Book Club Session #2 - Book Poll

Hey everyone! This is the Poll thread for the next session of Book Club. Unlike before where the book was chosen by Claw and I, all the participants will vote on the next book to read. After choosing the first fifteen books listed in the Main Thread, we compiled them into this list for you to vote on.

Unsure of what the book is about? Below, we have included quick insights of the books from Amazon.com and Google Books to help you choose something you’ll be interested in reading.

In the event of a tie on the poll, we will create another one only with the books that had tied.

If your book suggestion did not make the poll this time, do not fret! After the book is selected, we will take it off the list and add another one to take its place.

If you believe a book should be terminated from this poll (or if you want to remove your own suggestion), please PM us why you think it should be removed. If a book is on there for more than FIVE sessions, it will be terminated automatically to make room for more suggestions.

NOTE: These can be readded to the poll if you resuggest them later on.

Happy voting! <:

-Clawtooth and Plums (Ploo-Hems)

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-All brief insights taken from Google Books and Amazon.com-​

Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact by Karen Traviss

On a mission to sabotage a chemical weapon research facility on a Separatist-held planet, four clone troopers operate under the very noses of their enemies. The commandos are outnumbered and outgunned, deep behind enemy lines with no backup–and working with strangers instead of trusted teammates. Matters don’t improve when Darman, the squad’s demolitions expert, gets separated from the others during planetfall. Even Darman’s apparent good luck in meeting an inexperienced Padawan vanishes once Etain admits to her woeful inexperience.

For the separated clone commandos and stranded Jedi, a long, dangerous journey lies ahead, through hostile territory brimming with Trandoshan slavers, Separatists, and suspicious natives. A single misstep could mean discovery . . . and death. It’s a virtual suicide mission for anyone–anyone except Republic Commandos.


Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan

Darren and Steve, two boys who are best friends, visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices


Silverwing (Silverwing series) by Kenneth Oppel

When a newborn bat named Shade but sometimes called "Runt" becomes separated from his colony during migration, he grows in ways that prepare him for even greater journeys.


City of Bones by Cassandra Claire

Suddenly able to see demons and the Shadowhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster…

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter Morgan isn't exactly the kind of man you'd bring home to Mom. Though he's playful and has a wonderfully ironic sense of humor, Dexter's one character flaw (his proclivity for murder) can be off-putting. But at heart Dexter is the perfect gentleman, supportive of his sister, Deb, a Miami cop, and interested only in doing away with people who really deserve his special visit. Dex is quite good-looking but totally indifferent to (and, frankly, a bit puzzled by) the attentions paid to him by women. Despite the fact that he can't stand the sight of blood, he works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police department, a job that allows him to keep tabs on the latest crimes and keep an eye open for his next quarry." "Dexter's well-organized life is suddenly disrupted when a second, much more visible serial killer appears in Miami. Dex is intrigued, even delighted, by the fact that the other killer appears to have a style reminiscent of his own. Yet he can't help but feel that the mysterious new arrival is not merely invading his turf but reaching out to him as well. This new killer seems to be doing more than copying Dexter - he seems to be saying, "Come out and play." Dexter's secret life makes for a lonely existence... even a lovable monster can be intrigued by the prospect of finding a friend.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorson, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life'and comes face to face with her own hidden destiny. . .

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming—Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again—before it's too late.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex--to "redeem" him--the novel asks, "At what cost?"

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist its ruler, the golden lion Aslan, in defeating the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter.

Magyk by Angie Sage

A baby girl is rescued from a snowy path in the woods. A baby boy is stillborn. A young Queen is taken ill. An ExtraOrdinary Wizard mysteriously resigns from his post. And all on the same night. This series of events, supposingly co-incidental, begins to converge ten years later, when the Heap family receive a knock at the door. Life as they know is about to change, and a fast-paced adventure of confused identities, magyk, and mayhem begins.

The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa

When Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself to Kyon by asking if he's an alien, time traveler, or psychic, he knows his chances for a normal high school experience are ruined. Bold Haruhi takes a shine to him, and uses the force of her irrepressible personality to draft him into her club to find paranormal beings. Kyon soon discovers what she's looking for: Haruhi herself has the power to destroy and create entire universes at her whim. But if she knew about her ability, it could spell disaster for everyone. Split into four different "stories", the first one provides a backstory.


Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent -- and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild.


The Colour of Magic (from the Discworld series) by Terry Pratchett

On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There’s an avaricious buy inept wizard, a naïve tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet…


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.


The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Whisked away from his comfortable hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasures of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.

 

I'd like to add something about The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's a book that contains four stories, but the first story catches you up on everything you need to know about it.

 

Voting for Haruhi, because I never got around to finishing that one. (It is the second one, isn't it?)

Let it be known that I find it mildly humourous that Lolita was rejected, while A Clockwork Orange is up there.

Also, can we recommend web comics/visual novels and other mediums covered by the Literature Section other than books?

 

I would vote for my own book but that just doesn't seem right to me XD. So Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya it is! If I had known that light novels were allowed, I would have recommended one :B

 

I might not be able to get ahold of Boredom of HS ... idk if my library has it.

 

You guys should read Cirque Du Freak. It's such a good series

 

No, it's the third book in the series. It takes place between the first two books though...

 

Clockwork Orange all the way. Such a great book.

I have the same problem as Clawtooth, I've actually looked and I have no means of getting The Boredom of Haruhi.

 

I thought we weren't supposed to nominate books from the middle of a series?
And yeah, I've got no bookstores around me that would likely have it anyway.
My vote's for Narnia.

Also not sure if anyone else sees it, but Haruhi's got three votes even only two people voted. .-.

 

P had meant to vote Haruhi, but voted something else, so Misty had nulled his vote and added one to Haruhi. xD

 

I voted for The Hobbit. I want to read it before the movie comes out (which is a ways away, but if I don't read it soon, I'll end up reading half of it a month before the movie).
Also, I should mention that there's no guarantees that I'll be able to get my hands on the book that is chosen.

The Never Let Me Go synopsis there is kind of vague. It's about a group of three friends who are clones that were created to donate their vital organs when they reach adulthood. And then all that stuff about the frailty of life. :lolface:

 

Ah, I do suppose this shall be where I join the lovely book club. Quite personally I would not mind reading any of the aforementioned, though I must say I am quite curious of A Clockwork Orange as I have heard of its interesting use of language.

EDIT: If we are permitted to suggest possible books for the future, I shall put in a vote for The Great Gatsby. A relatively short but beautiful book, in my opinion.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a tad longer but rather fun as well.

 

Not sure if I'm allowed to say this but I'll say it anyway. The Haruhi Suzumiya novels use to be fan translated and while they may have been taken down because of the novels becoming licensed, they are still easy to find for anybody who knows how to use Google.

 

Yes, it's rather... 'interesting'. The protagonist narrates the entire book in it, so it can be rather irritating. Interesting, but dense to get through.

 

Had to edit your post a bit there.

Anyway, if anyone thinks they can't get The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya (which looks like it will win atm), please PM me and I will be able to help you.

 

Quick question why if the The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya is the third book in the series why are we not doing the first instead. I myself do not really like reading books out of their order.

 

Although The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya is the third book, the first short story in there was actually published in a magazine before the first book was released. And I nominated the third one because it's the most interesting book I've read in the series and can act as a stand alone book.

 

Voted for Clockwork Orange, I have a thing for disturbing stuff, even though they give me nightmares xDx

If we're allowed to make suggestions for future polls, may I nominate Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett?

And on a very immature note, the name Sabriel nearly made me snort out my soda ^.^

 

I must say this sounds akin to the absolute greatest tag-team duo since beans and cornbread. I am quite curious for what exactly this may result in and thus shall support this immediate nomination.

 

Can I just say that there's too many book choices? As such the votes are narrowed too thin. I say polls should probably have around five choices max.

And I'm hoping books not chosen this time can be placed on future polls.