Post all book nominations for the month of January here. Any book of any genre is welcome, including collections of poetry and short stories. Also, just as a reminder, the book we are going to read for December is Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, so please get a copy ASAP if you want to participate.
Well, I'll get the nominations started with my usual list - now with a few extras: William Burroughs - Naked Lunch Dylan Thomas - Under Milk Wood George Bernard Shaw - Pygmalion JG Ballard - Rushing To Paradise, or Concrete Island, or Cocaine Nights
The Kraken Wakes, by John Wyndham. I feel a lot of his work is somewhat overshadowed by The Day of the Triffids, which is a great shame. It might open a few eyes.
Are people still interested in a book club? Our participation for December has been between only 4-5 members, and from the looks of this thread, it looks like not many people are going to participate next month either. Anyone have any ideas to increase participation? Also, do you have any general feedback for the book club (what's working, what's not, etc.)?
I'm interested. Even if there's not a ton of discussion generated, it's interesting to be exposed to different sorts of lit each month. Sorry I haven't been able to participate much-work is so busy right now, I've barely got time for reading. :/
Hey Thirdwind. IMO - If possible choices should be on the shorter side. American Gods is 600pages? I don't read fantasy (or sci-fi) as a rule - no chance I would commit to a book that length in a genre I have no settled or natural affinity for. - When is it appropriate to begin talking about the full work? (Spoilers might be used but that all becomes a bit tiresome). Some folk have completed the book by the start others by the middle of the month. Discussion stutters into life. Neither of which would greatly boost participation. Sorry.
I agree that American Gods was a bit long, and for the future we'll try to read books that are shorter. As for the genre, I don't think it's fair to discriminate against any particular genre. So just like before, any book of any genre is acceptable. I don't really want to have a reading schedule because people read at different speeds and at different times (i.e. some people might read 30 pages a day while others may read 150 during the weekend). Just use spoiler tags if in doubt. Most of the time, people will post how far into the book they are, so this is usually not a problem. I'm OK with reading Pygmalion by Shaw. It's a play and is much shorter than your average novel. It's also available on Project Gutenberg, so getting hold of a copy shouldn't be a problem. If everyone else is OK with this choice, then we can go ahead and read it for January.
Any chance for something more light hearted like Gervaise Phinn, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Sprout by Bart Yates etc? I can now join in but make a point of reading something more upbeat in January.
This is obviously a silly question but what exactly does the book club do? Review? Chat about the book?
We could read one of those books if enough people want to. I'm going by majority here, so the book we choose is up to you guys. I'm up for reading anything. Basically we read a book each month and then discuss it. You can look through some of the previous book club threads to see how it's done.
I'm fine with any of the suggestions, and particularly Pygmalion as I suggested it. I'll in for discussion of Vonnegut this month, and will be next month too. As for improving participation, aside from heavy promotion - use the Lounge for all its worth - I can suggest you thirdwind request minor Mod powers from Wrey or Cogito so you can at least stick these book clubs posts. That, and ensuring that the regular book club members (the 3 or 4 of us) try to post interesting discussion points above and beyond "who liked it then?" We might not want to respond to the formal posting of discussion topics as this may put off participation rather than encourage it, but points to ponder may inspire members to add their tuppence.
Pygamalion is quite light I guess. Of the choices on offer for January it is definitely mine. I flatly refuse to read anything miserable when it is getting dark around 3-4pm.
Alright then, if no one has any objections, we'll be reading Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw for the month of January. As I mentioned earlier, it's available on Project Gutenberg, so even if you can't get a hard copy, you'll still be able to read it and participate.
Might wanna get the reminders up for this - PM Wrey or Cog to stick the January thread and get advertising in the Lounge. If possible we should be getting a hold of the text now and starting reading now so discussion can start early-to-mid Jan.
