UPDATE: On 20th June we will host a conversation with Lynda Schuster, author of the best seller Dirty Wars & Polished Silver. We need your help to ensure we’ll get enough participants.
Please join us if you’re able, whether you’ve read the book or not. It will, no doubt, be an interesting conversation. The story chronicles Lynda’s days as a Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent and diplomat’s wife, and is full of daring-do incidents and fascinating glimpses into embassy life.
The conversation is scheduled for 2pm Eastern Time on 20 June . Please DM me if you can participate. With your help we should get a great showing. Thanks for your help with this.
(Original post)
Hi! I haven’t been reading as much as I’d like, not nearly as much as when I was part of a book club. Knowing I have a date with friends to discuss our latest read always gave me incentive to curl up with a good book instead of doing yet another thing off my “to do” list. I always love hearing what others thought of what we’d just read.
It seems we have quite a group of avid readers here in the forum. Would any of you be interested in forming our own book club? We could meet over Zoom once a month and rotate who “hosts” the meeting. We could even nominate books and vote on which ones would be next. However the group wants to do it.
I’d be happy to set up the recurring Zoom meeting, if anyone’s interested. So, do I have any takers?
I’m an avid reader but a very slow one. While travelling in NZ I’m mainly reading books by NZ authors or those set in NZ, as it’s a great way to learn more about the culture and history of a country and places visited. I’ve never joined a book club, but probably should one day when I’m ‘settled’. However it would have to be in person, not via zoom - there was enough of that during the pandemic. I get a lot out of Facebook book groups such as ‘First Edition’ and ‘Sky Arts Book Club’ though. Good luck with this, I think @Amparo tried to set one up but had little interest at the time
Love the idea, @Karen_E . Maybe there should be a theme for the book selections, possibly books, fiction or non-fiction, set in interesting locations? I would love to participate but I’m very fussy and a slow reader. I would give it a try, though. I’d love the chance to meet some of you over Zoom.
Hello @sledgejoyce, @Samox24, @mars, @SoloTraveler, @andrealovesanimals and any other book lovers who’d like to join us. Should we meet over zoom to get to know each other a little and decide how we’ll proceed? When would be the best day and time (include timezone please) for this first meetup? I’m in Eastern Daylight Time for the next several weeks but am flexible as to when we meet.
I’m looking forward to getting to know you all better and exploring wonderful books together.
Thank you @Karen_E !
Wow, this could be challenging with the time differences. I will be on EDT for the last couple days of March and the entire month of April. How about a Tuesday or Thursday evening around 19:00 or 19:30? I have more flexibility than this, but just want to get the ball rolling to see where everyone else stands. Are any of these days good: Th 30 Mar, Th 6 Apr,
Tues 11 Apr, Tues 18 Apr, Th 20 Apr?
Hi @Karen_E Thank you for trying to sort this out with suitable dates/times @mars all dates and Tues/Thurs you suggested are good with me. Will wait and see what days/times work best for others and progress from there.
I have a book to suggest. Whether we decide to read it as a group or not, I recommend it – it was fantastic. A few years ago, we read it in another book club I am in and I did what I rarely do knowing people have very particular tastes of their own, I gave several copies as gifts to friends. They all loved it. What’s more, the author joined us via Skype. Maybe she would be willing to do it via Zoom again. Regardless of our book choice, I am recommending this one to everyone. It’s an incredible travel book, both moving and funny.
Thanks for the time and book recommendations to get us started @mars. If everyone agrees, maybe we start with this book and push the date of our first meeting out to mid- or late-April, to give everyone time to read it. I’d be happy to see if the author could join us.
Thanks, @Samox24, for your flexibility and willingness to stay up late. Is anyone planning to travel to the UK or Europe in the coming months? If we target 7pm Eastern Daylight Time, that puts the meetups fairly late for anyone across the pond.
Sorry, just getting a chance to chime in. I live on the East Coast of the United States, so I will normally be in Eastern Time. However, from April 13 to April 28, I will be in France (on vacation, not a sit) so it will be unlikely that I could join in during that time. Don’t hold up anything for me; I will try to read the book since it seems so interesting. Thanks, @mars , for the recommendation.
@Karen_E , this chart is very helpful. I wonder if we should choose a date first, then find out where everyone will be on that date to pick a time that will work for all of us. Depending on the date, I can be very flexible – early morning till late at night.
@sledgejoyce , I think we can pick a time that will work for you too.
Thank you @Karen_E I am very adaptable with different time zones, (I think I have had enough practice of this! ), wherever I happen to be located, and I have no idea where I will be on the selected dates so I will fit in around everyone else’s chosen times.
Yay! We’ve selected our first book. Thanks @mars. This book, in printed form, is 352 pages.
Could everyone finish it by (Tues) April 25th or (Thurs) the 27th? If not we can shoot for the following week.
Could we meet at 1pm or 2pm Eastern Time? That would give us flexibility for people in Europe or Pacific Time as we each move around in the coming months.
Once we decide on the week and time of day, I’ll figure out how to reach out to the author to see if she’s available.
), wherever I happen to be located, and I have no idea where I will be on the selected dates so I will fit in around everyone else’s chosen times.