**UPDATED** Book Group: Vote for the Session 5 book you want to read

Decisions, decisions.

Because I can't decide which book we should read for Session 5 of Reading Matters' Online Book Group - which kicks off next month - I thought I would hold a vote.

There are three very different books, all critically acclaimed and written by male novelists, up for 'election'. They are (in no particular order):

1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Synopsis (from the publisher): Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, inveigles his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. And onward, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a post apocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history. But the story doesn't even end there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

2. Saturday by Ian McEwan

Synopsis (from Amazon): February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man - a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown-up children. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. What troubles him as he looks out at the night sky is the state of the world - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat. Later, Perowne makes his way to his weekly squash game through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protesters. A minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive, young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. Towards the end of a day rich in incident and filled with Perowne's celebrations of life's pleasures, his family gathers for a reunion. But with the sudden appearance of Baxter, Perowne's earlier fears seem about to be realised.

3. Snow by Orhan Pamuk

Synopsis (from Amazon): After 12 years in political exile in Germany, a poet Ka returns to Istanbul for his mother's funeral, and takes a commission to report on the municipal elections in Kars near the Russian border. There he discovers a dangerous atmosphere, with tensions running high between the political Islamists and the 'enlightened, pro-Western' Turkish military. The second half of the novel takes place over a three-day period. Following the set-piece military coup, Pamuk brilliantly explores such themes as politics, love, ethics, religion and poetry, as we gradually discover the real truth concerning the poet and the snow covered old-world city of Kars.

To take part in the 'election' simply leave a comment below nominating the book you actually plan to read. Please state your vote clearly and vote for just one book only. You are only allowed one vote.

The votes will be counted at 9am (Greenwich Mean Time) on Saturday March 4 and the winner announced later that day.

Discussion for Session 5 will then open on Saturday 29 April.

**UPDATE**

Please note the Book Group is open to anyone, so if you've not taken part before, don't be shy about 'joining'. The more, the merrier.

Comments

[Kinuk]

My vote is for Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, but that's because I've got the book and I've already read it.

I would like to read McEwan's Saturday, but it is v unlikely that I will be able to get my hands on it.

Besides, I did really love Cloud Atlas.

[Claire]

I've got Saturday and Cloud Atlas both on my TBR list so one of those as a choice would motivate me!

[Danielle]

I would be happy reading any of the books, but I am leaning towards "Snow" by Pamuk personally.

[callie]

Selfishly, Cloud Atlas. David Mitchell is coming to LA in March and I've not yet read his book. I must find the motivation somehow to read it in time for the event.

[iliana]

Tough choice. I'll go with Cloude Atlas just because I've had it on my TBR list for quite a while.

[ainelivia]

Definitely Snow, and Cloud Atlas a close second

[Sherry]

I would like to start doing this book club thingy with you all. So does that mean I get a vote? If so, I was already interested in reading Snow because I read something about the author and his difficulties within his own country because he dared to write about the Armenian persecution early in the twentieth century.

[Isabella]

It's too hard to choose.

I've already read Saturday (which means I'd participate), liked it and think it'd make for good discussion. (It's also a very quick read.)

The others are both on my to-read list (with Cloud Atlas a little ahead of Snow), but at the rate I'm going these days...

Consider my ballot spoiled.

[Isabel]

I vote for Cloud Atlas or Snow. Both sound intriguing.

Cloud has the advantage of the different writing style. Snow has the advantage of being set somewhere that doesn't show up in literature often.

I can find both books at the library.

[Amelia]

Hi! I would love to join your book club. How do you set up your meetings? As for the book club pick, I'm interested in Saturday and Cloud Atlas. They both sound intriguing, but I'm leaning more towards Saturday.

BTW - thanks for linking me to your blog :) :)

[A fan]

Amelia, the rules are on the right. Look for Book Group, then scroll down to Book Group FAQ. You will love it; I have participated in two discussions already.

[Isabel]

Ok, OK. I received your email. I will obey. But, it's really hard.

My final answer: SNOW

[Julia]

Snow appeals the most, but I bet that's the one I won't be able to get hold of. Sod's law.

[Ella]

I vote for Saturday by McEwan. I usually like his books, and they're not too "brickish".

[Amelia]

To "A Fan" - thanks for telling me where to find the rules - that was really nice of you ;). I can't wait to participate :)

[Amelia]

Sorry - my vote wasn't so clear. I vote for Saturday.

[Kate]

'Snow', partly because I know it is challenging and am really interested to hear what you think..