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Dust off a seat and discuss a good book here...you do read, right?

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Pleasantly surprised we got this far. While some members are more active than others, this is extremely undemanding, so feel free to jump in whenever, add to the discussion, the like. Anybody can be a member at any time, and only members can vote.

Right, so this is where our 3rd vote! Please list a novel which sounds interesting, as well as a blurb (... Yes, copy & pasting from Amazon.com is alright.)
Non-members can recommend as well! All support is appreciated.

Oh yeah, I've decided that Shortstories (which can be found online) should be recommended separately. This means that there will be two separate votes, and you can only recommend one novel and one shortstory. Can't have this get too cluttered haha. 
If there's only one shortstory recommended, then 45% of us will have to vote on bothering to read it at all. The thing with Shortstories is that they are, obviously, short enough so that we could read it simultaneously while searching for an actual novel. Which probably would take more time.

I think that's it then, thanks for contributing, everyone ^_^

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

@jamescoker1226 @Morgan_R @Aman @Zikara @Sethaniel @FeanorOnForge 

@Swiftstryker @Ellabit @Fireplay @Madbrad200 @11302 @Kwism1127 @bilbo @Cynical 

(More or less a member list)

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Current Statistics: (note: Shortstories count as 0.5)

Aman: 2.5 books
Feanor: 2.5
Sethaniel: 2.5
Tanstaafl: 2.5
Morgan: 1.5
Bilbo: 1.5
Fireplay: 1.5
Madbrad: 1.5

Please do not reply, still being edited throughout the (hopefully) weeks haha. Additionally, please tell me if I missed you. I either did it accidentally, or did it because I'm a jerk. I'm myself like that (probably the former though)

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Mind if I jump on this?

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Most definitely! Glad to have you aboard.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Awesome!

Book Recommendations:

S (a joint effort by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst): What can I say, S is the ultimate metafiction novel. I bought it a few weeks ago (after hearing about it ages ago from the one and only Jesse Cox, and thank god he did a video promoting it, or else I wouldn't know it existed). Basically, S is a mystery novel, except it has SUCH a beautiful presentation. The actual book is designed to look straight out of library. It even has one of those little Dewey Decimal stickers on the spine. There's little notes, designed to looks as if they've been written in my pens and stuff. And there's little details like scraps of paper and stuff stuck directly and inside the book. It just does a beautiful job at the illusion that this book has been owned by people besides you.

Ulysses (by James Joyce): This is basically a must read for anyone who even enjoys literature. It's become renown as one of being massive (and it is) and incredibly complex (and it is), but it's absolutely brilliant when you finally get it (which will probably require more than one reading *tear*).

The Forgotten Realms: Homeland (part of The Dark Elf Trilogy): This is part of R.A. Salvatore's most memorable series, and it created one of his most memorable characters, Drizzt, the Lawful Good (that is what he is, right?), Dark Elf, Ranger. It's definitely a must read for fans of Fantasy, and it's easily Salvatore's best (and longest, holy shit over 20 books!) series. EDIT: Nope, Drizzt is Chaotic Good, sorry. It's been a while since I've read any of the Drizzt novels.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Right, uh, as noted above, we're looking for 1 novel-recommendation per person. And I suppose it isn't much of a recommendation either-- more of a suggestion, since most of the 'recommendations' shouldn't be things one of us has already read.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Then make the recommendation S. I don't anyone's read it, much less heard of it.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Have you read it? If so, then you shouldn't recommend it. (Not here, anyway. You could always make a thread about it.) Books are supposed to be new to everyone -- including the recommender.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

I've read like two twenty or so pages, and glanced at some of the notes, but I haven't finished it.

Also, You could always make a thread about it.

http://chooseyourstory.com/forums/reading-corner/message/11934

 

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Okay, cool. ^_^

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

XD

When votes are tallied, 'S' will be up there ^_^

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

My book just got picked last time, so no recommend from me. 

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Recommendation: Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone

A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

“The combination of legal thriller and steam-powered fantasy may seem improbable, but Gladstone makes it work with an appealing cast and a setting rich in imaginitive details....the story remains suspenseful and fast-paced throughout, and the diverse, female-led cast is a joy to follow through the fascinating and unusual landscape.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Same as always, no recommendations. XD 

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Novel recommendation:

Behold The Man, by Michael Moorcock.

Karl Glogauer is a disaffected modern professional casting about for meaning in a series of half-hearted relationships, a dead-end job, and a personal struggle. His questions of faith surrounding his father's run-of-the-mill Christianity and his mother's suppressed Judaism lead him to a bizarre obsession with the idea of the messiah. After the collapse of his latest affair and his introduction to a reclusive physics professor, Karl is given the opportunity to confront his obsession and take a journey that no man has taken before, and from which he knows he cannot return. Upon arriving in Palestine, A.D. 29, Glogauer finds that Jesus Christ is not the man that history and faith would like to believe, but that there is an opportunity for someone to change the course of history by making the ultimate sacrifice.
First published in 1969, Behold the Man broke through science fiction's genre boundaries to create a poignant reflection on faith, disillusion and self-sacrifice. This is the classic novel that established the career of perhaps contemporary science fiction’s most cerebral and innovative author.

---

Short Story:

Flatland: A romance of many dimensions (by Edwin Abbot) is an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture; but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

 

Really Bizzarre book that a certain scientist I know keeps badgering me to read so I 'understand' dimensions. I dunno, I think this counts a shortstory tbh.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

You know the book has character when the author's last name is Moorcock.

I can only imagine the hazing he went through as a child.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Wow. This sounds pretty groovy. I'm gonna dive in!

Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow

Basically four little novellas stuck into a very entertaining book (Brick House is the best, at least for me.)

Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense, set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys. 
Wood House: This science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls "ReCreation Day." 
Brick House: This detective story set in modern NYC features a squad of "wish police" and a team of unlikely detectives. 
Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed here as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one. With humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this hip and cutting-edge collection dazzles.

 

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Glad to have you aboard!

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

So umm, voting? 

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Uh, right. I guess most of our members are absent currently. I'll get to it soon then haha.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Edit

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

@jamescoker1226 @Morgan_R @Aman @Zikara @Sethaniel @FeanorOnForge 

@Swiftstryker @Ellabit @Fireplay @Madbrad200 @11302 @Kwism1127 @bilbo @Cynical @puddlebunni

Alrighty, it's voting time!

Note: Although in our last votes we have allowed members to vote twice, this time (due to lack of the regular number of recommendations) only one vote is allowed for each member. Thank you.
---
1. S (a joint effort by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst): What can I say, S is the ultimate metafiction novel. Cynical bought it a few weeks ago (after hearing about it ages ago from the one and only Jesse Cox, and thank god he did a video promoting it, or else he wouldn't know it existed). Basically, S is a mystery novel, except it has SUCH a beautiful presentation. The actual book is designed to look straight out of library. It even has one of those little Dewey Decimal stickers on the spine. There's little notes, designed to looks as if they've been written in my pens and stuff. And there's little details like scraps of paper and stuff stuck directly and inside the book. It just does a beautiful job at the illusion that this book has been owned by people besides you.
---
2. Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone

A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

“The combination of legal thriller and steam-powered fantasy may seem improbable, but Gladstone makes it work with an appealing cast and a setting rich in imaginitive details....the story remains suspenseful and fast-paced throughout, and the diverse, female-led cast is a joy to follow through the fascinating and unusual landscape.”
---

3. Behold The Man, by Michael Moorcock.

Karl Glogauer is a disaffected modern professional casting about for meaning in a series of half-hearted relationships, a dead-end job, and a personal struggle. His questions of faith surrounding his father's run-of-the-mill Christianity and his mother's suppressed Judaism lead him to a bizarre obsession with the idea of the messiah. After the collapse of his latest affair and his introduction to a reclusive physics professor, Karl is given the opportunity to confront his obsession and take a journey that no man has taken before, and from which he knows he cannot return. Upon arriving in Palestine, A.D. 29, Glogauer finds that Jesus Christ is not the man that history and faith would like to believe, but that there is an opportunity for someone to change the course of history by making the ultimate sacrifice.
First published in 1969, Behold the Man broke through science fiction's genre boundaries to create a poignant reflection on faith, disillusion and self-sacrifice. This is the classic novel that established the career of perhaps contemporary science fiction’s most cerebral and innovative author.
---

4. Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow

Basically four little novellas stuck into a very entertaining book (Brick House is the best, at least for me.)

Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense, set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys. 
Wood House: This science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls "ReCreation Day." 
Brick House: This detective story set in modern NYC features a squad of "wish police" and a team of unlikely detectives. 
Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed here as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one. With humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this hip and cutting-edge collection dazzles.
---

Those are the 4 books you can vote for!

Also, it is necessary that you either vote: yes or vote: no to reading Flatland: A romance of many dimensions. As explained above, it is a shortstory and as such will get it's own thread only if about half of us decide it's worth reading. Here's the blurb-

A 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture; but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

---

Additionally, please vote for the novels by NUMBER. Thanks.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

2, yes.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Operating under the presumption that people can vote on their own recommendations (and I just checked, that's what Morgan did), I vote for the 1st book. As for the vote on Flatland, I say yes.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Yep, no problem with that.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

2, yes

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Sethaniel (via PM) votes: 2, yes

I vote: 3, yes

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Alrighty! It seems like we're going to be reading 3 Parts Dead By Max Gladstone. Try to find it in stores or libraries near you! (Or buy the kindle version).

Also, the shortstory which will be read is Flatland. This can be found in the link above.

---

@jamescoker1226 @Morgan_R @Aman @Zikara @Sethaniel @FeanorOnForge 

@Swiftstryker @Ellabit @Fireplay @Madbrad200 @11302 @Kwism1127 @bilbo @Cynical @puddlebunni

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Yay

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Oops, make that *Three Parts Dead. Otherwise your library will give you Buffy the Vampire slayer season 6 instead.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Nothing wrong with Buffy.  although six is overall the weakest season.

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Woot! Hope it's as good as it looks! ^_^

CYS Book Club Vote 3!

9 years ago

Agh, I've been ignoring the Book-Club far to much lately. I'll get back into it.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Ugh. I have to trudge through Red Badge of Courage before tomorrow (when school starts) so I can't get to finishing flatland until that. Furthermore, beach-day since it's the last day of vacation. Sorry about not being as active as I should be, being kinda sorta the president of this. 

Also, happy birthday @Morgan_R

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Ugh, I didn't like RBC.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Thanks! ^_^

Might have a chance to pick up Three Parts Dead today too.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

Finally made it to the bookstore... and they didn't have it. >_<

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

I think I can get the ebook version of this at work.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

XD

I read the book. It's a very you kind of book. Which is really funny. XD

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

I actually have it. Naturally, Aman stopped by to nab it. I got through the prologue though, and it seems solid enough.

Trying to make time to read, but it'll be hard. This month is basically Jewish-Repentence-Month, where we take upon ourselves to do more good things before the New Year so that God forgives us. It's pretty rad, but it also means an extra hour of morning prayers among other things we gotta do. Atop that school work, because they need to pile things up before we have the 2 weeks worth of holidays. Crazy time haha.

CYS Book Club Thread 3!

9 years ago

School has provided me with far too much business to handle a book club, I don't even know where or when to suggest a book and if you're currently reading one, but I highly reccommend Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Never got around to finishing it, and most of my memories of it have been crowded out by Math Homework and Geometric equations, but it's an EXCELLENT book, it's hilarious, and has a beautiful starkness about it all that you don't find in most narratives.