I like Wolfram's suggestion, but it's hard to follow.

Tell me about it. Just re-reading it gave me headache.

Maybe you should just list a schedule like so:

immediately - reading The Intuitionist/discussion in whitefont

Aug 15 - we discuss The Intuitionist/no whitefont

Aug 30 - we finish reading The Consolation of Philosophy (or whatever)/discussion in whitefont

Sept 15 - we discuss TCOP(OW)/no whitefont

...and so on. Is that more or less the proposal?

For this to work, I think we need to plan ahead.

I think I followed that. Kind of. Essentially, you want to pick Book 2 (and even Book 3?) now, so we can start reading those (or those of us who are fast readers can, anyway) and be ready for a new discussion if talking about The Intuitionist doesn't take as long as we thought, yes?

I'm up for it. My To Be Read pile always needs new additions.

*blushes deeply* aww thanks. I don't mind, and while I love my suggestions, I think I'm going to pick someone else's because y'know, I've already read the books I chose.

Works for me too, and mine'll also come out of the list we've developed already. (And thanks for the Nilly on that one, I've been swamped and unable to keep up.)

I think your idea is a good one Wolfram, and I don't think it'll seem as complicated once it's all set up and scheduled.

I'm excited! My local library has The Intuitionist on their shelves!

Is that more or less the proposal?

No, I'm trying to keep the beginning dates of discussion flexible, and set the reading deadlines for the next couple of books earlier than would be necessary if discussion proceeded on the normal timeline to allow us to jumpstart new discussion if the situation demands it. IOW, we control the timeline, we don't let it control us.

AmyLiz hits the concept on the head:

I think I followed that. Kind of. Essentially, you want to pick Book 2 (and even Book 3?) now, so we can start reading those (or those of us who are fast readers can, anyway) and be ready for a new discussion if talking about The Intuitionist doesn't take as long as we thought, yes?

I also think we should guarantee each selection two weeks (at least at the outset) and allow consensus to be used to determine if a discussion is deader than a dead thing and ready to be put down after that.

So, would we need to be able to finish a book in two weeks? Because that seems a little fast to me.

I don't know that I can discuss Book A while reading Book B, for one thing. I'm gonna want a little time to discuss The Intuitionist and flip back to parts I want to re-read, or that make a particular point or what have you before going on to whatever Heather picks.

But I can jump into the discussion when I've caught up, also.

I could pick a short book- no I hear you 2 weeks is likely not enough time to have read the next book.

Little bit of Colson Whitehead trivia. Before he wrote The Intuitionist (his first novel) he was the tv writer/critic for the Village Voice -- and a Buffy fan.

Here's an essay by Colson titled I Worked At An Ill Conceived Internet Start Up And All I Got Was This Lousy Idea For a Novel. (It's about his second novel, John Henry Days.) There's also a picture of him there if you want to take a peek.

I like Wolfram's suggestion, but it's hard to follow.

Tell me about it. Just re-reading it gave me headache.

So glad this wasn't just me.

Kate, I was off looking, and it looks like they have it one town over. I'm going away soon, so I'll just hop over there tomorrow. I can use my local library card, there. I would actually buy it, but it would come while I'm away, and that's no good.

Heather, it would be really nice if you could pick book 2 really soon, just for my selfish reasons.