The Fresh Air interview made me think of how this served as part of the cultural backdrop to the Cold War. Interesting to think that America’s Barons, failing to discredit The New Deal on rhetorical grounds, decided to switch the playing field to whether those civic policies are sinful by nature.
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Banks didn’t kill this?
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I don’t think so. I thought the discussion was great, even if the book wasn’t all that.
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Banks tried, but the commenterait kept hope alive.
The Quarry was a well and crappy book by my measure. But the heartfelt discussion was priceless. People shared about their experiences with autism, anxiety, cancer, compulsions, addictions, sex, crushes, abuse, caregiving, and the damp despair endemic to the England countryside. And, for me, it seemed respectful, we never had a troll show up, and we didn’t need any time-outs that weren’t self-imposed.
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Cool. Here is to picking a better book! I fizzled out. Had I read it in one sitting, I’d have finished it – but chapter by chapter I could not stay engaged.
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A good portion of the group read at their own pace. Some finished it quicker, some were a chapter behind on any given week.
I tried chapter-by-chapter, but it was Chapter 4 or 5 that made me want to rip off the band aid and finish it.
As all of our reading rates vary, and our time to dedicate to this endeavor fluctuates day by day, we might benefit from a more asynchronous model. Say, for the next book, start discussion threads for each chapter, and then it’s on the reader to not go into threads for the next chapter unless they don’t mind spoilers.
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I’d think reading a non-fiction book week by week might be a bit easier to hold onto, especially if we go with a book of essays…
Depends on the subject, I think. Fiction has a broader appeal and scope, even when it’s bad fiction. But a subject that holds little interest to you is going to be a real slog from the word go.
I mean, I can’t imagine there are many people that would place “The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football” at the top of their list other than me. Limited appeal and all that…
Actually, for me at least, I’m more interested in what a history has to say about a broader context, so I’d read a history of a topic I have no real interested in, such as sports.
We had talked about switching between fiction and non-fiction for this… at least that’s what I recall we did.
Either way, I’m just happy to participate, even if we all decide we dislike the book at the end of it.
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Is there a pressing reason to use that site?
I like the idea of the Kruse book, but @Mindysan33’s suggestion appeals too, because I enjoy reading about domestic anthropology.
A couple of non-fiction entries on my Amazon Wishlist recently:
and one more:
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That’s what I came here to ask! I hope it’s due to being busy rather than going through a difficult time.
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Not necessarily. I think some liked it, but we can probably figure out a way to set up a poll on here.
With the couple of dozen or so participants we have, I reckon simple written votes and a manual tally would be good enough. I’d be happy to do that bit if it’s needed?
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Wasn’t The Name of the Rose in seconds place, after TQ?
That’s got so much fact shoe-horned in it should count as our non-fiction read. Plus, it’s danged fun.
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And I own it already but haven’t read it in ages (if I ever got around to it???) Foucault’s Pendulum also awaits.
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I’ll follow the crowd’s consensus here, but my selfish vote would be to keep to the chapter-a-week model, or similar. I have become quite busy, professionally speaking, but I can keep up with a slow-paced read… plus, I have the patience to keep to a slow pace even if I have lots of free time. My (again selfish) fear is that if we’re all free to read at whatever pace, then a busy stretch at work will keep me from keeping up with the speedies, so when I finally get to a later chapter’s discussion, I may find the meat of the discussion already played out. Especially if we’re doing a longer, denser read as most of our nonfiction candidates are bound to be. I like treating this book club discussion as a leisurely chess-by-mail sort of side discussion, freed from the more up-to-the-minute tendencies of so many of our other discussions here in the BBS salon.
But there are a couple dozen of us doing this, with a couple dozen varying opinions of equal value. My vote is to keep a slow, deliberate pace, but I’m not worried or upset if mine is the only such vote. I can read like a motherfucker if the book is even slightly interesting.
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Yeah, I’ve got a big freelance project in the works. I’m afeared I will get it and derail all my “spare” time (including weekend time with the babbies), and I’m afeared I won’t get it and lose out on the monies.
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