January 2011 Nominations Thread

[Erfael]

Hi folks. I'd really like to get the SF book club going again. The last few times we tried to start it up, there was very little participation in the nominations or discussion process. Let's give it another test run here for the beginning of 2011.

So, let's have some nominations for a January 2011 book. Guidelines are as follows:

1. Should be a standalone or a first book in a series.
2. Should be available new in US and UK markets.
3. Should not have been selected as a BOTM before. Here's a books done so far thread: http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7745 I'll try to get in and update it in the next couple days. It's a little labor intensive, though, so forgive me if I'm slow on it.

After a book is nominated, if you're interested, feel free to second it...or third it, or fourth it. We'd like to see if more than one person is interested in a book. Please nominate only one book, but feel free to second another one or two. If there are enough nominations, we'll put up a poll to narrow down the field to a winner.

I'd like to get a bunch of nominations this week and have the poll up next week so we can have a few weeks lead time between the book being selected and the beginning of the discussion.

[fluffy bunny]

List updated but if I've missed any, let me know.

Looking down the list, I'm surprised we haven't discussed Frank Herbert's Dune or William Gibson's Neuromancer in a book club context. I'm up for rereading one of those if people want to discuss one of them and whether they feel they're still good books given the subsequent SF they've influenced.

[Erfael]

I'd be up for either of those. I definitely didn't love Neuromancer last time I read it, but it's short enough that I wouldn't mind doing it. I read Dune years and years ago, but have very fond memories of it, so wouldn't mind seeing how it has aged for me.

Side note: I see this thread was moved. Just out of curiosity, where was it? I had about 50 windows open at once earlier, so it's possible it was anywhere.

[benjamin]

I would like to nominate "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein.

Thanks!

[Mike B]

I'm new, but perhaps I still get a vote?

I'd rather read something I've not read before, and I've read the three suggestions above. How about one of the following:

Frank Herbert - "Dosadi Experiment"
Robert Heinlein - "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" or "JOB: A Comedy of Justice"
Jack McDevitt - "Infinity Beach"

Any of them appeal??

EDIT: I see I was supposed to nominate only one book, so I'll go for "The Dosadi Experiment" by Frank Herbert

[Ropie]

I would like to nominate "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein.

Come on then - I'll second this!

[kroeger]

I will second Dune by Frank Herbert.

[DinK.MeekeR]

I will second The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert.. it's on my shelf but I haven't read it yet.

[Mike B]

OK, so we have 2 votes each for 3 different books. We need some more votes or nominations to come in or we have a stalemate!

[Erfael]

No, not so complicated as that. We have only have two authors with seconds. Let's not make it contentious this time around. Let's have Dune as our January book and Stranger in a Strange Land as our February book (taken in nomination order). That will get the new year started. We'll see what happens from there.

January 2011 book: Dune by Herbert
February 2011 book: Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein

[Ropie]

January 2011 book: Dune by Herbert
February 2011 book: Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein

Good idea, Erf. I read Dune fairly recently and could comment about how much I ---ed it forever Stranger in a Strange Land will be a new one for me so let's see how that goes..

[Mike B]

No, not so complicated as that. We have only have two authors with seconds.

Wrong - there were three books with two votes each - the one you failed to mention was the only one I was interested in reading... so I'll skip this for a few months I guess

[Colonel Worf]

I will be participating. I haven't read Dune in 8-9 years; still my favorite. Never read Stranger.

[Ropie]

Wrong - there were three books with two votes each

But as Erf said, there were only two authors with seconds, and he took an executive decision to get things moving here

The Dosadi Experiment does not seem to be in print in the UK, which renders it obsolete for the purposes of the club, unfortunately

edit - my mistake; it is available from Amazon.co.uk.

[Colonel Worf]

Wrong - there were three books with two votes each - the one you failed to mention was the only one I was interested in reading... so I'll skip this for a few months I guess

Don't be rude. The Dosadi Experiment is a sequel, anyway.