Book Club

[Tranquility]

Maybe we should have a sort of book club where we agree on a particular book to read, and give BABBlers a week or two to read it (depending on its length) and we can have a discussion on the book here.

Maybe it sounds nerdy to some, but I think it could actually be fun.

What do you guys think?

[mickal555]

Ok... we don't have to 8-[ um... 8-[ well... buy the.book.do.we

[Musashi]

I like. What kind of books?

[mickal555]

I also.. like 8-[
sounds liked a good idea :)

[Sever]

I like. What kind of books?

Sci-Fi? (What could be more appropriate?).
:D

[mickal555]

not sci fic nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Tranquility]

I like. What kind of books?

Well we don't need to have just one specific genre. The greater the variety the better IMHO.

Maybe we could decide on the books on a turn basis. We could go by alphabetical order through the list of people who want to participate in the book club. And we should start from T (j/k) :D .

[mickal555]

ok

[Monoxide Child]

Ok... we don't have to 8-[ um... 8-[ well... buy the.book.do.we

Library cards are free, if I'm not mistaken...

[mickal555]

yeah but not the hold fee

EDIT: I had to pay $11:50 for mine :o

[Candy]

I'd love to join you boys, but I will be busy reading my school text books. :evil:

Humanities book is Global Society (The World Since 1900)
I didn't realize Serbia was the cause of WWI. :-?

Business Law books not in, yet. :-?

[edited wording before I get killed by WWI buff's)

[xbck1]

Sounds interesting. What about if a specific genre was randomly selected for a certain week/month/whatever and then we pick a book from there?

[Tranquility]

Sounds interesting. What about if a specific genre was randomly selected for a certain week/month/whatever and then we pick a book from there?

I dont mind that either. We could wait until tomorrow or the day after to see if more people would like to join in, then the first person in the alphabetical list gets to choose the first genre, and the first book.

But it has to be a good book guys. No books like Stephen King's "It" where one needs 3 months to read the book :D .

lol j/k, I actually thought "It" was a nice book.

[Lycus]

If you're feeling masochistic, you can always choose books that are written by the usual suspects (Hoagland, Lieder, McCanney, etc). :P

[Paul Beardsley]

The idea certainly interests me. However, I am a slow reader, so I too wouldn't want to read Stephen King's It (although I do intend to read it at some point).

How about everybody suggests three or four books (preferably shortish ones, and readily available) then everyone interested can say which ones they'd consider reading. It doesn't matter if not everybody takes part in every discussion, as long as there are a few in each.

My suggestions (all books already on my "to read" pile, surprise surprise):

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. I haven't read any King yet; meanwhile, several people independently told me The Shawshank Redemption is the best movie ever, so I want to check it out.

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho. I read his The Alchemist; I found it very entertaining and uplifting and easy; with its magic realism scenes, it was like Gabriel Garcia Marquez lite.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. A 14-year-old James Bond. Kids' stuff, but the quality of kids' stuff in recent years has been phenomenal.

When the book is to be discussed, a thread could be called something like "Book club - Girl With A Pearl Earring" - then non-members who happen to have read the book in question can also join in.

Sorry about the simplistic tone of this post - Dad's Army is on in the background and it's affecting me.

[gethen]

Sounds interesting, but I'd like to suggest choosing a book well in advance of the time it will be discussed--maybe a month ahead, since those of us in rural areas might not be able to find the book as quickly as those in urban and suburban areas. Or maybe we could come up with a list of say, 6 books, and schedule them over a given period of time just so we'd have time to find them. Anyone interested could check the thread where they're listed and deiced which ones they're interested in discussing and pick up those books in advance. Or am I the only one living in the boondocks?

[The Supreme Canuck]

I'd like to participate, but I'm in the same boat as Candy; too much school work. Let me join in later, okay?

[Candy]

I'd like to participate, but I'm in the same boat as Candy; too much school work. Let me join in later, okay? Or make them read our books. :lol:

[The Supreme Canuck]

Hey, works for me! :P

[Harvestar]

If you're feeling masochistic, you can always choose books that are written by the usual suspects (Hoagland, Lieder, McCanney, etc). :P

Hoagland's book was in the Astronomy section of our favorite used book store. My boyfriend nearly died laughing looking it over.

[Makgraf]

Speaking of magic realism, Life of Pi by Yawn Martel is an excellent book, about the adventures of one Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel. It's got a really interesting look at Indian cultures, religion and zoos. Saying any more would ruin the surprise (although most covers will spoil it). It probably has the best author's note.

Atonement by Ian McEwan is another great book with a surprise around the beginning/middle of the book. It starts off in an breezy english country house in the '30's, with an cast of visiting characters. It's all very Agatha Christie-ish and you're sure something bad is going to happen (it does). The book has some hair-raising parts about Dunkirk and a wartime English hospital.


Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephanson is a (large) book that tells several different interconnecting stories in two timelines, now and during world war two. This is historical fiction written like science fiction and it's jampacked with hundreds of interesting observations and digressions (everything from chinese banking practices to how to eat cap'n crunch). (If you are into science fiction his Snow Crash is also excellent).

[mickal555]

If you're feeling masochistic, you can always choose books that are written by the usual suspects (Hoagland, Lieder, McCanney, etc). :P

Hoagland's book was in the Astronomy section of our favorite used book store. My boyfriend nearly died laughing looking it over.
I trust You moved it to new age. no?

[Tranquility]

Okay so we've had a few great suggestions so far.

First of all let us go through the ideas for how the entire thing is organized.

So there will be a month allocated for each book we read so that slow readers as well as those who don't have ready access to books can have the time to get them. I think a month should also give those who have other stuff to do some time to finish the book and participate with us.

So everyone participating in that month's reading can either suggest two or three books (preferably 2 just to make the entire process easier to manage) or they don't have to suggest anything, just participate in the deciding process.

Every month we'll create a new thread for that particular book for us to discuss.

Anyone can join whenever they want.

If anybody has a more efficient suggestion, go ahead and say it.

So far we have some suggestions for the books to be read. I won't suggest any books this time. Tomorrow those who want to participate can decide on which book they prefer to read.

[Sever]

I'll make a few suggestions...

-The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, its a really good adventure/thriller.(I'd also recommend his Red Storm Rising).

-The Mote in Gods Eye by Larry Niven. A really interesting alien race. Also has some cool moments.

-Red Phoenix by Larry Bond. 'Tis another good military thriller. I enjoyed it.

-Atermis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Think Harry Potter combined with a James Bond movie.

-The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Another classic.

-Enders Game by Orson card Scott. One of my favorite soft sci-fi's. Really interesting charaecters.

-Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. Its a classic novel, and not that long either.

I also intend to get around to reading Ringworld one of these days.

[Paul Beardsley]

Some other thoughts:

We have a deadline for book recommendations. (Preferably sometime soon.) By all means include a brief reason why it’s worth a read.

Everyone then gives a preference score to each book.

3=”I’d really like to read that one!”
2=”I’m okay with reading that one but I don’t mind if it’s not on the list.”
1=”I’d rather eat a skunk than read that!”

A week (say) after the deadline for recommendations, the arbitrator collates the scores. Any book that averages less than 2 gets chucked out. This way, fewer readers are going to opt out each month.

The arbitrator then puts together a list that looks something like, “December, War of the Worlds, January 2005, Girl With A Pearl Earring, February, Hunt For Red October...” and so on. The arbitrator selects the book based on the preference scores, but because s/he’s done all the work, s/he can select the order. (I don't particularly want to arbitrate myself because I'm not very organised. I reckon Tranquility should have first choice, though, as OP.)

One other point – I’ve noticed that a lot of the recommendations given are books that I’ve read or already intend to read. However, I want to push the boat out a bit and read books I’d never considered reading before, and I hope others will do the same. Put me down for Candy's text book!

[snowcelt]

This is impossible. Why? Because none of us wants to read what the other does. Stephen King? His first stories were neat, then boredom sets in. I love Frank Herbert. But, let us face it, he is dead: and unlikely to add to fiction---as we know it.

I like David Weber's stuff. Nothing that one would write home to Mom about; but, fun to read, and fun to forget.

[mutineer]

I'd love to join you boys, but I will be busy reading my school text books. :evil:

Humanities book is Global Society (The World Since 1900)
I didn't realize Serbia was the cause of WWI. :-?

Business Law books not in, yet. :-?

[edited wording before I get killed by WWI buff's)
I think we should each read a DIFFERENT book on the origins of WWI, then we can put Candy right on the REAL causes!

(You were just teasing us about Serbia . . . right?) 8)

[Paul Beardsley]

This is impossible. Why? Because none of us wants to read what the other does.

It's not impossible at all. If the choice of books is varied, and people are willing to try something different, it will work fine.

[gethen]

This is impossible. Why? Because none of us wants to read what the other does.

It's not impossible at all. If the choice of books is varied, and people are willing to try something different, it will work fine.
I agree with Paul. It would probably be a good thing for some of us (myself included) to read the occasional book that we wouldn't have chosen ourselves. And there is always the option of skipping a month that features a book we're dead set against reading, or perhaps haven't been able to locate.
However, I think we may find that a final arbiter is necessary to make the call on the chosen book when the group's choice is not clear. I nominate Tranquility as the obvious choice.

[Paul Beardsley]

I nominate Tranquility as the obvious choice.

As I hinted before, I'd be happy with Tranquility as arbitrator. So, seconded.

[Musashi]

I want to read the new Gabriel Garcia Marquez book. I also want to finish 100 Years of Solitude.

Hmm, there are so many choices. :)

[Tranquility]

So sweet of you guys to nominate me :D

Anyway, we'll have the recommendations extended to exactly 24 hours from this post, then we will have a period of 24 hours for the preferences vote. After that, the arbitrator will place the books in order for us to read.

But since we're gonna have more than one book on the list, I'd like to make a suggestion. The list that the arbitrator will finalize and give the order of reading the books should contain a maximum of two books, so that other people who join in later on can have a chance to recommend books themselves. So hypothetically if I were the arbitrator and there were 5 books on the list, I'm only allowed to choose 2 of them and put them on the list, and I choose the order in which to read them. Then the role of arbitrator is passed on to someone else, etc.

[Candy]

I'd love to join you boys, but I will be busy reading my school text books. :evil:

Humanities book is Global Society (The World Since 1900)
I didn't realize Serbia was the cause of WWI. :-?

Business Law books not in, yet. :-?

[edited wording before I get killed by WWI buff's)
I think we should each read a DIFFERENT book on the origins of WWI, then we can put Candy right on the REAL causes!

(You were just teasing us about Serbia . . . right?) 8)
According to the book, there was a domino effect after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia while in Serbia. Serbia had been given an ultimatum by Austria-Hungary, which Serbia agreed to all but one condition. Austria-Hungary basically said, I guess you (Serbia) doesn't understand the meaning of an ultimatum.

Then the Countries started forming allies (not all at once did the countries enter into the war).

Allies (Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Belgium, Italy, Japan, US)

Control Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Turkey)

The book also goes onto say the reasons for WWI were:
1. Weapons and Arms race
2. Nationalism to the extreme
3. Desire to enlarge National land/territory/colonies
4. Technology
5. War glorified and looked at as a Noble adventure

We should start a thread on WWI. 8-[

[Parrothead]

I'll suggest:

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen - I've read a number of his books, they are just LOL funny. Absurd plots that get nuttier (filled with wit and sarcasm), but fun to read. I haven't read this one yet.

[mickal555]

Then the Countries started forming allies (not all at once did the countries enter into the war).

Allies (Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Belgium, Italy, Japan, US New Zealand and AUSTRALIA)


Control Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Turkey)

The book also goes onto say the reasons for WWI were:
1. Weapons and Arms race
2. Nationalism to the extreme
3. Desire to enlarge National land/territory/colonies
4. Technology
5. War glorified and looked at as a Noble adventure

We should start a thread on WWI. 8-[

[mike alexander]

There's never any beginning or end to history, but I'd say that the major cause of WWI was the Franco-Prussian war and its consequences.

[gethen]

I've been wanting to read The Big One (http://www.sploib.com/books/archives/000115.html) by Page and Officer, about the New Madrid quakes of the early 1800s, so I'll nominate that one. It's non-fiction.

[Gerrsun]

I'd be interested in this as well.

As for a book I have read recently...The Golden Ratio : The Story of PHI, the World's Most Astonishing Number by MARIO LIVIO

Nice read although I would have loved for there to have been more discussion of the two theories of math, the Platonists who say 1+1=2 is a representation of reality, and the constructionists who say 1+1=2 is OUR interpretation fo what is reality. He just touched on that in the last chapter.

[Argos]

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho. I read his The Alchemist; I found it very entertaining and uplifting and easy; with its magic realism scenes, it was like Gabriel Garcia Marquez lite.


Allow me to warn you that this is considered bad literature in Brazil (they call it low-brow), where the book comes from. Paulo Coelho writes for the poorly educated masses, although the narrow-minded novelty-eager upper middle-class ended up (unexpectedly) joining the millions of hysteriacal fans of this flamboyant type - who has no brain content at all, and who is against rational thinking. His (surprising) European success stems (imo) from good trans-creation performed by translators. I wonder why in the world the sophisticated Europeans have accepted this stuff as mainstream literature.

Adding: nothing to do with Marquez, who´s a real intellectual (Paulo Coelho has no education).

[Paul Beardsley]

Okay, here are my preference votes for all book titles mentioned, using the system of

3=enthusiastic
2=neutral
1=not keen

No hard feelings to anyone whose suggestions I've given "1" to - it's mainly a length thing.

1 - Global Society (The World Since 1900)
1 - It
3 - Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
2 - The Fifth Mountain
2 - Stormbreaker
2 - Girl With A Pearl Earring
3 - Life of Pi
2 - Atonement
1 - Cryptonomicon
1 - Snow Crash
3 - The Hunt for Red October
2 - The Mote in Gods Eye
2 - Red Phoenix
2 - Atermis Fowl
3 - The War of the Worlds
2 - Enders Game
2 - Starship Troopers
3 - Ringworld
2 - Sick Puppy
2 - The Big One

[Tranquility]

The Golden Ratio - 2
Sick Puppy - 2
The Big One - 2
Global Society - 2
Red October - 1
The Mote in Gods Eye - 3
Red Phoenix - 2
Atermis Fowl - 1
The War of the Worlds - 3
Enders Game - 2
Starship Troopers - 3
Life of Pi - 2
Atonement - 2
Cryptonomicon - 1

As usual guys no hard feelings for the votes. Some of us may not be fans of a particular genre.

[Paul Beardsley]

Well, it's four minutes till the preference-vote deadline. Has this fallen by the wayside, or are people just to busy to vote for a preference, or are they happy to leave it to the preference of Tranquility and myself?

I hope it's not the first of these...

[gethen]

I guess I don't feel too strongly about any of the nominees, with the following exceptions:
The Big One-3
Ender's Game-3
Anything by Heinlein-1
The Hunt for Red October-1 (hate techno-thrillers)
I've already read Sick Puppy, The Mote in God's Eye, and War of the Worlds, but would not be adverse to rereading any of them.

[Tranquility]

Well we can extend the deadline till tomorrow in case people were too busy today to vote.. What do you guys think?

[Bob]

I'm reading "The Surrender" by Toni Bentley right now. You folks go read whatever you want.

[Sever]

3 - Global Society (The World Since 1900).
3 - It
2 - Shawshank Redemption
1 -Rita Hayworth
1 - The Fifth Mountain
1 - Stormbreaker
1 - Girl With A Pearl Earring
2 - Life of Pi
2 - Atonement
3 - Cryptonomicon
3 - Snow Crash
2 - The Hunt for Red October
2 - The Mote in Gods Eye
2 - Red Phoenix
3 - Atermis Fowl
2 - The War of the Worlds
3 - Enders Game
3 - Starship Troopers
3 - Ringworld
3 - Sick Puppy
1 - The Big One
1 -The Golden Ratio

(I sound warn you that I am a very fast reader).

[Andromeda321]

3- Life of Pi
I'm rather impartial to everything else but I've wanted to get around to reading this one for quite awhile now. So seeing as I'd have an excuse... 8)

[Parrothead]

1 - Global Society (The World Since 1900) - I already have more than enough books on the topic, I was a Pol. Sci. major.
2 - It - read it but many years ago.
3 - Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - good read and short too
1 - The Fifth Mountain
1 - Stormbreaker
2 - Girl With A Pearl Earring
2 - Life of Pi
2 - Atonement
1 - Cryptonomicon
1 - Snow Crash
2 - The Hunt for Red October - read it long ago
2 - The Mote in Gods Eye
2 - Red Phoenix - read it long ago
2 - Atermis Fowl
3 - The War of the Worlds - well worth reading again
2 - Enders Game
2 - Starship Troopers
2 - Ringworld
3 - Sick Puppy
2 - The Big One

[Paul Beardsley]

So, er, what are we reading?

[Tranquility]

Sorry guys, got totally caught up with stuff in the last two days. (BTW since gethen put Sick Puppy, The Mote in God's Eye, and War of the Worlds as basically "read before but don't mind reading", which is the same as a 2 rating, I put these books down as 2)

Below is the name of the book and its average score:

Global Society - 1.75
It - 2.0
Rita Hayworth - 2.67
The Fifth Mountain - 1.33
Life of Pi - 2.4
Stormbreaker - 1.33
Girl with a Pearl Earring - 1.67
Atonement - 2.0
Cryptonomicon - 1.5
Snow Crash - 1.67
The Hunt for Red October - 1.8
The Mote in God's Eye - 2.2
Red Phoenix - 2.0
Atermis Fowl - 2.0
War of the Worlds - 2.6
Enders Game - 2.4
Starship Troopers - 2.2
Ringworld - 2.67
Sick Puppy - 2.4
The Big One - 2.2
The Golden Ration - 1.5

So the winners are:
Rita Hayworth and Ringworld with 2.67 points, followed by War of the Worlds with 2.6 points.

As arbitrator, I chose the following order of reading:
1 - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
2 - Ringworld
3 - War of the Worlds

Happy reading everyone :)

Oh and we need to decide how we're going to pass on the arbitrator role to another person.

[mutineer]

For those inclined to thrift, the War of the Worlds can be read online here (http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/warworlds/)

[Paul Beardsley]

Thanks Tranquility.

As arbitrator, I chose the following order of reading:
1 - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
2 - Ringworld
3 - War of the Worlds

Sounds good to me.

What about timescales? Presumably one a month, but how long till you start the first discussion thread? I'd recommend giving people a chance to find, buy and read each book; if the book discussion is underway before some members even have the book, they will feel left out.

I also recommend that you call the first thread something like, "Book Club - Shawshank Redemption" so that other posters know we're talking about the book, and don't come in to accidentally hijack the thread into a discussion about the movie (although obviously it's okay to discuss the movie in terms of how good an adaptation it is).

Oh and we need to decide how we're going to pass on the arbitrator role to another person.

Perhaps when we're about to start on the last one someone could nominate themself. If nobody else volunteers, I will.

Oh - any UK reader who has an MVC shop nearby - you can probably pick up a copy of Shawshank for £3.

[Tranquility]

You're welcome, Paul.

We already decided on the timeline a few posts back, as per gethen's recommendation, we're allocating one month for each book. If the members who are participating have finished reading the book earlier than the one month time, we can start a thread for the discussion before the month is out. But this is only if all of us are done reading it.

And I'm onboard with the thread naming convention.

[The Bad Astronomer]

No real spoilers here, but...

I haven't read this whole thread, but I'll note that Ringworld is vastly improved if you have read a number of Niven books that go into the background story. This includes Tales of Known Space, Neutron Star, World of Ptavvs, and of course Protector. Otherwise, a lot of the important plot details might be lost (like why Speaker gets so upset at Nessus, nudge nudge).

After reading Ringworld, I highly recommend finding a copy of "Down in Flames" on the web. It's vastly entertaining.

[PeterFab]

"Down in Flames" can also be found in Niven's "N-Space" collection.