May books are up!

I just posted the list of May books. (The blog post)

And the list!

Thanks Abby. A wonderful and diverse list as always. You are truly a genius!

Apparently you are so wonderful that it needed to be posted twice!

Abby is so awesome that the first book is named after her! Oh, wait, that's Abbeville, a fictional Illinois town....

Great books, it was fun to go "shopping". By the way, at the top it says the deadline for requests is April 30. May need updating? or did I read it wrong?

Wow, Neal Stephenson! No way I'm lowering my chances by requesting a second book -- I didn't even bother looking farther down the list.

I requested 3 that even if I don't get, I will buy. A Priest, Lehane and Battles. Wow. There were one or two others, but I held myself to 3. Funny. Nothing tempted me in April and then this landslide.

I requested two, but the two that I want most are only available in the UK :(

I noticed the April 30 deadline, but also, it says at the top that books are only available for the US and Canada, but I saw a couple of UK flags, and at least one flag I didn't recognize - maybe Australia? I think Abby mentioned recently that there'd be a selection for Australian members coming up. Sorry I'm not familiar with lots of national flags ...

I do want to add that this is a really good batch. I think I requested three, and there are a couple more that are really tempting! I might change my mind before the deadline and try to limit myself to one or two - if I possibly can... ;-) Thanks so much, Abby!

The choices just keep getting better.

#6 yep, no way do I request a second one either. Going out on a limb and predicting Anathem gets requested more than Somnambulist.

Anathem's already at 94 after ~2 hours. And with 25 copies, I can hear the pleading for more copies starting already...

Discouraging others from requesting Anathem. The book comes in at over 900 pages. You know you really don't want to read that long of a book. Hee.....

>9 HeathMochaFrost: Yes that's an aussie flag. The whole tone is being lowered and you're allowing us colonials in! Whoo Hoo!

Jim

What a great selection! I found some really unique books that I was interested in this time around. Now to cross my fingers and wait... :)

I considered Anathem, but I really hate it when authors become so famous that the publisher decides they don't need to bother with a description of the book anymore. There are very, very few authors whose books I'd read on the strength of their name alone.

So, that's one fewer person competing for the book!

16: I felt the exact same way! Plus I knew there was little point trying, especially when the lack of description made it definitely not my first choice.

#16 Exactly! That's another great reason not to request Anathem. We need more even reasons not to pick it.

Here's a description from Amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anathem-Neal-Stephenson/dp/1843549158
Here is another brilliantly original novel from the cult author of "Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon". Since childhood, Raz has lived behind the walls of a 3,400-year-old monastery, a sanctuary for scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians. There, he and his cohorts are sealed off from the illiterate, irrational, unpredictable "saecular" world, an endless landscape of casinos and megastores that is plagued by recurring cycles of booms and busts, dark ages and renaissances, world wars and climate change. Until the day that a higher power, driven by fear, decides it is only these cloistered scholars who have the abilities to avert an impending catastrophe. And, one by one, Raz and his friends, mentors, and teachers are summoned forth without warning into the unknown.

The book selection just keeps getting better.....more books to add to my need to buy/read list. I think I need to join a support group:) Hi....My Name is Lora and I am a bookaholic:O

Great selection this time! I was particularly thrilled to see the book of Iranian poetry. I only requested two because I've started working on the theory that I should only request those I have a real interest in and leave those I'm mildly interested for someone else.

But I wish the one about Sir Richard Burton was available in the US--I'lll be putting it on my wish list.

Actually, according to Amazon, Anathem is 32 pages shorter than Quicksilver. I need to read the rest of the cycle sometime....

>5 maggie1944:, 9

Sorry! Top of the page is updated now.

Ooh, excellent selection - I requested several, and I really hope I get one!

Interesting batch this time around! I requested a few, but Hallam's War really caught my eye. I remember reading speculative chatter about it, and it was all very positive.

Cariola -

I second your comment on the Sir Richard Burton book - that's the one I wanted above all others. Maybe these new flags are a mistake...

I third the comment about the Burton book.

More reasons not to request Anathem:

It might not even be the whole thing; like Quicksilver it may end up being the first part of a massive cycle. You don't want to get sucked in to that.

You don't have time to read -- or reread -- the rest of Stephenson's books beforehand to do a comparison, or to pick up on in-jokes.

:)

#26 Oh, but it's only fair! Look how many we have to choose from, compared to our friends in the UK. We'll have to wait awhile, but it will make it here eventually.

I really would like to request the Mr. Y book... but Stephenson?!?!? No way I'm giving up a shot at that. I wonder if having an author in your favorites is taken into account in the algorithm?

The two I want most are Collector of Worlds and Mr Y, and I seem to live in the wrong country. But I found some other promising books to request. And I'm up to date on my early reviewer tasks, with my review posted for my April book (which arrived with laudable speed). So... please, Miss, may I have a BOOK?

>31 muumi: Those are exactly the two I want most, and I have the same problem.

The good news is that The End of Mr. Y is already available in the US.

Amazon even has 5 sellers selling it used for under $1 which puts it under $5 with their cap on shipping at $3.99 for used book sellers.

ETA - not so good news for Collector of Worlds...

441 for Stephenson and 319 for Mr Y.

Why do you think it is that Random House always creates its own batch?

Because they're offering enough books that they can, and they'll get better-matched reviewers that way.

Well, I've just requested two of the three UK books (the third is The End of Mr Y and I've already got it). I so envy you guys over the pond for all the choices you get. I'm not really sure which one I want the most: The Story of a Marriage looks like my kind of fiction, while the Richard Burton one is probably going to be slightly more of a challenge, which makes that a good thing too.

I'd have loved a crack at the Stephenson one, Abbeville, Between Here and April, Meeting Lizzie, Mister Sandman, My Fantoms, No One You Know, etc, etc. Lord! I could go on and on! Come on, you British publishers - it's not as if we wouldn't be grateful! Everything crossable will now be crossed until the lucky ones are announced.

Well , I've settled on 4 book requests this time . "crosses fingers" BTW which book is the "Richard Burton book" that a few of you keep mentioning ? I can't find it in the list .

#38 Sorry, 'bout that! The book is The Collector of Worlds (available only here in the UK) and it's about RB the explorer, not the actor, in case you were wondering!

Thanks! I looked at the list a few times and kept missing it . Maybe I'll purchase t when its released .

If I get it, I'll be sure to let the world know what I think, anyway.

I requested the books by Stephenson and Priest - I'd be totally happy to receive either but if I don't get them through ER I will probably borrow them from the library and buy paperbacks later if I like them.

So I'm nosey but I can't resist. Please will someone (privately if necessary) tell me what those two deleted messages meant?

They meant that someone just figured out how to use the interwebs.

You can click "(show)" on each message to see. They're not very interesting.

I did that - it's the translation I need!

I find the LT community's response to the ER books offered almost as interesting as the books themselves. This month is interesting indeed. I would never have predicted that the UK population wanting to read The End of Mr. Y would equal the combined US and Canadian population wanting to read Anathem. In fact, I probably would've bet money against it. Neal is one of the most popular authors on LT while Scarlett is well represented here but several notches down in popularity.

Don't get me wrong. Mr. Y made my top five or ten fiction list last year and I throughly enjoyed it. I'm just surprised somewhat with the numbers. Maybe it's because of the reviews, ratings, and conversations already up on LT and elsewhere people are pretty sure of what kind of book they'll be getting.

I think it's probably more likely because we have fewer books to choose from. As I think I mentioned before, Mr Y is the one I haven't requested as I've already got it but that still only leaves another two books for me to hope for. I don't know how the rest of you do this - maybe you're holding out for books by authors you love, but I'm just grateful to get a shot at anything. I wouldn't request something I didn't want to read but, in my very short time here, I have requested some books that I might not otherwise have picked out. Maybe that's what people are doing with this one?

>50 Booksloth:
You may want to try this sight for an ER book. There's one book Admit One that is available for review in UK. http://onlinepublicist.net/
Good luck.

You know, I didn't realize until I was browsing this list that some of the books aren't available everywhere. Hmmm. I'll have to go back and review some of my choices.

If you're unsuccessful here, take a look at Harper Collins First Look program -- May offerings include Anathem.

I wish to have a chance to get one of those. they all look nice to read

#51 Wow! More freebies! Many thanks for that JGoto! I've had a look at that book and don't really fancy it - not least because I just took two bags full of books to the local hospice shop and ended up buying three more (books, not bags), then shot into town to pick up my free copy of the Waterstones magazine and came out with another 6 from there, so it's not as if I've got nothing else to read (plus the 70-odd on Mount TBR), but I'll keep checking on that site just in case. Much appreciated.

#54 And there was I moaning about only having three to choose from. Here's hoping the ER-thing eventually makes its way to Brunei, Lisa!

Oh bother! I forgot to check and make sure all my requests were available in America and one of them was only for the UK. That was the one I thought I would be most eligible for too. :( Guess turn-about is fair play, now I can empathize with others whose access is limited.

Me, too. I guess I'd better go back and check! OH, PHOOEEEEY!!!!! Faber and Faber just needs to do a US edition -- that's clear with over 700 requests for it. I unsubmitted mine.