The Sword and Laser discussion

Hey Philly,

Next book group is on Thursday, November 30th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Ultimo Coffee/Newbold Brew, 1900 S 15th St, Philadelphia, PA.

We'll be talking about the November pick, Doomsday Book. Join us!

[edited with latest meeting information]

Hi, all -- Now that we know the October fantasy pick, do we also want a sci-fi pick to go along?

I'm happy with the pick as is - I'm hearing good things about it (plus I have a ton of other reading I need to do as well...)

Yeah, this one looks interesting. I'm willing to give it a go.

Travis wrote: "Hey Philly,

Next book group is on Thursday, October 26th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Ultimo Coffee/Newbold Brew, 1900 S 15th St, Philadelphia, PA. Join us!

RSVP here."

Travis, instead of creating a new thread for every meeting, can you just edit the thread name with the new date here on out? I tried to do it to the last one, but since you created it, only you can change the name. Otherwise, we don't get notifications for new messages until we actively look for a new thread.

Thanks, see you guys in a few weeks!

Will do! Thanks for the tip. I'll keep this as the permanent thread. Looking forward to seeing you all on the 26th.

If anyone wants to go together to see the Rosenbach's Gothic Monsters / Modern Science exhibit, we can schedule a time when we meet next week. Pages from Mary Shelley's manuscript and Bram Stoker's research notes!!!

https://rosenbach.org/visit/exhibitio...

"With Frankenstein and Dracula, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker created two of history’s most memorable monsters. Two hundred years after Frankenstein was published, pages from Mary Shelley’s manuscript will make their only appearance in the United States, to be displayed for the first time alongside the Rosenbach’s collection of Bram Stoker’s notes for Dracula, accompanied by 19th-century scientific, medical, and literary works. These gothic literary giants emerged from the technological developments, medical breakthroughs, and environmental disasters that characterized the beginning and end of the 19th century, when the novels were written."

Travis wrote: "

If anyone wants to go together to see the Rosenbach's Gothic Monsters / Modern Science exhibit, we can schedule a time when we meet next week. Pages from Mary Shelley's manuscript and Bram Stoker..."

This looks awesome. Let's definitely try to figure out a time to go to this. It runs till February so we have some time.

Agreed, looks awesome and I would be down. Also, apologies if I am slow to respond on here...for some reason, I don't get any sort of notifications in my feed about this group, so I have to manually check all of my notifications to find them. Anyone know if there's a way to make updates to the group show up as email notifications?

Elisabeth, I don't know if you're on the app vs. the browser, but it's pretty easy in the browser--after the box where you write your comment, there should be a tick-mark for "Notify men when people reply" that you can edit to show that you want an individual email whenever someone comments in this thread.

Looking forward to seeing you all -- and anyone who wants to join us -- this Thursday for The Alchemist's Daughter!

So great to chat with you all tonight.

As a recap, we of course talked about The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. We liked it. Some of us really liked it. We especially liked Justine and Catherine. Some of us wouldn't mind spending a hundred years gardening and reading old books. We wondered what made Mary and Diana monsters. We hope that Diana acquires some additional notes in the sequel.

Did I miss anything?

And, of course, we talked about oh so much more:

Sci-Fi / Fantasy Fiction
All Systems Red
E.T. the Extraterrestrial Storybook
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
Hurricane Heels
The Rook
An Unkindness of Ghosts
La Belle Sauvage
City of Stairs
Her Body and Other Parties (Philly based writer!)

Other Fiction
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Lincoln in the Bardo

Romance
Hamilton's Battalion: A Trio of Romances
The Soldier's Scoundrel

Comics
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1
Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening
Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice (Set in Philly!)

Non-Fiction
No Hurry to Get Home: The Memoir of the New Yorker Writer Whose Unconventional Life and Adventures Spanned the Century
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

Films
The Force Awakens
Wonder Woman
Thor: Ragnarok

Television
Harlots
Yuri on Ice
Stranger Things
Dr. Who Christmas Special

Podcasts
Sword and Laser (of course!)
Vaginal Fantasy
Cook the Books
IRL

Next meeting is Thursday, November 30th, at 6:30 p.m. at Ultimo, 1900 South 15th Street. (I'll update and add an event listing shortly.)

Now: What did I miss!!????

Thank you so much for being group secretary, Travis!

My TBR list has grown so much...

Dena wrote: "Thank you so much for being group secretary, Travis!

My TBR list has grown so much..."

A total pleasure. And mine too...

Next meet up event page is live.

RSVP Here

Venue change!

Hi, all,

Our next meet up is December 21st. Come join us!

RSVP Here

Hi all,

Our next meet up is February 1st. We'll be discussing Frankenstein, looking forward to (re)reading A Wrinkle in Time, weighing all the debate surrounding The Last Jedi, and talking about all the things SFF related we've been up to.

This event is open to all. Come join us!

RSVP Here: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

Hi, all,

Sorry for the late notice. Our next meeting is THIS Thursday. We'll be discussing A Wrinkle in Time the novel and the graphic novel, and I'd be surprised if Black Panther doesn't come up several times.

We meet at 6:30 p.m. at Ultimo Coffee, 1900 South 15th Street.

RSVP here: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

Previous RSVP page doesn't work. Try this: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

Such a great discussion tonight.

Highlights included our shared opinion that A Wrinkle in Time was better when we were young and a long, involved discussion about Black Panther.

Books we also discussed included:
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
The City of Brass
The Invisible Library
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman
Daughter of the Forest
The Princess Bride
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Lathe of Heaven

We also talked about the tv shows Star Trek: Discovery and Slings & Arrows and the movies Annihilation and Labyrinth.

Next meeting is April 12th at 7:30. We're moving to a Center City location, ideally near the El. Any suggestions?

Happy reading!

After you left the idea of Suraya in Fishtown came up. It’s 10 minutes from the Girard stop. Lebanese deli/grocery store/restaurant.

According to their website, Suraya closes at 5 pm. So can't do that if we do weeknights. But if you guys are in the mood for Lebanese food/coffee type place, we can go to Manakeesh in West Philly.

I like Manakeesh! I’ll probably get there early though, since there’s no point in going home then turning around right away.

I am a bit worried that it's too far for you and Liz, though. I haven't found any coffee shop in Center City open past 7-8pm that isn't a Starbucks. The ones in the Mariott Downtown and Rittenhouse (18th and Spruce) are open till 10pm.

Hey guys, I moved my tutoring to Wednesday so I can do Manakeesh!

Are we aiming for 6:30 at Manakeesh then?

Perfect!

I still owe y'all baklava.

http://www.manakeeshcafe.com

Argh! I would really love to join y'all one time, but getting to W Philly by 630 is tough. Have fun, I'll be watching the locations in the hopes one day the stars align!

Dena wrote: "Are we aiming for 6:30 at Manakeesh then?"

It'll probably be closer to 7pm for me, but you guys can get started at 6:30pm.

Allison, we'll probably be there until after 8, so feel free to join in when you can!

It will be closer to 7pm for me as well. Thanks!

Should we switch to 7 then, or are you still planning on 6:30, Travis?

7 sounds great. That'll be easier for me too.

Okay. Now to figure out what to do for two hours between 5 and 7...

The Last Word Bookshop, which is right around the corner from House of Our Own Books. Because, clearly, you need more books.

Hahaha!

Hey guys, I know we decided to meet in June next but anyone remember when?

I have down that we said the 21st. I don't suppose we can go the week earlier? I'll be at a conference that day.

I"ll be in China until June 17th, so later works better for me...

The next book is Circe, or did we decide on another one within the group? I've been out of the country so I am so out of the loop haha

Can we do it the week after? I really want to discuss Circe. I’m so excited to read it!

Hello, I do not live in PA, but Circe Madeline Miller is coming near you next week.
Thursday, May 31st, 7PM, Bala Cynwyd Library, Bala Cynwyd PA.
see it here
http://madelinemiller.com/appearances/
ttps://www.facebook.com/balacynwydlibrary/

I'm reading Song of Achilles now and I love it. Can't wait to read and discuss Circe. I can do the 28th, if we want to push the meeting.

Yes, the 28th works for me! I’m almost done Circe and it’s fantastic!

I can't make the 28th, but I'm happy to share in the Circe love vicariously! I read The Song of Achilles awhile back and looooooved it.

Is there any time after the 26th that we can all get together?

I'm free pretty much any time after June 17th :)

How about the 29th or the 30th?

I am free on those days. But not that Sunday. And then I am gone till July 8th.