Book Club Proposal - 2008

[Scheherazade]

Please vote for the nomination system you would like the Book Club to follow in 2008 by September 25th.

You can choose more than one option.

1. Author of the month: The present system. 12 authors to be chosen and each month we choose a book written by one particular author. E.g. In January we include only Camus' works in the poll and read one of those in February.

2. Genre of the month: Different genres to be selected and we nominate/vote for books belonging that particular genre each month. E.g., March: Month of Sci-fi so only sci-fi books will be nominated for that month.

3. Country of the month: 12 countries to be chosen and each month we read a book from that particular country's literature. The works nominated would not be too obscure (only those are available in English on Amazon maybe?)

4. Trend of the month: Each month we read a book from a different period such as Victorian, Romantic etc.

5. Random nominations: The old system. We nominate the books we would like to read randomly.


For those who are interested: Last year's discussion


Book Club Procedures

[Virgil]

Is it time again? I ought to look up last year's discussion. I think we discussed the pluses and minuses of each method. Although I like the present method, perhaps it's time to change and try something different.

edt: I just noticed Scher. We can vote for more than one?

[Scheherazade]

Yes, it is possible to choose more than one option.

And, yes, I agree with you that it might be a good idea to change and try something different next year.

[Nightshade]

I want the trend I think..... I mean lets face it that would be interesting becaus ewe could discuss the historical context and then how one trend affects another etc .

I also want to say can we have authors only from those availabe on the lit net next year as something differant?

[Scheherazade]

I also want to say can we have authors only from those availabe on the lit net next year as something differant?

I think that would be rather limiting; we would end up reading only works published before 1920s.

Don't forget to vote!

[AuntShecky]

Most choices are valid criteria, but I did not select "genre" because that limits the number of possible participants. Not every one reads mysteries or science fiction or fantasy (for instance in the fantasy category some of us might read a sub-genre, such as dystopian novels but won't touch a vampire novel or alternative universe one. We might like T.H. White, but the dungeon and dragon series of more contemporaries authors might be really esoteric.)

I did not select "country", because when native speakers of English read authors in translation, even those as great asm Marquez, we are missing a great part of the work's form. If we limit the choices of "countries" to the English-speaking ones only, that may be a bit exclusionary, provincial.
The other criteria are fine.

[Nightshade]

I think that would be rather limiting; we would end up reading only works published before 1920s.

Don't forget to vote!

oh poo! But I want to really think about this before I vote. If we choose random nominations then I can nominate a litnet author every month.....

The country would be more like regions though wouldnt they ?

[dramasnot6]

Well next year I can actually (and will definitely) seriously participate in the book club since I'll be out of school. I think something new would be nice, the country and author ideas look interesting.

[Pensive]

Is it a year already since we last voted for the nominations system? Man, time passes quickly!

Would again, like the previous year, vote for Random Nominations, though Country Nominations seem appealing too. Aha I can vote for the both!

[Niamh]

i'll definitely try to get involved here next year. Author and country would be interesting.

[Virgil]

Well next year I can actually (and will definitely) seriously participate in the book club since I'll be out of school. I think something new would be nice, the country and author ideas look interesting.

You're not going to school next year, Drama? I know you're smart, but i didn't think one could graduate college at 15.

[bazarov]

This year I am with you! I would like to discover some others countries literature but I'm lazy to do that so help me!

[papayahed]

hmmm.. I think I'm gonna have to find last years thread. I can't remember what I voted and my reasons for voting that way - I know they were good.

[NickAdams]

This year I am with you! I would like to discover some others countries literature but I'm lazy to do that so help me!

Ditto. This might be a chance to read Steig Dagerman, Thomas Bernhard, Kobo Abe, Lu Xun, Gao Xingjian, J. M. Coetzee, Harold Pinter, Umberto Eco, Ha Jin
...

[Scheherazade]

For those who are interested: Last year's discussion