VOTE: January Challenge
Welcome to Theme Park, the 2012 Calico Reaction Book Club! In September, we talked about sponsorship and various themes (catch up on the conversation here), and after much, much thought, I'm going to focus 2012's book club on Themes. If you've been part of the book club from the very start (back in 2009), then this won't be new to you: themes were how the book club was organized in 2009-2010. The only difference this year will be that occasionally, there will be a sponsor, and by sponsor, I mean that I'll will be approaching one of YOU for the theme. That won't happen every month, but if you get the invite, you'll get all kinds of details.
As a whole, I'd like to really focus 2012's Theme Park on books that really interest me, books that are different from my norm, and books that may challenge me, in a good way. And because I'm challenging myself, that may mean you'll be challenging yourself too, but my hope is that in 2012, we'll have a greater variety of genre, and that'll keep the book club fresh. And don't worry, for all my stress on "challenges," that doesn't mean a fun theme won't pop up once in a while. I definitely want a mix for next year!
For 2012, there will be no official sign-up, no email reminders for various events (unless you personally beg me to send you one). Instead, everything will be through Live Journal, and you vote when you see a poll, and when you see the reminder, I'll ask for an unofficial headcount, just to gauge how many may engage in discussion. And when I post the discussion, well, you know what to do.
Please note that I will not officially be tracking participation in 2012 like I've been doing. If an opportunity pops up for a giveaway, I'll find a way to work with that, but the biggest thing I want for 2012's book club is discussion. Lots and lots of discussion. If you think you're up for that, let's get started!
The theme for January is Genre in the Mainstream, which is a phrase some of you may recognize from Tor.com's column Genre in the Mainstream. This is a theme that has always interested and excited me: the mix of literary technique with genre elements. And there's so many authors out there, as well as titles that are incredibly popular. Think Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. Think Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. José Saramago's Blindness. And that's just what I'm coming up with off the top of my head!
The books in the poll are books either discovered at Tor.com's column, or they're books I've been eyeing since their release. It was a tough choice, narrowing the books down to just four selections, because I had several selections. But let's run with this, and see what comes of it, shall we?
Please note: if you don't have a Live Journal account but can comment using OpenID, just go to Live Journal's home page and in the upper right-hand corner, log in using said OpenID address, and then you can vote on this page!
Jonathan Lethem: Gun, with Occasional Music
Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems-there's a rabbit in his waiting room and a trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is a brave new world where evolved animals are members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage.
Metcalf has been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an affluent doctor. Perhaps he's falling a little in love with her at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in a crossfire between the boys from the Inquisitor's Office and gangsters who operate out of the back room of a bar called the Fickle Muse.
Mixing elements of sci-fi, noir, and mystery, this clever first novel from the author of Motherless Brooklyn is a wry, funny, and satiric look at all that the future may hold.
Karen Russell: Swamplandia!
Thirteen-year-old Ava Bigtree has lived her entire life at Swamplandia!, her family’s island home and gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades. But when illness fells Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, the family is plunged into chaos; her father withdraws, her sister falls in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, defects to a rival park called The World of Darkness. As Ava sets out on a mission through the magical swamps to save them all, we are drawn into a lush and bravely imagined debut that takes us to the shimmering edge of reality.
Gary Shteyngart: Super Sad True Love Story
In the near future, America is crushed by a financial crisis and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole mess. Then Lenny Abramov, son of an Russian immigrant janitor and ardent fan of “printed, bound media artifacts” (aka books), meets Eunice Park, an impossibly cute Korean American woman with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness. Could falling in love redeem a planet falling apart?
Charles Yu: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
From a 5 Under 35 winner, comes a razor-sharp, hilarious, and touching story of a son searching for his father . . . through quantum space-time.
Every day in Minor Universe 31 people get into time machines and try to change the past. That's where Charles Yu, time travel technician, steps in. He helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he's not taking client calls, Yu visits his mother and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. The key to locating his father may be found in a book. It's called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and somewhere inside it is information that will help him. It may even save his life.
All synopses ganked from Barnes & Noble.
Remember, pick the book that interests you the most. Even if this isn't your genre of choice, the idea is to challenge yourself. Read something new. You never know, you might like it. :)
And while this might be obvious, consider the following before making your selection:
1) Does the premise interest you?
2) Do the first couple of pages (if available) interest you?
3) Do any of the reviews on Amazon (or elsewhere) make you reconsider?
Don't vote solely on the prettiest cover (tempting as it might be), and that's especially true if you don't plan on reading the book, because your vote dictates what others (like me!) are going to read for the challenge. And don't let the three questions above scare you out of a book, and don't let them convince you that you won't like any of them. The trick IS to challenge yourself, but I hope you're giving each book a fair shake before voting. :) I want you to know what you're getting into if your selection wins!
Know what you want to read? Then it's time to vote!
Poll January Challenge: Genre in the Mainstream
Please note, I will not vote unless it is to break a tie.
You've got until midnight, Saturday, November 5th to make your decision. Vote for the book that YOU want to read the most, and if you're torn, tough. You gotta pick one. :) If you've already read ALL of the books, pick the one you'd most like to re-read. If you're not participating, then maybe next month will bring something more to your liking. :)
I'll announce the official winner on Sunday, November 6th, so don't pick up your copy (whether you buy or borrow) until I make it official. Unless, of course, all of these books are so appealing to you that you must have them all. In that case, have fun and start reading! :)