Haven't hit the "new thread" button in a loooong time.
We were having some very thoughtful discussion in another thread with some of our brightest posters, and we all collectively decided that we ought to have a WCR Bookclub. So here she is. We can start taking a stab at getting a list going, picking a book, and then rolling out. From our huge sample size of 3, it looks like people are interested in literary classics and sci-fi. I know we have a couple of guys here who are interested in history and politcal economy (myself included) who also post frequently in the "What are you reading?" thread, so maybe we will get more turnout if we include some of those in the list too. Same goes for psychology/self-help flavored books, I have seen a few of you post suggestions for some of those as well, like that book by JP.
nShade suggested To Kill A Mockingbird, and I think it's a good first choice to get the ball rolling and see if people will even stick with this. Easy pick, but it also might potentially bore a few who would have preferred to start with another book. So the floor is open. Out of my own self-interest, I'd suggest The Trial by Franz Kafka, mostly because I just started reading it about a week back, and it fits in well as a "must-read," and it isn't that long of a commitment. I've also always been interested in soviet history, so something like a biography or a well-cited historical narrative would be really cool here too, but I need to do some more homework for actual titles.
After we can agree on a book, I guess we can just start posting and discussing our take-aways from sections of the book. There are also sources out there that spell out the plot summary, themes, and motifs. These would be good prompt references for overall discussion topics, but I haven't decided if it'd be better to let people post as they please or respond to a discussion topic.
We were having some very thoughtful discussion in another thread with some of our brightest posters, and we all collectively decided that we ought to have a WCR Bookclub. So here she is. We can start taking a stab at getting a list going, picking a book, and then rolling out. From our huge sample size of 3, it looks like people are interested in literary classics and sci-fi. I know we have a couple of guys here who are interested in history and politcal economy (myself included) who also post frequently in the "What are you reading?" thread, so maybe we will get more turnout if we include some of those in the list too. Same goes for psychology/self-help flavored books, I have seen a few of you post suggestions for some of those as well, like that book by JP.
nShade suggested To Kill A Mockingbird, and I think it's a good first choice to get the ball rolling and see if people will even stick with this. Easy pick, but it also might potentially bore a few who would have preferred to start with another book. So the floor is open. Out of my own self-interest, I'd suggest The Trial by Franz Kafka, mostly because I just started reading it about a week back, and it fits in well as a "must-read," and it isn't that long of a commitment. I've also always been interested in soviet history, so something like a biography or a well-cited historical narrative would be really cool here too, but I need to do some more homework for actual titles.
After we can agree on a book, I guess we can just start posting and discussing our take-aways from sections of the book. There are also sources out there that spell out the plot summary, themes, and motifs. These would be good prompt references for overall discussion topics, but I haven't decided if it'd be better to let people post as they please or respond to a discussion topic.