Our last meeting for the Brookliners was peachy. I had a fun time meeting everyone. And I'm very tempted to give them all some really rough trucker code names--like Henhouse Harriet, Swingin' Suzy, and Big Bad Bulldog Daddy. Don't ask me why.
We narrowed the list down to 4:
East of Eden
The Prince of Tides
Water for Elephants
Empire Falls
Some other titles that came up during conversation:
Lamb
Catch-22
Every Night is Ladies' Night
Ender's Game
Snow
Three Cups of Tea
The Thornbirds
Ordinary People
Eat, Pray, Love
All the King's Men
Lisey's Story
Monday, July 23, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
To the Harry Potter Fans
Well, you Harry Potter psychopaths didn't let me down. I almost couldn't get back to my apartment last night cuz you people were flooding down the streets towards Brookline Book Smith and Barnes and Nobles. The reviews on Deathly Hallows have been glowing, and the debates about Snapes' integrity have been flaring up. So I hope you enjoy the last installment in the series.
Some members have mentioned getting together for a Harry Potter discussion in a few weeks--a meetup which I can't lead, since I'm not a Potter reader. Hopefully one of you can host the event, so you all can say goodbye to Harry, Ron, Hermione etc. And I can donate some boxes of tissue.
Some members have mentioned getting together for a Harry Potter discussion in a few weeks--a meetup which I can't lead, since I'm not a Potter reader. Hopefully one of you can host the event, so you all can say goodbye to Harry, Ron, Hermione etc. And I can donate some boxes of tissue.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
An open letter to the Y chromosomed among us
This is also regurgitated from one of my past emails. Other than begging 170 strangers not to hurt my feelings, I think this is one of my more useful messages:
I know some of the male members of our club have expressed that they feel outnumbered in our club, and sometimes alienated by the women-driven pieces of literature that have been selected for discussion. So my response to that is I wouldn't object to helping somebody organize a mostly-guys book meeting sometime to discuss a book that speaks to a male perspective (I highly suggest reading Fight Club.) And by the same token maybe one of the gals would like to have a similar, mostly-women's meetup one of these days for a book. However, my suggestion would be not to exclude anybody from either of your groups- should they ever come to fruition -but try to welcome outsider perspectives as much as possible.
As a side note...if there happens to be a team of PhDs in Irish Literature in our midst, I'd love it if they could invite me to a discussion of Ulysses, and tell me just what the @#$% that book is about anyway
You know what would be my wildest dream? If one group of mostly guys could read a guy's-guy's book...one group of mostly gals could read a gal's-gal's book. And after they're each finished, they SWITCH books! and compare their reactions. But maybe I should just keep dreaming....
I know some of the male members of our club have expressed that they feel outnumbered in our club, and sometimes alienated by the women-driven pieces of literature that have been selected for discussion. So my response to that is I wouldn't object to helping somebody organize a mostly-guys book meeting sometime to discuss a book that speaks to a male perspective (I highly suggest reading Fight Club.) And by the same token maybe one of the gals would like to have a similar, mostly-women's meetup one of these days for a book. However, my suggestion would be not to exclude anybody from either of your groups- should they ever come to fruition -but try to welcome outsider perspectives as much as possible.
As a side note...if there happens to be a team of PhDs in Irish Literature in our midst, I'd love it if they could invite me to a discussion of Ulysses, and tell me just what the @#$% that book is about anyway
You know what would be my wildest dream? If one group of mostly guys could read a guy's-guy's book...one group of mostly gals could read a gal's-gal's book. And after they're each finished, they SWITCH books! and compare their reactions. But maybe I should just keep dreaming....
Upcoming books for Cambridge group
The radiant Lisa Math reports to me that her Cambridge group is looking forward to reading these books for each of their next two meetups:
1) Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. For the August 21 Cambridge meeting
*This has been out a while but a couple members had started it and really enjoyed it, so now they're looking for an excuse to go back and finish it.
*I'd write you up my own description of the book, but I'd rather not get slapped with plagiarism charges. So visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces for some great information on Confederacy.... But try not to read too far, cuz you don't want to spoil the ending. I read this book back in high school for the summer and enjoyed it, though it turned out to be a "love it or hate it" kind of novel. The main character is a pompous goof and demands a lot of patience and understanding from the reader. However, plenty of students had this to say about him: "I #@$%ing HATE that guy!"
2) On Beauty by Zadie Smith. For the September Cambridge meeting
*Lisa reports that members really like this author, and this is her latest.
*Hear an NPR interview with the author at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4961669.
1) Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. For the August 21 Cambridge meeting
*This has been out a while but a couple members had started it and really enjoyed it, so now they're looking for an excuse to go back and finish it.
*I'd write you up my own description of the book, but I'd rather not get slapped with plagiarism charges. So visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces for some great information on Confederacy.... But try not to read too far, cuz you don't want to spoil the ending. I read this book back in high school for the summer and enjoyed it, though it turned out to be a "love it or hate it" kind of novel. The main character is a pompous goof and demands a lot of patience and understanding from the reader. However, plenty of students had this to say about him: "I #@$%ing HATE that guy!"
2) On Beauty by Zadie Smith. For the September Cambridge meeting
*Lisa reports that members really like this author, and this is her latest.
*Hear an NPR interview with the author at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4961669.
My personal introduction to the group
This is part of the email I sent out to everyone when I decided to take over "20s and 30s Book club". I'm reposting one particular excerpt just in case the recently-joined members didn't get a chance to see it. This is especially important because Laureen, bless her heart, was the recipient of some really bad energy from a few club members. So here's a more polished version of what I had to say in my first email:
Hey guys, I'm going to try my hand at being organizer of the 20ish and 30ish book club, so I'm hoping all of you can bear with me as I've never really "organized" any kind of group before. I have to confess to all of you that I'm very thin-skinned and take a lot of things very personally--I wish I weren't ultra-sensitive, but, alas, I can't change that. So if anyone has a grievance with the way I'm running things, please phrase it in the form of a suggestion. E.g. "Your club stinks, you're ruining everything, you just bleeping SUCK!!" can be reworded as "My advice is this: always schedule a backup location in case you have a last-minute medical emergency and can't host the meeting out of your ER bed."
By the same token, I'll make an effort to meet you eye to eye, and be polite in return....
And, to the best of my abilities, I'll try not to be so sensitive. But don't say I didn't warn you. My mother's side of the family is very British, thus I believe there's always a place for good manners. Indeed.
So that brings us to the joke of the day:
Why were the suspenders arrested?......For holding up a pair of pants!!!!!!!
Out of 170+ members I've corresponded with, the vast majority have turned out to be magnificently sweet and helpful, especially those of you who have stepped forward as prospective co-organizers and moral supporters. If nothing else, the unbridled awesomeness and enthusiasm of our club members is the best reason for anyone to join this group. Don't be a stranger.
Hey guys, I'm going to try my hand at being organizer of the 20ish and 30ish book club, so I'm hoping all of you can bear with me as I've never really "organized" any kind of group before. I have to confess to all of you that I'm very thin-skinned and take a lot of things very personally--I wish I weren't ultra-sensitive, but, alas, I can't change that. So if anyone has a grievance with the way I'm running things, please phrase it in the form of a suggestion. E.g. "Your club stinks, you're ruining everything, you just bleeping SUCK!!" can be reworded as "My advice is this: always schedule a backup location in case you have a last-minute medical emergency and can't host the meeting out of your ER bed."
By the same token, I'll make an effort to meet you eye to eye, and be polite in return....
And, to the best of my abilities, I'll try not to be so sensitive. But don't say I didn't warn you. My mother's side of the family is very British, thus I believe there's always a place for good manners. Indeed.
So that brings us to the joke of the day:
Why were the suspenders arrested?......For holding up a pair of pants!!!!!!!
Out of 170+ members I've corresponded with, the vast majority have turned out to be magnificently sweet and helpful, especially those of you who have stepped forward as prospective co-organizers and moral supporters. If nothing else, the unbridled awesomeness and enthusiasm of our club members is the best reason for anyone to join this group. Don't be a stranger.
1st Post
Our last organizer Laureen did a great job of blogging our meetups, so I have to follow suit and steal her template. Sorry, Laureen. And, as someone else pointed out to me, she was very good about letting the members express their choices thru the polls. So check out the three I have running on the meetup site. Come on, people. Vote or die. This page is still up and coming, so check back later for more material.
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