Book Club - suggestion/feedback

GuanYin

It was discussed before but noone has done anything so just wondering if any boardsters wanna take part in a book club.

I'd imagine a poll could be set up to choose the book each month and then a sticky thread set up to discuss it.

So two stickys to start off to pick the initial book and the one after and then it rolls on from there, giving everyone time to acquire and read the book before the next poll and discussion starts?

What do people think? How about suggestions of books for the poll and some feedback?

I'll start with :
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Wheelers - Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

Unpossible

I'll try, but I'm a little too busy to be able to read many books until the summer. So i'll try & read what books I can & contribute as much as possible

Tusky

Id give it a welly, Once I can get a lend of the book off someone , and of course id have to be interested in it.

deRanged

That sounds good to me. Do you reckon a month per book is a good timeframe?

How do book clubs work - do you discuss the book as you read it or after?

I propose Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre.

LoLth

Yep. We discussed this at the beer bash. Definitely a good idea. At the minute I am still waiting for a reply from a few bookshops about the possibility of a boards book club discount for whatever book we decide on each month, though I see no reason to wait until that comes through before starting it.

I'd vote for life of Pi.

I'll also sticky-ise this.

Beruthiel

anything happening with this?

I read the Life of Pi last week, so I'm ready!

parker larkin

count me in!

Brerrabbit

Sounds good

lofto

ya ill give it a go, would advise a million little pieces by james frey as well

Chinafoot

i'd definately be up for it as im studying english in college and need all the help i can get. exams not finished til may so i'd be able to join after that.

Archvillain

This is a cool idea! I'd definitely be in!
How bout: 'Everything is Illuminated' by Jonathan Safran Foer'?
I'll read it again!!

mosadit

In as well!!!
I was just looking for something like this!! I hope to be able to read all the books you sugest in English as it is not my mother tounge!

LoLth

well, a voting poll to decide which book will be the topic of the month is up.

Sooner we get a decision , the sooner people will know which book to buy and the sooner we can start.

go on. you know you want to.

mosadit

Well, I am reading East of Eden and I would sugest it to everyone.... it is full of ideas for discussions!

alleepally

Is there any way to get a livechat thing going for the bookclub. It would be great to do something like that as it would emulate the interactivity of a book club meet up.

alleepally

I've created a full featured chat function on my site so if there is interest for interactive chat, I can provide the URL and then a date and time is set for the discussion. a transcript can be provided and posted for those who missed the actual live chat and this can be used for further discussion on the book.

Dont be at yourself

It could easily be done through irc either, though I must admit I'd prefer to see it discussed on the board.

alleepally

well, i've done it on the site anyway, not saying it has to be used or anything it's there as an option + it would be much more friendly than irc which some people's particular network setup might have problems with. The board would be the primary place for discussion but wouldn't it be nice to be able to have an interactive chat about it? would make a change.

LoLth

certainly sounds like a plan. You never know, could be a precursor to a real life (tm) book club.

However, the thing I prefer about boards is that generally (though not all the time) people have time to consider what they are going to say before they post it. Tends to lead to better planned discussions rather than a free for all and tends to level the playing pitch for those unused to toastmaster style discussions.

deRanged

As well as the web board format giving people the time to think about their responses, it allows people to respond whenever they like - with out missing any of the previous discussion.

With work'n'stuff there's no way I'd make a scheduled discussion, but I could always find a few minutes during the day to contribute/read on the boards.

No reason why both things can't happen either of course.

LoLth

hmmm, 14 people expressed an interest in the book club idea and up to now we still only have 6 votes for what book to read.

Micro1

Greetings, id be interested as well. What format is the club gonna take. Once a book has been chosen, how have you decided the book will be discussed. Also, how long are we going to have to read it before we start talking about it?

Trebor

i would be interested but i will not vote on a title as most of the stuff i read would be considered trash but i want to broaden my horizons so i will read what ever you literate people suggest

McGinty

I'm interested in a book club as well, however may I suggest that one or two people suggest the book, otherwise everyone will be sitting discussing which book to read, maybe the moderators suggest the book, give a time frame to read it, then maybe a one or two week time frame for people to write in their thoughts on said book. I'll go along with whatever book is suggested (heck I'll read the labels on shampoo bottles, although probably not recommended for a book club). I'll keep tabs on what is suggested.

alleepally

Yeah, I think the book should be nominated with an announcement in the after hours forum to get a wider audience.

LoLth

Well, the most popular choice seems to have been Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

Timeframe:
Start the discussion on the 14th of May. That should give everyone time to pick up the book and read it. It will also give enough time to run the Poll for the next month and have a result for the 1st June.

I think we should treat this as a trial run before we start actively generating interest from other forums. Sort of make our mistakes now while the number of participants is managable.

As for book recommendations:
Just ahvign the moderator (me) suggest them would not be a good idea. My reading taste would not be suitable for everyone. Having a broad range of suggestions almost guarantees that there is something for everyone on offer.. however, book clubs are all about expanding your tastes so even if there is no book perfect for you on the voting list, please vote for the one you think you could manage to see through to the end.

to be removed from the poll for next month: Life of Pi and Million little pieces.

Please PM your suggestions for th ebook club to me or post them here. I will add them in order of suggestion.

Trebor

if everyone suggest's a book then the list could become quite big. another way to do it would be to compile a list of the suggestions then mod randomly picks 5 each month to be voted on? then remove the winner and loser of the vote from the list.