Book Club Selection: December

GWC Community Book Club Winning Nominees and Polls
#1

Greetings and Salutations fellow GWC Book Crüe and welcome to the officially rebooted Book Club.

Please note:

  • You will be able to vote for multiple books
  • You will have 15 books to chose from
  • Campaigning is recommended. This is friendly and fun. If you have thoughts about a particular book…let us know!
  • Your votes will be public per the vote
  • Voting will close on November 31

Be sure to take a look around the forum to read some very interesting discussions which may help you decide what to vote on!

Also, note if you don’t have a copy of a book and were planning to purchase it the links below are hooked up to the GWC Amazon account.

[FONT=Verdana]Adams, Douglas - “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
Asimov, Isaac - “I, Robot”
Brooks, Max - “World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War”
Carr, Caleb - “The Alienist”
Dick, Philip - “A Scanner Darkly”
Durrell, Gerald - “My Family and Other Animals”
Finney, Jack - “Time and Again”
Gibson, William - “Neuromancer”
Heinlein, Robert A. - “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress”
Lem, Stanislaw - “Solaris”
Scalzi, John - “Old Man’s War”
Shaara, Michael, - “The Killer Angels”
Shelley, Mary - “Frankenstein”
Silva, Ulises - “Solstice”
Steakley, John - “Armor”[/FONT]

#2

I make a point of re-reading the whole “increasingly poorly named trilogy” of five books every other year or so, simply because it reminds me that no matter how much effort I put into my own writing, I am a plump, vine-ripened light-year away from the masters of the craft.

“Vell, Zaphod’s just zis guy, you know?” :slight_smile:

#3

That’s awesome…I actually sprang for the leather bound compendium way back in the day.

#4

I am going to continue to lobby for, “The Alienist” which in my opinion is one of the best books I have ever read.

#5

sigh A Game of Thrones got knocked off. I guess I’ll just read that on my own; it’s not like I’ll have a shortage of time this December. I guess I’d like Neuromancer (more cyberpunk please) or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (I’m in a Heinlein mood). And I’m hearing a lot of good things about Old Man’s War, which intrigues me.

EDIT: Could this be a tie between Hitchhiker’s Guide and Neuromancer? o_O
EDIT2: Nevermind, Hitchhiker’s Guide just pulled ahead one vote. I’m guess it’s probably going to win this one.

#6

Still voting for Old Man’s War, it had been awhile since I had blown though a book that fast, it really keeps movie and has a great sory.

#7

What the heck kind of SF book club would we be if we didn’t tackle Neuromancer?

#8

Hear, hear! Though this is admittedly a seriously kick-ass list. I’ve read a bunch of the books on the list, and more than a couple of 'em are on my short list. You know it’s a good list when you don’t vote for a couple of books that you truly love and appreciate–just because some of them seem to fit the mood better. Rock!

#9

I’m still voting for Old Man’s War. Sounds interesting.

#10

Huh, Hitchhiker’s guide is still ahead by one vote. This is going to be close. Come on people, vote!

#11

I voted without checking the results and I voted for both Neuromancer and Hitchhikers Guide! I guess it will be a tight race.

I read Neuromancer when it was first published in 1984 (jimminy, that long ago?!?). I’d love to re-read it. The same with Hitchhiker’s Guide, so I’m torn which one I’d prefer.

#12

For Hitchhiker’s Guide, are we talking about the first book or the entire series? The series is pretty lengthy, even for one month…

#13

It may have been mentioned before, but I think it definitely needs to be added next time (better book in my opinion):

Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert Heinlein

I grok that some will actually enjoy this over the Moon is a harsh mistress and Starship Troopers (personally Troopers and Stranger are equal as literary works but very different reasons).

#14

Agree and Agree. Neuromancer is on my to do list, but for me I am in the mood for the following (in order - characters, ideas, etc): :smiley:

Hari Seldon (check and completed) - Asimov
Zaphod, Ford, Trillum, Dent, Marvin, etc (winning currently) - Adams
Valentine Michael Smith Grok’s - Heinlein
I robot - Asimov
Neuromancer - Gibson
Rendevous with Rama - Clarke
Lije Bailey - Asimov
Johnny Rico - Heinlein
Have Spacesuit will travel - Heinlein (we have to read at least one of his kids books - this one’s the best IMHO)
The Years of Rice and Salt - Robinson
Red Mars - Robinson
The Songs of Distant Earth - Clarke
Footfall - Pournelle
Ringworld - Niven
Falkenberg’s Legions - Pournelle
The Mote in God’s Eye - Pournelle/Niven
Farenheit 451 or Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut
Dune - Herbert
The Memory of Whiteness - Robinson
The White Plague - Herbert
Janniseries - Pournelle
Dies the Fire - Stirling
etc

Of course, personal preferences only.

I still think that some people under appreciate Starship Troopers. I think too many remember the movie or think that it’s advocating ideals that it really isn’t. There are quite a few in this list that are incredibly quick reads as well. :cool:

#15

Votes are in and Hitchhiker’s Guide has it FTW!