The Book Club

So, I had an idea. I thought it would be really fun to start a nerdy book club in my neighborhood. I love the idea and hope some day to pursue it, but I wasn’t sure how much effort it would take. I’m sort of short on time, and I’d rather not half-ass anything. Besides, what if nobody joined my super cool club?

I still hope to eventually begin a group that actually meets at people’s houses (and, with any luck, that involves wine), with folks face-to-face, but until I work up the nerve, I thought an online book club, hosted by This Hofmann Life, would better accommodate people’s wacky schedules and involve a more diverse group of readers.

My idea could bomb, and that’s okay. It’s worth a shot, though. Right?

So, dear readers. If you can read, you can join. Here’s how it works:

Join the Club

To join, go to http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/49003.Hofmann_Life_Book_Club and join via Goodreads. I don’t need to know who you are or where you live or anything. I’m hoping for a nice cross-section of the reading world, so feel free to leave whatever info you want in your profile, but you’re under no obligation to do so.

Perhaps you’re a blog stalker (it’s okay, we all stalk blogs), perhaps you came across this blog by accident, perhaps you're my mom, or perhaps we’ve been buddies since kindergarten. No matter. Anybody can join. That means YOU.

The Books

To get us going, I’ll pick the first book. The first person to join the book club (besides me—I’ve already joined) gets to pick the second book, which will be the selection for July. I’ll figure out a fun way to pick the next person to pick books for August, but honestly, I haven’t thought that far in advance.

Here are the guidelines for book selection, should YOU be the book-chooser one month.

1. No books by Danielle Steel. (Humor me on this one, okay?)
2. Fiction only.
3. Young adult is okay (partially because I have a special place in my heart for YA books), but no children's literature.
4. You may not have already read the book. (But if you have, I'll never know.)
5. Availability. It’s okay if a book is out of print, but please do a bit of research to ensure that it’s still widely circulated so other book club members can quickly obtain it. That means that most library systems should have the book OR it should be relatively inexpensive to purchase a used copy.

If this book club is successful enough, perhaps we could set up other categories that include nonfiction or children’s literature. For now, let’s start here.

In the meantime, I hope that having different people pick different books will expose us literary nerds to books we perhaps wouldn't have otherwise read.

Participating
First, this book club is all about freedom. If you skip a book, you’re still in the club. If you hate the book, you’re still in the club. If you CHOSE the book and EVERYBODY BUT YOU hated the book, you’re still in the club. Even if you don't read every single entry of my blog (what? you DON'T care what color Charlotte's poop was yesterday?), you're still in the club.

Each month, one book will be selected. On the closing day (i.e., the last day of the month), that book will be posted on the Hofmann Books forum (I’ll remind you via this blog and even provide the link--AGAIN!). I’ll probably add some “guiding questions,” but possibly not. I haven’t decided yet.

You and your reading cohorts can then type away and discuss. Here are the guidelines:

1. No insulting other readers or their opinions. In other words, BE NICE.
2. Please. Attempt to use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. I’m not saying that you need to proofread everything you post, but please treat the discussions as something more important than a 13-year-old’s text message.
3. Until Official Discussion begins (i.e., the "closing date" of the book), please ensure that you avoid any spoilers in your discussions. People read at different paces, and nothing like a spoiler to ruin the plotting fun.

Also, I'll be interested to know what things readers neglected in order to read the month's book (potty training the kid? Exercising? Making a nutritious dinner? Watching Friends reruns?) and what they're drinking while posting their discussions (summer is an excellent time for sauvignon blancs--just sayin'). In short, we all may be spread across 32 states and 3 countries (oh yes, THREE countries--I check my blogspot stats--I'm very big in the UK and Germany), but I'd like this to feel as chummy as possible.

I Reserve the Right To . . .

. . . . change any of these guidelines at any time. Hey, I’m figuring this out as I go along. I hope this will evolve, and I need to be flexible enough to let it take its own shape. That said, I want to give this book club enough structure that folks feel like it’s something worth participating in. Translation: I’m not trying to be bossy or controlling. I just want this to work.

This Month’s Book

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees (352 pages)

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott has been out for over a year, so most libraries should have it (and it’s just old enough that the holds queue should be short or nonexistent). Hey, books are expensive. I literally make my living from people buying, not borrowing books, but I’m a huge fan of the local library. If you want to buy your own copy, knock yourself out. It’s not even close to being out of print. It is also available via Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook, if you prefer to read your books electronically. I'll probably get the Kindle version. That's just me.

I have not read it. Perhaps it is spectacular, perhaps not. We shall see!

To get things going, and because we’re right smack in the middle of May, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott will be our book for June. That means discussion will begin July 1, okey doke? Mark your calendars. (And see how clever I am for choosing a work with the word SUMMER in the title, as we begin our summer reading?)

Alright, now. Let’s see if this works.

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15 HOURS LATER: Okay, friends. Here's an update. First, congrats to Meghan! She signed up first, so she's the lucky duck who gets to pick the book for July. Second, the forum platform I brilliantly selected to host this thing is having technical difficulties right now. You can still sign up and join the club, but there's nothing to see at the moment, once you get there. Posting is disabled (ARGH!). Once I'm able to, I'll add some fun stuff. If the geeks at the help desk don't fix it relatively soon, I'll create the forum elsewhere and beg your forgiveness. (Don't worry, Meg. You're still the first-person-there winner.)

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And. . . a couple hours after that. We're up and running! Woohoo!