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Book Club Newsletter Issues 1 to 5
Hi everyone,
I'm starting a newsletter as a place to post club news and book announcements in one place to make it easier to follow and keep up with the latest. Here we can announce upcoming books, let people know when a monthly discussion starts, and generally post notices about other threads (like calls for book nominations) in which club members might like to participate. Note that this thread will be closed for comment, though, in order to keep the news feed clean. The items posted here should instead link to other threads that are open to discussion.
And now to catch us up on the current club goings on.
TTRPBC NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 1
April 2019, Toronto, ON
- Discussion of the March Monthly Book - Mission of Gravity - is now underway and seeking participants.
- Our April book as been announced as Hiero's Journey by Stirling Lanier, a discussion to be led by @RichardAbbott . I've created a category for this book. Richard, would you mind posting an introduction/announcement?
- We haven't settled on a book for May, yet, but here's a link to the discussion of what to read in 2019. Please share your opinions: Book Club Discussion - Looking ahead to 2019
- The weekly discussions of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun is ongoing, with new posts each Wednesday.
Comments
TTRPBC NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 2
August 28, 2019, Moncton, New Brunswick
Sorry for the long delay in updating the Newsletter, but it's been a busy summer. Here's the latest news:
TTRPBC NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 3
September 13, Porto, Portugal
TTRPBC NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 4
October 21 2019, Steilacoom, Washington
Hey, look, it's October already! I have no idea where the year is going, but wherever that is, I'm going, too.
You may not have noticed, but we've been here in this space - our very own forum - for a year now. Hard to believe, right? And in that time we haven't picked up very many members, and might even have lost a few (anyone seen @rossum or @Ray_Otus lately?) Our regular contributors have been very active, which is a blessing, but we'd still like pick up a few more wouldn't we? So I'd ask, if you wouldn't mind, talking about this club a little on your other gaming or reading venues, and maybe sharing an occasional link back so people can see that we're here and what we're doing.
So, what are we doing?
Well, this October we're reading Sarah Canary, a novel by Karen Joy Fowler. You can see my introduction here:
https://ttrpbc.com/discussion/306/october-2019-pick-sarah-canary-by-karen-joy-fowler#latest
If you want to get an e-mail notification for when the discussion starts, the discussion category is here:
https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/82-(october-2019)-sarah-canary-by-karen-joy-fowler
Our November book is going to be hosted by @Michael_S_Miller who has in each of the last two years led us through the first two books of Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy. Next month he's going to take us back to Earthsea to read third book in the series, The Farthest Shore. If I remember, this is the most contemplative book of the first trilogy, so it should be interesting. For my part, I hope we continue to do these books.
On the slow read front, were continuing with our read of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, and now starting the fourth and final book - The Citadel of the Autarch. You can find the ongoing discussion here, which we expect to be done by Christmas.
https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/(2019)-the-book-of-the-new-sun-by-gene-wolfe
The slow read format has proven to be very popular, and @RichardAbbott has already got us started in discussing what we might read next year. We're still in the brain-storming phase, and haven't got to the serious bargaining yet. But if you'd like to have a say, or are just interested in following along, please check out the thread here: https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/323/slow-read-2020-discussion-thread#latest
In other club news, we've made a few structural changes:
We've gone back to doing rotating monthly nominations for books. Here's what the rotation looks like for the next few months:
Michael Miller: November
NeilNjae: December
Clash Bowley: January
Dr Mitch: February
Richard Abbott: March
After which the rotation will start again the Barner Cobblewood followed by Me - if anyone else wants to get in on this rotation, its easily done - just speak up!
The other little institutional change is that new members now need to apply. We're trying this out as a way to combat bogus memberships, of which we've received a lot, lately.
One last thing: We've been open a year now, and it's time to pay the piper. @Rossum is currently footing the bill for us, but it's our shared responsibility. So I'd ask, if you haven't done so already this year, to click that donate button and send money Rossum-way via paypal. If all us regulars contribute $10 each we should be able to cover the bill with a little left over.
Thanks very much!
TTRPBC NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 5
November 23 2019, Havnor Great Port, Havnor
November is upon us. I don't know what it's like where you live, but we've already had our first two weeks of snow up here, so it feels like we're into that stage of fall where we say hello to winter, rather than goodbye to summer.
Our November book is hosted by @Michael_S_Miller who has been leading us through the books of Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy. This month we're in Earthsea again for the third book in the series, The Farthest Shore. I've started my own read of this and am reminded once again that reading Earthsea always feels like listening to fireside storytelling hour in a cosy cabin.
The discussion group is here: https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/83-(november-2019)-the-farthest-shore-by-ursula-k-leguin
And, in December, something completely different: Aldous Huxley's Brave New world, hosted by @NeilNjae . I'm very curious what we find in this book for themes.
Discussion group: https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/84-(december-2019)-brave-new-world-by-aldous-huxley
On the slow read front, were continuing with our read of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, and now half-way through the fourth and final book - The Citadel of the Autarch. You can find the ongoing discussion here, which we expect to be done by Christmas - we've only a hundred or so pages left!
https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/(2019)-the-book-of-the-new-sun-by-gene-wolfe
We're still looking for a volunteer to lead the selection and discussion of next year's Slow Read. If you'd like to volunteer, please comment in the Slow Read 2020 discussion thread:
https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/323/slow-read-2020-discussion-thread#latest