Low Resolution: Who's Down For Low Res Book Club?

Friday, July 25, 2008

Who's Down For Low Res Book Club?

Or possibly "Joe-prah's Book Club," but I'm not ready to pull the trigger on that quite yet.

EDIT: Okay, we are a go for the Watchmen club. I'd like to give everyone a chance to obtain the book, and I'm going out of town at the end of next week, so let's target MONDAY, AUGUST 4 as the start date. That's when I'll put up an introductory post and we can all start on Chapter I. See you there!

(Previously:)
Anyway, we've been talking about this in the comments for the Watchmen trailer, but I wanted to bring this out to the main page: Who out there would be interested in doing an online book club to read the Watchmen graphic novel? I've been thinking about re-reading it in preparation for the movie, and a book club has gotten a little bit of interest. Post in the comments if you're interested, and also if you have any suggestions as to a timetable. I've never run a book club, and I want to do this at the right intervals, where we're not killing ourselves to read six chapters in two days but also so we're not dragging this out and losing interest.

Book Club, Whoo!

24 comments:

CT said...: I'm in.; 11:00 AM, July 23, 2008
Emily said...: I'm down for that.; 11:09 AM, July 23, 2008
Val said...: You don't know me but I'd still be interested. Two comments:

I think online book clubs work a little better than in-person ones for people who are either a) shy or b) don't want to make enemies of their friends by accidentally stepping all over their favorite character or something.

I think using a blog is a much smarter idea than the one I tried to implement using email. All comments can be seen and it isn't grossly obvious if you fall behind.

To sum up: Go for it!; 11:34 AM, July 23, 2008
Nicole said...: I'm interested!; 11:40 AM, July 23, 2008
NYOne said...: I won't swear that I'll do it for Watchmen, but I love the idea in general and would definitely participate more often than not. Will it be this year's version of the Low Res Tournament of Actors? ;-); 11:54 AM, July 23, 2008
Joe Reid said...: I assume you mean where I neglect it for weeks at a time until everyone's pissed or uninterested?

Uh, hopefully not.; 11:56 AM, July 23, 2008
Greg said...: I would be interested. I have been thinking of re-reading watchmen lately (which is weird because usually I only want to read it when things are going crappy for me but lately things are going good). I have never been in a book club before but one suggestion I might make is read a chapter or two then discuss and repeat until finished. I mean if you tell everyone to read the whole thing then discuss, the book is dense people will be talking about it forever, and be all over the place in their discussion.; 12:39 PM, July 23, 2008
Joe Reid said...: Oh, absolutely. One chapter at a time.; 12:41 PM, July 23, 2008
AB and the Bear Suits said...: I'm down.; 12:44 PM, July 23, 2008
Tamara said...: I'd like to participate, too. I'm meaning to read it soon, prior to seeing the movie, anyway.; 12:53 PM, July 23, 2008
golexis said...: Yes! I'm in.; 1:00 PM, July 23, 2008
Kris McN said...: Heh, "Joe-prah's Book Club" made me laugh way more than it should have.; 1:09 PM, July 23, 2008
pvt awesome said...: count me in; 1:28 PM, July 23, 2008
jessica said...: I vote Joe-prah.

And I'm in. Maybe even for Watchmen.

Is a weekly post too much to ask? I think a weekly discussion of, say 50-100 pages would be totally doable. (I'm speaking in general terms; I've no idea how long this book is but I don't want to spend 20 weeks -- again, hypothetically -- going one chapter at a time.) Is one month (4-5 weeks) per book doable?

I've never maintained participation in a book club before but I know you can find lots of resources online, from general discussion-starters to specific guides for various books.; 2:13 PM, July 23, 2008
sam said...: you don't know me either, but I'm in. In the other thread, I already mentioned that I started reading watchmen a few days ago (I'm halfway through ch. III).; 2:16 PM, July 23, 2008
Joe Reid said...: Well, for reference, Watchmen is basically 12 chapters (or books, really), so I was thinking one chapter per post, one post every 4 days or so? It'll allow people to keep discussing in the old posts but keep the whole thing moving at a fairly decent clip.

Does that sound about right?; 2:48 PM, July 23, 2008
Emily said...: When will you start? I just ordered it from Amazon and the delivery date isn't until next week. Pout. Obviously, feel free to start without me. I'm a fast reader. And an excellent driver.; 3:23 PM, July 23, 2008
jessica said...: Yeah, a format like that (spanning ~7 weeks for this particular book) would work because a post every 4 days would keep the pace up well.; 3:27 PM, July 23, 2008
Joe Reid said...: Considering anybody who doesn't already own the book would probably not get it from Amazon until next week, that's when we'll begin. I'll put up an introductory post then and start the 4-day schedule from there.; 3:28 PM, July 23, 2008
dotsara said...: New to the party, but I'm in!; 6:29 PM, July 23, 2008
"Lady" Bea said...: I would love it!; 7:17 PM, July 23, 2008
Maria said...: Sign me up!; 7:59 PM, July 23, 2008
Stacey said...: I'd like to join - I've been meaning to pick it up and read it before the movie comes out.; 10:48 PM, July 24, 2008
whammo said...: Me -- Devoted reader, occasional poster, total stranger.

In please.; 5:28 AM, July 27, 2008

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