I have toyed with the idea of starting an online book club before. But I was so busy that I did not feel like I could commit to reading one book per month. (How sad is that?)
I feel like I write enough quality books, but I don’t feel like I read enough quality books.
So, if nothing else, this book club will help accomplish the goal of reading more high-quality books.
Who would like to join me?
You should know before you jump in, that I tend to favor essay collections and memoir, so this book club is likely to be heavy in those genres. I’m sure some fiction will sneak in here and there.
I think we should work within the rhythm of the months, so let’s say that Wild is the discussion book for April 2012.
I have not yet decided how I want to handle the discussion. If it will be a one-time thing or a several times a month thing or an all-month thing. But I am excited about the possibilities we have at our fingertips thanks to technology.
I think we can let that part evolve. I’m leaning towards an open Facebook group for ongoing discussion (and maybe an audio or video chat with the authors if we can talk them into it).
You should probably also know that I’m only interested in the best of traditionally published books, right now, so I know that anyone who wants to participate will be able to get their eyeballs on a book quickly. (So this is not a self-promotion opportunity for writers. I offer those from time to time, but this is not one.)
And I can pick books at least a month ahead of time going forward. So it won’t be so last minute like this.
But for now, since I am doing this kind of off the cuff, let’s call Wild by Cheryl Strayed the first book for the month of April.
Yay! I’m so excited!
Let’s all try to get our hands on the book in whatever format you like from whatever bookseller you like as soon as you can and then we’ll launch the Facebook group on April 1st.
The group is open to anyone. This is not only a mom’s or women’s group. Anyone, anywhere can participate. The only requirement is that you must read the book.
Full disclosure: I know Cheryl (hopefully this increases the chance that we can talk her into some kind of orchestrated interaction). And today is the publication day of her book.
So it’s no coincidence that I am starting the book club today. But like I said, it’s an idea I’ve toyed with for years. And apparently, it’s an idea whose time has come. 🙂
I could not help noticing that Wild is very low on the Amazon bestseller list today. (Low is good, high is bad.)
Currently the book is at #58 of all books (that’s amazing, in case you didn’t know). So I can’t help wonder if, using our new book club enthusiasm, if we couldn’t help drive the book to number one.
What do you think? Wanna try?
Then go ahead and order Wild by Cheryl Strayed by the end of the day, Wednesday March 21st (or as soon as you reasonably can) and join us for our book discussion starting April 1st.
This gives you a chance to purchase the book at Cheryl’s book launch event at Powell’s Books tomorrow at 7:30 pm in Portland, Oregon.
I look forward to discussing the book with you!
I decided to go ahead and start the Facebook discussion group. Find it here and join up!
