So a few weeks ago, I suddenly got an idea something along the lines of “Wait, what if I got some of the Bad Books, Good Times readers to read a good book with me? Would…. would that be fun?”. Why don’t we find out together?
Basically, here’s how I’m picturing this working. As a series of bonus posts, probably going up on weekends or something, I’ll run posts for a few chapters of a book that (hopefully) will be good. It will be different from the posts that are usually on this blog, because:
- I won’t be writing smart-ass summaries of the chapters, more so just talking about them to try to start up a book club-like conversation, as:
- Unlike the other (bad) books we read for this blog, I want you to read along with me!
Obviously, this would require you acquiring a copy of the book and reading it as I read it on the blog. I’m a busy person, so we’re not going to be going through it very quickly, but at the same time it won’t be the one-or-two-chapters-a-week pace we average for the regular posts on this blog. And if you’re reading along, you would totally be encouraged to join in on the conversation! Because, you know, that would be the point. I’d really like to see what a small-ish, online book club would look like, since I already know we have a lot of great readers who write insightful comments.
If you need more incentive, Ariel will be reading along too! What’s it like to be in a book club with both of the Bad Books, Good Times people? If it’s anything like our senior seminar was last year, we will make lots of inappropriate jokes. Directly with you. You know you don’t want to miss out on this.
Based on the results of the polls, I’ve decided that the first book we’re going to attempt Good Books, Good Times with will be Neil Gaiman’s new novel The Ocean at The End of The Lane.
This is for a number of reasons!
- It won in the polls. So, yeah, that makes sense.
- It is not a very long book. It’s a 178 page, 15 chapter book.
- I have never read any Neil Gaiman before. This is embarrassing, because I’m currently interning in NPR’s arts and entertainment division and people are making fun of me. So making myself attempt to lead an online book club in order to solve this problem doesn’t seem even close to any of the dumber ideas I’ve ever come up with.
Obviously, people need time to get the book, so let’s say – tentatively, unless there’s a riot in the comments section or something – that we’ll get started on July 20th. Let’s also say – tentatively – that we’ll have read the first four chapters, to page 46, by that point. So if you want in on this, you have about a week and a half to get a copy of the book by means of your favorite method of obtaining copies of books, and to read the first four chapters.
One last thing: If you’re participating, I want to know! Leave a comment saying that you’re in! It would really help this whole book club on the side idea if I know there’s a book club on the side.
So, yeah, let’s go! Happy reading!
Oh God, that was cliched.