New Forum Activity: A CS Book Cub!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I can't read right now, because it intrudes on my writing and I'm trying to finish this thing up and send it out on Kindle. However, I am happy to hang out and contribute wherever I can and help out with the group!

[Seraph]

I am this close to hunting him down and chaining him up in my basement until he gives me another book.

ETA: I'm also rather annoyed that it's not Highprince of War anymore. I know I'll get it later, but I want more Dalinar Kholin NOW!!!

No kidding! I saw he was picked to fill in for WoT and I was like FFFFFFFFFF there goes any book schedules for HIS stuff. <facepalm>

And I was right. Le sigh.

[ArcticChicken]

No kidding! I saw he was picked to fill in for WoT and I was like FFFFFFFFFF there goes any book schedules for HIS stuff. <facepalm>

Him being picked is why I started reading him. I'd never heard of him before, and I haven't read WoT, but I was curious about the guy that they thought could finish it without alienating the entire fanbase.

[Kheldarson]

Same here. I like his stuff, and he's a bit more controlled than Jordan on the characters, but I still get tired of the character jumps. Gah. Pick a character and stick with them a while, would you?

[BroSCFischer]

I'd be interested, but I just can't budget books into my finances.

However, I can read any books available online (ie: Project Gutenberg or Archive.org).

I am supremely disappointed not to see any of the old masters like Shakespeare, Marlowe, Cervantes, Dumas, Poe, Twain, Conan Doyle, etc.

Personal Suggestions:

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel Cervantes
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas pere (translated by Robin Buss preferred)
The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain)
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Of course, that's if I can join the club, and as I said my finances aren't in the best condition ATT.

SC

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Dude, there's so much free fiction available online you'd never be able to read it all even if you quit your job and stopped sleeping.

Not trying to pimp myself, but if you like westerns, click my sig. Otherwise (and additionally) visit http://webfictionguide.com/ and find something you do love.

I realize this doesn't help with the book club reading thing, but there's no longer any real reason to spend a lot of money on books. You can download many quality books for free, and there are thousands of books to be had for a buck.

[Pedersen]

I'm sorry folks, I've kept up on the join requests, but that's it. Had a busy few days there.

Before I reply to individual posts, I'll say this: We've only got five votes on the poll. If you're in, and haven't voted, please do, and soon. The poll closes March 15, so make your voice heard!

Wish I had time for a book club, but alas I do not. If you have not read any of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (spelling) then I absolutely would back Lord Foul's Bane. I know a lot of people disagree, but in my opinion it is better then any of the Lotr books. I love the series. It is a bit darker/more mature then the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings..and a bit 'thicker' to get through..but absolutely worth it.

I absolutely loved the whole series, and it's killing me to have to wait until next year to get the final book in the series. I am so looking forward to it, though.

Is the group limited to just the "read of the month" or can other threads talk about books in general? Also, you mentioned to avoid hardcovers and whatnot. does that apply to everything, or just the read of the month?

I hadn't set down any rules for that question. My initial response would be this: When the read-time is done, I'll put up a thread for the read of the month. There's nothing limiting discussion of other books, though, so go for it.

As for hardcovers, the reason I'm trying to avoid them is because of budgeting issues. They tend to cost a lot more, and are going to be harder to find in a library (since normally they're going to be new releases, and popular new releases always have a wait list). So, for read of the month, I'm looking to avoid them. For anything else? Have at it.

I'm in. Will do the gnashing and commenting on the poll when(if) approved.

If anybody has not yet been approved, please re-apply. I think Kinkoid, Raps, and myself were all getting notifications, but haven't confirmed. In any case, the requirement to join is to be a current member of CS. That's really it.

I'd like to suggest the following:

I'll add my own suggestion of

Personal Suggestions:

Please, sign up on GoodReads, visit the poll, and vote or add in a suggestion there.

I can't read right now, because it intrudes on my writing and I'm trying to finish this thing up and send it out on Kindle. However, I am happy to hang out and contribute wherever I can and help out with the group!

Quick question: I know you and Raps are mods for that group (as would be any other CS mod who joined). I don't know if you're able to get notifications about join requests, or can approve them. Can you? If not, I need to fix that.

I'd be interested, but I just can't budget books into my finances.

However, I can read any books available online (ie: Project Gutenberg or Archive.org).

Don't forget about the local library. They should be able to get them, too, and that should cost you nothing.

I am supremely disappointed not to see any of the old masters like Shakespeare, Marlowe, Cervantes, Dumas, Poe, Twain, Conan Doyle, etc.

That's just because I didn't throw them in myself as yet. I wanted to try to have a range, without going crazy on the number of books to offer. Don't worry, I'll be suggesting them, along with Lovecraft, Wells, Bradbury, and others, but not for the initial outing.

Of course, that's if I can join the club, and as I said my finances aren't in the best condition ATT.

There's no reason you can't join. We're trying very hard to make it so that the only requirement is time, and hopefully not too much of that. Sign up, make suggestions, and we'll see what happens.

[Rapscallion]

I've approved some member applications. That bit works.

Rapscallion

[Greenday]

Love this website. I'm always interested in more books to read but never find a good way to find new books. This is a great tool.

Applied for the group.

[Pedersen]

Just a reminder: We have only three more days, and not everybody has voted for the book of choice. As of right now, if you're planning on joining us, the winner would be His Majesty's Dragon. Sounds interesting, so I'm not complaining

[auntiem]

Thank you so much for reminding me about GoodRead - I forgot I had signed up ages ago and then never did anything with it (I've only done slightly more than that on my Ravelry account).

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yes, I'm getting join requests and have actually signed in quite a number of folks already. So I'm keeping an eye out for that.

Getting to them as quick as I can, folks. I will be checking often for requests, so be patient.

I have not voted in the poll because I know I won't be reading the book...no offense, like I said, my extraneous reading is on a severe cutback right now due to my two posts a week writing schedule and then the other studying and editing I'm having to do. So I dont' feel right contributing to that decision.

On another, amusing/annoying note, yesterday over there, a forum creep got inappropriate with me. Seriously. Goodreads. It's not like it's match dot com or anything like that, it's Goodreads. I would think that sort of site would be less likely to harbor that sort of crapola. The girls on here know, I'm sure, that if you are online and people know you have a vagina, you get creepy strangers trying to friend you on message boards. Some sites are worse than others. So, ladies, heads up. Goodreads is not immune to this. There are "collectors" on there as well. Which I suppose should not surprise me.

[DaDairyDruid]

His Majesty's Dragon

Seeing as it is my suggestion I asked if it would be OK to post a Synopsis of what the book is about for those who don't know.

Author: Naomi Novik
Series: Temeraire #1
Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
Sub-Genre: Alternate History

Series Background: In this alternate Earth, Dragons are real. In western culture they were hunted as being dangers to civilization, but when Marco Polo returned and the West learned that dragons had been tamed and bred by the Chinese for millennia, most governments began their own breeding programs. The fear of dragons remains in the common people as they are mainly bred for 1 reason... WAR!

Book Synopsis: William Lawrence is a ship captain in His Majesty's Navy in the early 19th Century. England is looking worrisomely across the channel at Napolean's Army as he rampages across Europe. When his ship captures a French frigate carrying a rare Chinese dragon's egg he is forced by circumstances to become the newly hatched dragons "captain" and "companion" as it is the main way of controlling them. He is forced to leave the Royal Navy for the Royal Air Corps. Can he adapt his ways to the very different system used by the air corps? Can he overcome the prejudice of the other Draconic Captains? And Will they be able to keep Napolean from invading England?

[Kheldarson]

So when are we going to start discussing the book? Otherwise known as, how long do we have to read?

[Pedersen]

Well, goodreads threw me for a slight bit of a loop. I thought "poll closing on 3/15" meant "can vote through 3/15". Turns out it meant "poll closing immediately after 3/14 ends". I was going to post this tomorrow, but oh well

Go, get His Majesty's Dragon. I'm linking to Goodreads since they also link to many other sites that have it in various forms. If you can't afford to buy it, get it from your library.

I'll post a thread on April 15 for the actual discussion to begin. A month should be plenty of time, I would hope.

I'll also be opening up the next poll April 8, and I'm thinking that the way to nominate those books will be the top four losers of this month's poll, along with the first two nominations that come in after that poll goes live (one nomination per person please).

Anyway, I'm getting it today. I think I'll use B&N, personally, but that's my choice. Will post once I've got it.