no really, stop laughing. aside from the fact that it would be almost entirely impossible for all of us to agree on a book, it might be fun. i just got invited to join a book club here - a book a month. first we read The Red Tent, which was good, if painfully obvious. now we're reading The Nanny Diaries, which is light, fun, easy reading - hardly challenging. recently i finished How To Be Good, which was delightful. i've been reading a lot these days. i think a sorabji book club would be challenging. we could pick a book and then chat about it. no schedule, just whatever, whenever.

i'm in. you realize, of course, that the boys and the girls would never agree to read the same books. i think book groups tend to be mostly women, anyhow.

I'll play. I liked How to be good. I think.

I feel an "Oprah" moment coming on. But I'm in,too. If the boys won't play,then we can read something dasterdly masculine,and chat about it in our fem modes.

yeah, let's read An Unfortunate Woman by Brautigan. heh. :)

actually, i've been wanting to read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. but again, i have no agenda. does anyone else have suggestions?

i'm trying to read infinite jest right now. i haven't gotten very far. i think i need to buy a copy, as i will never finish it in library time and will have to keep renewing it. it's reallllly long.

What are those two books about, Sarah?

"i'm trying to read infinite jest right now." nico and i have been 'trying' to read that fucker for two years now. I think thats the whole point.

I read several at once: on the table at present: Little, Van Auken, and Little-- Mound Builders, Edgar Cayce's Forgotten Record of Ancient America (which ought to aggravate semillama...)(or interest him)(because I think there are controversial and new evidences that archeologists are in cahoots with the writers of American history books, and researchers from Canada on gamblers...finding what they want to find and ignoring the real truths...) Caitlin Matthews-- Celtic Book of the Dead (hey, I'm closer to the end than to the beginning...it's an ongoing study with me for the last few years) Deng Ming-Dao-- Everyday Tao (a new read for me; son Adam is also reading it in preparation for his trip abroad) Melissa Gayle West-- Exploring the Labyrinth (because i am finding a space to construct one this summer come ticks or chiggers) Legler & Zimmerman-- Frank Lloyd Wright: The Western Work (just because I like light reading on architecture, my first love). Whatever you come up with, I'll read

Well, if it's infinite.... I wanna play. Point me at a book. I'm finishing up 1984 right now. I have never heard of the books mentioned so far. Enlighten me?

im reading Banana Yoshimoto "NP" at the moment, and then i have the selected letters or Henry Miller and James Laughlin waiting in the wings.

I'm still trying to read the furschlugginer "War and Peace" but I'm stuck in the war parts and can't get out. And I like war parts! I'm thinking of saying forget it and getting Pat Barker's "Regeneration," the film version of which I watched for the third time this weekend. I love it -- it's about poetry and WWI and PTSD and Wilfred Owen, and it's beautiful.

hey, i have a good idea. i think everyone who wants to do a sorabji book club should get to a local bookstore and select 1-2 possible books for us to read. we could all do this by sunday, if not sooner. then come back here and tell us your selections and then we could all pick the ones we like the best and just start with any of them. we have a great bookstore about 5 blocks from my apartment called Book People. and they have "Staff Selection" cards dangling from their bookshelves, with interesting reviews. it's how i choose a lot of the books i read. one type of book i don't want to start off is a "classic american lit". no heminway or steinbeck or henry miller type stuff. not that i shouldn't read or re-read any of that stuff, but it just reminds me too much of boring college lectures. i've really enjoyed reading contemporary literature. but for the love of god, no pynchon, okay? whatever we pick doesn't need to be heavy. maybe infinite jest is just a little too dense to start of with. it's taking some super dooper postmodern steriods and reminds me a little too much of pynchon (but Brief Interviews With Hideous Men was great!): http://www.smallbytes.net/~bobkat/jest1b.html the quincunx is a high falutin' whodunit, written in baroque early 20th's century british dialect. http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/wordreign/palliser.htm i'm psyched some of you guys are into this! thanks!

May I make another suggestion? Please, no books whose back covers mention that the male protagonist meets a Mysterious Woman. And double no if it goes on to say that they develop an erotic and self-destructive love affair. How terribly clichè and boring. (Seriously, half the books I pick up in the bookstore have plots that include Mysterious Women engaging in self-destructive love affairs. Is no one creative anymore?) Just my three cents...

spider, maybe you should move away from the books with fabio painted on the cover

I think thats a great idea,Sarah! Before I read your post,I was ganna suggest that because it was your idea,that perhaps you could offer up 5 or 6 choices,with brief bio's on each,and then we could vote. But I like your idea much better.But add a brief synopsis of what each book is about,and then we'll vote. Sunday sounds like a reasonable deadline to me,seems like we should all be able to get to a bookstore by then,and offer up our choices. I'm excited,too!

First Book Club Rule. Must maintain at least a 15 foot perimiter away from Harlequin Romance Section. There will be no exceptions to this rule.If there was a GOd,he/she would want it this way.

Thanks for the tip, Heather. One of my picks: In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster I'd also like to read Iain Banks' "The Wasp Factory," but I know Agatha's already read it...

good luck. i think something this is gonna get too demanding, frayed and incohesive. kinda like mail art? *ducks*

wait, i want in on this. do i have to read fucking literature? can someone email me the mission?

i copied your pictures tonight, patrick. i really did! and just because i have already read something doesn't mean that i won't read it again.

Jeanette Winterson's BOATING FOR BEGINNERS is not as good as her GUT SYMMETRIES...but listen to the cover: " THe highwire artist of the English novel redraws the romantic triangle....." And the cover of BOATING: "if you find Montie Python Life of Brian amusing, then this is your comic book of revelations." Rule 2: We all understand that there are finite numbers of themes and that all novels repeat these certain number of themes. RULE #3: Any book read must be read on at least three different levels, e.g., (that's latin exemplia gratia, for example, for you beginners) must be understandable in language written for a. plumbers, b. astrophysicists, and c. contra dancers from the Phillipines. No fair going to the Borders website.

i was hoping margret and droopy would be around to contribute a book suggestion. This is my official suggestion: Unless by Carol Shields.

here is a really good review of Unless.

I was all set to vote for "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts," by Louis de Bernieres. It seems like a much more Sorabjian book.

hey, why not. they're all good suggestions so far.

I got zines from Pez but never no mail art. Suggest we take a paragraph from whatever each of us reads and post thje paragraph making some sort of sorabjinovel of our particular plagiarized statements. Nah, too difficult.

mail art is strictly reserved for letters.

Making an online novel could be fun. Seems we did it once.As I recall,it was rather amusing. Let me think about this.Maybe a story with a Mark Thomas and all his quirky acquaintances type theme? Or,maybe,"How Mark Thomas Changed My Life"?

hey, you guys... how about thinking of a book for the club to read? ahem :) don't tell me nobody else has an opinion about what books we should read.

So then I got me some mail art then? People never get tired of being elaborate. I'm waiting for memories to incarnate. Sorry, I'm a little sidetracked. After being solicited for the position Monday, I have tomorrow my interview for clinical consultant (in the field of disordered gambling assessment, diagnosis, and treatment) at Washington University School of Medicine... AND if selected, and I am the only candidate at this time, to start "last week." It's close to a 45% raise, in effect. More about book after tomorrow perhaps.

heather has some memories, incarnate. we drove cross country last september.

Sorry Sarah. I'll try to stay more focused. I'm off to Mobile Alabama for the weekend,but I'll get some suggestions up by Sun.:)

i thought we could just do the book you suggested. daniel, where is that school?

That's really cool, Daniel. Tell us how it works out. I finished Pat Barker's "Regeneration" last night. I thought it was solidly good -- very well-researched, with good dialogue, good ideas, good characters, good writing. Like I said at the top of the thread, it's about WWI and the doctor and some patients (including Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen) in a veterans' mental hospital in Edinburgh. I don't know how interested you guys would be in such a book, but you can read about it here.

I'm reading "Genetic Programming" by John Koza. Anyone care to join me?

Washington University here in St. Louis. Interview went fine; I am to email them my schedule and they'll fill up my appointment book. Bad thing is that it is a closed end assignment, sorta short term, and my role ends 24 weeks after the last Assessments begin, sometime end of September October this year. But still, it's hardly not worth it...and I get a parking badge that says Medical School. I got ticketed today...parking in Visitor Parking where I was told to park. Hmmm guess the Mazda isn't up to all those Bemer's. But the experience and the rigors of real research (it has been a long time) are exciting, almost as much as the parking badge thingy to hang from my rear view mirror.

Okay. I read yesterday (actually reread for I couldn't recall a word of it from reading it some time ago) BOATING FOR BEGINNERS. Let's go.

I'm reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" before sleep, and "Practicing Archaeology" after work. On my to-read shelf are Martin Amis' "Time's Arrow", some litererary analysis of Frank Zappa lyrics, Claude Levi-Strauss' "Structural Anthropology", a couple archaeological theory books, and a couple sci-fi/fantasy novels. My girlfriend is reading The House of Leaves and can't put it down (that seems to happen to a lot of people).

Hey. Just finished reading American Gods. Really loved it, but that wasn't a surprise, being a Pagan whos been down with Neil since "Sandman" days. Let me know what ya think...

I liked it. Gaiman really got his geographical knowledge of the US down. It was very good. not his best but still a very good read. I'm reading time's arrow now, and it's real depressing and fucked up and I highly recommend it. It's like Memento in a way.

Have you read Neverwhere? I did. I thought it was kind of thin, but I liked it. I finished Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy (Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, and The Ghost Road), and now I'm actually making progress on War and Peace. I made a point to skim all war parts and focus on the domestic scenes. I find the supposed heroine, Natasha, irritating and bratty...I hope she improves.

I miss Droopy.

I loved Neverwhere. Only book by him I've read. Must read American Gods.

I had the same thing happen for me with House of Leaves. I even bought the Poe album with all the House of Leaves stuff in it. I read it a lot at night and was tempted to measure my room just to make sure it wasn't changing on me. I started reading Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams last night. I haven't made it through all the glowing intros and forwards and stuff yet.

I. being chep, shall wait for the paperback of that one. I have read Neverwhere and liked that a lot as well. Gaiman's stuff is hard not to like actually.

I just finished "The Tale of Murasaki" by Liza Dalby, the only westerner (she claims) to have been a giesha. It's pretty good. I want to read her other book, "Geisha," as well.

"I. being chep, shall wait for the paperback of that one. " Well, chep... If you're referring to House of Leaves, paperback's been out for a while.

neverwhere is beautiful. hey, tbone! i got my vacation time for mid-late august, i've tried to reach hal but i've lost all my phone numbers and he's not answering the email i sent. and i've forgotten yers. email me?

You bet. Hal's been a recluse lately. I was starting to think he was just ignoring me.

i'm reading a book called "bee season." it rocks. i also just finished "prodigal summer" which was very good with just a few flaws that i couldn't ignore.

if you guys keep suggesting great books to read i guess i won't need a sorabji book club :)

I meant the new Douglas Adams. I have House of Leaves already.

Whenever a book comes out that I want to read but am too cheap to buy,I go get on the waiting list at the library.

so much for a sorabji book club. didn't get motivated to really push the idea. books i have read in my austin book club: The Red Tent Bless Me Ultima The Color of Water The Hours i still want to read Unless! argh! also tonight i bought The Zen of Eating. much needed. how is it that people get depressed and stop eating? that just blows my mind.

I miss reading for fun. I wish I'd done more this summer. Anyway, Sarah, let me know what you think of the Zen book.

I read Bless Me, Ultima for a college class. North American Immigrant Literature. What did you think of it, Sarah? I wrote a fantastic paper about it and another similar work whose title and author I now forget.

I got to meet Anita Diamant tonight. We went to a fundraiser for a breast cancer center started by Alice Hoffman. There were a bunch of local authors reading at this dinner, and Rosie O'Donnell, the only non-local. We were initially sent to the wrong table, and sat down next to Anita Diamamt, and Madeleine told her that they were going to discuss The Red Tent in book group this weekend. After we went to our real table, way in the back corner, they started the reading, and I realized that Anita Diamant had also written The New Jewish Wedding, which we'd used in planning our nuptials. We let her know this on our way to the bathroom, and got a big Mazel tov! When we came back from the bathroom, she had jumped tables, and was chatting with friends, who happened to be sitting next to us. All in all, it was a fun evening. Rosie made me cry talking about her mom's death, and one of the other authors shook me up talking about her experience as a hospice volunteer.

i'm reading "virgil fox, the dish", the biography of arguably the most famous organist of the 20th century. i met him just briefly before he died. he was a unique individual. reading about his life after all these years is fascinating.

I'm reading "The Coming Plague," which is all about viruses. It's very good. Somewhat frightening, but it's very well written/researched.

I really feel that this thread needs to come to a conclusion, with us all reading a book at the same time, and then possibly, having an NON-political discussion afterwards.... I would tend to agree, that as its Sarah's idea she should get first crack at naming the book of the month (week, whatever...) Although I would like to put forward; Barney's Version, By Mordecai Richler The Mists Of Avalon, By Marion Bradely The Fionavar Tapestry (actually a trilogy) By Guy Gavriel Kay The Last of the Mohicans By James Fenimore Cooper Although i have read all of these before. I would have to do somethinking to come up with current, unread books.... Come-on lets resurect this idea (lazarus like)

lets talk about the bitchin turkey and provolone croissant i just made, the potato leek soup thats on the stove, the uppity flavored coffee on the pot and the fact that i put my baby to sleep in all of a couple of hours...that includes the trip to the store. im so meant to be a housewife.

Let's do it. Pick a book, Sarah. If I've read it already, I'll just read it again. Mail art- I can't say any more without embarrassing myself. Suffice it to say that I work on it sporadically for a couple of hours each time, and the last time I worked on it, which was at least three weeks ago, I was surprised at how close to the last step it actually was.

you could be just like ADAM@HOME, running your shit online and taking care of the kids and shit... though youd have to become addicted to overpriced, overcaffinated yuppie coffee, if your not already of course Come on, lets do this thing.... on a side note, im currently reading The Generals Daughter, by Nelson Demille (the travolta movie is based on it) very good so far...oonly started today, so only 84pgs in.. Im also reading The Simpsons And Philosophy, my first delving into the subject.. I decided that using something that I knew real well as examples would soften teh blow to my underused cranium... Also Im still struggling through The Birth Of Time, by John Gribbon.... to deep for me, but I try... How about a Rohinton Mystery book? Or Wilbur Smith? whats the nonfiction one he did, Elephant song(or something)?

BigKevin, I have the first book of the Fionavar Tapestery trilogy, and I haven't started it yet, so I second that nomination.

I have read "The General's Daughter" by Nelson Demille, and I am currently reading "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I just started the book yesterday, and it isn't all that small, so that will be all I can handle right now.

It's a good book. Botany of Desire is really good. I recommend it as a book club book. Right now I'm reading Wolf Dreams, which is really good. Yummy. I just finished Jarhead. Also good.

Platypus, Authors??? who are the Authors? Ok i finished generals daughter... pretty good, i have no desire to see the movie, im sure that there is no way it could compare... I also read Up Country, by Nelson Demille (the sequel to gen. daught.) also a good book, better story developement, more twists to the plot, more intrigue... Im now onto 2010: odyssey two. most of the way through it (not much substance, kinda disappointing, actually) Does anyone know if the author of the conan books (one Robert Jordan) is the same person as the Robert Jordan of The Wheel Of Time fame? im far to lazy to look it up today... On a side note, i got the touchups on my most recent tattoo done today, <ouch> 'my arm hurts' said the big wimp.

I have the movie of "The General's Daughter". Nowhere near the book. All of the backstories were all but left out. You only got the murder plot out of the movie. I do have to say that they didn't take a whole lot of liberties, though. It is really close to the book but a lot was left out.

The Conan books (at least the original ones) were written by Robert E. Howard.

I'm reading David Brin's Kiln People. It's great. It's a humorous take on what might happen if cloning became viable, except that it doesn't involve flesh and blood human clones, but rather a synthetic humanoid that you "bake" in a "kiln" and imprint your "Soul Standing Wave" on. It gets all your memories and personality, but only lasts a day before disintegrating. At the end of the day, you "upload" the experiences of the "ditto". It examines through the medium of the detective story how society might change if everyone could send out multiple copies of one's selves to work for you. I highly recommend it.

great book club. you have 20 people talking about 20 different books.

hey, okay BigKev thanks for reviving this. i'm glad some of you are into this idea. i'm still into it. let me pick the first book! i'll go to the bookstore tonight and do some research and post here tomorrow what i think we should start with. i'll pick three and we can decide by popular vote which one to read tomorrow. how does that sound?

Make sure you start a new thread with the title of the book please. I'll play, but may not get to start the book until after I get to Columbus next week. You could also have whoever is interested take turns picking the books maybe with some guidelines. That's worked for me in the past.

oh yeah, i won't pick all the books, just the first one. i'm not sure about guidelines. i think it would be more interesting to just let each person have a turn to pick a book. who knows what we'll get to read?

Will each person who's picking the book that week present the rest of us with three choices? I like that idea. Let's think of the guidelines! *What kind of timeframe are we working with here? Do we get two weeks to read the book before we discuss it, or do we sort of read it together and discuss the chapters as we go along, or what? *When you're picking the book, should you pick something you haven't read or something you've read and think the others would like? *Are there certain genres or kinds of books we should avoid?

I totally agree.

I totally agree with Sarah, I only suggested guidelines, I don't think we should have them. If you don't want to read something, wait until the next book.

*What kind of timeframe are we working with here? Do we get two weeks to read the book before we discuss it, or do we sort of read it together and discuss the chapters as we go along, or what? This is a good question. I have no idea. I like the idea of talking as we go along, maybe the first book can be to see what works best. I like talk as we go, it's fun. But we should probably set a time line, like one book a month or something so. *When you're picking the book, should you pick something you haven't read or something you've read and think the others would like? I think that is up for each person to decide. Who cares, as long as it makes for good converstaiont. *Are there certain genres or kinds of books we should avoid? Of course, but I think we should figure that out as we go along. I'm not closing my mind off to anything if I want people to read something that I suggest.

yeah, let's just figure it out as we go along. it either will gel or it won't. i have a feeling it will as long as we don't make too many rules.

Im in to the first couple of selections being a mulitple choice thing, that way we could get a feel for who likes what... But im also into reading pretty much anyhting out there.... so i guess what im saying is either way works for me... I read really fuckin' fast, and i have nothing else to do these days, so ive been burning through a book a day. but i realize most people have jobs and such, soooooo..... maybe say a 400pg book in two weeks? does that sound reasonable? I would suggest that we do SARAH first, then some arbitrary order, IP addresses, age, hair color.... whatever, just some predetermined method. I would also suggest that all books put forward have an alternate, in case its been read by too many7 people already.... we can work out the bugs as we move tho, i suppose, besides whilst reading the first selection we could spend part of the time argueing/ discussing the next selection to follow.. yeh, go sara....... i cant wait... PS. as mentioned im between work right now, (and when working im cheap) so I would prefer paperbacks, as opposed to current hardcovers.

I am excited. This will keep me from getting bogged down with all my school reading.

I might ask (read: demand) to go sometime over the summer when I am sure that I can keep up with the conversation. or not, this might also be a good way for me to make sure that I get some pleasure reading in between all my pretentious high theory and women's studies political academic crap next semester.

I'm up for it. I'm usually reading two or three books at once anyway.

i used to love reading. I find myself unable to concentrate on books any longer. I hate it.

Oh I'm so excited. I reread two of my own books yesterday. Hey Sarah - the chick that wrote Good In Bed has a new book out called In Her Shoes. Not as good,b ut okay.

jennifer wiener? i think it's funny that someone named weiner wrote a book called good in bed. sorry. i don't think we should discuss as we go along because folks read at different rates and we wouldn't want to go spoiling plots or anything. but that's just me. i also like the "offer three books," choose one idea. re: current hardcovers--libraries are great things.

Ooh, can I play? Howz about Gods and Generals? I just bought that over the weekend at BJs wholesale club.

I heard that wasn't nearly as good as the Killer Angels.

okay, here we go. i tried to pick three very different books. i have six books scribbled on my little piece of paper here and managed to narrow it down to three. 1. Villa Incognito, by Tom Robbins. fiction. 2. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole. classic. 3. Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice To All Creation, by Olivia Judson. nonfiction. because i already read the Botany of Desire. i cast my vote for Villa Incognito. the runners up were: Dive From Clausen's Peir Hotel Honolulu :) Everything is Illuminated

I'd have to say Villa Incognito even though I hate Tom Robbins with a mad passion. I've already read A Confederacy of Dunces and I'm not really in the mood for non-fiction just yet.

Yeah, I've read Confederacy of Dunces too. Never read Tom Robbins though. Spider, I'm not really a Civil War buff -- the only Civil War book I've read is Andersonville, and I've never read anything by his father, but this was cheap and on sale, so I picked it up. On verra bien.

give nonfiction a chance. it got great reviews - supposedly very funny and entertaining.

Villa Incognito would be my selection also, how about, being as its tuesday afternoon, we call it the 21st. as our target date for finishing this one up? or maybe the 24th?, being a weekend may be better for some? we will still need a method of selecting who selects the next selections. here is my suggested solution: These are all the people in this thread that have expressed an interest in this (alphabetically) with sarah being the one to start us off i think we could just loop through the list in order... BIGKev Dougie Eri Kazoo Moonit Platypus Sarah Semillama Spider Spunky And anyone i missed or comes later can be added.

Oh yeah add Agatha and czarina, if they still stop by....

Oooh, ooh! Me too!

I think who chooses next should be partially determined by who actually participates. I'm not saying who posts the most or anything, but if two books go by and I haven't read or posted, I won't feel right choosing books. It will probably be a good an inidcation as to who has the time (not that it takes a lot...but people are busy). All I ever read is non-fiction, upwards of 600 pages a week.

whatever, that was just my suggestion... i do see the flaws you point out, and i agree... there will be, inevitably, books chosen that i wont read so things will have to adjust to meet the flow and the vibe.....

cast your vote, TBone. btw, i'm not trying to make it more confusing, but if nobody is thrilled about Villa Incognito, then how about Everything Is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer?

I don't like the alphabetical order suggestion. :( So Villa Incognito it is, then. When do we need to have read it by?

Dang it, Everything Is Illuminated sounds pretty neat, too.... Aaaaaahhhh...y'all decide. I'll read whatever is picked.

As long as I have the time, I will read whatever the majority decides. Even if I've read it and I know I don't like it, I'll skim and weigh in on discussions. Everything Is Illuminated looks interesting. I would say that over the Tom Robbins.

let's wait at least until tomorrow morning to count the votes.

Wait a minute...give it at least until the end of the day for others to take a look.

I vote for Everything Is Illuminated.

I agree, Everything Is Illuminated sounds like the right sort of book to kick off a sorabji book group. And I would say the end of each month would be a good time to have it done.

interesting (non)factiod: about a 1/4 of the top 100 best selling books right now are diet books, and most of them are low-carb diet books.

"Everything is Illuminated" looks good, but I can't join in until I finish "Mists of Avalon", so I might have to skip the first book of the month club meeting. I want to play but have to finish what I started first, which will probably take me close to a month.

I noticed in the cookie aisle that all the low-fat types are being replaced with New! Low Sugar! types. I can start reading soon. I got an extension on my paper. You have no idea how excited I am to be reading for fun again. It's doing wonders for my mood.

i think the person who selected the current book (in this case, me) should choose who gets to select the next book. but of course nobody gets two turns until everyone who wants to pick a book has had a turn.

I don't care how it gets picked, really.

I like Sarah's idea.

so what's the plan? illuminated is the book? i think we should not just wait till the end of the month to talk because i will either have forgotten what i want to say or will try to read it all in the last days to have it fresh in my head....can't there be milestones?

i'll go with Illuminated.. I will read it when i get it, and then save talking about it until the group says so...

Oh, I figured that we weren't going to wait til the end of the month to talk about it, but maybe we could talk about each book chapter by chapter? Like a discussion could be headed: (title of book), Chapter 1, and then the next chapter has its own discussion? or maybe not.

or at least a section...and if you're not ready and don't want to be spoiled than just don't read the thread yet.

I like that idea. I lurk on a mb dedicated to the "Song of Ice and Fire" series, and they hold group readings of the books. The way they do it is that everyone reads a chapter together, one person posts a brief synopsis of the chapter, and then people post their thoughts. It's very in-depth, but also very slow. ...

I like Heather's section idea....you keep the depth but gain in speed.

Argh, I wonder if that book is here yet. I guess thats something else that will also be a pain in the ass for me, is trying to source books. But thats okay I'll find it, I'll read it. I'll play. I miss reviewing

Ummm, hello?! If I still hang out around here? I'm offended.

sorry

hmmph!

Blargh. I opened a box with about a million of everything is illuminated in s/r today. I vote for Dive From Clausen's Pier, because it looks good and I haven't read it yet. I can do everything is illuminated, I guess, though, if that's what everyone wants to read. Also: Reefer Madness should be a selection sometime. I will check tommorrow to see when it comes out in paper back.

Okay I could read either

Everything Is Illuminated is the book. let's set a goal finish date of May 30th. i'll start a new thread for discussion of the book. ready set go

yaaaaaaa

I'm going to get it tonight. It's going to be my reward for working on my paper all day today.

it will be six months before you kids get on the same page. you amusing sweet little prettys with your clubs.

you kids should do a quilt. each person could knit a section, mail it on to the next and voila! a sorabji blanket to keep whomever is on the whipping post warm.

you should take your negitive attitude and shove it up your pretentious, know-it-all ass!

BigKevin, FYI: George R.R. Martin's "A Storm of Swords" has recently been published in small paperback version, so you should get it! And the new edition includes a teaser chapter for the next book, in the point of view of Cersei -- more incentive!

Whoa, what a cross post.

ohhhh that should be "BIGgaySASSYkev"

Seriously, patrick, take a step back and check out your attitude. Do you really need to be snide and condescending 24/7? I guess becoming a dad doesn't make one more mellow. Back on topic, Kazoo and I are going to share our book, which should be interesting.

sooooooo serious.

Dude, when three people in as many days tell you you're being obnoxious, maybe you should engage in some self-examination, you know? You're probably going through a lot of stress at home and you're not your usual laid-back self, but that doesn't give you leave to be a jerk. So laugh at us all you want, but don't post it, okay?

im quite relaxed. im poking light hearted fun. if you dudes are going to take it so seriously...whatever. if thats being a "jerk" to you...ok fine...whatever....but i meant no serious piss on your parade. its directly due to my laid back attitude that i thought i could poke a little fun. i actually thought youd like the quilt idea. knitting is so trendy these days.

in fact, i expect a little ribbing in return but i get responses about "self-examination" and attitude checks. oy vey. no fun indeed!

Sorry, this is not about us. Like I said, if you irritate 3 people you don't normally irritate, then it stands to reason you're the one with the problem, not them. Got it?

And I really don't mean to be giving you a hard time, so I won't say anything more about this. All I'm saying is, think a minute before you post. Peace be with you. :)

perfectly reasonable assessment spider. thats why i like you. you're a smarty. doesnt mean its right. i dont care if you give me hard time spider. im a little more resilient. ive given you plenty shit. now get back to your book club.

Yes, sir. :)

what the hell was that?

A big smile from the past. Remember the Place of General Happiness?

the smile server!

Hey, I'm going to pick it up on Friday, when I go back to work. I'm excited, I guess. Also, we should totally knit something. Because knitting is fun. I hencefore foolishly volunteer to be the knitting coordinator. Send me your squares! And I shalt assemble. And once assembled, we shall decide what to do with them.

I'ma buy that book this weekend. Rawk.

I'll buy the book this weekend. Platy, I learned to knit last month, so I could send something to you...

All I can knit is squares, and I think I forgot how to put the yarn on the needle.

You can find different methods of casting on all over the internet -- this site has nice instructions. A real simple way is to first make a slipknot and get it on the needle. Then hold the needle horizontally in front of you with the pointy side to the left, and take the thread that's hanging in front in your left hand. Loop the yarn around your left thumb (pass the front of your thumb behind the yarn, grab, and turn your hand palm-up), and then slip the needle through the loop by passing it under the section of yarn that's on the outside of your thumb. Then pull, and do it again for as many times as you want stitches. (I'm probably making this sound a lot more complicated than it is. It's ridiculously easy once you see someone do it.)

That was dumb... Basically, look at the first picture on the site I linked to, and do that. Then take the needle and slip it (moving left to right) behind the left-most section of yarn. Then pull. Repeat.

you're so cute. Thanks. It will come back to me, I'm sure. I used to love knitting, even if all I could do was make scarves and very narrow afghans

Yeah, that's all I can do, too! My coworkers knit (they taught me), and they use circular needles to make regular-sized afghans. (Actually, it's one long needle with two straight ends connected by a wire.) Myself, I was thinking about making long strips (like fat scarves) using different yarns and patterns, and then basting them together to make an afghan. I guess that's what Platypus would be doing if we all submitted swatches to her... (I have a very high-strung coworker in the office across from mine, and I'm listening to her completely freak out over something involving a lot of phone calls. It's interesting.)

(No, it seems she was completely freaking out because she couldn't figure out how to recall a meeting invitation in Outlook.)

I can't knit! But I can oragami? I am picking up the book today.

I crochet better than I knit, but I can do both. What size do you make squares? It might take a while for me to do it, cuz my box-o-yarn is hidden in the bottom back of my storage closet outside (which is stacked to the top front to back with all of our shit).

Now look what you did, Patrick.

doesn't the idea of the sorabjiatrixes knitting you a sweater or a blankie just make you all warm inside sem?

Hey Sarah, have you heard of www.bookcrossing.com?

i can't knit but i wanna learn! then when i do i'll send a square! (or a scarf-y strip!) Eri, are you still reading Mists of Avalon? I really enjoyed that book. It's fun. I like the book club idea, though i have plenty of reading already. I'll just lurk and mooch book ideas, and if i ever read something on schedule i'll discuss with you guys. don't put me on the offical list though, i don't think i can handle the pressure. i can also contribute to the chaos my throwing out random book suggestion (namely whatever i'm reading for class). bwahaha. so: Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy

I read that! Or, I read only 2/3 of it, because it repulsed me and I had to put it down. The language was lyric poetry, but the story was so ugly and confusing that it killed my will to finish the blighted thing.

Yes Ophelia, I am still reading The Mists of Avalon. Gorlois and Igraine just went home to Cornwall, after denouncing Uther. So, you see, I haven't gotten that far yet. About two chapters a night, but that's about it.

the thing about blood meridian is that is so ugly, but it has this attraction, i find, that makes you want to keep reading it (although it's true that I wouldn't have made it through the first few chapters if i hadn't been reading it for class). the thing is that the story is based on true events, so it's like McCarthy is making us look at this really repulsive part of our history. you can't really look objectively at anything that horrible, and you can't try to justify it. but it happened, and you can't deny that, either. as for mists of avalon, i dont really remember the chronology of events, just certain things about the lake and stuff... also, i think i read a sequel to it more recently, so that one stands out more in my memory. is igraine the red-haired one?

Igraine is Morgaines mother. Both Igraine and her sister Morgause have red hair. I didn't know there was a sequel. I will have to try to find it. What is it called, do you remember? I ran into a friend of mine today who was showing me this book he was reading (I didn't pay attention, it was some political thing and he makes spunk look like a libertarian). I told him I was reading Mists of Avalon and he asked me if the book was as anti-christian as the movie. Now I was not studying other faiths at the time I saw this movie and was still a practicing Southern Baptist at the time it came out and I don't remember the movie being anti-christian. Am I insane on this? Am I missing something?

There are a whole bunch of Avalon spin offs that she wrote, but Mists is the best one. I think we should make all the swatches a uniform size, like 8x8 or whatever, otherwise it will get too confusing. But that's just my idea. We could all knit one sock each or something random, too. That might be interesting. I'm tired and I haven't started the book yet because so much is going on. But I saw it at work today while I was shelving and felt guilty.

you gotta remember eri, to some people anything that isn't full on 'church' or 'christian' but has some spiritual referances, is obviously from the devil.

like these weirdos I know its a joke, but there are people like this....

of course then there's groups like this an bunch of wacos....

How to spot atheists and report them to the FBI......hah.....it's so against the laws of our country to be an atheist. I gotta say that I love the "What Would Jesus Do" thong. With the picture of Jesus on your hair patch......that took genius.

Did you read that article on the Pastor who destroyed the Wal-Mart? OMG.......the manager should have called the cops once he opened fire in the fucking store. That's it. After reading that article, my next car is going to be RED!!!! Yeah, I am totally sure that the Catholic waitress loaded his fucking coffee with so much alcohol that his bac was 0.34% and he didn't even notice it. Whatever. Talk about fucking weirdos.

OK, you do know that Landover is a humor site, right?

No, I didn't, but it is funny as hell. I love the shit up there, it cracks me up, in a heathen kind of way. You would be suprised how many "good christian" people I know who are a hell of a lot like that. I could see a lot of people I know pulling shit like that.

yeah i dont remember the name of the sequel i read, but i think its on my bookshelf at home so when i am back there in a few weeks i'll let you know. hehe, funny links. here's a test to find out what level of Dante's hell you are headed for.

So, "Everything Is Illuminated"....how was it? I know it's like two years later, but I kind of liked the idea of a little book club. although it's easy to see how it falls to pieces in the wake of so many voices and no definate leader.

It was very good. They are making a movie of it, which I am sure will really not do the book justice.