Justin’s Comments (group member since Jun 04, 2019)

Justin’s comments from the Not Just Any Book Club group.

Some great news for the new decade from now on.

There is an obvious redesign going on with new art (done by yours truly) and some rebranding. We've decided that we've had a good thing going, so we'll try our hands at making this into an actual podcast.

This will not have any effect on our current schedule of it being on the last Saturday of each month or how it proceeds, it will be kept the same as always.

But we've decided (or workshopped) the idea of it being bi-weekly: not the actual book discussions themselves (since books take longer to read in the midst of school) but for every other episode we will have a variety show.

A variety show?

Just to keep interest in the club alive, we'll have an episode that has us discussing something other than books. It's not mandatory, it's optional - this will be a lot more casual than the other episodes.

For now, we will be hosting on Anchor (the free option) to feel our way through things, but eventually we will get a little more professional about it.

Have a happy 2020 everyone and let's hope this idea doesn't catch on fire.

Everyone bailed, group discussion is postponed until December 7th, 2019 - which will coincidentally be our last discussion for the year.

Still I look forward to what everyone has to say about the novel they read.

If you want to check out our discussion, we have the VOD (if you request it). However, Luke, who missed it - felt passionate enough to write an entire essay on it with pictures.

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I put way too much effort into these summaries that people look over, so instead I'll just link to the Twitch VODs Gavin made that were a recording of the discussion.

His profile can be found here: https://www.twitch.tv/gav2001

And our most recent one discussion (Lovecraft): https://www.twitch.tv/videos/500137261

Have no idea where "High Fantasy" can be found, but it's out there somewhere.

Wooh boy this was our best discussion yet. We went incredibly in depth about each and every book without spoiling it, touching on the lives of the author and the philosophy of banning books we do not agree with.

Justin: (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) - touched on the sheer absurdity of linking the book with Judeo-Christian heresy, with it using fantastical elements in a way that rustled the jimmies of many super religious folks. No one agreed with the ban because it seems comical to begin with. (Also I LOVED the hell out of this book)

Gavin:(The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)Discussed the controversial use of racial slurs and the satirical representation of the African American people. We deemed it only slightly offensive, but it wasn't enough to condemn it since the author's intent was to portray them in a more positive light. It works as a progressive piece in a time where it was unusual.

Luke: (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)The most in depth of us all. He read both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in addition to Through the Looking Glass, where both books were banned for the use of talking animals and subtle drug references. However, what really stole the show here was the discussion of the author's problematic life - who was probably a pedophile. Then the discussion turned into just being creeped out by him - but shifted into the necessity of separating the art from the artist.

Pierce: (Lord of the Flies) I can tell Pierce thoroughly enjoyed this book for its themes, which interestingly enough, was not the reason why it was banned; the reason for its ban was because of its use of racial slurs, which is very sparse at best, but definitely not enough to wholly ban the book.

Bella (Beloved) An absolutely brutal and haunting book about the cruelty about slavery, but it was banned for being too honest about the experiences of slaves. Beloved has me interested in the rest of her bibliography, because from her description of the events in the plot - it sounds incredible. There wouldn't be much of a reason to ban it, because then you would be banning something so honest.


Anyways, that was a great discussion. Our best discussion yet. Thanks to all who participated, I really think we found our groove.

(moving discussion stuff into Book Club Themes for space)

First week back and we put it to a vote between fantasy and banned literature - with the latter winning.

This should be absolutely ripe for discussion outside of the content in the books, so I'm prepared for an incredibly insightful discussion about it.

Plan as always, is to hop onto Discord on August 25th at 8pm EST and prepare to discuss the books we read.

Justin - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - was planning to read only the first installment, but I loved it so much I plan on reading as much as I can within this month.

Pierce - Lord of the Flies

Bella - Beloved

We anticipate other people joining us (for real this time) so there should be more updates.

I wasn't there, only two people were involved due to circumstances of people being out and about not being able to make it onto the discussion, and I still have no idea what to do for offline discussion.

I'm told it was great, with the discussion of the first volume of The Walking Dead (which I also read, and really enjoyed (though the later volumes are FAR FAR better and the tv show actually did this part better). No one recorded it so what was said will be one of the world's greatest tragic mysteries.

I wrote a review for my graphic novel, my way of contributing to not being there - which was not my best written review on account of having to write it on my phone with horrible internet. Which you can view here.

Anyways, see you guys next month where we decide between fantasy and banned literature (and it's likely to be the latter!)

(sorry about my rambling, I'm still kind of jet lagged and I haven't typed on an actual computer in a while so it feels weird)

Howdy folks. So, this is going to be the last assigned month before we let it go to democracy. This month is [b]Graphic Novels[/b] (that are outside Marvel and DC (mainline continuity) superheroes). This is the official thread.

There are plenty of self contained graphic novels out there that don't involve men in tights fighting crime, and as much as I love superhero comics - I think it would be a relief to explore the medium outside of what I'm used to.

We're anticipating more people coming on tonight, at the cost of my absence (because of an ill-timed vacation), due to rising interest within our personal friend group. With my absence, this should probably incite me to find out what I want to do with my absence (WIP).

Again, live online discussion will be on Discord at 8pm Central 9pm Eastern.

Last discussion was a success, again thank you all who participated either by listening or discussing with us. Great job guys!

Justin - V for Vendetta (I'll figure out what I'll do with the book, but just know I'll be reading the book anyways...for you guys!)

Great job everyone, thank you all to who showed up on the 25th (shame on me for being 40 minutes late).

We had some insightful comments about the books we read.

Pierce had provided some great context onto his book, The Rights of Man, providing how important it was and how influential it became once published. The ideas pronounced within the book came in full force in Pierce's commentary on the book. It seemed as if he was passionate about the subject, and while he admitted it was a dry read, he acknowledged the resonance of the subject.

I, Justin, gave some insight into the philosophy of stoicism. While I may not agree with everything that he states in the book, I sure as hell can respect it and can take some of it into account. My regrets lie within me not reading the biography for historical context...and finishing it to completion (though we're getting there). How Marcus describes his lifestyle, of disassociating yourself from everything - from pain to pleasure - and to dedicate yourself to working onto one thing is still a bit maddening, but is admirable.

Bella perhaps ended the discussion on a high note; talking about how everything is a simulation and nothing is real, and we somehow got to make sense of that crazy sentiment. How anything only exists if we assign meaning to it, or alter it, we change reality by doing it on our own. We can certainly all say that we have never heard of something like that before.

So our discussion was a success, especially for a first time run. It was a lot of fun as it was insightful. Thank you all to who participated or watched us.


:)

Yeah no one expects you to read 50 essays lol. Have fun with your read!

Of course! In fact I was discussing that with Pierce (co-founder) since my book was a collection of essays as well, and it's more than fine. It's quality over quantity, and like we said, we want YOU to have the freedom to read what you want. So read as much or as little as you'd want to.

This is the official thread for June 2019, where we read a book pertaining to essays (political, philosophical, etc.). The official roster thus far is Pierce and Justin (me!), please comment down below if you plan on reading an essay this month.

Justin - Meditations
Pierce - Rights of Man
Bella - 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology

The plan so far (we're new to this) is to go on our Discord server on June 25th at 8pm* and just talk about the book we read, the themes and ideas it presents. We implore more people to try and join us!

Next month is Graphic Novels. (Hopefully this will get the rest of our friends to join us lol)

1. DON'T give away the ending - if the ending was that great, or there was some kind of a twist, please let everyone who wants to read it experience it for themselves. Plus, most people won't want to read what might be an otherwise great book if they know the big spoilers or how it ends.

2. Lean positive- if you didn't like a book, that's ok, express that, but also make sure to hit the strong points of the work as well. Try to identify types of audiences and readers that might enjoy your book instead.

3. Leave Time for Others- we will try to make sure that everyone has their chance to speak, including you! However all of us have limited time so please be sure to explain your book in a timely manner (there will be time for more general group discussion, but the times when each member of the book club is talking about their book)

4. Don't forget discussion- Please join in if you have something to add about a book that someone else introduces! The point of the club is for everyone to read outside of their comfort zones and for everyone to discuss books. If you have a comment or question to add to the conversation about another members book, please speak up!

5. Develop the Theme- whether its during general group discussion or a specific person's time to talk about their book, be sure to develop or talk about the theme for the week. Perhaps discuss how your graphic novel portrays a certain positive or setback graphic novels might have when compared to traditional literature, talk about what your book has to say about the major ideas in science fiction, or start a discussion on your authors takes on the genre relate to more universal themes.

6. If the Theme Fits- Don't worry if you're torn between two books for a certain theme! If that theme is popular with a majority of our members, we will most likely return to it!

7. You don't NEED to read different books- It won't be a problem if more than one member reads the same book. More than likely, each member will have a different interpretation of the work, and that will lead to a better overall discussion. If not, then we still have more than one person ready to explain the book to the rest of the members, possibly leading to a more informative discussion.

8. Recommend your favorites!- Around each monthly discussion the mods and admins will announce the following months theme (we may switch to a democratic polling system once we have more members). Please recommend your favorites for others who might not be as familiar with the theme or topic! It would really be helpful and you might be able to have an interesting conversation on the side about one of your favorite books!

9. Don't be Afraid to Ask for Help!- Can't find a book and none of the recommendations look interesting to you? Ask for help, someone on the server probably knows a thing or two about the theme or topic of the month!

10. BE RESPECTFUL (I know I already said that in the first welcome message, but, come on, you can't have 9 things on a list)

These are our projected themes for each month. Pick a book that correlates to each theme and read it by the 25th, where we will have a discussion based on the books.

This is all subject to change, there are talks already about having a poll to choose topics instead.

2019

June - essays
July - Graphic Novels (not DC/Marvel superheroes)
August - Full on fantasy
September - Villain protagonists/anti hero.
October - Philosophy (doesn't have to be an essay, can be a work that exemplifies it (i.e. Atlas Shrugged, No Exit, etc.)
November - banned literature
December- Superheroes/Vigilantes

2020
January- something from a non-English speaking country
February
March - Asian literature
April
May - Young Adult Literature
June
July - coming of age
August
September - A play
October
November - Politics (you know what month it is)
December

Comment on what you want to see here. The blank months are supposed to be months that Pierce chooses the topics.

So we've never run a book club before, let alone a thematic one. This was made to encourage the gang to get into reading more after watching this link: brilliant video. (I suggest you guys watch it)

So if any of you people (plus our new member) have any ideas to facilitate a discussion and/or to make this group exciting, then go right ahead. This topic will always be looked at.