Hey cats! Semester is almost over, so with a little more time on my hands, I'm thinking of maybe running another book club kinda thing. But when we've done it in the past, participation has been, well, disappointing. Besides a few regulars, there didn't seem to be much interest or much discussion. So. New start and all that; I wanna know what you want your friendly WF book club to do for you. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to improve the format so that you (and others) get more of what you want out of it, post them here (please don't post specific book requests though, we'll get to that in due course). I, for instance, was thinking that rather than picking a single book for everyone to read, we could instead focus on a particular theme, genre, style or medium for a month or two, and then people could discuss their own preferred texts with regard to that common theme. It would also make this kinda book club a better learning resource, as well as just another discussion forum. So yeah, post away. Lemme know 1. If you're in, and 2. How it could be better.
1. I'm always up for a book club. 2. Your idea sounds good, although it may be hard discussing a variety of texts, especially since not everyone will have a chance to read every book. But since choosing one book limits the number of participants, I think we should give your idea a go and see what happens. One more thing: instead of doing it monthly we should just begin and end when everyone has a book and is done reading it (within a reasonable time limit of course). That way we won't have to worry about book availability, deadline of finishing it, etc.
I'm in for most texts, particularly those I haven't yet read (difficult to gauge at this stage as we've all read differently in the past). I wouldn't tackle some, but we'll get to that later. I thought the previous incarnation of the club was successful, bar the overall participation, so await people's ideas about how to potentially improve the club to meet their wants. If there is a structure to the club, as there was with your questions, it is then a learning resource anyway. Questions cause the reader to think critically about the text, and, depending on the questions, about a particular style etc. What I would do is also advertise the club in the Lounge - this would be allowed by the Mods I assure you. This would help up participation.
It sounds like a good idea, however I think that before a book or genre is decided upon it should be put to a vote to decide what is read.
I agree with Gannon. Advertise the club in the Lounge, and other than that I liked how it was before.
Yeah, when should we start submitting? I say we should read Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.
Ok, well I guess I'll bring it back more or less how it was before. Since it seems that most of the regular contributors are either English lit students or at least interested in critically analysing texts, I think I'll try push it in a kinda more technical/theoretical direction than the more general, unfocused discussion like last time. I'm not saying making it like homework or something, but just try to elevate the level of discussion beyond the superficial. So if you have a recommendation, feel free to post it below. The Road was always popular but one that we never got around to discussing, so I'll offer that as a candidate.
Of course, any book, play, poem, film....our definition of 'text' is pretty broad (well, mine is, anyway). Classics are also good because they're often available for free online, which makes it a little easier to get a copy.
You should consider choosing the August book now, too. Ideally, you want people to pick up the book and start reading it during the month before you discuss it, so you can have good discussion the entire month.
It seems like quite a few people around the site are in the process of/planning to read The Road, and quite a few other people have read it already, and it definitely makes a good book for in-depth discussion, so it might be a good idea to make that our 'now to July 31' book, and begin to gather selections to put to a vote for the August one by mid-July at the latest. I'll give it a couple of days for people to re-/read the book, then open a new thread for the discussion. In the mean time, please continue to offer suggestions for the next session. (And if I've misjudged things and actually no one wants to do The Road, I'll think of something else )
I like this idea. Of course, since it's the end of June, we would be picking a July book on short notice, but I would very much like it if we tried to pick the next months book a month or maybe a little less in advance. I'm the type of person who needs to read a book more than once to really be able to discuss it. While I read fast, sometimes life gets in the way, so having that extra time to get reading would be pretty groovy, I must say. And I'm totally down with The Road. Though, admittedly, July will be pretty hectic for me, so I won't be able to participate as much as in later months.
I would love to participate in a book club too! If you are going to make one then include me in And The Road sounds like a good book choice xD
I'm planning on reading The Road anyway, so that's great for me. Might I also suggest Pompeii by Robert Harris?
I'm up for this. And The Road is a good first choice. I've already read it but I'll need to re-read it.
