WANTED: Suggestions for our next FICTION book!

[Chris OConnor]

What FICTION book would you like to discuss as a group next?

Please suggest books for our next fiction group discussion. Give us the title, author name and a link to where we can read more. Ideally, tell us why you're suggesting the book. The more you say the more seriously your suggestion will be taken. We assign weight to each suggestion based on how active the member is that made the suggestion, how likely the book will be to generate discussion and how many people seem interested in the suggestion.

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1. Do not suggest books if you have less than 10 posts on our forums.

2. Do not suggest books if you are not going to actively participate in the actual discussion of the book you suggest if that book is chosen as our next fiction book.

3. Do not attempt to use this thread to promote or advertise books. So no suggestions if you're the author, publisher or associated with the book in any way.

4. After making your suggestion please comment on the suggestions other people have made. Would you read and discuss their book suggestion? If we don't receive feedback on book suggestions we'll assume nobody other than the person that made the suggestion actually wants to read that book. And that wouldn't be much of a discussion now would it?

[Taylor]

I'm suggesting a sci-fi book, though sci-fi purist might dispute "The Unincorporated Man" as science fiction it none the less has two key elements, There is science and it is fiction, The suggested book is the first in a four part series of books that is somewhat U.S. centric but to me it would dovetail nicely with a couple of the non-fiction suggestions under consideration for summer discussion.

The premise for The Unincorporated Man is intriguing to me, The idea that in the future every individual be mandatorily formed into a legal corporation just resonates with lethal injustice, The struggle for the future individual is to earn independence by purchasing a majority stake in themselves, not an easy task when there are owners of your stock who are unwilling to sell despite the profit for them.
The book has in it a villain so vial as to make The Dark Lord Voldemort look like a pussycat. Our hero, Justin Cord, frozen through cryogenics is awakened into this strange new world that remains familiar, but somehow out of touch with the fundamentals of freedom, religion has a roll in this story as well, it has been scorned and banished to the furthest regions of our solar system, where Justin Cord eventually finds himself forming alliance's between the exiled and deep space pioneers , the battle for a return to freedom has begun.... Did I mention artificial intelligence? troubling thing computers and the net. Nanotechnology is now a reality that carries with it all the hopes we can imagine but are tiny man made bugs any different than atomic bombs?

Investigate some of the Unincorporated Man for yourselves at http://www.amazon.com/Unincorporated-Ma ... orated+man, Imagine a world of are wildest dreams and then turn that world upside down, that's what the Kollin brothers manage and why I recommend this book for discussion.

[Taylor]

My links to the book are not working even though I attempted to correct it, please look up the book through you own process and decide for yourselves if the suggestion is worth while

[Dexter]

Flowers for Algnernon

http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Algernon- ... 0156030306

Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving:

I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time.

I dint know mice were so smart.

Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate...

[Chris OConnor]

I fixed the link, Taylor.

[Taylor]

Thanks Chris, do me another favor, give me full editorial power

[lehelvandor]

Possibly, as it just connected well with a thread, one of Stanislaw Lem's old and, as usual, not "sci-fi" mainstream, books - His Master's Voice.
It starts from a sci-fi premise but what follows is, whilst apparently deeply skeptical of any ability on our part to understand even a clear seemingly alien message, it discusses in typical Lem fashion our limitations... In a way, it brings further the idea of more well-known Solaris (however in the latter, there is a two-way communication breakdown).

[CoolSummer]

1) All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
2) The Last Days of Dogtown: A Novel, by Anita Diamont
3) Beloved by Toni Morrison
4) Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank
5) Legends: Short Novels By The Masters of Modern Fantasy (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) by
Robert Silverberg (Editor), Stephen King (Contributor), Robert Jordan (Contributor), Terry Goodkind (Contributor), Orson Scott Card (Contributor), Anne McCaffrey (Contributor), Raymond Feist (Contributor), George R. R. Martin (Contributor), Terry Pratchett (Contributor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Contributor), Tad Williams (Contributor)

[fordgal1960]

Hello, My name is Deb and I am brand new to this list. I would enjoy reading most any book and discuss it. I liked the books suggested so far and would like to add The Game of Thrones to the mix should anyone want to read this one. The author is George R.R. Martin and I believe his short story "A Song of Ice and Fire" is part of The Legends Short Novel, which is another excellent suggestion. The only book I might not want to read is Beloved as I read it years ago and the story is so powerful it disturbed me for years. Although it is a great read that would invoke a great amount of discussion for sure. Whatever you decide, count me in and I look forward to becoming a part of this group.

[CoolSummer]

Hello, My name is Deb and I am brand new to this list. I would enjoy reading most any book and discuss it. I liked the books suggested so far and would like to add The Game of Thrones to the mix should anyone want to read this one. The author is George R.R. Martin and I believe his short story "A Song of Ice and Fire" is part of The Legends Short Novel, which is another excellent suggestion. The only book I might not want to read is Beloved as I read it years ago and the story is so powerful it disturbed me for years. Although it is a great read that would invoke a great amount of discussion for sure. Whatever you decide, count me in and I look forward to becoming a part of this group.

Welcome to the group Deb! You are gonna love The Game of Thrones the whole series rocks, and. I am waiting impatiently for Book 6 of the series titled The Winds of Winter to come out. I would definitely re-read it from Book 1, if they chose it for discussion. Have you seen the show? The shows sets are so beautiful, and they've made only a couple changes to the story presented in the books so far.