Book Club

I'm the Book Club mod. The Book Club has been on hold for a while. It used to be in the "Official Forum" and then got moved to the Groups section. We were having a lot of trouble getting people to participate so we kind of put it on hold.

We have been talking in the Staff areas about some new things, some new methods, new ways and hopefully we will be bringing it back in the future.

Stay tuned.

i'd be in on it, Pete. as you know, i read, a lot. and i love discussing what i've read. i feel it allows you to better grasp what you thought about the novel.in many ways, sometimes i feel i havent properly got them message the author was trying to deliver, until i vocalise my thoughts, and then it comes together.

discussion is an importat part of being a reader/writer. it's such a lonely thing to do. always by yourself, in a dark, damp room, half drunk. so, it's good to talk about it.

although a million people here have read the Reaper, it doesn't seem like anyone wants to talk about it. i thought people would jump into the that thread, all excited, but unfortunately not.

anyway, man, i'm in if you get it going again, and you can be sure that i'll post shit to talk about.

Why not do Beat the Reaper everyone seems to be reading it and it would be a good way to kick it off.

Im in on a book club when ever one starts up.

I think people might enjouy go for the book club but who knows.

We did Pilo Family Circus when Will Elliott had just done an interview here. Everybody was reading the book. Yet, nobody discussed it...

The book club was one of the main reasons for me joining here (that and recommendations). But then I realised I couldn't get whatever book was chosen for that month until late and it's cheaper to buy a lot of books at oce rather than one at a time.

yeah, you'd need to mention the book a month prior for the aussie/brit/kiwi's of the cult, s we had time to order them and get them shipped here and read in time.

but i'd be so down.

why don't you do a trial one, for Beat The Reaper.

That was actually one of the things we talked about. We would nix the whole voting process. The admin would decide (we would be totally fair, we actually used to do it this way a long time ago). We would announce the books a month or two in advance. Maybe even a few months worth at one time (get your $25 free shipping!).

Hey!
That sounds like a good idea. esp. the advance listings that way.. we could start the next one after finishing the previous and dont need to wait.

agreed. =D

another suggestion:

instead of having book club all the way over in the groups section, why not hold it right here, in the book club thread section, put it as a sticky thread, and if possible, password protect it, so you need a password to get in.

at least that way, it's there. it's in vision and therefore more likely to get noticed.

Yeah - that's what we were talking about.

Why don't you make me air all of our secrets Matt! lol

hahahaha. i'm just all over this shit, aren't i?

can i be assistant regional book club manager?

Yeah - your job is to come up with stellar ideas and give me the credit.

done!

can we do at least one Australian book?

What you got?

Isn't Parasites Like Us Australian?

i've nevr heard of that before, Pete, so i have no idea.

as for what i've got; well, there's plenty of god australian lit. it's just a matter of choosing. one of Luke Davies' books could be good. i don't know. there's a relatively new book out, by Helen Garner, called Spare Room. it's about a lady inviting her friend, that's dying of cancer, her spare room to live in, while she looks after her. i like the look of it.

i'm always trying to get new aussie lit, so, there's plenty to choose from. what style? doesn't have to be transgressive does it? because personally, i'm kind of gettign sick of transgressive stuff. it's starting to all sound the same.

So I'm sensing the beginning of a beautiful thing here. I'm open for anything as I'm trying to get back into reading more. The books I'm reading for school are.. a little um, textbook.

Let's change the flow of this thread to recommendations.

I'm open to anything. I'll speak to the admin here and see if they have any more ideas.

As for the discussions - we will probably leave them here as a stickied thread. And then move them into "official cult book club" after that month to make room for the next month.

I feel bad I read a lot but Im the worst at discussing books. I will try and tae part more in future.

I've been part of several book clubs in person, and they can die for any number of reasons. I'm new here, and don't know what happened to this one, but one of the things I've noticed with book clubs is that it's not the place for democracy. An Apple-like fascism is actually a strong point for book clubs, since having someone else control the books you read is actually one of the reasons people join a book club. Giving readers that power can lead to ennui.

I think the secret is to find a leader that won't abuse that privilege and responsibility.

Fuck you! I'll abuse the shit out of this power if I want to! JK...

So yeah - we used to vote on the books and then give a few weeks and discuss. I think you're right, it slowed it down. Not enough time after the book was picked to read it. And part of the fun of a book club is reading books you might not have otherwise.

So like I stated above - most likely with the new book club the admin here will be picking the books. We will try to get a good variety. Mirka's in on it and it seems like everybody loves her recommendations.

I just wanted to verify again that I was just kidding.

I'm all about fairness!!

I always say I'm going to participate and then post like, 1 post maximum.

But I really will this time! I love book discussions and I think this whole book-dictatorship will work out.

I totally promise! I might not have anything good or enlightening to say, but I'll say something!

Ill post when we get this thing rolling. Im excited.

I would love to participate. I have to admit I've been a bit put off by some of the book choices in the past, but yes, I'm in.

haha thats funny.. i am on the same page

so good. i'm glad this ball is getting rolling again, Pete. done good, mate.

just let me know when you need some more killer ideas.

can't wait to see the book list!