Book Club Thoughts

[latespring]

Hello everyone! Several friends indicated an interest in a bookclub, so I put together this space to potentially host one. I'd like to aim for something slower and asynchronous, as I think it'd be nearly impossible to host any live discussions and coordinating schedules for anything quick would be messy.

1. Are there any books you're interested in reading? I'll compile suggestions and make another post about that.
2. What kind of timeline would work best for you? (Reading over the span of a couple months and coming back at the end of that? Checking in every couple weeks at a book milestone? Something else?)
3. How structured would you like discussions to be? (Ie: would having a couple guiding questions be helpful or annoying? I think individuals submitting questions for an end of book discussion could be fun!)
4. Anything else?

This community will remain open for anyone who'd like to join now or later!

Comments

[bookishdagger]

Thanks for setting this up, I’m excited for this :)

1. I have a lot of books I’m interested in reading!! Off the top of my head/from my Goodreads want to read: Parable of the Sower, Klara and the Sun, and Black Cake are books I’ve wanted to read but honestly there are a lot of books that I haven’t read and would like to and I’m sure many of them would be recommended by other people here!
2. I’d like having milestones personally so I know roughly what pace I should be reading at though I wouldn’t mind discussing a book all at once
3. I think it would be nice to have starter questions that we don’t necessarily have to stick to, just to provoke discussion. I also like the idea of individually-submitted questions!

[latespring]

oooh I've also had Klara and the Sun on my radar!

and good to know! I also think we wouldn't necessarily need to stick super close to any questions, but they'd be nice for something to start with

[kpopwinemom]

Klara and the Sun was one of my boss's favorite novels but it didn't stick out to me at all...I thought it was essentially the same novel as Never Let Me Go, which I liked better? (Not to come in and immediately be negative!)

Black Cake is also on my to read list!

[littlerhymes]

Bookclub! <3

1. A few things on my wishlist/tbr list:
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

2. I think it'd be good to have milestones so we can check in every couple of weeks and see how we're going.

3. I'm not too fussed either way.

[latespring]

I've also been eyeing some desperate glory and the saint of bright doors!

and good to know! <3

[poppyseedheart]

Yay book club!!!

1. My TBR is long as hell and ever growing. I'd actually be curious to hear what genres people like to read, because I read widely but tend to zero in on litfic. If folks were hoping to do more SFF instead I am happy to adjust expectations haha.

Some titles on my list, by genre
Litfic: Young Mungo (Douglas Stuart), The Late Americans (Brandon Taylor), How Much of These Hills Is Gold (C. Pam Zhang), Rouge (Mona Awad), I Have Some Questions For You (Rebecca Makkai), Beloved (Toni Morrison), Time Shelter (Georgi Gospodinov), Y/N (Esther Yi)
SFF: Black Sun (Rebecca Roanhorse), The Wolf and the Woodsman (Ava Reid), The Darkness Between Us (Elliot Schrefer),
Romance: Book Lovers (Emily Henry), Stars in Your Eyes (Kacen Callender), Before I Let Go (Kennedy Ryan)
Horror: Bad Cree (Jessica Johns), Hell Followed With Us (Andrew Joseph White)

2. I'm actually team check in at the end because I tend to read sporadically but in big chunks, so I struggle to read towards specific checkpoints because I tend to blow past them. That said, I'm fine with whatever! Happy to have milestones and just only talk about the book up to that point if I've gotten further too.

3. I love discussion questions!!!!!!!!!!!

[latespring]

I'm pretty flexible with whatever we read! also I spot Beloved on there, and I keep meaning to read that! (I theoretically read it in high school, but mostly did not.) Hell Followed With Us was really rewarding, it was the book that got me back into reading

and excellent that's great to know! It seems like the vibe so far is leaning in favor of milestones.

[tullycat]

I'm in 2 book clubs + buddy reading with Pop, may as well add a third, right?

1. Off the top of my head, some books I'm interested in reading next are Sunburn, The House of Doors, She Who Became the Sun, The Priory of the Orange Tree....agree with bookishdagger about Klara and the Sun, I've owned it for years and still haven't read it. Also Parable of the Sower...I've been wanting to read Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin.


2. Book milestone would be better I think...Not sure I could hold off finishing a book for a few months. Plus, people can comment on the milestone posts whenever they get there?

3. Some guided questions could be fun!

[latespring]

might as well add a third!!

+1 on the rec for N.K. Jemisin, I've really enjoyed the books I've read of hers

and good to know! yeah that'd definitely work for people to be able to return to milestone posts. I think the vibe of responses is generally leaning towards having milestones but making them optional and having a bigger discussion at the end!

[kpopwinemom]

Hi five to us multiple bookclub people! I'm in...5? I don't always attend one, though, and I don't always read the book for one other...and I'm good at convincing a few to read books I have already read. I like talking to people about books!

[sleepypapercrowns]

Thank you for setting up this book club! I'm so excited!!

1. From other comments I'd also want to read Black Cake and She Who Became The Sun! Things that are kind of on my priority tbr right now are The Spear Cuts Trhough Water by Simon Jimenez and Exhalation by Ted Chiang.
2. I think I'd like to have a check-in at the end, because if I get sucked into a book I don't like slowing down because of check points. Does that make sense?
3. I like discussion question! Sometimes I feel like I don't get to engage as deeply with books as I want too, so this would be great!

[latespring]

me as well!!!

also noted! and that's good to know about the check-ins, I'm thinking perhaps having them but making them more casual and optional? and then having a larger discussion in the end. it seems like we're about equally split about whether they'd be useful!

[kpopwinemom]

I have SO MANY BOOKS I want to read. There are a lot I am looking forward to this year - Katherine Arden's The Warm Hands of Ghosts, for example, which comes out in February. I'm currently on an urban fantasy kick, because I'm comparing titles out of curiosity to see the difference in the genre over the years (I'm such a nerd) but a random selection of books from my out of contro to reads list: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White, Stay True by Hua Hsu, Banyan Moon by Thao Thai, Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai, Chlorine by Jade Song.

I read widely and diversely, and I'm interested in most genres.

I don't know what timeline would be best but if you give me a lot of it, I'll definitely finish the book.

I like answering questions, but I also like casual discussion! I think a mix of both would be good.

I'm looking forward to talking books with more people :) it's my very favorite thing to do.

[latespring]

thank you for your thoughts, that's good to know!!

and +1 on the rec of hell followed with us, I found it to be a really zippy read (and I've had bitter medicine vaguely on my tbr for a while!)

[kpopwinemom]

I loved loved loved Spirit Bares its Teeth, so I really need to check out his other book! Spirit Bares its Teeth sucked me in like nothing else last year.

Bitter Medicine looks extremely fun!

[glitteryv]

1. Random picks of my library TBR (everything has been published except where noted):

* To Cage a God by Elizabeth May - M/F/F historical fantasy romance featuring a dragon god (drops in late February of this year.) This is the first book in a series.

* More Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa - M/M Pride and Prejudice retelling that was just published.

* Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty - Sci-fi mystery abt a woman who has death-attracting powers? I really don't know cuz I have been trying to remain unaware of the exact plot.

* Divinity 36 by Gail Carriger - first book in a sci-fi series that touches on the K-Pop idol system.

* You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo - Space opera described as Farscape x Great British Bake-Off

* Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy - Hard Boiled mystery with a prickly nun trying to solve it

2. I will go with majority vote.

3. Having a few starting questions would be great.

4. Am looking forward to what gets chosen. :P

[latespring]

perfect thank you for your thoughts! I've opened up a form to submit votes on books