Sooo.... I've looked through past threads about book clubs and it seems like there's always great initial enthusiasm but not a lot of actual participation once the book discussion starts. I know free time can be hard to come by, or even getting the book can be a problem. What I'd like to know is who out there would be willing to give this a go? I already have a book in mind: it's an LGBT classic (meaning "old" so it's available in plenty of paperback editions from libraries, new and used book stores, as well as e-book and audio versions (also available at libraries)). almost 400 pages BUT every chapter is very short (1-5 pages each) and the book looks to be 80% dialogue the audiobook version is only 7.5 hours long so it shouldn't be too time consuming a read (or listen) over a few weeks (to compare: each Hunger Games book is 11 hours on audio) it has a reputation for being fun, lively, and just all around entertaining So, why not reveal the title? For now I just want to see who's interested and how much they're interested. I know not everyone who wants to participate will be able to do so, for various reasons, but it only really takes a few willing people to keep a discussion alive and enjoyable. In case anyone is wondering how the book club will work, I'm not so sure myself. I've never been in one before let alone started or lead one. But I do figure on the following: a month per book unless it's extra long or extra short no epic sized books unless interest is high (my rule of thumb is to see how long the audio version is and I figure 8-12 hours is a good size book for our efforts) we don't always have to do LGBT books (I'm hoping we can do The Martian in September since the movie comes out in October) books will be sectioned into 4 parts to help us readers make progress and make weekend discussions easier (one thread for each 'section') If you've read this far, thanks! If there are any questions, hopes, fears, wants, desires (regarding the book club that is) ask away! And I'd like to see if anyone can guess which book I have in mind: what's your best guess?
Yes, unfortunately, proposals such as these often gain that initial surge of enthusiasm and then dissipate with the lack of follow-through. I am constantly reading, often multiple books at once, both fictional and non. I would be interested in participating in a book discussion here. It would need to have enough participants in order to be successful, however.
Thanks everyone for replying! I might as well give the title now so everyone who wants to read along has a chance to get it in time for next month. Thankfully August is almost perfectly suited for this: 1 weekend to start and 4 weekends for each section's discussions. The book: Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin First run as a serial in a San Francisco newspaper in 1976, it was published in 1978 as a reworked novel and was a first in many ways, not the least of which is its inclusiveness of diverse characters that didn't live unhappy lives and die because of :eek: not being straight or not being cisgendered! The whole series of books runs 9 volumes and takes place from the late 1970's to just a few years ago when the final book was published. I've wanted to read this for a while so I thought it would be fun to have a group of us here read it all together. Newbies to the book are as welcome to join the discussions as are any who might be re-reading this of course. Also, everyone can read at their own pace but as the discussions go along all I ask is that spoilers for sections not yet read be avoided. Oh, and try not to read too much about it unless you don't mind being spoiled---to each their own but I'm already sad I know one of the surprises in the first book. I'll write later about section breakdowns and "schedules" but I hope everyone heads into this with delight and not feeling it's an assignment. I'm more about reading something and chitchatting about characters and plot than writing scholarly essays. We're all sitting around a virtual coffee shop in plushy chairs and couches, not in hard uncomfortable school desks facing the front of a classroom. So thanks Wallace N, flitterpad, florence2000, and iamqm for your enthusiasm so far! Plenty of room and plenty of time left for others to join, so I hope this particular book helps drum up more interest. Not only does it does it have a big fan base but the first three books were turned into 3 miniseries, so that's an added bonus to look forward to after reading it (if we can get our hands on those---hopefully they're still on DVD or streaming somewhere).
Sounds cool! So are we going to read the first book or more than that? I'll probably also read it as an ebook otherwise it takes too long for me to get it
Oh my, money becoming involved... hope this will all be worth the investment! I think reading them all would be fun (I love series!) but I'd really like to do "The Martian" as the second book... maybe alternate Tales books with others? Or if we like it enough just go through them one after the other? I am concerned about potentially excluding some people because they might not be able to openly read an LGBT book (so I'm looking at some 'sneaky' titles and authors that aren't so obvious but still in some way LGBT---more on that later). I'm sure we'll decide once we get going with the first one. I'm still figuring out some of the behind-the-scenes things to prep for future discussion threads and stuff. I'm looking forward to all of this! :eusa_danc
If I can find the book I'd be so down with this! Even if it's just a few ppl, think it'd be really interesting to hear different perspectives about one thing, especially an lgbt book bc we all have that in common one way or another.
Thanks for your interest! If nobody had said anything the idea would've been squashed. Yeah, everyone's different takes on the story should be quite fun---I hope you can find the book too! Your voice will be a valuable and welcome addition. :thumbsup
Yeah I would totally read The Martian, let me know if you plan to have a discussion on that! I'm a little hesitant to read a book focusing on romance or social acceptance...not my kind of book.
For sure, I'll let you know if we read The Martian (I'll be reading it anyway, even if not for the club)! And I think I understand your hesitation but I hope you give Tales a chance. For what it's worth it's more often listed as humorous fiction than it is anything else. There's a little summary about the book in my formal announcement of the club if that helps any. But still, I know it won't be to everyone's taste which is totally understandable! Super, thanks for responding and joining! There's a more formal thread announcing the club that has a few more details (link is right above this) but it won't be the last. Full details to come!
I would if I had a way to procure books, good luck yall. I may jump in if you guys ever bring one up that I have access to.
Thanks for the luck, and you'd be a welcome member to the group! I hope you don't live in too far flung a corner of CA but hopefully there's a good public or school library system you can access. If they don't have the physical book they might have the e-book through a provider called Overdrive. If so then you can check out the book and read it in a browser on your computer (if you don't have a tablet or smartphone for the Overdrive app)---and if reading a book in the browser doesn't sound too annoying. Either way, good luck to you, too, in finding this or future books!
