In the next post is the November/December 2006 FICTION book selection poll!


Please read these directions BEFORE you vote!

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How long will the poll stay open?

This poll is opening on Sunday, October 22nd, 2006, and will remain open until Sunday, October 29th, 2006. You have one week to log your vote for the fiction book we'll be reading and discussing for the next two months, so please chime in as quickly as possible.

Who can vote?

All active members are invited and encouraged to vote and participate in our book selection process.

For the purposes of this poll, an active member is defined as anyone who has 10 or more posts on our forums. If you don't have at least 10 you should have no problem jumping into some discussion threads and meeting this rather relaxed criterion.

Please, do not vote if you don't plan on participating in the discussion in the event that your chosen book wins. We want everyone who can to participate; more participants makes for better discussions. If you don't like the winning book we understand if you don't want to participate, but we sure hope you still do.

How do I vote?

Every active member is assigned three votes. To vote, simply make reply to this post explaining how you'd like to distribute your votes.

Nothing further needs to be said, but you're welcome to be as verbose as you like. If you'd like to argue for one book over others, this is your last chance to do so. We encourage an active discussion in all phases of the book selection process; this form of dialogue is the best way to ensure that we end up with a selection worth reading and discussing. But at the very least, make it clear how you're voting.

You can use your three votes however you see fit, which could mean assigning all three votes to just one of the book choices, or distributing the three points over the book choices according to your own interest level for each book.

It is inevitable that some people will either forget to cast all three votes or will not have read this entire post. They will simply vote on one book. If this happens I will be assigning all three of their votes to the one book they selected.

You are permitted to change your vote during the voting period, but not after midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on the last day of the poll.

And here are our FICTION book choices for our November and December 2006 reading period. Please read about all three before casting your votes. Think hard about which book will be the most probable to stimulate quality discussion. May the best book win!


Drum roll please...

The Keep, by Jennifer Egan

Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank whose devastating consequences changed both their lives, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe, a castle steeped in blood lore and family pride. Built over a secret system of caves and tunnels, the castle and its violent history invoke and subvert all the elements of a gothic past: twins, a pool, an old baroness, a fearsome tower. In an environment of extreme paranoia, cut off from the outside world, the men reenact the signal event of their youth, with even more catastrophic results. And as the full horror of their predicament unfolds, a prisoner, in jail for an unnamed crime, recounts an unforgettable story

We're getting this poll up a bit late this time so please cast your votes quickly.

One vote for "The Keep", and
two votes for "The Woman of the Dunes".

One argument I will make in favor of "The Woman of the Dunes" is that it's illustrated! I skimmed through a copy of the book in a bookstore today, and it's peppered with quirky little line drawings. Woohoo!

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" looks interesting as well, but it's also a bit longish, and I'm worried that the fiction discussion hasn't yet built up enough momentum to handle a long book like that. But if it wins, I might still decide to join in on the discussion.

2 The Keep
1 The Woman of the Dunes

After reading some excerpts, the only one that looks interesting to me would be The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I think the relationships in it would be very interesting to explore.

I did not like the writing style of Jennifer Egan at all.

I think Kobo Abe's book is a little toooo kafkaesque for my liking.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - 3 votes

2 - The Keep
1 - The Woman in the Dunes

Here's the count so far:

The Keep - 8
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - 3
The Woman of the Dunes - 7

I was wondering if anyone was going to add 'em up.

Occasionally I like to do lower math, just to prove I can.

It's Saturday morning and the count is at

13 - The Keep
11 - The Woman of the Dunes
6 - The Memory Keeper's Daughter