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JULY BOOK CHOICES - YOU DECIDE!

Which books would you like to be read in July? All you have to do is vote for one of the books below. Read the blurbs and see if there is anything that looks interesting and the book with the most votes by 21st June will be chosen to be read from 1st July.

There is also another poll running so please take a look at that one too as there may be something on that list. There will be two books chosen but you don't have to read both if you don't want to.

The polls end midnight 23rd June!

1.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 448 pages £3.99

With the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Adichie weaves together the lives of five characters caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo's beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents' world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father's business; and Kainene's English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place.

2.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - 336 pages £5.39

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? Or is he all of these?

3.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - 592 pages £7.79

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist — books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

4.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier - £4.48 256 pages

A sumptuous new look for Tracy Chevalier's bestselling novel. Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in seventeenth century Holland, obtains her first job, as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us, through Griet's eyes, the complicated family, the society of the small town of Delft, and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life, and leaving her former drudgery, but the cost to her own survival may be high.

5.

My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman - £3.99 320 pages

From the author of "The Inn at Lake Devine" comes a pitch-perfect novel about a young woman, too smart for her own good, and the chaos that ensues when her path crosses that of her glamorous new next-door neighbor.

6.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - £5.99 336 pages

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening — until a band of gunwielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

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I'm an auntie! Kelvin

Ruth · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:10 pm Post subject:

Gone for Lolita, as it has been on my tbr for AGES!!!
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"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

Tigerlily · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:35 pm Post subject:

Brilliant choices - don't know which to go for.
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Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10

Stuffit UK · Babblers First Words Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 19

I've opted for 'My Latest Grievance', it sounds like my type of book.

charlottestar · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:21 pm Post subject:

I've gone for Lolita as well. It's been on my tbr for ever too!

Mazzystar · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 12:35 pm Post subject:

I went for Lolita ... thought it would be rude not to since it was my suggestion! Have been wanting to read it for a long time now x
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Currently reading: Other people's children - Joanna Trollope
Challenge books read: 5

Tigerlily · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:41 pm Post subject:

I voted for Girl With a Pearl Earring as have heard how good it is (nominated it too). But will be more than happy to read any of these.
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Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10

Mazzystar · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject:

Tigerlily · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:09 pm Post subject:

blueflower · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject:

This is a tricky one. Would have liked to have voted for The Book Thief as it is such a good book, but then decided to vote for one I hadn't read.

mummymelly · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject:

Going to be a close one between them all by the look of it!
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Swap List: http://tinyurl.com/33pg6r
Currently Reading "Switchcraft" by Lowri Turner

nicnic · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:22 pm Post subject:

It was really hard to choose one from this poll. I voted for Lolita since its on the 1001 list. Bel Canto is one of my favourite books so wouldn't mind reading it again. None of the others really appeal to be honest.
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Currently reading: Man in the Dark by Paul Auster

lovely treez · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject:

Have selfishly gone for one on my TBR pile, Half a Yellow Sun. Have read Lolita, the Book Thief and Girl with A Pearl Earring - loved all of these although all very different reads. Tracy Chevalier is one of my fave writers - just discovered her last year.
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Currently reading - The Italian Boy - Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London - Sarah Wise

nicnic · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:48 pm Post subject:

Just ordered Half of a Yellow Sun from the BB store

but it won't be here for 2 weeks and I've already read Gideon Mack... I suppose it does mean I can decrease Mt TBR in the meantime

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Currently reading: Man in the Dark by Paul Auster

Tigerlily · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:14 pm Post subject:

MissMuppet · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:28 am Post subject:

How spooky, I started the winner last night without even realising it...

mummymelly · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:44 am Post subject:

MissMuppet · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:04 am Post subject:

Hehe... no I hadn't even realised, but now I do have a head start! So far so good, read the first chapter last night and it seems like it's going to be a good read!

Tigerlily · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject:

You can buy Half of a Yellow Sun from The Book People for £2.99.

Check HotUKdeals for a free p+p voucher code.

Bargain!

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Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10

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