Ning didn't have a polling option, so I'm using my blog to run a poll for the book selections. Use the comments to suggest others. This is a way to see in which genres everyone's interests lie, as well, please vote on all. Scroll to the bottom for the polls.
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson Nonfiction
The 1893 Chicago World's Fair is the setting for this true story contrasting Daniel H. Burnahm, the designer and builder assigned the mammoth task of constructing all the structures for the fair and Herman Webster Mudgett, a serial killer who traps and kills women in his hotel located only blocks from the fair site. A well-researched and gripping tale.
2003
Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl - Barry Lyga Teen Fiction
A fifteen-year-old "geek" who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself.
2007
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao - Oscar Diaz Fiction
Oscar, an overweight ghetto nerd in New Jersey dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and of finding love. But he may never get what he wants because of an ancient curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.
Waterland - Graham Swift Fiction
History teacher Tom Crick, on the verge of a forced retirement, regales his students with a tale of love and murder in England’s Fen country, from Victorian times to the present.
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie Fiction
Saleem Sinai, who was born at the stroke of midnight on Aug. 15, 1947 (the moment of India's independence from Britain), finds his life, like the lives of the 1,001 other children born at the same time, bound up with India's fate as an independent nation. In 1993, Midnight’s Children was awarded the Booker of Bookers prize as the best novel to be awarded the Booker Prize in its first 25 years.
Galatea 2.2 - Richard Powers Fiction
An English professor uses his literary knowledge to help a cognitive neurologist create a thinking machine that can pass a comprehensive master's exam for an advanced degree in English; in the process, he discovers that Helen has developed a mind of her own.
The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl Fiction
Someone is killing prominent Bostonians in 1865 according to punishments meted out in Dante's Inferno. Members of the Dante Club speed up their translation of The Divine Comedy to try and stop the murders.
Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry - Elizabeth McCracken Fiction, Short Stories
An American Library Association Notable Book, this collection of marvelously inventive short stories introduces many quirky characters and weird situations, all described in a down-to-earth voice and endearing language.
3 comments:
My top three would be: The Dante Club, The Devil in the White City, and The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, based on those descriptions. I'd probably put Here's Your Hat and Fanboy as lower on the list, but I'll happily read whichever book is voted the winner. Yay, Book Crack!
For obvious reasons I won't be able to participate. But, if you like the 1800's mystery theme, I suggest "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr. I really enjoyed it. It's much better than "The Angel of Darkness".
And, on a totally different note and though you've all probably already read it, "Good Omens". One of my most favorite books ever.
Sorry I didn't get to the polling before it closed -- life is crazy. Enjoy it while you can!
Anyway! I'd read any of these books. I tend toward science fiction and fantasy, but I most just love me a good story. I'd pass on anything that gets too creepy I think. I tend not to be able to let that stuff go. Losing sleep because I'm up all night reading is one thing. Losing sleep because I can't stop thinking about how someone is going to "get me" is something completely different.
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