Only the strong survive

Readers,

Hope everyone is almost done. And we can get on with discussing this wild-ride that was, "Kafka on the Shore"
When we are done, I hope some can attend the discussion. But I think we should change one of the days. Feel free to make suggestions, but I think we will still have the discussion on SUNDAY the 22nd, but now, instead of Saturday it will be on Thursday instead. PLEASE email me and we can come to a consensus on the days. How is 6 to 8 pm on Thursday and 4 to 6pm on Saturday. These are both Pacific time. So call someone and tell them to get on the Skype or the Gmail or the phone or whatever and Talk about this god forsaken book. Speaking of God Forsaken. The next book seems to be just that.





HERE IS CORINNE'S little BLURB on WORLD WAR Z

World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks

So I have never read this book before, nor much science fiction for that matter. I'm loving Kafka on the Shore so much that I realize its a hard act to follow. Upon discussing my book chooser of the month role with a friend, she recommended this as a great book for a book club and listing off all of our mutual friends that are also now obsessed. None of these folks are your typical science fiction aficionados, so I take her word that its worth the read.

From my understanding the story is told through interviews looking back at the post apocalyptic world where Patient Zero came in and nearly wiped out humanity. Zombies took over and the war for survival raged. Max Brooks writes in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?" I think the general them speaks to fear of the "other," the enemy, among other relevant metaphors of the time.

This is a link to the publisher's description, which I like the best of those that I've read so far.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307346605


I think we all have something to look forward to...

I know you can get this on Amazon for eight books and some library is likely to have it. So get on it! Also, this is a great month to get more people on who didn't read last month. Talk to you soon....

Andrew

Feb-March Update

Book Readers,

I just wanted to put this out there. The new book for the Month February 20th to March 20th will be...


World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.


Corinne will write more about it soon. When it is more official. I think there is a companion book you could read / look through first called: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead.

These books may be sort of obscure from libraries, so reserve your copy today!

EXCITING!!!

-Andrew

February

Interesting... hmm, wow, what a great line. Yes.
Oh sorry, I was just reading the book, finishing it up, almost there and I guess I was interrupted. Still, I hope everyone is enjoying, I know I am and I can't give it up enough to ol Brett Allin. What a great guy huh?

Don't get worried now, everyone still has a few weeks to get on it. But I just want to put it out there that we should schedule a discussion. I am thinking the Saturday and/or Sunday after the 20th of February. Around 4pm pacific time on Saturday, and 11 am pacific on Sunday. Shouldn't be too early for anyone.

Here is how it will go down. If you want to call someone, email me and I will give you someones number that you need or someone random, if you wish. If you want to talk, chat, email Brett (the man who picked the book), here is his email: brett.allin@gmail.com He is from Danville, CA the same town as "SULLY" the Miracle Pilot. My email again is motandrew@gmail.com

Other than a ONE-on-ONE discussion with someone, we will try to do a group discussion. During those times I mentioned I will be on gmail and SKYPE. my skype name is "asuneater" so you can SKYPE me and then I will add you to the group call we will be having, if you are technology capable. Also, I think we can have a giant gmail group chat. Should work out well, just email me if we don't chat already. This is one of the most important parts of the book club, so lets try and make it work.

Either Way, I hope we talk. Yes, you and me... and I hope the next book goes down like sweet apple pie on a southern plantation. It will be picked out by none other than Corinne Ray, no not the famed singer/songwriter, instead a humble couchsurfer who now lives in the Bay Area. Email her corinne.ray@gmail.com or check out her inspiring website corinneray.com or watch her show "Weird, True, and Freaky" on Animal Planet. There will be more about her, and the new book soon! I am also going to email this out to everyone on the list until you start checking this blog regularly.

weird, true, Freaky?,

Andrew

Book-readers

Hey New Book-Readers.

I hope everyone is engrossed in the current book, and the inauguration. I want to propose some change, and some democracy. I have talked to a few people who have started reading, and they think that a group discussion would be a fun idea at the end of this.

I propose we use Skype to do this. I'm not sure yet but this may allow us to video chat with each other, as well as chat in the more traditional sense.

I see there are nine followers of the blog, I think being a "follower" of the blog will give us all a sense of how big the club is, who is in it, and who we can communicate about the book with. So, please if you are joining or reading press the follow button and sign up! Thanks.

Finally, I am not sure how we will choose the next book yet, but that information will be released soon and then we will announce the new book with ample time to order it from the library, purchase or borrow it.

I hope everyone feels a sense of personal responsibility and inspiration from the events of today, January 20th and that it is meaningful and not naive to be hopeful. Just thought I would throw that out there.


Also, in a step to organize these events could everyone in the club email me: motandrew@gmail.com
with the subject line: Book Reading Club


Good Reading...

Andrew

Book Uno chosen by El Bretto

The book Brett chose January's book reading club book will be Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. A favorite author of mine as well. Brett gave us this book with a short preface which has been included below.



To the Inaugural Members of a Grand Book Club,

With mucha gracia to our great friend and mutual acquaintance Andrew Schwartz, I have chosen our first piece of literature. It is a book that I read once in a strange land and one that I look forward to reading again in an even stranger land (Danville). It is written by the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, and is titled Kafka on the Shore. It is the bizarre story of a free-spirited young man, a remarkable simpleton, and a plethora of other strange characters and happenings. It works with notions of cause, fate, and the nature of Time itself. Besides this, I will just say that it is beautifully written, and I will leave the rest for you to read and interpret, and for us to discuss when the time is ripe.

I hope you can find a well-worn copy in your local library or used bookstore, one that you can one day pass on to your children, and your children's children after them, explaining to them how you, once upon a time, undertook a grand protestacular against the powers that be. I hope you enjoy and I invite you to e-mail me (brett.allin@gmail.com) or our mutual acquaintance if any questions or problems arise in the course of your reading. Thank you and I wish you all a lifetime of good books and positive relationships.

Sincerely,

Brett J. Allin


*PS.. here is the book, and a link to the wiki. Please enjoy, and to give you a few days lets reconvene on February 20th. I'll have the next book ready before then.

Good luck, and ENJOY!

Best Regards,

Andrew

Inaugural email

Hello and Welcome,

I am emailing Y'all as the first act in the conception of a book reading club. Feel free to forward this to anyone who you trust.

Let me first start by explaining and presenting the mission of this group: There are so many good books, and so many good people. As the people we know and love spread across the country and the world our correspondence will inevitably diminish; book reading is not a competition nor exposition but rather a method of communication. By reading what others are reading we will better connect with ourselves and each other. By connecting we will quickly and efficiently reach a higher state of consciousness.

That's it. That's all, nothing special. So here is how it will work, every month one of our diverse and unique members will choose and book. I will post it on the website and then we should all read it. There won't be any formal discussion, however you must talk to at least one person in the book-reading club and talk about the book (maybe a different person each month?). Anyway, my good friend Brett Allin will choose the first book. The club will officially start when I post his book on the website, which should be by the 15th of January. Please, send me any ideas you have or books you want to read and we will poll them on the website.

Hope everyone had a great new year and all that, and send me any emails of people you have forwarded this to then I can send them bulk emails.
Oh, and the website is funkyreadingclub.blogspot.com

Thats... http://funkyreadingclub.blogspot.com


Thanks, love, and all the rest...


Andrew D. Schwartz

This will be our blog site

This is where information will be set up so you can always see what we are reading this month. Also, we can have discussions on here. If that is what you are into...