Poll

Voted for Joanna Russ since she is one of those classic authors I often hear about but haven't read yet.

...but mostly voting in the hope we don't pick a book I've read already. :D

I'm having a hard time deciding, I like three of them The Mote In God's Eye, Synners and the angel of the revolution.

I voted for one that's been in my "to read" list for a long time. I'm not sure it's been on my GR list for a long time (I actually didn't look to see if it's on it at all) but there are 2 I'd be happier with than the others...

Subtheme: Scifi with titles that allude to religious themes?

I voted for Leibowitz, as that might be helpful for some of my academic work, and with a new class to teach, September is shaping up to be very, very busy. Can't justify a just-for-pleasure read.

Well. If something else is picked, I probably will justify a just-for-pleasure read, but I haven't yet figured out exactly my line of argumentation yet.

So I just noticed that on the right, it shows the users who voted and what they voted for. Kind of defeats the purpose of hiding it. And annoys me. If I wanted people to know what I voted for, I would have said what I voted for. :/

Ulmer Ian wrote: "Voted for Joanna Russ since she is one of those classic authors I often hear about but haven't read yet.

...but mostly voting in the hope we don't pick a book I've read already. :D"

The Russ is tempting, but there's an issue of availability. It's only available as an out-of-print dead tree edition and it's far from her most popular work so not easy to find in libraries either. It's also available as part of The Adventures of Alyx ... which is also out-of-print.

wait, The Angel of the Revolution A Tale of the Coming Terror is a $1.99 ebook and is not winning by a landslide? Vote your pocketbook.

Stephen wrote: "wait, The Angel of the Revolution A Tale of the Coming Terror is a $1.99 ebook and is not winning by a landslide? Vote your pocketbook."

It's 122 years old. It's in the public domain. $1.99 is $1.99 more than you need to pay.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31324

That said, price should not be the main deciding factor.

Stephen wrote: "wait, The Angel of the Revolution A Tale of the Coming Terror is a $1.99 ebook and is not winning by a landslide? Vote your pocketbook."

The price tag doesn't reflect the cost the time spent reading that book that could be spent reading a different book or watching tv or working. I try to ignore price and pick books that I want to read and give my time to the most.

Am I crazy, or do I remember Tom saying something about reading Chuck Wendig's new Star Wars book Aftermath for September? I was really looking forward to it!

Maybe it could be an alternate pick?

Erik wrote: "Am I crazy, or do I remember Tom saying something about reading Chuck Wendig's new Star Wars book Aftermath for September? I was really looking forward to it!

Maybe it could be an ..."

I think he mentioned that we should read it at some point but he did say he would do a poll of space opera from different decades for September.

Looks like there are several good choices.
and one not so great. (It’s that one they force you to read in high school.)
Our english teacher claimed that it was a “classic”
but most of us viewed it as punishment.
It was every bit as exciting as Ivanhoe.
Someone must like it.
(Of course you could say the same thing about broccoli)

In general, imo, most bad experiences with books in high school are due to the teacher*, not the book.

*the teacher or, more generally, the educational system which fails to prepare students to enjoy books that aren't plot-heavy, instead just training them to symbol hunt.

Rob Secundus wrote: "In general, imo, most bad experiences with books in high school are due to the teacher*, not the book.

*the teacher or, more generally, the educational system which fails to prepare students to e..."
Your probably right.
Noting like making something mandatory to take the fun out of it.

Warren wrote: "Looks like there are several good choices.
and one not so great. (It’s that one they force you to read in high school.)
"

Which one is that? None of them were on the Aussie curriculum when I was at school.

I'd guess it's either "Canticle for Leibowitz" (the most likely) or "The Angel of the Revolution"

Tassie Dave wrote: "Warren wrote: "Looks like there are several good choices.
and one not so great. (It’s that one they force you to read in high school.)
"Which one is that? None of them were on the Aussie curricul..."

Your lucky. The Canticles have been require reading for about 50 years now.You probably also missed out on the obligatory “coming-of-age” novel.Which has also been required reading for about 50 years. They should really update the curriculum at least once a generation. I think it would be great if they update the Scifi reading list- “Mom I need help with my home work. What you you say the underlying theme was for the Cryptonomicon?’

I adore A Canticle for Leibowitz -- it moved me to tears. FWIW, I also love broccoli. :)

I'm in Alabama, and I've never seen it on a curriculum. I read it as part of my quest to read all the Hugo winners.

terpkristin wrote: "So I just noticed that on the right, it shows the users who voted and what they voted for. Kind of defeats the purpose of hiding it. And annoys me. If I wanted people to know what I voted for, I would have said what I voted for. :/ "

The irony here is that I probably wouldn't have noticed (and then gone and had a sneaky peak ;P) if you hadn't mentioned this...

But, huh, it does seem rather an odd thing, especially when the vote is 'hidden'.

Erik wrote: A Canticle for Leibowitz -- it moved me to tears. FWIW, I also love broccoli. :)
"
I didn't think it was that bad ;-}
I do wish the schools could afford the latest books. This years assigned reading should be last years award winners. But I know that with limited budgets and a long approval process that won't happen.

The other thing is, it's hard for a teacher working on multiple classes to be reading all the newest lit, evaluating everything, and writing new curricula to accomodate that new lit every year.


Honestly, Canticle (and Ender's Game, and Fahrenheit 451) are chosen in part because genre fiction is seen as a good way to trick people into reading-- read this novel! It's not boring, it's scifi! No matter what you choose, if that's your approach, you're going to end up losing a lot of kids. A good teacher should be able to take a book a kid would never want to read on their own and make it fun, exciting, interesting, etc, and make the whole process of reading critically also fun, exciting, interesting, etc.

Ironically, the only reason I watched the original Star Ward movie was because I had to for a mythology class. So unimpressed.

Phil wrote: "Erik wrote: "Am I crazy, or do I remember Tom saying something about reading Chuck Wendig's new Star Wars book Aftermath for September? I was really looking forward to it!

Maybe it..."

I said I wanted to read it and then I said, maybe I would put it in the vote. But I realized it doesn't come out until after the month has started which is a bad idea. So I'm still thinking about it for November!

Tom wrote: So I'm still thinking about it for November!

Cool beans. :)

My significant other and I were talking about it the other night. We concluded that maybe I need to admit to myself that I'm actually excited about the new Star Wars movie, and give myself permission to read it.

terpkristin wrote: "So I just noticed that on the right, it shows the users who voted and what they voted for. Kind of defeats the purpose of hiding it. And annoys me. If I wanted people to know what I voted for, I wo..."

Ok so I found a separate setting that turns that off. Didn't know that's how it worked. User error! Apologies.

Tom wrote: "So I'm still thinking about it for November!"

Surely Star Wars belongs in October since it's fantasy. Then we could do a Star Trek novel for November. Maybe something like Destiny.

Sean wrote: "Tom wrote: "So I'm still thinking about it for November!"

Surely Star Wars belongs in October since it's fantasy. Then we could do a Star Trek novel for November. Maybe something like [book:Destin..."

Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman.

But in all seriousness I don't think Star Wars counts as 'Sword' I think it counts as 'Laser.' No? At best it's Laser Sword.

So hey if you can convince Veronica....

Tom wrote: "Ok so I found a separate setting that turns that off. Didn't know that's how it worked. User error! Apologies. "

And with that, the magical cloak of secrecy has returned. Thanks.

Ruth (tilltab) wrote: "Tom wrote: "Ok so I found a separate setting that turns that off. Didn't know that's how it worked. User error! Apologies. "

And with that, the magical cloak of secrecy has returned. Thanks."

Quick! Everyone change their votes!

Tom wrote: "Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman."



A joke is a story with a humorous climax.

Sean wrote: "Tom wrote: "Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman."



A joke is a story with a humorous climax."

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character

Tom wrote: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character"



Humor. It is a difficult concept.

Thanks for fixing it, Tom. Very much appreciated! Also appreciated was the Feynman reference. Amazing man, fantastic book.

Tom wrote: "Quick! Everyone change their votes! "

I changed mine... or did I? ;)

Your choices are:
1. Read the book
2. Don’t read the book
3. Throw yourself on the floor kicking and screaming.
Then form your own reading group…so there!
4.There was a vote? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these thing?

I feel bad for Doris Lessing. She won a Nobel Prize and she still polls worse than Carly Fiorina.

I am so disappointed that the "what people voted for" was turned off. I liked that feature because I could judge what was going to win and get a jump on getting to the library to get a copy before the masses. I am a bit mystified why less information if better than more. maybe we should have a poll on the openness of polls? If anyone was to click on my name and sent an email why I picked so and so book, Instead of a " How dare you " response, I think I could justify by either a " heard good things," " Plenty of Books in the Library system," or " the ebook is cheap." Just my opinion.