Cindy's post reminded me that I never came back and reported after my last post. Unfortunately, I only received one response - with an excellent rec, actually, John Hershey's Grendel.

So, where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, I only received one response - with an excellent rec, actually, John Hershey's Grendel.

John Hershey or John Gardner?

I haven't posted here in forever, but I thought I'd share my feelings since I was excited by the thread in the beginning. But let me say first that I'm not really sure I have the right to suggest changes since I have sort of dropped out.

Being a student who reads a lot of rather intellectually demanding material for class, any extra reading I do is for pleasure. Honestly, there's not much of it these days, but the truth is that when I read something beyond schoolwork, I want it to be fun. However, when I'm reading a mostly "fun" book, I'm not sure how much there is to discuss about it.

I can see myself participating more actively in the future (after July) but for now, the only book I can imagine reading would be one that is pretty accessible. I"m not saying that I think the thread should close. I just wanted to explain that while I like the idea, I don't have time to truly participate right now.

Whoops, you're right. Thanks for the correction, Frank.

I have a couple of suggestions that I'd like to throw out for consideration and discussion.

First, in terms of structure, I think we need to work a bit of variety into the book choice. Most of the books we've read so far have been "new" (i.e. published within the past ten years) "general" (i.e. non-genre) fiction. My suggestion is that we create different categores and rotate through them. As a start, perhaps we could have an "oldies but goodies - pre-1970" category (as we saw with Asher Lev, a book club can be a great place to have new discussions about familiar books), a "genre" category (broadly defined here - I'm thinking mysteries, science fiction, horror, romance, maybe even biographies) and a "great new fiction" category (which would include many of the selections we've already read). Each month would have a correlated category which might make it easier for people to dip in and out of participation.

Second, I think that the person who chooses the book needs to have already read it and make the commitment to guide the discussion throughout the month - pose questions, provide information about the author, provide historical context if appropriate, maybe even act as the "devil's advocate" to generate discussion. One of the difficult things about an on-line book club is that the members can't instantly feed off the thoughts of the others so it is sometimes hard to keep the discussion energized. The person choosing the book can co-opt other people into helping with this task but I think we need a designated someone to keep us moving and it should be someone who feels passionately about the book.

Second, I think that the person who chooses the book needs to have already read it and make the commitment to guide the discussion throughout the month

I like this. If not "guide," per se, then "goose." Jumpstarting occasionally.

I love both of lcat's thoughts and ideas. Can we consense on implementing one or both of them?

Also, I picked up Dirt Music from the library last week. Has anybody read it?

I like lcat's suggestions, too. I have no objection to consensing them. I'm really sorry I've been such a bad club member. This has been the year I'm spending in the car, because all three kids go to school (2 different schools) at different times. I have more excuses ready, if people would like them. *g*

The only other thing I would like to try someday (it wouldn't have to be an always sort of thing) is a discuss-as-we-read sort of method. If we had a month to read a book, we could divide the chapters up over that month so that we could keep talking in black font, but not spoil anyone. That makes more sense in my head. I can try to explain again, if it's not clear.

Would we have to stop and close the book after each chapter? Because I think I might find it difficult to read ahead and then discuss a chapter as if I didn't know what happens next. Of course I'd also find it difficult to close a good book in any event. Which is one reason I never learned to sleep properly.

I've been gone for a while, but the conference is over and I'm back (xpost with Natter and Bitches). I can see that this thread hasn't been active, but I wanted to join the consensus about mixing up book genres and about having the picker responsible for nudging discussion. So, it seems the question now is if someone wants to take that responsibility for the month, or if someone has another idea, or if we should call the thread a good experiment and be done with it. (I'm not sure if that's exactly one question, but I think you get what I mean).

In any case, does anyone have any thoughts on the next step?