March 2017 BOTM - Results

[John]

Tender and Gathering tried hard, but in the end you can't catch what you can't see and Invisible Man is our March Popular Vote Winner. But everyone who voted for Tender is the Night really, really wanted it (with the raw political nerves in the US the last few months a little tenderness seems a good thing) and Tender Is the Night is our March Weighted Vote Winner. Finally, the 21 remaining books that received at least one vote and were eligible for The Randomizer were pitched in and The Randomizer chose Silas Marner as our Random Selection for March 2017.

To recap, then our March 2017 BOTMs are:

Popular Vote Winner - Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

Weighted Vote Winner - Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Random Selection - Silas Marner, by George Eliot

So what are your reading plans for March? Will you be reading one or more of our BOTMs? Finishing with idiots? Pursuing the mandate of heaven in 3rd century China? Let us know.

Goodness, where are my manners - Dan gets credit for our Random Selection this month - being the only one to vote for Silas Marner, but not at all the only one happy to be reading something by George Eliot.

[John]

For the first time this year, I will be reading all three of the BOTMs, though I can't promise to finish them all in March. I think I am on track to at least start The Inheritance of Loss this month, which should make tackling these three easier. I've also got some travel in March, so some airplane and airport time to add to my reading time.

[Jen]

I will definitely read Invisible Man and will most likely read Silas M. I've already read Tender is the Night and won't reread. I will also plug along with Infinite Jest and will start he annual read which just arrived this Saturday.

[Tracy]

I've read Silas Marner and Invisible Man- both are so good, and should have some interesting discussions. I'm finally going to get to Tender is the Night- I think it's been on my shelf for years. It may crumble into pieces when I pick it up.

[Renee]

Yay! Eliot ended up on the list after all. Great!

[Kristel]

I have already read all 3. I will do a reread of Invisible Man. I will not reread Tender is the Night though I really liked it and it was quite awhile ago that I read it. I really like Silas Marner as well but won't do a reread of that. I will keep doing the Buddy Read of Infinite Jest over at Litsy.

[Diane]

I will definitely read Tender is the Night and Patrick's challenge read and not sure what else yet. I am done with big books for a while as I have been powering through two.

[Pip]

I will try to read all three, but I have yet to read February's BOTM because the wretched Plumed Serpent is taking forever.

[Anita]

Hmmm. I voted for Invisible Man, but Tender is the Night sounds so interesting so now I am torn. Is Invisible Man hard to read . . .meaning is it engaging? I know the subject matter is challenging. I am fine with that.

[Kristel]

Anita wrote: "Hmmm. I voted for Invisible Man, but Tender is the Night sounds so interesting so now I am torn. Is Invisible Man hard to read . . .meaning is it engaging? I know the subject matter is challenging...."

I found both to be readable. Probably the slowest of the two might be Tender is the Night.

[Amanda]

I will finally pick up and read Invisible Man, been on my shelf for a long time! The other two are good, I won't do a re-read.

[Patrick]

I could have copy-pasted John's comment as I will need to read all three (first time this year), I have just started Inheritance of Loss and I will be travelling a lot over the next five weeks: apart from home (Sydney), I will be reading in Singapore, Doha, Stockholm, London and Bucharest (and in the air between these cities). For the third month in a row, an old TBR (Tender) will depart the dusty bookcase. Apart from the BOTMs, I will also attack Infinite Jest. And, obviously, the 3rd Labour of Hercules, which I will post tomorrow.

[Diane]

I will be reading all three BOTMs this month since I have not read any of them yet.

[Paula]

I haven't read any of the three, so I'll add all of them to my list.

[John]

Patrick wrote: "I could have copy-pasted John's comment as I will need to read all three (first time this year), I have just started Inheritance of Loss and I will be travelling a lot over the next five weeks: apa..."

I plan to tackle the Third Labour as well, but won't start Infinite Jest until April or May, after finishing the next volume of Three Kingdoms, which, if I didn't have three BOTMs from my shelf to read on top of a Herculean Labour, I might have been able to get to in March.

[Anita]

Kristel wrote: "Anita wrote: "Hmmm. I voted for Invisible Man, but Tender is the Night sounds so interesting so now I am torn. Is Invisible Man hard to read . . .meaning is it engaging? I know the subject matter i..."

Thanks, Kristel. I have them both downloaded to my Kindle so I appreciate your input!

[MaryAnn (EmilyD1037)]

I will try to read Invisible Man. Silas Marner will be a maybe as will Tender. I plan to continue Three Kingdom, Patrick's monthly and the monthly pick in the Catholic group.

[Gina]

I am moving in 6 months and won't be able to take most of my library with me. So I will be listening to Silas Marner and Tender is the Night while reading whatever books are on my shelf from authors Egan to Ford Madox, whether they are from the 1001 list or not.

[Kristel]

Gina wrote: "I am moving in 6 months and won't be able to take most of my library with me. So I will be listening to Silas Marner and Tender is the Night while reading whatever books are on my shelf from author..."
Interesting strategy. Good luck with the move. But you have 6 months to prepare. Are you getting rid of your books?

[Tracy]

Gina wrote: "I am moving in 6 months and won't be able to take most of my library with me. So I will be listening to Silas Marner and Tender is the Night while reading whatever books are on my shelf from author..."
I'm sorry you won't be able to move all your books. Great idea to read through as many as possible beforehand!
How will you decide which ones to move? I think I'd agonize over this decision more than any other items in my house.

[Gina]

Tracy wrote: "Gina wrote: "I am moving in 6 months and won't be able to take most of my library with me. So I will be listening to Silas Marner and Tender is the Night while reading whatever books are on my shel..."
I will be moving all the books that correspond with the authors we have yet to read for the year. Kristel, I will only be getting rid of the books I have read, the rest will stay at my parents, where I live now. In 6 months I will be living with my daughter on an Army base.

[Sushicat]

I think I'll read the Invisible Man as it nicely fits another challenge. I'm not too convinced by the Herculean choices this month. Will have to see how I progress. Most probably I will try to catch up on previous BOTMs or tackle something on my random list.

[Becky]

I have so much catching up to do. I'm not sure I'll be able to tackle anything this month. (STILL reading The Leopard from January's Herculean challenge and want to get to a BOTM from February since I have it.)

[Judith]

Read and loved all of these choices.

I'll pick a PBOTM I've missed out on or maybe start The Romance of Three Kingdoms I should have started in January.

Happy reading, all.