January Book of the Month Poll

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Himeo

Vyemm Raider
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Quoting rules from the book club thread.

1. Make thread, 1 week notice ahead of time when the reading will officially start.
2. Poster creates poll, 5 book options. Highest vote is the book to be read. The 2nd and 3rd most popular voted books may be included in next RBCT poll perhaps.
3. Sony you have 14 days.... Posters establish reading length time. Spoilers obv need to be in just about every post. Format would be "Im on page XXX: Spoiler"
4. After the established time has passed, people can being posts without spoiler tags, and a new thread could be proposed.
5. The most requested books of last months book thread will be included in the next month's poll.
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I don't think there's a real book named "My Life as a Tranny". If not, I'm going to substitute that fake book with the real book "Kings of Thailand: The Ladyboy Survival Guide - How To Tell If Your Thai Girl is Really a Man":
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This short guide will protect you from every man's fear of Thailand, hooking up with a lady boy by accident.

I've lived in Thailand for over three years and have never had an issue with this. Because I've closely followed the rules that you are about to read.

However, I've known many who have not.

That time has come to an end. I've have grown tired of hearing of tourists getting "screwed" by Thai lady boys. Because of this, I created "The Lady Boy Survival Guide."

What is "The Lady Boy Survival Guide?" It is a guide created by the Kings of Thailand to guarantee that the above situation will never happen to you. Follow it and protect yourself from the "he-shes" of Thailand.

This guide is separated into two sections. The first will consist of 3 real stories where men have hooked up with a lady boy in Thailand without realizing it.

The second section will give you the knowledge to protect yourself so you don't become yet another victim of the infamous Thai Ladyboy.

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The #1 New York Times bestseller is available for the first time in a mass market paperback edition, featuring a striking movie tie-in cover.


Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.


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John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce--and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.


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Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It's a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship's famous senior officers.

Life couldn't be better.until Andrew begins to realize that 1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, 2) the ship's senior officers always survive these confrontations, and 3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed. Unsurprisingly, the savvier crew members belowdecks avoid Away Missions at all costs.

Then Andrew stumbles on information that transforms his and his colleagues' understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is.and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.


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First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic-an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this tenth anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author's preferred text, and a wealth of audio, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.

Relevant and prescient, American Gods has been lauded for its brilliant synthesis of "mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose" (Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World) and as a modern phantasmagoria that "distills the essence of America" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is, quite simply, an outstanding work of literary imagination that will endure for generations.
 

Adebisi

Clump of Cells
<Silver Donator>
27,661
32,677
Who picks the original 5 books?

Shouldn't we all give our "top 5" suggestions first?
 

Himeo

Vyemm Raider
3,260
2,799
Who picks the original 5 books?

Shouldn't we all give our "top 5" suggestions first?
I picked the first five based on what was suggested in the original thread with two of my own options (Redshirts and American Gods) because the original suggestions sucked and we need to get this started in time for January.

Going forward, the books in the poll will be selected based on suggestions in the active book of the month thread. You want a wildcard option to put your favorite book in the poll? I've got that covered. Just wait and see how it plays out.
 

Himeo

Vyemm Raider
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Book thread posted 1st of the month and Wildcard contest begins.
Reading begins 8th of the month.
Wildcard contest ends: 15th of the month.
Spoilers lifted 22nd of the month and next month's poll opens.

No posts from 1st-7th about the book or plot, can only post that you're participating. Wildcard contest: Post a picture of your copy of the book with a highlighter. Best picture get's to pick one book for the next month's poll.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
Keen to be a part of it as long as something other than American Gods is picked, already read it too many times.
 

Grimmlokk

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
12,190
132
I think folks were planning on readingOld Man's Warin a book club thread before. I ain't reading the first two. I've read the last two. So I picked Old Man's War.
 

Baraz_sl

shitlord
30
0
Picked Old Man's War. No interest in the first two. I'm ok with the books being picked on previous suggestion. Some attempt at collating everyone's top 5 suggestions to create the first list would mean this never actually starts.
 

Lusiphur

Peasant
595
47
Yeah, lets go for some books no one here is going to read and some books everyone has already read.
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Redshirts is the only vaguely reasonable choice and even then it's so so.
Set up a thread. One post per person interested. They name one book (which has to have been published in the last year), the one with the most votes is the first one picked for the book club. Rinse and repeat.
 

Himeo

Vyemm Raider
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Let's argue about how we select the first month's set of books endlessly and never read anything.

You want to contribute and make this thing work? Vote, and offer some books to read for next month.
 
375
8
I'm in. Will get a copy of Old Man's War.

EDIT- horry shit though. Just read the wiki for American God's. It sounds amazing, I almost want to read that one now! I'll read it on the side or something, thanks for the nod!
 

Agraza

Registered Hutt
6,890
521
It's so overhyped. It's good, and stands apart, but there is a long line of people trying to ride Neil Gaiman's dick. I'm not voting because I've read all the serious contributions, but I don't see any bad options among them. I definitely wouldn't have one author represented twice in the future.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
Yeah Gaiman writes great stories, but his writing itself fluctuates a bit in quality, and his protagonists tend to be incredibly boring stand-ins for the reader. American Gods is definitely worth a read, but it's not the second coming like some people make out.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
17,324
4,839
I voted American Gods because I've been wanting to reread that forever and Azrayne insulted my BFF Neil Gaiman. Old Man's War intrigues me though so I am down for whatever.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
Not sure I meant it as an insult
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I said his books aren't the best thing since sliced bread like some people claim, they're still good reads and I own a fair few of them, but he definitely has some very noticeable flaws as an author, namely his protagonists and their complete lack of individualism, personality or backstory. They basically only exist as a window through which the reader can experience all the things that happen to them. I'd recommend American Gods to anyone who's a fan of fantasy or mythology, but it's not on my top 10 or anything. It might even be a stylistic thing, I don't know, but it annoys me when I read his stuff. On the flip side, he excels in a lot of other areas.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
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I'm just fucking with you. But that is actually one of the things I like about his writing. He creates amazing characters, but his most memorable characters are often supporting characters that help flesh out his world, which is really his strong point. He creates these worlds where it is perfectly reasonable that magic would exist in a way that blends even with modern society. So in reading The Graveyard Book, I'm not struck with "Wow what an awesome character" but instead with "Wow what an awesome world." I think, in a way, that helps me to identify with the character more, as there is much more subtext to read into there.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
Yeah his supporting characters are amazing, and he can build some really immersive, vibrant world (Stardust in particular sucked me in in a big way, sucker that I am for folklore and old european mythology). I think that's part of why it bugs me, you have a character like Mr. Wednesday, but the only interaction the reader has with him is through a protagonist without any real personality or depth. How amazing would it be to move through those worlds and interact with those characters through the eyes of a protagonist with depth and character and believability?

I dunno, maybe it's just me. It might even be a question of style, maybe he finds it works better that way for whatever reason.
 

Archangel_sl

shitlord
208
5
While I approve of someone taking the horns and running with the book club idea while I was away, I have a few questions.

--how are we choosing genre selections? For example: if we are going with a selection to choose from, how about:

1) Fantasy/Sci-fi (obvious choice for a gamer forum, we seem to all like this from these genres.) I group them together not just because it's become the traditional allocation, but because I don't want to overbalance the choices with what may or not be the Selector of the Month's preference,

2) Non-Fiction. Biography, documentary, memoir, etc,

3) General Fiction/Popular Fiction. Anything that cannot be pigeon-holed as a particular genre. Difficult to decribe, but you know it when you see it.

4) Genre Fiction: crime, thriller, legal, supernatual, historical, comedy, mystery, detective, pulp, dime-store, you get the picture. I would like to include pure Romance here, too, even though most genre-specific fiction will have an element of Romance in it. (Willing to consider it a separate option, as well; these are just thoughts...)

5) Young Adult/Teen/Children's (both Fiction and Non): I would put Happry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Ranger's Apprentice, Percy Jackson, City of Glass, etc into here, even though they have fantastical or sci fi, or adventure plots, they are written towards a younger audience.

6) Pot-Luck: Whether it's a book making news, an oddball author, or just something that the Selector of the Month really likes and really wants other people to read. Can be any kind of book.

---the book needs to be in print, and/or easil available through resources such asthebookdepositoryorabebooks, where you can get incredibly cheap and out-of-print/ out-of-circulation titles.

--Electronic copies of the selected book should be sourced (if possible) for anyone who can't afford the selected title. Which brings me to....

--Cost. We should consider setting some kind of limit. For example, a book that might cost $8.99 in the US can be as high as $33 in Australia. Working through the book depository eliminates that difference in many, many cases, but it's still worth thinking about.

--Restrictions. I would like to think we are all reasonable adults (filtered through the internetm of course,) but I wonder if we should prohibit books that advocate violence, racial hatred, rape, torture, etc. obviously, these issues are usuall found in most adult fiction books, but there's a difference between a plot device and an instructional manifesto.

---------------

That's all I can think of for the moment...any thoughts about these potential amendments?
 

Himeo

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I'm down with that. The way things are currently going it's a popularity contest with suggestions from the crowd and one person able to pick whatever book they want if they win the contest.