Count me in as a willing participant, but shy in selecting books. I don't usually have much to say in the way of discussion, but like to read and see what everyone else has to say.

t pokes head into thread

Yay book club thread! I hope I'll have the time to keep up with this. Lots of good suggestions so far, including several (like the Tim Winton and the Lorrie Moore) that I've been meaning to pick up for some time. I'll toss out a few of my own suggestions while I'm here: Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link, and Mating by Norman Rush.

Stranger Things Happen is a collection of indescribable short stories. Some are like fractured fairy tales, some are nearly gothic horror, some borrow more from science fiction or mystery. They're funny and brilliant and beautifully-written, and I think Kelly Link's sense of humor and appreciation of the fun of playing around with genre would appeal to most Buffy fans. I don't know how easy it would be for people to get a copy, though; it's published by a little independent press, although it got a fair amount of attention when it was released, so I'd think most library systems would have a copy somewhere.

The story of Mating is, at its heart, the story of the relationship between two very smart, passionate people. It mostly takes place in a matriarchal utopian society in the middle of the Kalahari desert. Every time I try to describe this book it sounds dry and boring, but it's totally fascinating! The two main characters are so real, so finely-detailed, and so interesting. It's far more than just a love story. It's the best book about love I've ever read, plus the secondary plot (about the maintenance of the utopian society--it's a social experiment run by one of the two main characters) is really absorbing too.

ETA: Any method of choosing books will be fine by me--whatever turns out to be easiest. Like Cindy said, if we choose a system we don't like, hey presto! we can change it.

Sounds good to me, JZ. I've actually not read any Gaiman, but so many people here have talked about his work that I've been meaning to start.

Another note -- we could always vary the way we pick books from time to time. For those who want to suggest a title or two but might not want to be a designated chooser.

The first post of a thread is any easy place to find stuff, and people new to the thread will hit on it first.

I love this idea.

Though is has been said already: Hooray! Bookclub! I'm so in.

No book sugestions for now, but I've got a maybe for "quotey thing" I'd like toss out: "We're supposed to get some books" from this bit here.

Or maybe this: "But you don't seem bookwormy" from here.

but I've got a maybe for "quotey thing" I'd like toss out: "We're supposed to get some books" from this bit here.

"Does this look like a Barnes and Noble?"

Hey, y'all- I love to see so much activity- someone mentioned posting all the recs in my big slutty first post, and that sounds good to me! I've got a lot on the plate tonight, but I can try to do it tommorrow, when I'm not using dial-up!

Not the recs, lilty, but the "rules" when we hammer out some kind of structure here. Nothing you can do right now, even if you had the time.

t peeks in and looks around

This is... neat! I couldn't really keep up with the literary thread, but with 1-2 books a month and a promise of a discussion, I think even *I* can kick my own ass into gear, so to speak.

I don't know if we're still taking recs, but I'd love to hear what the Buffistas think of Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" (which might have been discussed in the literary thread for all I know, since Consuela was the one who first recommended the book to me.) I think it's right up in our alley. The Amazon blurb goes thus:

In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human." When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong...

I also have a bunch of books on the shelves I have bought at the recommendation of friends and have yet to read, including Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible", Charlotte Brontë's "Villette", Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves", all of which look like good Book Club material...