Books – Page 12 – Crasstalk

Hey there folks, I just want to throw out a few possible rules/guidelines/decisions for the upcoming book club. Feel free to disagree, and/or add more of your own.

1. Book Club discussion will be posted every third Sunday of the month at 7pm EST. While it will be nice to have a lot of us at that particular time, feel free to add to the discussion at your leisure.

2. If it’s your turn to host book club please choose a book that is widely available and preferably also available in paperback. I guess Kindle availability would be a plus for those folks, but I don’t that it’s absolutely necessary, right?

3. Try not to pick the same genre or author as the previous Book Club selection, let’s mix things up.

4. Whether or not you are hosting, as you read the book think of some questions to ask your fellow readers so we can keep the discussion going.

5. If you are hosting, pick the next host before your Sunday so they have enough time to chose a book.

6. New book selections should be posted in a separate post the third Monday of each month.

7. If you have any suggestions for future picks, or problems with that book, post your comments in that post ^

8. You don’t have to stick to traditional book club books though you’re welcome to. Add in the classics, graphic novels, sci-fi (if you must), anything that floats your boat. Expand our horizons.

9. If you don’t have an intense debate commenting account get one now!

10. If you are hosting, you’ll need to have a Crasstalk account.

11. Even if you think you are going to hate this book/genre why not give it a try. You can tell us exactly what you dislike in the discussion. And if I’m going to give sci-fi a try, I expect you all to give everything a go.

So if you have any book suggestions, questions, or general comments this is the place to let me know about it. I’ll post my selection a bit early just in case we need to work out any kinks. So the book will be announced next week, and the first discussion will take place on February 20th.

Edit – Now that I think about it, is posting the book on the third Monday okay? Will that give you all enough time to go get the book and read it? Or should we post it earlier? So many decisions!!!

So I had a little to-do with the editor of the local rag here in my small town. I’ve been writing book-related bits for it for a couple of years now, usually author profiles, which are wonderful when I like the book and painful when I don’t. So far it’s been 90-10, guess in which direction.

Anyhow, I was asked to do a piece on our independent bookstore’s 15th anniversary. Nothing makes me happier than seeing an indie bookstore still alive, so I happily interviewed the owner and the manager and wrote up a nice optimistic piece about all their plans for the future. And sent it in to my editor. Who added just a tiny clause that was basically a shot at the owner. Very mean. Totally out of tone with the rest of the piece. I asked Ed to take it out. Ed said no, and made a couple of other nasty remarks about the owner. I thought screw this, and asked to have my name taken off the piece. (I don’t get paid for these, I do it in exchange for a one-line mention of a small business I have here in town.) Back and forth a little more, but I just insisted that Ed remove my name, and it came off.

Highly doubtful I’ll be asked to do any further writing for them but that’s fine. There’re only so many self-published novels, most of them written by retired gents wanting to relive their youth (the tell-tale: the hero is always a, erm, mature man with a toothsome young female sidekick), that one can stomach.

As a thank-you to any who have plowed their way through this tiny tempest in a teacup, here’s a book recommendation. The latest John Le Carre, Our Kind of Traitor. Le Carre knows his way around a keyboard, and uses all kinds of tricksy little techniques that a lesser writer would screw up terribly. Le Carre, of course, doesn’t. He keeps his narrative under complete and effortless control that rewards the close reading you need to give it.

Delta Sierra