Oh, the glorious Book Club
Posted by Rachel
Book clubs. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're been around for decades and look to stay that way. F&W sponsors several book clubs as do other publishers of fiction and nonfiction. In fact, usually it's publishing companies that sponsor a book club. However, it appears that Life of Pi author Yann Martel has his own mini-book club. Martel sends the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, a book every fortnight. The Guardian reports that Martel sends second-hand paperbacks in a variety of genres and makes sure to alternate classic greats like Tolstoy with books on Hindu scripture or Strindberg's Miss Julie. No response yet to the books and kind notes.
I can't help but wonder if anyone is reading the books that Martel is so kindly sending along, especially Harper. Martel even comments that "If I knew he liked thrillers, I would send more of those - perhaps a Chinese thriller."
Wouldn't it be great to have your own personal book club that wasn't limited by a particular publisher or genre? And even better, one you don't have to pay for? But the hard question for me is would I want someone to deliver books by authors I don't know, but would like to, or books by authors I already know and love?
For example, I am a huge fan of Patricia Briggs and Elizabeth Moon and would love to read everything they publish, but I have never actually read a Terry Pratchett or George R.R. Martin book (I know, I know, I'll get on that). I read Amy Tan's books because they are such amazing windows into cultures and places I'm not a part of, but I haven't read more than one of Margret Atwood's novels.
I have begun reading novels outside my normal habits since becoming editor of NSSWM, from literary tomes to romances to graphic novels, and I've even become addicted to several online comics (I now follow Brat-halla and Cat Legend). Reading a wider range of books has made me appreciate my old favorites all the more, and introduced me to a few new ones. I'm starting to figure out what I really like to read by what stays true across genres (biggest thing for me: I much prefer character-driven plots to concept-driven plots). So I think I would like to have someone send me works by authors I don't know.
Still, I have to wonder, what would you like to read if someone created a book club just for you?
8/21/2007 12:11:24 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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