Do we want a shared group book read?

We are a group - some good novels have been suggested in another thread.

Shall we read a book 'together' - and mark a day to discuss it?

Which book?

I give a tenative nod of assent to that idea. Tenative only in that I am already in a book club, and reading in my own pursuits takes up as much time as I can give it. That having been said, this is already a great group, and it would be fun to discuss books with you all! Is the idea to do fantasy reading? If so, I've already said that it's not "my thing", so I'd welcome the invitation to read something that is highly regarded in the genre, so that I'd get a better idea of what the better books in the genre are. In that sense, it sorta depends on what is being suggested, book-wise.

Let's see what happens, I'm for the idea, anyway!

I'm in.
:o)

I'm interested. How are we going to decide which book and when?

So many replies! Good!

First, to answer Atomic's question, I'd say, yes, the book should be fantasy, simply because it is “on topic” with the charter of the group. As new people join, I think it would be confusing to them to see us reading, say, The Maltese Falcon. By comparison, a private group of already-friends may pick anything.

Second, to answer Sandragon’s question, I would say the best way to begin is by attempted fiat. ;) And there will be no book that none of us have read, so might as well just pick one and run with it.

I suggest we start with Tigana. It has been mentioned positively by a few folks. Any strong objections?

For the second book, one of the people who have already read Tigana should suggest a title. That way, as few people as possible will feel like there are nothing but repeats.

Thoughts?

What's this? An excuse to read Tigana again? Go ahead, twist my arm : )

So, it's that good, sandragon? :o) I guess I'd better go book shopping, then.

Oh, right. I suggest we give the folks in here who don't already own Tigana a few days or a week to buy, order or borrow it. What do you people think?

Hmm. Now I have to go buy a book. Boo Hoo. :)

I'm in. How much time to read? Be generous....

Honestly, I'd like mid-september or so....I have to read The World is Flat by Sept. 6 for my book club, and I'm trying to finish off a couple before I start that.

Is this a stand alone book, or the first in a million-ogy? Lawd, I hope it's a stand-alone.

Fear not! I clicked on the Amazon link for the book, and it appears to be a Onesie, not the first of an Octology. ;o)
However, it is almost 700 pages long. *gasp*

I also have few books firmly ensconced in line ahead of Tigana. I have to read and return Ahab's Wife which I borrowed from my niece, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has to be read for my other book club. Heh heh... Plus I'm trying to finish off a ocuple I stalled on.

That's a 'couple' not a 'ocuple' ... which could be part of an Octology, now that I think about it. :oP

I picked up Tigana during lunch. It's a little intimidating at 688 pages, so a little extra time would be nice. Plus, I am a slow reader. I am currently reading The Catcher in the Rye for the first time, so I should be rolling on Tigana soon.

We all have busy lives. Why not say end of September, for such a long book.

How 'bout it?

Well that sounds great to me, it's a looong one, but enjoyable... and a fine starting point, I feel, for people who're interested, but unsure of the whole Fantasy thing. Count me in. End of September is fine.

Wow, this is my first "book club" reading :-)

"Wow, this is my first "book club" reading :-)"

Don't worry, Tane. We'll be gentle with you. ;o)

LOL!

So, how many people do we have on board, so far? Looks like about seven. Atomicmutant, JPB, limerts, sandragon, Tane, and myself. I believe Sehktmet is in on this, too... unless she gets too over-loaded with homework in September. ;o)

I'm game, too.

Then perhaps Sehktmet (boy, that's hard to type!) should read it before September homework. ;) Then she could gloat over all of us laggards. :D

I'm also a newbie at Bookclubbing, so you guys will have to fill me in on what happens after a book is actually read. End of September sounds good to me.

I'm game!

I'll read it after the 50+ other books I've been meaning to read :D Yeesh . . . So many books, so little time :)

This one is good, Sehktmet. I’m about 70 pages into it and enjoying it a bunch!

I'll jump in as well.

Great! We're up to nine... Hmmm, nine. Why is that so familiar.... We shall be 'The Fellowship of the Book.'
heh heh
Sorry. I could resist that bit of total geekishness.

There are a couple of options for discussion when we're all done, sandragon. In my RL book clubs, we meet somewhere and talk. But in here we could either start a new thread solely for discussing Tigana. Or, we could all meet in a predesignated chat area, but I think that might be much harder to do.

Predesignated chat area:

It wouldn't be harder to do at all, technically! I'm about 50% done creating a web page in my private web space which will give simple java chat access to all of us, and those of us who use mIRC can get there as well. :)

The TIME synchronization might be hard, tho'. That makes a message board chat simpler. :)

One spine to bind the book;
one site to find them;
Tigana gets a look;
then will be left behind them

Okay... okay... I know... *blush*

ROFL!
*must stay hand from clicking on the 'flag abuse' link*
;o)
Actually, that is very clever, JPB.

Chat would be a logistical hurdle, to say the least. We can probably enjoy each other's commentaries in here at a more leisurely pace. Sometime the discourse during a live chat is too fast paced to keep up with.

If it's not too late and if someone will repost the discussion date, I'll participate. The only thing I liked more than Tigana was The Lions of Al-Rassan!

We don't have a date set yet. Most of us haven't even gotten our hands on a copy of the book. We are shooting for the end of September, at this point.

I'm glad you'll be joining us, jillmwo. :o)

jillmwo - please feel free to join the group, too! :)

We are a friendly, if terminally silly, lot. :D

And we haven't had a chance to pass around a celebratory mug of cyber-ale in days!

:)

Bring out the Cyber-Ale!

- You know, I was wondering when someone would mention that?

*hic*

(tonight's cyber-ale, or in my case for tonight, actual-ale, is Tiger Beer)

EDIT: Just trying out this newfangled edit button

 _.._..,_,_
 ( )
 |~,"-.-~~|
 .=|)' (; (|
 | |:: ' |
 '=|): .) (|
 |:: ' |
 ~~----~~

failed attempt at pasting some ascii art, doh.

I think I can see some cyber-ale in there... but then, I can also see pink elephants right now :-)

Bwaa haa haa! That looks great! I'll try to pass a few around!

WOW! That failed spectacularly.
*blush*

is it me, or is this message board almost but not quite entirely un-user friendly? Maybe it's just me?

It's a work in progress! :o) We must be creative in the meantime. Here is some fine fish to go with the ale.

it is a work in progress. Ideally, every group would have its own "forum" in some super-message-board.

(And that would NOT be difficult to implement..)

But it wasn't done. X(

We'll see what happens. At least EDIT and DELETE work.

that's true, and I'm very thankful.

As am I.
I love this place!
:o)

So... has anyone else started reading Ticonderoga?

I started yesterday. I am about 30 pages in and pleasantly surprised. The bad typeset is no longer bothering me.

I have found through reading this group's posts, that maybe I am not the biggest fantasy fan out there, since I have not heard of many of these people. I think maybe I am fan of classic literature regardless of genre. I tend toward sf and contemporary fiction just because those are easier for me to find.

Anyway, I am enjoying my first foray into GGK.

I'm about 150 pages in. So far, so good, even tho my general bias against fantasy is well in place. I just breeze over all the place names and stuff figuring "this will make sense at some point". There's a bad guy, and some good guys. That much I know. Limited amount of magical stuff and no crazy creatures so far. People are wearing tights and bodices and drinking pints of something, so I know I'm not too far from Middle-Earth, or the nearest Rennaisance festival. The writing is quite melodious and easy to digest, though, wacky fantasy names notwithstanding. Oh! And naughty bits, to boot! No hanky panky in Middle-Earth, but everyone here seems chock-full of multi-gender lusty gusto.......

That's the early report, lol.

I just got home with my copy. Bodice ripping? LOL I can't start it until I finish Dawg in the Night-time...

So... has anyone else started reading Ticonderoga?

No, but I did buy some of these



But, no, no actual Tigana reading as of yet.

I got it today! YAY. Can't start it yet, and there are a few books ahead of it. It did finish Dawg earlier this evening, though. :o)

And pisces4256, hunny, Target was all out of Ticonderoga No. 2 pencils today. :o( Curses! I shall be forced to look elsewhere.

I have read about 200 pages into TieGhana, and I would have to say it feels more like a psychological fantasy.

In that way, it reminds me (just a bit, not a lot) of the Lord Foul's Bane series by Stephen Donaldson. (I did say “just a bit”).

Does anyone remember those books - they were so incredibly popular in the 70s and 80s when the trilogies came out. I remember loving them when the first trilogy came out, but finding myself impatient with the second. I tried looking at them again a few years ago and just couldn't get through more than 50 pages. That's why they aren't in my library - I gave them away as part of the book purge I performed when cataloging everything in April and May.

What did others think of this series?

Ah, I read the first book and the second, which I think was The Illearth War, and that was as far as I got. I felt the protagonist was a first class whiner, and I got sick of it. Oh, poor me I'm a leper. Big deal. Get over it.

I gave mine away, too.

My husband enjoyed the Thomas Covenant series years ago so I gave it a try. Couldn't get into it and put it away. Since then they've been given away. I have kept our copies of Donaldson's Mordant's Need books, because they sounded interesting, but I haven't read them yet. Has anyone else?

Ok, I just joined and I see this 'book club' here..so I've requested the book, Tigana from the library and I'll be reading it soon!!! :D

Great, annabethblue! :o) The more the merrier. I just started it today and I'm really enjoying it.

I'm hoping to get a large chunk of it read whilst on holiday next week, I'm glad to see so many people have joined in with this - and I hope you all enjoy Tigana... I'm looking forward to the discussion at the end of September :)

I've only made it about 100 or so pages in, but I'm very impressed with the way he writes. :o) There hasn't been a single thing that's made me groan, yet. LOL...

Where have all of you gone?
:oS

I'm over here! No, here....a little left, to the side. Right! *waves*

Don't panic, maybe we're all reading, didja ever think of that, huh? huh?

I see you! :o)
Well, no one is posting in any of my groups. It's not just this one that's dried up.

So, how are you enjoying Tigana's "multi-gender lusty gusto" as you so cleverly put it?

I haven't been back to it for a few days. I'm working on Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat for my "real-life" book club, lol. We meet at the beginning of September, so I'm trying to chew on a big chunk of that one. I'm going away for the weekend camping, and will bring both books, though.

I'm wondering whether folks think we should post running commentary, or wait until it's all over with to post comments and discussion?

I struggle with whether to post as I get to something or hoping I will remember it for the end of September.

So far I am liking the book, I am about 100 pages in. I was beginning to wonder whether there was an unbelievable number of coincidences; however, the underlying story accounts for most of the coincidences.

Yes, limerts. The few major plot holes I thought I spotted have resolved themselves quite nicely so far.

I like it a lot... But I don't think I'd recommend it to those who don't already have a taste for Fantasy... not yet anyway.

I think we need to wait, Atomicmutant, because we're all at different places.

Woohoo!

Tigana is the top shared book for the group in the weighted group. You know what this call's for.

All Around

Nice! I'll take one of those! :o) Maybe more than one, even. I have to be careful, though. Too many pints and I won't be able to concentrate so well on my reading.

I really am enjoying this book! I love the Mediterranean themes throughout.

I'm very glad you're enjoying it Clamairy, and I'll certainly take one of those pints!

Look at what I found. :o)

Very nice!

:^)

I have been putting off reading Tigana since I've read it several times and figured myself "ahead of the game" but it's been a few years and all this talk here is making me crave another reading right now rather than later. I think I'll take that pint and go cozy up to the fire. All those library books, borrowed books and my own unread books will have to wait :o ) Cheers!

Well, I understand completely, sandragon. I really didn't until I started reading the book, though. Kay's writing style is so impressive, well... it's no wonder you people jumped at the chance to reread this book.

I think I've found a new 'must read' author. :o)

I went back and scanned the list of books I've read in the last 20 or so years, and nothing in the Fantasy genre, beside The Professor of course, even comes close to Kay's style. There have been works I enjoyed, yes. But nothing to match this skill level.

Okay, just stumbled in here, and even though my "to be read" pile is already threatening to topple over and crush me to death, and I've never done a book-club-type-thing before, but this looks like a good group (and a good book) to start with, so what the hell...

It's on reserve at the library. I'm in.

Great! This is turning out to be quite the group. :o)
I finished the book last night, and I don't know if I can wait a month to discuss it.

I have finished my book club books well in advance a couple of times, and yes, it's tough to wait! In the meantime, if you liked it (as I gather you did) wage a relentless campaign to get others to read it!

Well, the major worry for me is that I'll forget everything by the time the end of September comes. LOL I'll probably have finished a few more books by then. And my old brain retains a whole lot less than it used to. Maybe I'll make some notes to myself somewhere. Hopefully I'll be able to find those in 5 weeks. ;o)

It’s a fantastic book - and that word is not misused here. I did some marathon reading over the weekend and finished it as well sometime Monday.

There is a lot going on in my life, and I was worried that I would not get to read it in one big chunk like I did, so I wrote myself an 'outline' of what each chapter covered, in case I had to read it over many weeks. I’ll email that to you, clamairy, if you wish.

That would be great. It's a concise outline, right? ;o)

LOL!

Well... if it is too verbose, you can always check the synopsis synopsis. ;)

I'm a little late to the party but I'm in for Tigana!

YAY! :o) Welcome, bigocb.

I'm glad to see folks joining! We still have more than a month to go until we discuss it, so there is ample time, indeed!

Tigana is one of my favourite books, hence my desert island tag. Am keen to re-read and I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Welcome aboard, ryn books. I think I've lost count of how many of us there are participating now!
:o)

coming in late to this, but I think the shared book was a great idea, and am looking forward to joining in on the next one :)

You still have time to join us on Tigana, Melmoth. We're only supposed to be discussing one part per week. :o) We won't be done until October 26th.

thx clamairy :) finishing a few other things and have some travel planned. But I'm up for the next one :)

right, after we've finished with Tigana, what book do we want to read as a group next?

I like the idea of group reading because then I have people I can disscuss things with. And if I don't get something then perhaps someone else does :)

I think there's a thread about this. :)

Some have suggested Susan Coopers' series - some have suggested others. :)

Dont have any suggestions as most have read the stuff I havent yet. My box of "to be read books" is ever growing. I am interested since I finished my last group read and I am about to finish book 4 of Stephen Kings Dark Tower series and would like a good fantasy.

Susan Cooper?

Yup. We've talked about the possibility of reading her Dark is Rising series.

not read that yet, so that would be good. How many books is it though?

Five books, but they're YA and short, so they're quick reads.

what does YA mean. its good that they're short. It means I can read them and still be reading the stack of books that I have from the libary.

Ah, sorry. YA is young adult, so a little bit easier to read.

Still getting used to the terms :)

HEHE no worries Rune, it took me a while to get it too. =0)

Short and easy is good as I think we might be starting up another group read. We might be reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

If we're discussing Wicked next, I'm definitely in. It's one of my favourite books, and I've got all sorts of ideas abou it.

Alright, i'll look that one up too :P

WOOHOO this will save me having to buy another book and save me grief about it from my hubby!!! Non-reader unfortunately for me.

Who is up for "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire as our next group read?

All in favor state aye now.
I'm up for it!

Yay! I've just resevered my copy of tigana and wicked at my local libary. Not sure when they will be avaible but here's hoping its soon. If not you'll all have to just deal with me posting about after the fact :P

A resounding AYE for Wicked!

LOL! I thought we were supposed to be deciding between The Dark is Rising and American Gods?

We're going to have to figure out how to do a real vote...

I'll put in a vote for something other than Wicked.

so we have three choices?
1) The Dark is Rising
2) American Gods
3) Wicked

so far Wicked had two votes :P

I'd be up for American Gods, too, but I doubt I could make it through The Dark Is Rising again. I loved them when I was younger, but I tried to reread them a couple of years ago and found I was less than impressed. I didn't get past the second one.

I'd vote for American Gods.

Looks like 11 votes for American Gods, so far... in that other thread.

I'm all for sandragon's excellent suggestion that we discuss our next book chapter by chapter. Those of us who read Tigana all enjoyed it, but for some reason, we aren't discussing it now. LOL I guess it's already been too long since we read it.

I am up for Wicked. I have never heard of the other two.

I've got a thread going for that. So far its American Gods for the win with 13 votes :P

I know, I voted there. Looks like I will have to aquire a copy of American Gods now. I am glad this one is a ways off. We start our group read of Wicked Next week. I have a head start on them since I am a slow reader so I guess as soon as I am done with Wicked I will pick up which ever book wins here.


Oh darn, guess I have to go and spend more time in the dreaded bookstore.....

HEHE

LOL!

How ever will you survive? :-)

There's nothing quite like browsing in bookshops, is there?

Nope, I love it. I walk in the door and take a deep breath everytime. I just love the smell of books. =0)

Same here. Sometimes I just stick my nose into a new book and get silly with that smell.

They should bottle it!

It's weird, when you think about it... books appeal to us in a number of ways... sight, touch, smell, sound (c'mon who hasn't taken a really thick book and just listened to the flicking of the pages???)... Perhaps there's a market there that they're missing out on? Why aren't there more edible books? It's the only sense left to be tapped into...

this is where I expect someone to google up an edible book... go on, I dare ya ;-)

My daughter ate most of a copy of Pat the Bunny when she was about 4 months old... does that count?

... and our cat has had a bite of a number of my books...
Makes for nice toothmarks in the hard covers ;-)

Anyway, I thought I was alone in loving the way books smell. I'm particular about 50's pulp - I have a few 50's paperbacks printed on really bad paper that has gone all brown-red, and they smell wonderful.
They remind me of the public library of my youth...

Dont know that I have ever smelled 50's pulp before, Busifer, but you are not alone.

I agree, I love the smell of Books, as long as they aren't TOO musty!

Whew! I am glad I am not the only one who sticks her nose in a book just to smell it. I've never confessed that before!

Remember those purple dittos at school, or am I showing my age here?

Hee hee! Mimeographs!!!I have since been told those were full of alcohol... back in my 'yoot' we used sniff those and sigh happily.

Everyone wanted to be first in the row to get the best "smell". They were especially good when still damp.

Alcohol . . . no wonder we liked them so much!

Oh, I always thought of them as something very swedish, never realised they existed everywhere...!
...the time and age BEFORE photocopying as we know it... :-)

I'm afraid to say I had to google up the word "mimeograph", as I hadn't heard of it before... sounds interesting though, and according to the Wiki on it, the patent goes back to Thomas Edison in 1876.

...just shows how old some of us are ;-)

Hi All,

What are the dates for the next group reads? Want to get ready so I don't miss out :)

Thanks.

Well, I hate to be the one to break it to RuneFirestar, but we have to decide next week.

We're going to be discussing the next book chapter by chapter as we read it, so that those of us who's brains don't retain things like they used to (me, for example) won't be clueless when the discussions start. (Note how eagerly everyone praised Tigana while we were reading it, and how few folks are actually discussing it in the official discussion threads.) We hope to avoid that with the next group read. People do not need to click on each thread until they have finished that chapter. That way, if you can't read at all for a while becaue of pesky real life stuff, you can post when you are done with each individual chapter.

OK, so next week is probably decision. About what date do you think the reading will start?

Well, the reading would start as soon as you get a copy of the book. The voting so far is heavily in favor of American Gods at this point in time. I don't know if we're going to to do a chapter a week or a chapter a day. What rate do you people think we should post the discussion threads? I don't even know if there are chapters in American Gods!!! LOL

Sounds good to me. American Gods on it's way from amazon :)

I have a hardback copy of American Gods sat on my lap right now, and I can tell you that it's broken up into Three Parts, and 20 chapters spread across these three parts... so I guess that's 20 threads for this one Book - I would suggest posting all 20 threads at once, then letting people fill it up with delightful conversation as and when they get to it... personally I wouldn't want to spend 20 weeks talking about just one book ;-)

True, but twenty threads seems like an awful lot, doesn't it? But three parts is too few.

Too bad we can't have sub-threads... something like one American Gods header, with 20 sub-threads.

Yeah, that'd be good - I wonder if they'll rewrite the LT message board system, just for us?

*crosses fingers*

How many threads sounds good? If we want 5 then we can break up as follows :

CH 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16,17-20.

Your right Clam,I've just check the vote thread and the winning vote goes to American Gods.

So I hope everyone has a copy. I'm going to the libary to pick my copy up tomorrow. :)

Melmoth - I like the five threads/four chapters idea.

I've no idea how long/how much is contained in each chapter, but that seems like a good compromise between discussion-as-you-go vs. ten million (okay, twenty) threads.

Sounds good. I think once everyone gets through the first chapter or two we'll have good feel of whether to increase the threadcount of keep it at just a few :)

Or how about the following so we don't break up the parts?

1-4 (part 1)
5-8 (part 1)
9-13 (part 2)
14-18 (part 3)
19-20 (part 4)

How about making it more even?

1-4 (Part 1)
5-8 (Part 2)
9-12 (Part 3)
13-16 (Part 4)
17-20 (Part 5)

These will be the threads. :)

All of the above sound good to me.

JPB - i think sanddragon meant the last 2 to be "part 3 " in order to keep the 3 sections of the book somewhat together grouped in the threads. Although I don't have the book yet, so can't be sure..

Yup, there are 4 parts to the book (part 1 being the longest) and those chapters fit into those parts.

Sandragon is right, I mistakenly said there were three parts, this is wrong... there are 4.

Ok looks like I will be picking up a copy of American Gods. You all lied and said I had plenty of time. LOL Darn it I guess I need to put Wolves of Calla down for now.

Oh, you've probably got about 10 days, at least. We've still got that last part of Tigana to finish off.

Ok, WHEW!!! =0)

OK Green Dragon compatriots, I have scored a copy of American Gods so I am ready to go.

Rats. I can't get to a book store until Saturday. :o/

Clam no worries, I have my copy but I am not ready to start reading it. =)

I've done it! I have my copy of American Gods! YAY for libaries!

YAY! I have my copy of American Gods! Horrah for Libaries!

Okay, I went to Barnes & Noble and got my copy today. I bought the bigger paperback, mainly because the print was a bit easier on my old eyeballs than the pt 2 font they used in smaller copy. ;o)

Got my copy from amazon today, first edition, yummy :)

*LOL* I got the letter from the libary today saying that a copy of "Tigana" was now avaible for me to collect. Now, after the dissucssion is nearly over!

so I'm gonna just have to post late :P

American Gods sounds cool. I'll have to read it late and join the discussion late, as my November will be filled to the brim with NanoWriMo.

Plus, I've been asked to do a lecture at my local library here in Da Bronx on the history of the NY Yankees, and *GULP!* that sounds like fun but that's a LOT of material to cover! What to include!!!?

I've got to write a long involved lecture and coordinate it with a slide show that will require a LOT of research, so American Gods will have to go on the back burner!!!

Have we decided on a start date or read to date??? I need to know if I need to get started or if I have a while. I havent been keeping up with Tigana as I have not read that one.

Well, it's going to be a post as your read thing. I'll start all the section threads at once, and then people will post in those threads as they finish those sections. I was going to wait until this Friday to start those threads.

I think we decided to split it up like this:

1-4 (part 1)
5-8 (part 1)
9-13 (part 2)
14-18 (part 3)
19-20 (part 4)

Ok sounds good. I will try to start it soon then.

I started it last night. I keep finding excuses to pick it up today. It's quite good. Gaiman's writing style is not as gorgeous as Kay's but his tale is compelling. :o)

Gaiman's style is eneloquent, but it is easy to get into the story he weaves around you. :)

Hmmm sounds intriguing.

It's true. It's almost like a total lack of a style. It's not that the writing is simplistic, it's just very concise and, I would have to guess, deliberately without flash. That's not to say the story itself doesn't pack a punch. LOL

I've noticed that with Gaiman's other stuff that I've read.

He's an excellent Storyteller, but not a particularly good Writer, if that distinction makes any sense.

I've read his graphic novle called StarDust its beautiful and it suits his writing style much better than his full novles.