I feel it's important to make a statement on individual involvement in this book club, Between Book Covers, at the beginning. I know I'll feel better once this is said.
Organization of a book club on Goodreads engages an array of assists ostensibly intended, I assume, to facilitate discussion and communication between members. Most of the offerings are welcome enough. If you're any kind of reader at all, however, even if your opinion is that there are times when less reading is preferable to more reading, you get a little resentful of interruptions and the overall GR swagger around the edges of your day. I know I do. There are tendencies for well-intentioned enthusiasts to ignite brush fires of discussion which can't be contained. That's what moderators are for, I'm told. Well, let me just say from the onset that this club has no expectations whatsoever that you take part in any of this.
I don't expect you to discuss anything in the discussions. I don't expect you respond. I have remarkably few expectations. I'm a single dad with three kids and a gratifying, adventuresome life. I'm pretty consumed with daily demands and hope you'll forgive my oversights. I'm afraid I won't be a very good online moderator.
I will endeavor to provide the raw material necessary for sparkling, glittering evenings animated by candid, lively discussion. Most of the time this will occur. Thucydides declared that, "The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine". We can eat olives, drink wine and be less barbarous together. I'm sustained and made better for the evenings spent discussing books with friends. I have benefited from my participation in some of the most extraordinary book clubs. I've observed that it's quite easy to pass remarkable evenings together here in Northern New Mexico by opening the door to the disparate and wide-ranging characters who are stranded, devoted, searching, anxious, distracted, at ease, lost and found here. I hope you'll find something or contribute to crafting the kind of experience and support you're seeking in a book club.
Our only prohibition is taken from Burroughs, "The Place of Dead Roads", "You see that sign..." the bartender snarls, "Maggoty mummies will not be served here."
So keep your mummy in shape, free of maggots, knots tied, linens smelling of myrrh. Off we go. From here on it's up to you. Make of it what you will and we'll all benefit from the insights and experiences you're sure to offer. If you want to liven up the online discussions and have the energy to do so, then by all means volunteer and you'll soon find yourself holding the reigns.
Organization of a book club on Goodreads engages an array of assists ostensibly intended, I assume, to facilitate discussion and communication between members. Most of the offerings are welcome enough. If you're any kind of reader at all, however, even if your opinion is that there are times when less reading is preferable to more reading, you get a little resentful of interruptions and the overall GR swagger around the edges of your day. I know I do. There are tendencies for well-intentioned enthusiasts to ignite brush fires of discussion which can't be contained. That's what moderators are for, I'm told. Well, let me just say from the onset that this club has no expectations whatsoever that you take part in any of this.
I don't expect you to discuss anything in the discussions. I don't expect you respond. I have remarkably few expectations. I'm a single dad with three kids and a gratifying, adventuresome life. I'm pretty consumed with daily demands and hope you'll forgive my oversights. I'm afraid I won't be a very good online moderator.
I will endeavor to provide the raw material necessary for sparkling, glittering evenings animated by candid, lively discussion. Most of the time this will occur. Thucydides declared that, "The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine". We can eat olives, drink wine and be less barbarous together. I'm sustained and made better for the evenings spent discussing books with friends. I have benefited from my participation in some of the most extraordinary book clubs. I've observed that it's quite easy to pass remarkable evenings together here in Northern New Mexico by opening the door to the disparate and wide-ranging characters who are stranded, devoted, searching, anxious, distracted, at ease, lost and found here. I hope you'll find something or contribute to crafting the kind of experience and support you're seeking in a book club.
Our only prohibition is taken from Burroughs, "The Place of Dead Roads", "You see that sign..." the bartender snarls, "Maggoty mummies will not be served here."
So keep your mummy in shape, free of maggots, knots tied, linens smelling of myrrh. Off we go. From here on it's up to you. Make of it what you will and we'll all benefit from the insights and experiences you're sure to offer. If you want to liven up the online discussions and have the energy to do so, then by all means volunteer and you'll soon find yourself holding the reigns.