves. The New York Times has praised Lahiri as "a writer of uncommon elegance and poise." The Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity.

7."The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom
(he also wrote "Tuesdays With Morrie" another GREAT book)

8. Tuesdays with Morrie

9. Confessions of a Shoaholic

10. Angels and Demons, which is also by Dan Brown

11. Garden of Good & Evil by John Berendt.

Here is a description from Amazon:
John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been heralded as a "lyrical work of nonfiction," and the book's extremely graceful prose depictions of some of Savannah, Georgia's most colorful eccentrics--remarkable characters who could have once prospered in a William Faulkner novel or Eudora Welty short story--were certainly a critical factor in its tremendous success. (One resident into whose orbit Berendt fell, the Lady Chablis, went on to become a minor celebrity in her own right.) But equally important was Berendt's depiction of Savannah socialite Jim Williams as he stands trial for the murder of Danny Hansford, a moody, violence-prone hustler--and sometime companion to Williams--characterized by locals as a "walking streak of sex." So feel free to call it a "true crime classic" without a trace of shame.

12. Wild by Jon Krakauer

13. On the Road

14. Fast Food Nation

15. Fast Food Nation

Re: Greek Chat Book Club Vote 5/20
 

Sounds funny...

I've read these and they are all fabulous.

Re: Greek Chat Book Club Vote 5/20
 

This looks interesting. I'm currently reading his Hyperion series (which I highly recommend).

it has been requested that I vote, but I honestly don't care... just let me know the book, and I'll read it.

-Abby

I vote for Five People You Meet In Heaven

1. On the Road

(or The First Counsel or The Tenth Justice are close behind in my list).

Putting in my vote for....


#1 Illium

Edit: I'm changing my vote because I forgot I had nominated a book.

I'm voting for Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.

My second choice, however, is On the Road.

Can we use the books we don't choose from this list to make the choice for the next book?

#11 - "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
This is a great read!

i vote for #11 i loved the movie so i'll hopefully love the book :)

I've only read four of those (and I'd be more than happy to re-read them) so any of them are fine with me. I've heard a lot of good things about The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

can i join the reading group?

i vote for midnight in the garden of good and evil

:)

Five People You Meet in Heaven

or

Fast Food Nation

(I've already read some of the others, so I could re-read or still discuss...)

I vote for Illium

P.S It's actually Called The Hitchickers Guide to the Galaxy. The second books is called The Restaurant at the end of the Universe.

On The Road. Isn't Fast Food Nation extremely long?

I vote for "On The Road" or "Fast Food Nation"!

Choice 1 & 2 -- Either Brad Meltzer novels -- read the 10th Justice which I would happily re-read, and the First Counsel - can't remember if I read it or not, but know I remember hearing good things about it.

Choice 3 -- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

As for the other choices - I am sure that I am missing out, but some of them, just the description sound zzzZZZZ -- but then again, I know that I am not a "real" reader since I prefer to keep my nose stuck in the fiction world of mainly mystery.

First choice is Illium
Second choice: Midnight in the Garden of good and Evil

I wouldn't say it was extremely long. It's dense, though.
So, it's a different read than a novel or even a biography of the same length.

Good! I don't mind reading, but I'm anti-novel. I could care less about something that has never taken place.

My vote is in for Fast Food Nation.

I've changed my vote. I'd actually rather have Ilium. I'm not much in a sappy mood and I wasn't aware that Five People You Meet In Heaven is sort of sappy.

Sorry!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven Sorry, James, but the first one just does not look interesting at all to me...

Sure, in two weeks we will propse another list and vote. We can include the same books.

fast food nation is one of the stupidest books ever by a man who had so much potential and wasted it.

-Rudey

When will you let us know what book we're reading?

First choice, On the Road... actually read this one in college

Second choice, Ilium... actually started to read this one in college, but didn't get too far

Ok I am going to cast the last vote . . for Ilium by Dan Simmons.

Ilium it is.

Ilium got the most votes with 6 votes followed by a three way tie between Five people you meet in heaven, On the Road, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and evil, I imagine we will be readong one of them next :)

Hapy Reading :)

Sounds good! :)

What's the time frame? I need to order the book, finish the book I'm currently reading (Rise of Endymion by the same author, ironically enough), and read this book... all in my copious spare time :rolleyes:

Cool. So that's our book for June, or will we get started sooner?

Crap. Just checked the web-site, and there's a huge wait for Ilium at my library...that's a good sign, though Guess I'll have to buy it! That's OK, it sounds ilke something my FIL would love, so I'll pass it on when I'm done....

How long do you guys need to read it? How long do book clubs usually give you?

A lot of literary references in the book andsome unusual social theory.

Okay, I'm going to be the wet noodle and not participate in this round - someone PM me when you choose the next book. Maybe I can get past the description of the next book ;)

Have fun!!!

Meanie ;) I would have and will in the future have to read some of the sappier books women like :)

I would like to join this book club...

I think 2-3 weeks is probably a good idea... maybe even a month cuz I'm sure lots of people are way busier than I am... :)

My book clubs usually meet once a month, so we usually have four or five weeks. I think a month is easy to remember and gives plenty of time for most books. If the time is too short, we'll spend too much time reading and not enough on GC.

Do the book clubs meet just once a month and discuss the whole thing then, or do they do it like we would do in school and read chapters 1-8, then discuss, then read 9-15, then discuss, etc.? I'd hate to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read up to the points we're discussing.

I think we should make this the book for June and plan on everyone having read it by June 21 (that's exactly 4 weeks from today) or that general time frame...that way we'll have a bit of time to finish up discussions and get started on the next book. What does everyone else think?

Also, did we decide how many pages is our "minimum" (i.e., if you still can't get into after 50 pages you can put it down)?

I will try to read if possible, but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time this month (I have a lot of stuff going on). The book sounds interesting, though!

I am also going to have to sit this one out but I hope to get in on the next round. Happy reading!

I just picked up the book today. It's quite a thick book. I'm going to say a month is a good time fram to read. Some may be quicker than others in reading it.
But since I'm at work all day I don't have hours and hours each day to read it.
I think a month is good and those that are done sooner can start on the nexct book until we come to the discussion.

No-no-no -- I do NOT read sappy books. I also don't read books that I can't pronounce the title or read the description without falling asleep ;) Sci-Fi just ain't my bag, baby [/Austin Powers voice]

What can I say...

Hi, my name's AXO Alum and I am a fiction mystery junkie...
{Crowd: Hi AXO Alum}

I can get into some other things - that Inheritance book sounded pretty funny -- so maybe next go round. Don't act like you're going to miss me or something :p

Okay, we need to make like a separate forum for book reviews or book clubs or sticky this thread to the top or something because it gets buried so quickly.

Anyways, what have we decided for some of our details? I ordered this book from half.com and should be here soon (hopefully!). They shipped it via media mail and said it could take up to 14 days for delivery. Yikes!