ONBC Poll Closes Thursday @ 6 am PST - Vote Here Now

Liz · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:00 am

Noodlemantras, we need your input! Help us decide which book we will read after our discussion of Attica. Vote for your choice in the poll below. The poll will be up for two weeks – yes, you can only vote once! :grin:

We will let you know which book you all have chosen when the poll closes. Let your voice be heard! :sing:

Click on the links below to the books at Amazon in order to read the description and reviews:

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

The Dark Volume by Gordon Dahlquist

Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins

Moonlight · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:22 am

Villa Incognito sounds quite interesting, however I think it would be cool If we read Alice in Wonderland for now, since the movie's coming out next year and yeah, it just fits right now. :cool:

The Dark Volume sounds good, too, but in the description on amazon it says that If you haven't read the author's first bestseller you may have trouble following and understanding this story, as they're linked in some way or the other. So, I assume many of us (including my humble self) haven't read that other book and it wouldn't make a lot of sense reading this one now, in that case.

Alice. ;-)

Charlene · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:31 am

I vote for Alice....sad to say, other than the cartoon version, I never entered into her wonderland in my childhood. Never too late.

trygirl · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:50 am

Well, I really enjoyed The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, and I wouldn't mind delving into the Dark Volume but for now, I vote for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. It seems apropos considering the movie is coming out next year featuring you know who. And it would be interesting to get an adult perspective on a childhood favorite.

radwen · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:34 am

I vote for Alice In Wonderland... I was never a fan of the animated movie but with discussion beginning to pick up because of the new movie, I think I would really enjoy reading the story and talking about it.

Thanks for the vote :cool:

, and if I may ask, what is the JD connection to Villa Incognito?

(My second choice would be The Dark Volume.)

Buster · **Joined:** Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:07 am **Posts:** 721

Alice, please.

Bix · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:39 am

It has been a very long time since I read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, so I am going to vote for that also. I remember enjoying the book very much and think it would be great to get in a refresher course before seeing what Tim and Johnny do with it.

I hope we will also read the other two on the list. Even though Villa is not one of my favorite Tom Robbins books, it might be fun to reread it and discuss it here.

IngridN · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:40 pm

I voted for Alice in Wonderland. I read this book as a child and it will be interesting to read it now
as an adult in the English version.
I've read The Dark Volume. It's a great book and Moonlight is right, you should have read The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters to understand the story better.
Would be nice to discuss the Dark Volume later.
I don't know about Villa Incognito, I read a short review somewhere on the internet but I don't think I like it.
:perplexed:

shadowydog · **Joined:** Sun Jul 24, 2005 11:47 pm **Posts:** 62410

Don't know these books and being a computer illiterate, I can't find a synopsis of the stories on these sites. All I see is ads for similar books; peeks at the first couple of pages; and readers reviews. :bawl:

I can't choose without some reviews of what the stories are. :bawl:

Gilbert's Girl · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:27 pm

I love Alice in Wonderland, I still have a fairly old copy too.
Next Weekend Oxford celebrates Alice's Day

Linda B. · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:32 pm

I vote for "Alice"!!!

By the way both books "Wonderland" & "Through the Looking Glass" can be downloaded free from Project Guttenberg.

I think I'll start them today!!

I'm still working on The Dark Volume - this time, I'll be prepared for that as well!!

Liz · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:35 pm

It is great to get all of this feedback….and to see everyone again. :bounce:

I’ve missed you all, not having been in a discussion since Loser’s Town.

Moonlight and InridN, you make a very good point about The Dark Volume. I wouldn’t expect anyone to read it without having read Glass Books first. A discussion of The Dark Volume would definitely be a follow up to our discussion of Glass Books, which was last January.

Radwen, Villa Incognito was one of the books on Mort’s bookcase in Secret Window. Plus in In Style Magazine Johnny recommended Tom Robbin’s other book, which we’ve discussed here already—Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates.

Thanks for the link GG.

Keep all of the comments coming. The feedback is really helpful for future planning.

Liz · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:40 pm

shadowydog wrote:

:bawl: Don't know these books and being a computer illiterate, I can't find a synopsis of the stories on these sites. All I see is ads for similar books; peeks at the first couple of pages; and readers reviews. :bawl:

I can't choose without some reviews of what the stories are. :bawl:

Well there wasn't much of a description on that particular Amazon page, was there? I felt lucky just to find the hardback cheaper. Do note that if you try to order that book from Amazon, make sure you go to the link above because if you just plug in the title you will be directed to hardback versions that cost over $50.

So I've posted here some synopses of the three books:

Alice (from Amazon & weRead):

This edition contains Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass. It is illustrated throughout by Sir John Tenniel, whose drawings for the books add so much to the enjoyment of them. Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit all make their appearances, and are now familiar figures in writing, conversation and idiom. So too, are Carroll's delightful verses such as The Walrus and the Carpenter and the inspired jargon of that masterly Wordsworthian parody, The Jabberwocky.

The Dark Volume (from Penguin Books):

With old loyalties tested by new and unlikely alliances, Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang must call on every reserve of courage to face a new and desperate struggle – after all, the integrity of their very minds is at risk. From palace intrigue and a city in turmoil to wolf-haunted mountains, underground tunnels and a suspicious hidden factory, they must overcome war and heartache to battle old enemies and a host of new villains, all hoping to seize for themselves the power of the blue glass books. Now one glass book in particular drives them all, its deadly contents the key to controlling the secrets of the blue glass, or destroying it forever.

Villa Incognito (from Books on Board):

Imagine that there are American MIAs who chose to remain missing after the Vietnam War. Imagine that there is a family in which four generations of strong, alluring women have shared a mysterious connection to an outlandish figure from Japanese folklore. Imagine just those things (don't even try to imagine the love story) and you'll have a foretaste of Tom Robbins' eighth and perhaps most beautifully crafted novel -- a work as timeless as myth yet as topical as today. This is a book about identity, masquerade and disguise, celebrating existence and challenging our ideas about it. To say much more about a novel as fresh and surprising as VILLA INCOGNITO would run the risk of diluting the sheer fun of reading it.

gemini · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:41 pm

Oh boy you don't ask easy questions. I am truly torn between Dahlquist and Tom Robbins. I am not too keen on Alice as we sort of know the story already. I think I would enjoy watching it more then reading it. I must read the Dark Volume to find out what happens to our boy Cardinal Chang but have been waiting for the price to mellow a bit. Tom Robbins, is such an entertaining writer, one of the few who can make me laugh aloud while reading. Villa Incognito has been on my reading list since we read Fierce Invalids. Such decisions................
I think I will stick with Tom Robbins because I am in a mood to be entertained.

marthamartha · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:04 pm

I just started Villa Incognito!! Plus I have adored Tom Robbins since I got Still Life with Woodpecker as a Christmas gift about 30 years ago.

I have not read any Dahlquist yet, sounds great. And Alice is wonderful.

Can we just do all of them? :yahoo:

ONBC Poll Closes Thursday @ 6 am PST - Vote Here Now

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