Why, yes I do love to read

[pinksonia]

I keep meaning to post things and then forgetting, which results in lots of blank space.  So, instead of just leaving it off as I usually do, there is a chance that I will add my weekend in a quick succession of posts.  You have been warned. 

First off, Wednesday night was the inaugural meeting of the "Open Hat Book Club."  The hat being open not the book club itself.  I'm pleased to report that my method of choosing books worked every bit as well as I thought it would.  When Arynne first shared that she was going to start a reading group I suggest that each member submit two books to the list.  The first would be a book they had already read and thought that everyone else should read.  The second would be a book that they wanted to read.  I used to phrase that second one as a book they always wanted to read, but that wording tends to make people feel that they have to choose classics which is not at all the point.  Thankfully, we did in fact have a group with diverse reading tastes, as I had hoped, so our list runs the gamut.  There's fiction and non-fiction, biography, children's lit, a graphic novel, some classics, some best sellers, and even some trash.  Okay, I know I shouldn't pass judgment, but really, The Cheerleader !?

Our first book is Alexandra Fuller's Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. I've already procured my copy (mostly because the Borders had neither the DVD for the newest Jane Eyre nor that of the Casanova miniseries which is what I wanted to spend my gift cards on), and will be starting my new reading adventure this ten-day.

I believe my book I think everyone should read is sceduled third.  I can't wait.  I submitted 84 Charing Cross Road.  I really wanted it to be the first book because nothing starts off a club about books like read a book about the love of books.  But, mostly I just want everyone to love Helene Hanff.  I'm on a one woman crusade (a pretty pitiful one at that) to get my favorite book, Letter from New York, back into print.  I'm sure that crusade will have about as much luck as the one to re-introduce the word "fortnight" into American-English. 

Comments

[loversandtrends.livejournal.com]

hahaha I would love to have fortnight re-introduced into the english language. What a great word.
that sounds like so much fun! i've always wanted to be in a book club of sorts, but with school that would be tough.
The Cheerleader? wasn't that a fad of a book a few years ago? or am i thinking of something else?

[pinksonia.livejournal.com]

Fortnight is a great word and very useful too. Things frequently happen in two-week periods: meeting schedules, vacations, other things I can't think of. I would be great to be able to say "see you in a fortnight" as opposed to "see you in two weeks" or at least I think it would.

To be fair, I don't really know anything about The Cheerleader. When that title came out of the hat my first reaction was "that better not be by Christopher Pike". It's not, but the way the chooser described it made it seem like a teenage scare-tactic/morality book. I don't know if it was ever popular.

[polyksena.livejournal.com]

Yay i'm so glad you got a real book club off the ground!!!!

Wondering . . . have you read The Dud Avacado? It's a college grad girl in 1958 that moves to Paris to live a shiek city life among artists and actors and poets (you know the drill). But it's a nice read between the lines satire. Apparently (in some ways) 1958 paris is amazingly similiar to 2008 New Orleans. She tends to throw out the kind of men that i want, and bash the kind of girl i am. Which makes it an interesting read for me! :)

[pinksonia.livejournal.com]

I have not read that. It sounds interesting, so I shall have to pick up a copy. Though, I don't know how well I would take to someone bashing me, in a literary they can't possibly know me way.