Is anyone interested in a book discussion group?

Peace and Love - I hope I haven't trodden on any toes from Little 'k's thread - I was not really involved in it- and I had no idea you guys were talking of a book club - this was an idea I have had for a while and I just popped it down.

if a group was being formed there - why not go with that?

Lash Goth:

Middlesex excerpt

Looked for an excerpt, found this:

Fury

It's been really really interesting to read in terms of New York City just before 9/11 -- I didn't realize that the publication date was 9/11/01. Some amazingly Cassandra-ish stuff.

Here's a real excerpt:

Fury excerpt

Sozobe - you are a honey!

Okay, I vote for Fury, with Middlesex for this summer when it's out in paperback.

Hi Deb -- not to worry... you're not stepping on any toes... or knees... or shoulders... little k's thread is "What Book Are You Reading Right Now"... the idea of a book discussion group was tossed around about two months ago... then the idea faded away... it's good that you started the ball rolling on this idea... it's a great idea...

Both look really good, thank you Sozobe. Fury is good for me and then Middlesex next or later. Remember everyone to check Amozon.com throug A2k to order the books if you intend to buy.

sozobe
That was so kind. Read them, and my vote is broiling.
I decided to look for the others to make a more informed choice.

You guys, I'm already excited.

What a wonderful selection!

Here is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
It is about a young male adult coping with the deaths of his parents of cancer, and his resulting responsibilities to his sister.



Three Men In a Boat.
Starts with four old dodgers, loaded with physical malaise.

Here is At Swim Two Boys-author Jaime O'Neill.
Takes place in British occupied Ireland. Coming of age?

Middlesex and Three Men in a Boat jerked me right into the stories.

I would like to reserve my vote for the formal tally. (Are we doing the formal tally?)

GREAT CHOICES!!

Stumbling a bit late into the proceedings, but just wanted to say that like Barkis, I'm willin'. Now, as to a book suggestion, as if another is needed. Well, there's Book of Pi by Yann Martel. It's a fun read but has much meat for chawing over. I read it not so long ago. Here's a short blurb, followed by a link to Amazon's excerpted pages.

"Patel, alias Pi, lives in Pondicherry, where his father runs the city zoo. He is sixteen when his family emigrates to Canada, but their ship is battered by a storm. And there are just five survivors: Pi, a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orangutan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. That is from the back-cover of Life of Pi, a novel by Yann Martel, which won this year's Booker Prize."


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0151008116/ref=lib_dp_sp_1/103-2150679-2188646?v=glance&s=books&vi=slide-show#reader-link


But, honestly, anything is fine with me ... Alice in Wonderland, Jude the Obscure, the Rabbit novels (which, btw, Deb are by Updike) A.S. Byatt, Rohinton Mistry, the Brothers Grimm, history, herstory, hysterical stories, don't matter atall. I'm easy.

Oooh, definitely Life of Pi at some point. It looks like there was a bit of a brouhaha about plagiarism, but the story looks quite compelling in and of itself. And Debacle, I must remember to ask you for a recommendation once I've gotten through my teetering stack of must-reads, as everything you've listed is up high on my faves list. (Did you see "Possession", the movie? If so, was it any good? I have a pathological fear of going to a movie adaptation of a favorite book...)

Look at all those links, Lash Goth! I'm happy to do a good turn, and you went and turned it even further. The synopsis of HWOSG is a little glummer than the book -- I mean, it's glum, but it's also hysterically funny and intelligent and generally something that you put down thinking "Wow, that was a heartbreaking work of staggering genius!" (which takes some doing seeing as how the title makes you want to say "Pshaw, you call that genius??").

Am just an appreciative observer here, but wanted to throw in McEwan's "Amsterdam" as a contender: bizarre, thought-provoking, and gripping read.

Tartarin, welcome! Joining us?

I confess that I've never been involved with a book discussion group before -- either online or the old-fashioned kind.
However, I'm thinking about a different way to approach it.

First, it seems to me that all that's need are 8-10 people for a book group. ( More would be great of course, but It might get chaotic if there were TOO many involved)

Second, of the books that are being suggested, it shouldn't be just a matter of selecting one and rejecting all the others.

I have, in my mind, a model for book groups that goes something like this:

Several books are listed and A2kers 'sign up' for a book that they want to read. When a certain minimum number sign up, whether it is in one day or three weeks, the group is launched.

Jjorge, fantastic idea! DO it!

However - I have tried to start a couple of online groups of this sort, and I tend to think, based on experience, that people are a little nervous of these things, and it takes a certain amount of energy to get 'em off the ground. I would be loath, at this stage, to stop the energy this group has found, and change directions once again.

I suggest that we choose a book now, get a discussion under our belt, do it 3 times and THEN get less structured if it isn't working for people.

What do others think?

Jjorge - there is currently a discussion of "The Great Gatsby" which might interest you?

i've actually read that. where is the discussion?

btw, have you ever read hemingway's opinions of f. scott fitzgerald in a moveable feast? very interesting. poor man was brought down by a women. i guess all men are consigned to that fate.

Hmmmm - only by women already brought down by men - but I digress.....

Pueo - here is the discussion: http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2533

I am just about to go there....

ahem, i would like to point out to you that this is a non-digressionary thread.

So?