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[KatyS]

Title Stranger in a Strange Land
Author Robert A. Heinlein

This is a sci-fi novel about a man born on mars (therefore a martian) who is brought back to earth. It basically makes the reader question every aspect of society as the martian struggles to come to terms with everything - and the ending is cracking too.

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Stran...e=UTF8&s=books

[u70jc]

Michael plays second violin in an up-and-coming Maggiore Quartet, lives on the north side of Hyde Park, takes early morning dips in the Serpentine, has a French girlfriend named Virginie. But his mind is constantly drawn to his first and only love, Julia, whom he knew in Vienna many years earlier. When he catches sight of Julia on a London bus, he cannot help but pursue her.

Vikram Seth's new novel is a gently-paced, multi-layered work, proceeding in short sections which flit from Michael's ongoing search for Julia back to his childhood as a Rochdale butcher's son, his early training and breakdown in Vienna under the tyrannical Carl Kall, and the emotional history of his quartet; while Michael's discovery of a Beethoven trio rewritten as a string quintet acts as a motif for Michael's pursuit of the lost Julia: can Michael recapture the magic of the past, like Beethoven, who deafly transfigured what he so many years earlier had hearingly composed?

Seth is quite brilliant at conveying the intense and complex interplay of chamber musicians, in rehearsal and performance.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Equal-Music-...e=UTF8&s=books

[AKMartin]

We Need To Talk About Kevin
Lionel Shriver



Kevin Khatchadourian kills several of his fellow high-school students shortly before his sixteenth birthday. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, the story of Kevin's upbringing. Convincing, bleak and powerful modern fiction.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Need-Talk...e=UTF8&s=books

[Spoonie]

i was wondering what's happening with this thread because i've bought a few of the books and started reading a couple already. what's the plan?

/x

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Spoonie

i was wondering what's happening with this thread because i've bought a few of the books and started reading a couple already. what's the plan?

/x

Vote for which book you want to read first. That'll give us the order.

Once we kick off I guess we just start a thread for the first book and off we go. Maybe give ourselves say 2-3 weeks to read it?

[Rachie]

Looks like I, Lucifer is winning.

[Spoonie]

excellent. i've voted but the anticipation became too much so i'll be ahead of the game!

/x

[Rachie]

Planning to read it on the train down to Edinburgh tomorrow.

[Chris]

If you're taking part there's only one day left to vote.

[the_collector]

Glad to see I, Lucifer is still in the lead............it's proving to be an extremely entertaining read so far