Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bookclub

What hilarious book should my book club read?

indiebass — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:56:12 -0800

BookClubfilter: I'm tasked with picking the next book. I have some ideas, but could use the Hive's help. It's a group of pretty literary folks (English teachers and the like) and only about eight of us. We've read some heavy stuff lately and I'd like to switch gears to something lighter, and preferably funny. We've read, in reverse order:

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates
Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O'Nan
Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

So we just did Sci-Fi (Snow Crash), so I def want to avoid the genre. I was considering "The Coup" by Jamie Malanowski, "Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley and "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

If anyone has any experience with any of these books OR can recommend a modern, humorous book that'd be good for discussion I'm all ears. I can answer any questions, of course. Thanks hive mind!

What author should I suggest my new book club read?

fyrebelley — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:10:39 -0800

I just joined a book club and our first meeting is this weekend. The club has existed for over a year, so I'm the newbie. One of our "assignments" is to bring the name of an author that has published 4 or more books we'd like the group to read. Since I only marginally know one of these women, I'm going into this blindly. So what do you say, hive mind, any suggestions? To give you some background: The group is comprised of 8 women, ages 25-45, some with kids, some without. So far, they have read the following books, with the following rating system:

++ = Very good
+ = Good
+/- = Mixed review
- = No one liked it

Fair Game, Valerie Plame Wilson +
After Long Silence, Helen Fremont ++
Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman, J.P. Donleavy +/-
The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman ++
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen +
The Savage Garden, Mark Mills -
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi +
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See +
Life of Pi, Yann Martel ++
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz ++
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant +/-
In the Woods, Tana French +
Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton ++
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, Julie Andrews +
Double Bind, Chris Bohjalian +
Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Kim Edwards +/-
The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs +/-
The Likeness, Tana French +
Bittersweet, Nevada Barr +
The Secret Scripture, Sebastian Barry didn’t finish
Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips +
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy, Robert Leleux ++

We are currently reading The Glass Castle.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!

Help me find a place for a book club meeting in NYC near the PATH

staveitoff — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:01:33 -0800

It is my turn to host my book club meeting and my apartment is way too small to fit everyone. Do you know a good coffee shop or restaurant to host a book club meeting? Many of the members commute from Hoboken so I’m hoping to keep it near the PATH stations (9th Street/6th Ave, 14 Street/6th Ave, or 23rd Street/6th Ave). The place just needs to have a table that fits 6-8 people and be relatively quiet.

What Toronto bar would suit a book club meeting?

jmmpangaea — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:24:52 -0800

Torontofilter: Can anyone recommend a good pub/bar in Toronto (downtown) where a book club could meet to discuss our book of the month? We'd need seating for about 10-12 people and preferably not too noisy. To give you an example of a place we liked was Betty's. Low key and not overly pricey.

Help our bookclub find a place to meet.

Ash3000 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:42:19 -0800

Trying to find a good venue for a book club in NYC to meet - a coffeeshop or independent bookstore would be ideal, but certainly not necessary. The only real considerations are that it be public, not super-packed on Wednesday nights when we meet, and a place where we can either purchase or bring a bottle of wine - more inside. For our test meeting a few weeks ago, we tried Tea Spot in Greenwich Village. Tea Spot is a lovely, quietish place for crumpets and conversation, but some opined that we might be better off with a place where we could purchase or bring a bottle of wine, perhaps a sort of Plato's-Symposium type deal, or a place that requires less scouting out a table beforehand (it was fairly packed.)

A perfect example of what we're looking for would be Think Coffee in the Village, except it's super-packed at any given time and probably not the most conducive to discussion. Any suggestions overall - perhaps a really nice independent bookstore that deserves our patronage and would provide a table, and maybe discounted books? Or maybe a coffeeshop with more than just coffee?

I'm happy to answer any other questions about the group - thanks!

Beyond Goodreads.com?

toomuchkatherine — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:23:03 -0800

What are your favorite places to read about and talk about books online? Bibliophile hearts Goodreads.com but seeks a world beyond... Are there any online book clubs that are good (my searches return a lot of results, but I can't tell at a glance what's worth exploring)? What are the book review blogs of record?

Bean Day readings?

mds35 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:44:25 -0800

Recommend secondary readings for my book club. My first ever book club is meeting in a few weeks to discuss Dustin Long's Icelander.

Can you suggest a secondary reading? Perhaps an amazing essay on post-modern mystery fiction, or a very enlightening review of the book? Or maybe a short story that may have influenced the book?

How can I run a successful bookclub?

logic vs love — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:26:47 -0800

How can I make a new bookclub's first meeting an amazing success? So, I've decided to start a book club in San Francisco. It'll be mostly strangers from craigslist, and we're planning on meeting at a restaurant to get to know each other and pick our first book. I've never really been in a book club before, and I'm not exactly a natural leader, so how can I get this off to a good start? Any tips on running a meeting, encouraging discussion, choosing a book and, uh, anything else?

Did I imagine the death ray?

Caviar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:03:02 -0800

What's this book from my childhood (early 80s)? I believe it came from one of the book clubs (Arrow?), it was a Young Adult book about a boy who is friends with a scientist/inventor who has invented a death ray which he then has some opportunity to use... I don't remember much else about it. The boy's name might have been Jeffrey, or something similar, and he was certainly an outcast of some kind. I don't remember if he actually used the death ray, or what the moral of the story actually was, or whether there were any consequences. I may be misremembering, but there's a distinct possibility that the boy did actually use the death ray to vaporize a school bully.

What book is this?

What is involved in starting a good book club?

wfrgms — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 10:02:00 -0800

Have you successfully started a book club or meetup? For a while now I've fantasied about starting a book club or meetup focusing on political readings (likely modern, anything from Machiavelli forward) with the idea being that the group would meet a few times a month to discuss the readings.

I have some apprehension though. For starters I've never been in a book club or gone to a meetup. So I'm not even sure if my idea is feasible.

Also I have an ulterior motive for the subject: I'm in a graduate program focusing on political theory and I hope that such a group would be an extra little motivator for staying up on my Hobbes (or whoever.)

I guess my questions are pretty generic:

- How do you structure such a club?

- How do you pick a venue? (I haven't approached my department yet about hosting the group on campus, but I probably will before moving forward...)

- What should dictate frequency of meetings or the focus?

- Is meetup (the website) a good way to organize such a group?

- What pitfalls should I be aware of?

Any other thoughts or suggestions? (I'm in Chicago if that matters...)

Need a holly, jolly book club read

printchick — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:47:07 -0800

I'm looking for a book for my book club to read (novel, nonfiction) that takes place during the holidays or has a holiday theme. I've thought of Holidays on Ice, A Christmas Carol (they seem obvious) but am stumped on others. The book doesn't have to totally revolve around the holidays, though. Any suggestions?

Help me find a book for family bookclub

billtron — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:55:30 -0800

FictionFilter: Family bookclub. We're convening in Woodstock at the end of August to discuss 3 books. Help me choose one of them. I'm looking for a book that's preferably shorter than 300 pages and covers several of the topics below:

Travel
Nature
Music and Art
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Western appropriations of Eastern Philosophy
Rationalist critiques of mysticism
Kitsch
Pastiche and bricolage
Defenders of the faith
Entrepreneurialism
Istanbul, Turkey
Capitalism and its discontents
Bohemians and the bourgeoisie, and criticisms of both
Postcolonialism and globalization
Goddess feminism and cyberfeminism
Poststructuralism
Baseball
Aliens
Intellectual property
Psychoanalysis
Food
The public sphere and gated communities

I can't wait to see what the metafilterblob recommends. It has great taste in books.

Where are all the readers hiding?

mostlymartha — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:49:13 -0800

How do I found a great book club? I work from home. I think my cat and I are developing an unhealthy codependency; I really need to get out more. I've thought about joining a book club for a while, but lately, it just seems like the right time. I find myself missing college lit classes and late night discussions over liberally highlighted novels.

I've poked around online. Meetup.com was a surprising bust, Craigslist didn't help. I found maybe half a dozen listings for book clubs in San Francsico, but they all meet downtown. I live in the Outer Richmond and would rather not spend more time on the bus than in the actual meeting.

How do I find a book club that's 1.) on my end of the universe (preferably in the Richmond or Sunset), 2.) is actually devoted to discussing the books and isn't mostly an excuse for potlucks and gossip, 3.) isn't focused on a specific genre, and 4.) is ideally held at a bookstore, coffee shop, or bar (rather than at someone's house)?

Mefi Swap -- LIVE?

Methylviolet — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:11:26 -0800

I want to start a book club, only for music. How could I do this? I'd like to start a informal group of people who would meet every two weeks or so, and take turns burning mix CDs for the whole group to listen to and then talk about at the next meeting. Like Mefi Swap, only in person, and with discussion. Or like you do with your friends, only a little bit structured, and with new blood and new music you might not have heard about otherwise.

I've never been in a book club before (I've seen the threads though), and I've never heard of anyone doing what I want to do, so any input would be helpful. How should I go about this? What would be most fun? I think I'd want to have as diverse a group as possible, but then, I am ready to roll with some Tim McGraw should it come to that -- I'm ready to try to appreciate anything somebody likes. How would I find people who are willing to listen to whatever, or should I narrow it down a little? Any thoughts?

Book smart?

B-squared — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:30:52 -0800

I'll be leading a book club discussion soon. And while I've read and commented upon a number of books, I've never been part of a book club. I'm looking for some dos and don'ts from experienced Mefites about how to structure the discussion, handle introductions, quiet the dominant, etc. What, other than a good book, makes for a great book club experience (that the moderator can control)?

SFW short story rec's

ferociouskitty — Fri, 19 May 2006 06:07:48 -0800

I need recommendations for short stories suitable for discussion at a work-sponsored short story club. Preferably contemporary, on the short side of short, and the clincher - full text available online. Definitely needs to be SFW. Also, discussion time will be limited to approximatley one hour.

Tips for starting a book club?

Mr. Gunn — Thu, 18 May 2006 16:23:55 -0800

How do we start and run a successful book club? I'd like suggestions and tips from people who have started their own or attended one for a long time. What makes it work, how do you decide what to read, and do you have a leader? Do you prefer food to be involved? Does alcohol help or hinder? Should we have it at member's homes, at a comfortable, quiet coffeehouse, or somewhere else? What kind of books stimulate discussion, and what kind bring out people's inner snob? (Joyce, anyone?)

What should we read?

number9dream — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:41:29 -0800

What should my book club read next? I am a member of a fairly small (6 people) book club. We are all males in our early 20's. Previously we have read Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer, and Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. We're into fiction, preferably something recent, possibly serious but not too depressing. What do you think? If you have a suggestion, please include a brief description, but no spoilers. If you like, tell me what you liked about the book. In particular, I'd be interested in reading books by female authors, but all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Dead Book Club Walking

divka — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:05:32 -0800

I went to a first meeting of a book club tonight, and it was an utter failure. We need, at the very least, a great book with broad appeal to discuss at our next meeting. So, only two of us showed up--which was a bad start. To add to our troubles, the book we had chosen in hurry turned out to be a dud. It was too short and predictable and so we had to struggle to find something to talk about. After twenty awkward minutes, we called it quits.

We need a book that:
1) can be read in about two weeks
2) would be engaging to a wide variety of people (all women, in this case, but with unknown personal preferences)

It doesn't have to be a recently published book--we're open to classics and other older books, as long as it is something that an average person can plow through in two weeks.

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Presents...

sohcahtoa — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 11:59:00 -0800

My book club wants to read the Ramayana and Mahabharatha. What's a good condensed english translation? Price is important, but so is striking the right balance between brevity and detail. We're all rather busy, so we try to go for shorter works. We're planning on reading the Ramayana one month and the Mahabharatha the next. We're in Ohio.

Here's one, which has the benefit of being $8 and 352 pages.

I see the Mahabharata on Gutenberg in many forms -- do any fit my criteria? The Wikipedia links above connect to several more online copies, are any of these great?

Any other versions, in print or online, that you'd recommend? I don't think I can tackle the whole Mahabharatha right now - is there even a single authoritative version?

Book Discussion Via Email

xmutex — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:09:49 -0800

Book discussion mailing list? I want to find a mailing list that discusses books. I'm not comfortable with like in-person reading groups because I am afraid of other people. They are weird, you know? I also like the intimacy of mailing lists as opposed to like bulletin boards. Anyone?