EN World Book Club

[Sam]

OK. So, Oprah has one, the Today Show has one, Rosie had one. Throwing this out for dicussion. Should we start an EN World Book Club? You know, where a group of people agree to read a book by a certain date, and then you spend some time discussing it.

Proposal: Start an EN World Book Club
Details: Using method to be determined, select one book every X weeks for reading by certain date. Once date arrives, begin discussion of book for specified period. Listing of books to be discussed should always go out 2-3 books in advance, so people have an opportunity to borrow books from library/friends, or purchase from bookstore.

Suggest that books selected be a combination of new publications and classic works.

Anyone have any interest in something like this? Any other ideas?

EDIT: There is now a [EN World Book Club] Suggestions & Selectors thread, where everyone has been volunteering & suggesting books. Please see that thread for more info on the book club.

 

[Crothian]

Sounds fine, but how the heck does one decide on which book to start with? I imagine we'd have more suggestions then people interested.

 

[AuroraGyps]

I've actually had the same thought once or twice, so I'm in.

 

[Sam]

Sounds fine, but how the heck does one decide on which book to start with? I imagine we'd have more suggestions then people interested.

How 'bout an "editorial board" of 4-6 members that select the books? The board will be a rotating position, so that every [2]? books a person leaves and a new person is "appointed" to the board.

This still leaves the "how do people get appointed to the editorial board" question. I suppose we can figure that out if there's enough interest in the idea. If there is interest, then we can worry about it, or even just pick the first six people who express interest in being on the board. Now, obviously, if someone's going to be selecting/recommending books, they should have read them already. Also, for the "classics", perhaps we can do some open voting, listing 10-15 books that have been out for some time and the ones with the most votes is selected.

Just some real off-the-cuff ideas.

 

[Merova]

Voting is Good

Now, obviously, if someone's going to be selecting/recommending books, they should have read them already. Also, for the "classics", perhaps we can do some open voting, listing 10-15 books that have been out for some time and the ones with the most votes is selected.

Hi all!

The book club is a sweet idea. I think the voting idea is a good one. However, the restriction on having read a work before recommendation will almost certainly skew the reading selection towards the "classics" rather then the new releases. There's nothing wrong with this, but I get a thrill out of reading new stuff. I think that a good review in Locus or some other respectable review site should be sufficient to qualify a book for the list.

Another thought on selection could be "award" based. For instance, in a few months the World Fantasy Awards will be announced; it would be kind of interesting to check out a few of the nominees before then.

In any case, I'm interested in joining the book club.

Thanks for reading.

---Merova

 

[Sam]

Re: Voting is Good

There's nothing wrong with this, but I get a thrill out of reading new stuff. I think that a good review in Locus or some other respectable review site should be sufficient to qualify a book for the list.

Another thought on selection could be "award" based. For instance, in a few months the World Fantasy Awards will be announced; it would be kind of interesting to check out a few of the nominees before then.

Both great ideas. I like the award based concept alot.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Count me in. I thought about suggesting something like this a few months ago, but never did.

I like the idea of using award nominees (World Fantasy, World Horror, or Hugo nominees), but I also like to read classic works. Maybe it could alternate, one month a new award nominated book, the next a classic book? I'd also like to suggest that books not be part of a long series, unless the books can truly "stand alone."

Locus magazine has a great resource, the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards for finding award winning books from past years, perhaps this could be a place to choose books to read?

 

[Sam]

I like the idea of using award nominees (World Fantasy, World Horror, or Hugo nominees), but I also like to read classic works. Maybe it could alternate, one month a new award nominated book, the next a classic book? I'd also like to suggest that books not be part of a long series, unless the books can truly "stand alone."

That's in line with what I was thinking. I agree that we shouldn't be looking at "Wheel of Time" type series, though some shorter series might make sense. These are all things we can talk about.

The Locus Award site is a great link. Thanks.

So, there's at least some interest for this idea. Why don't we keep generating some ideas and select a book by, say, August 16th for September discussion. Is that too agressive a timeline?

BTW, I knew we'd attract some of the "Librarians" to this concept. Now we just need EN & Buttercup.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

That's in line with what I was thinking. I agree that we shouldn't be looking at "Wheel of Time" type series, though some shorter series might make sense. These are all things we can talk about.

When you say shorter series, are youy thinking of reading them all at once or over several months? I could see reading Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy over a month, but couldn't see reading anything much longer in a month.

So, there's at least some interest for this idea. Why don't we keep generating some ideas and select a book by, say, August 16th for September discussion. Is that too agressive a timeline?

I think we should allow for at least 1 month from when a book is posted to read before the discussion really starts. Thats not to say we can't have minor questions before the discussion start date. So if we pick a book by Aug 16, we would start the discussion on Sept 15. Does that work?

 

[KnowTheToe]

Count me in as long as it doesn't get too touchy feely, but I am not too worried about that.