Book Sixteen: A Million Suns

Just a reminder, book sixteen was decided on late last month and it is A Million Suns by Beth Revis. It is the second book in the trilogy we began last year with Across the Universe. If you didn't read the first book (or you have really bad memory like myself) you can take a look at our chat discussion here.

I know not everyone has been able to get their hands on a copy, so let's discuss where we are at and decide on a chat date.

Never Let Me Go

Reminder: Book chat today at 5:30pm.

Here is a video of the song "Never Let Me Go" from the film adaptation of the book.

Never Let Go chat details and book sixteen discussion

Alright, so I actually can not make the chat Sunday at 4pm as I have a conflict until 5pm, but if we push it back to 5pm or 530pm I can probably make most of it. If 4 works better for everyone else involved in the chat, then let's not mess with the time. Let me know in the comments.

As for book sixteen, go ahead and field your choices in the comments and we'll begin voting on Friday.

Never Let Me Go

If you plan to participate in the chat for Never Let Me Go, please list your preferred time and date for the chat. If this week does not work, we might try next week so please list your availability for both.

Thanks.

Book Fifteen - Never Let Me Go

Looks like we will be reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro for the month of April. It is a pretty short book (less than 300 pages) so we should be able to get through it pretty quickly and I'd like to plan for a chat the weekend of the 20-22.

Let me know your availability.

Pick Book Fifteen

Help us pick book fifteen!

Here are the suggestions we have.

The Buddha In The Attic by Julie Otsuka

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Since Susan didn't provide authors, I'm just gonna pick the top Amazon choice for the following titles :)

Room by Emma Donoghue?

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Book Fifteen

Thoughts for book fifteen?

Leave your suggestions here by March 26th.

Remember, April 1 is when we start the new book, so keep your eye on the blog for updates.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, chat recap

Well, we have wrapped our first book/movie chat and I think it went quite well. Given the length of the movie and thus the chat, there will be no transcript posted. However, I think we overall agree the books are much better than the movie, but the movie is quite good as something separate from the books. We had some differing opinions on how close actors matched the characters we created in our heads, and how scenes and places matched or didn't match our expectations, but as a whole we enjoyed the book and the film.

For now, we will plan to start our next book on April 1st and in the meantime some of us will wrap up the series on our own.

Check back later this week or next weekend for a chance to pick book fifteen.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, upcoming chat

The chat for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is tomorrow, Sunday March 18th at 4pm PST.

This is a very special chat because we will actually be watching the Scandinavian film version of the book, as we chat. The movie is available on Netflix Instant, if you don't have Netflix but want to join go ahead and let me know so we can get you signed in for the film. The film is 146 minutes, so make sure you have some munchies ready for the extended chat.

Whether you are only 20 pages in or you have already completed the series, we hope you can join the discussion!

I know some have already moved along to the other books in the series, so we might wrap up the series for book fifteen and sixteen. However, start thinking about what book you want to read next because we will likely start fresh for April.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

During our chat for book thirteen, we decided to go ahead and read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and I was wondering how people are coming along.

I actually finished the book last night and loved it. After getting totally absorbed at the half-way point, I couldn't put it down.

We discussed a March chat and possibly even viewing the Swedish version of the film at the same time (it is on Netflix Instant) following. Let me know when you are available in March.

What Next? Book Fourteen

Since we sailed through book thirteen pretty quickly, it is already time to decide on our next book.

In our last poll, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson had a lot of support so if most of us are content with that selection we can go ahead with that.

However, feelings might have changed since that last vote, so here are some other options:

The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht

11/22/63, by Stephen King

The Obamas, by Jodi Kantor

And, of course, we are ALWAYS open for new suggestions.

Leave your opinion in the comment section by Sunday.

'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)' - chat reminder

Let's chat!

We will discuss Mindy Kaling's book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) this weekend.

Join us for the chat on gchat, Sunday February 12 at 4 PM PST.

Let us know if you can make it. Whether you have finished the book, have not read a single page, or are somewhere in between, join us for a fun discussion.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? upcoming chat

How are people coming along with book thirteen?

I have already finished the book which was a rather fun and quick read. It was a great break from some of the denser and slightly depressing stuff we have read (and what I have to read for school). I know some have already finished, so I guess it is a good time to schedule a chat.

Since the book was really light, I think the chat will be really brief and probably more just an excuse for us friends to chat, so let me know when you are available. The sooner we chat the sooner we can start on our next book.

The House of God, discussion

Thank you to those who made it to the discussion today. There was a mixture of reactions to the book: some of loved it, some were turned off by the writing style, but overall we had a good discussion.

The dialogue from the chat are after the jump.

Book Thirteen Announced

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kalling is our February read.

The race was close with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo coming in a close second. I am tentatively scheduling that book as our March read (book fourteen), but as always we will have options for suggestions as February draws to a close.

For now, grab Mindy's book and keep checking back here for details of the end-of-month February chat.

The House of God, book details and references

The discussion on The House of God is just about an hour away, and in preparation I wanted to post some quotes, questions, and details from the book.

There are a lot of characters and relationships to consider. A few that I found most important to the development of Roy in his internship are:
Fats
Dr. Saunders
Berry
Chuck
Potts
Quick and Gilheeny

Other characters to think about: Roy's father, Jo, Leggo, Fish, The Yellow Man, Hooper, Eddie, Molly, Runt, Nate Zock, Richard Nixon.

-What do you think of how the author used Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal as historical backdrop?

-What, if anything, do the gomers/gomeres represent to Roy and the rest of the staff at The House of God?

If you have already read the book and/or you have not but don't mind reading quotes from the book that reveal details, then don't follow the jump.

Book Thirteen Poll and 'The House of God' Chat Reminder

The poll is up for book thirteen, check it out to the right. You can only vote once, and this is to determine the book we will read for the month of February. Keep that in mind when you vote for the book. Remember the books that do not make the vote this month will be options for future months.

Voting ends Sunday, January 29 at 4PM PST so make sure you vote!

A reminder: the chat for Book Twelve, The House of God is Sunday at 4PM PST so be sure to join us whether you have finished the book, haven't picked it up, or anywhere in between.

Last note, I added a new page to the blog, Books Completed, where you can look up all the books we have read together thus far. The the page link is on the right, beneath the book thirteen poll.

Book Thirteen

As we are soon to discuss book twelve, let's start thinking about our next book!

I am still very much intending for us to read 12 books this year, so if there is a book you are dying to read, a book you have already read that you want to discuss with others, a movie you don't want to see until you read the book, or anything else, bring your suggestions here.

We will vote for ONE book using the Blogger Poll feature, so look for that poll on the right beginning Thursday, and make sure you vote before the poll closes on Sunday at 4PM PST. The next book will be announced at the book twelve chat and later will be posted here.

Keep in mind that the chat for book thirteen will be sometime during the last week of February.

The House of God, by Samuel Shem

How does Sunday, January 29 at 4PM PST work for our chat on The House of God?

Whether you have finished reading, only started, or haven't even picked up the book, come join us as we discuss the stories and struggles of a first year Medical intern.

Let us know if you can make the chat!

The House of God, by Samuel Shem

After a two-month hiatus (sorry!) let's start the new year by finishing up The House of God by Samuel Shem.

I finally picked up the book today (I know, I set a terrible example) and I am really enjoying it! Thus, my motivation to shake the hiatus and move forward.

So, how are people coming along with the book? I'd love to arrange a chat and regardless of how much or how little you have read, it would be great to see you join us!

How does the end of January sound? I'd like to try and do one book a month this year, so whether we are able to chat about this book by the end of January or not, we will be starting a new book in February so stay tuned for that :)

As usual, post a comment with your availability and let us know where you are in the book.