The MoFo Book Club - Idea thread

Tools    





If I wanted to read, I'd watch a movie with subtitles.
__________________



Here's who I have marked as participating (with a maybe). Let me know if I forgot you.

FunnyFace
Swan
Sean (maybe)
TheUsualSuspect
christine
Friendly Mushroom

What's the ruling on comic books?
I was waiting to see what everyone else said, and I'm glad they are okay with it. So much great comic stuff out there. I have Preacher volume 1 in my possession that I still need to get to reading.

How about everyone nominates two books. One they have already read and one high on their to read list.
Again I'm up for just about anything. If christine and the rest want to do that as well, I'm game.

I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't have a set deadline for the entire thing, i.e. "we'll do a book a month," but plan according to the book? Because some books are way longer, it might take extra time. And something like Metamorphosis we could knock out in less than a month. So we can plan the deadline when we set a book, basically. Would that be okay?



I'd be really interested! Would you allow philosophy as an acceptable nomination?
__________________
I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages



Here's who I have marked as participating (with a maybe). Let me know if I forgot you.

FunnyFace
Swan
Sean (maybe)
TheUsualSuspect
christine
Friendly Mushroom

What's the ruling on comic books?
I was waiting to see what everyone else said, and I'm glad they are okay with it. So much great comic stuff out there. I have Preacher volume 1 in my possession that I still need to get to reading.

How about everyone nominates two books. One they have already read and one high on their to read list.
Again I'm up for just about anything. If christine and the rest want to do that as well, I'm game.

I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't have a set deadline for the entire thing, i.e. "we'll do a book a month," but plan according to the book? Because some books are way longer, it might take extra time. And something like Metamorphosis we could knock out in less than a month. So we can plan the deadline when we set a book, basically. Would that be okay?
Thanks Swan. Setting the time based on the length of the book sounds perfect.



Just a thought, but I think it'd be better to focus on 1 book. It may be way too overwhelming to try to read multiple books at once imo. It takes some people a very long time to read just one book.

Also, if you could give me a couple weeks or so, I may be able to get a hold of that book. Not too sure yet, but I may be able to join like halfway through.



I'd be really interested! Would you allow philosophy as an acceptable nomination?
Absolutely! I love philosophy although I haven't read a whole lot, so that would be a great opportunity for me.

Though I would say be conscious of what you nominate. For example, Kant is very difficult and might turn a lot of people away. At the same time, if someone wants to bow out for that particular book, they can.

Just a thought, but I think it'd be better to focus on 1 book. It may be way too overwhelming to try to read multiple books at once imo. It takes some people a very long time to read just one book.

Also, if you could give me a couple weeks or so, I may be able to get a hold of that book. Not too sure yet, but I may be able to join like halfway through.
I assumed that FM (correct me if I'm wrong, FM) meant we would nominate a book we have read and one we would like to read, and do them at separate times. If not, I agree that we should focus on one book at a time. I don't want us to feel overloaded.



I'd be really interested! Would you allow philosophy as an acceptable nomination?
Absolutely! I love philosophy although I haven't read a whole lot, so that would be a great opportunity for me.

Though I would say be conscious of what you nominate. For example, Kant is very difficult and might turn a lot of people away. At the same time, if someone wants to bow out for that particular book, they can.

Just a thought, but I think it'd be better to focus on 1 book. It may be way too overwhelming to try to read multiple books at once imo. It takes some people a very long time to read just one book.

Also, if you could give me a couple weeks or so, I may be able to get a hold of that book. Not too sure yet, but I may be able to join like halfway through.
I assumed that FM (correct me if I'm wrong, FM) meant we would nominate a book we have read and one we would like to read, and do them at separate times. If not, I agree that we should focus on one book at a time. I don't want us to feel overloaded.
Yeah you're correct Swan.



I also don't have enough in the budget for books right now.
There used to be these things called libraries where you could go and check out any book you wanted for free. I think they still exist.

It's hard enough to get people to watch a two-hour movie, so it's hard for me to see this book club lasting beyond a month or two. I hope it does, though. As long as people stick to small books, it might last. The Metamorphosis is a great choice (and a great read) since it's just a novella and shouldn't take more than one or two sittings to finish.

My reading output continues to dwindle. I used to average reading at least two books a month. Then it became one book a month. Now it takes me 2-3 months just to finish one damn book. I blame Movie Forums. Here it is October and I've only completed five books all year: Farewell Summer by: Ray Bradbury; Flappers and Philosophers by: F. Scott Fitzgerald; NOS42 by: Joe Hill; A Farewell to Arms by: Ernest Hemingway; and Exquisite Corpse by: Poppy Z. Brite. The latter is about two homosexual serial killers who cross paths, develop a relationship and proceed to engage in romantic acts like wallowing in blood and semen and viscera while f*cking dismembered corpses and nibbling on intestines like it's spaghetti and they're Lady and the Trap. Lovely stuff. I think MovieGal must have written it.

You can consider me an unofficial part-time member. If somebody happens to select a book I'm already planning to read or an author I love or want to explore, I'll jump in and participate. Otherwise I'll just sit on the sidelines and continue to pluck dusty books off my own bookshelf. I'm always reading something. It's just that I rarely find an opportunity anymore to read more than a few pages at a time. At my current pace, I'll never come close to reading all the books I want to read in my lifetime, so I'm reluctant to commit to something like this if it's going to steer me even farther from my own enormous list of books to read. I think it could be helpful for others, though. Anything that will get people to read more is a great thing.



I'm def in! I love reading but don't make me read Lord of the Rings, I'd dip out of that choice.

Oh and can it not go at Sexy pace!
Damn. I should have started this. I've thought before that we needed a Book Club here. I'm surprised it's taken this long -- and that there isn't a Book Countdown list yet.

I'd give you a serious lesson in speed reading!



Though I would say be conscious of what you nominate. For example, Kant is very difficult and might turn a lot of people away. At the same time, if someone wants to bow out for that particular book, they can.
Happy to see people are interested! Absolutely agree with being conscious about a nomination. Life keeps us all busy and participation should be fun and as easy as possible. I also like the idea of planning for a book a month and making adjustments as necessary for a longer text. If there is a shorter reading for one month the downtime will be a nice breather to catch up on other things.

Question for anyone that wants to participate- If you don't already own the text, would you plan on purchasing or trying a library first?

Some ideas I have for nominations are specific poems that could be found online, short stories and even children's literature. I'm up for reading most things- graphic novels, non-fiction, horror, sci-fi...etc.



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
I tried reading a book on cinema. It took me 2 years to read like 2% of it.
Let me just add that the book (I got the second volume lately) is really interesting. It's just that if I have to choose between watching films and reading about films, I always choose to watch. Now I feel bad, because the book is like the most interesting thing that would ever appeal to me in literature and I'm still not reading it.



Happy to see people are interested! Absolutely agree with being conscious about a nomination. Life keeps us all busy and participation should be fun and as easy as possible. I also like the idea of planning for a book a month and making adjustments as necessary for a longer text. If there is a shorter reading for one month the downtime will be a nice breather to catch up on other things.

Question for anyone that wants to participate- If you don't already own the text, would you plan on purchasing or trying a library first?

Some ideas I have for nominations are specific poems that could be found online, short stories and even children's literature. I'm up for reading most things- graphic novels, non-fiction, horror, sci-fi...etc.
To me it depends of the book, I have a little book collection so if the book is my an author that interest me I probably will buy it.



.

I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't have a set deadline for the entire thing, i.e. "we'll do a book a month," but plan according to the book? Because some books are way longer, it might take extra time. And something like Metamorphosis we could knock out in less than a month. So we can plan the deadline when we set a book, basically. Would that be okay?
I'd just like something really relaxed and simple as everyone reads at different rates and has differing amounts of time they can devote to reading. Let's just go for reading Metamorphosis and when the majority of people who have signed up have read it and discussed it then we can go onto the next one .
it's not like we can't come back to a book thread if we think of other things to add.

I'd read some philosophy PG, but not if it was too dense or heavyweight as I just don't have the concentration these days for that.



So you're basically saying we won't have a deadline? And just read until everyone is done, then move on?



I'm going to set up the main thread so we can get going, just because I think some of us want to get working.



That sounds good. Will everyone announce their noms at the beginning (Like for the ill-fated Watch List, all films were announced at beginning and watched in order) or wait till its their turn (Read person A's noms, then B announces his/her and read them, C, so on).