So about three weeks ago I posted on the future of Hubski book clubs. The discussion there was varied and helpful, but the important distinction for me was that "fiction" and "non-fiction" were more useful than "book" and "all things sci fi."
In light of zebra2's observations, I'd like to put forth a few ground rules:
1) Book must be available free online or for less than $10.
2) Book must have at least 4 endorsements - if you see something good, recommend it, don't come up with something else, because we fragment too easily. Champion that thing. Make a guess as to how long it'll take to read, and why we should bother. "Because I've had it on my shelf for a while" does not cut it; "I added this to my shelf eight months ago because" is a much better place to argue from.
3) person who suggests the current book gets to run the club the next time.
4) Book must be something that a reasonably busy person can plow through in 4-5 weeks.
5) Fuck the shoutouts. Subscribe to the tag.
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I'm a let this congeal then judge whatever gets the highest vote.
I would love to reread Walter M. Millers A Canticle for Leibowitz and be able to discuss it with a group.
In another thread, several people mentioned/endorsed the idea of reading A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I would whole heatedly endorse that. Also, this book would be available at any local library.
My wife is huge into discworld and I asked her what would be the best book to get into it and she recommended Small Gods. Discworld has quite a large catalog of books with several sub-series in it so it can be quite intimidating to get into, plus some of the first books in the series aren't Terry Pratchett's best (so I'm told) so that can put off some people. From what my wife has told me, and reviews I've read of it, Small Gods pretty much stands on its own as a story (so we don't have to worry about knowing the whole disworld universe) and is one of the best examples of his work.
Also, ghostoffuffle mentioned in a previous thread the book Tenth of December by George Saunders ($8.99 for Kindle) and I think it's a great idea. It's a collection of short stories and would be VERY EASILY managed by anyone. I highly recommend it for our club. It's a fantastic read.
I'm going to suggest The Painted Bird, because a dear friend of my Father's who grew up in postwar Europe, and whose opinion about literary matters I deeply respect, claimed this was one of the greatest books she ever read. Also, it was suggested in an earlier edition of one of these posts that we read Infinite Jest; I supported it at the time, and I still do. Any others?
Yes. I must do so. I would say that Benjamin Hale's novel debut might be one of the best books I've ever read, though that was three years ago and I really like No Country For Old Men now. It's about a chimpanzee that learns to speak, and is taken to live with his primatologist Lydia. The protagonist, Bruno, is probably one of my favorite voices in a novel. His philosophy and outlook on life is persuasive, but I also think it's flawed, and I think that could be a part of the discussion that we could have. Don't really wanna say any more about it because it might spoil things, but even if we don't discuss it for the club, I do still highly recommend it, and I'd like to read it again with older age and the like. Edit: This article puts it better than I could, I think.