Marauding Book Clubs
Mar. 12th, 2011 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Well, this should be interesting. I just fell through the internet into a book club. Finally, somewhere in Salt Lake City, fantasy nerds are beginning to unite!
It is still a modest club; only three people RSVP’d for the first meeting tonight. The club may grow fast though, as evidenced by the exchange in the café at the beginning of the meeting:
GREEN SHIRT GUY: (to LONG-HAIRED DUDE) … Excuse me, are you here for the book club meeting?
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: No, sorry.
ME: The fantasy book club? I’m here for that!
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: Wait, you guys are in a fantasy book club?
GREEN SHIRT GUY: Well, possibly. We’re just getting started.
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: (eyes alight) That sounds … cool.
ME: So perhaps you are here for the book club after all!
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: Yes, it would seem that way.
Remember this moment, my friends. This may be the first time you’ve ever heard of a book club press gang.
Then when the other RSVP member showed up (bringing the tally to three late-twenties-early-thirties white guys and me--surprise), we talked for about forty-five minutes about our favorite books, and movies that ruined them, and what kind of other nerdly pursuits we liked. Then we remembered that we’re ostensibly a book club and decided maybe we should read a book to talk about for next time, unless we forget or don’t like it.
Definitely my kind of club.
I’m hoping it picks up steam. Even around these parts, there have got to be some geeks and nerds around to hang out with in a setting that doesn’t require polyhedral dice. * You never know!
*There is such a thing as a Mormon fantasy freak, actually—we have a surprisingly large number of spec fic authors here in Utah, many of whom aren’t Orson Scott Card, Colossal Douche, and Mormons embrace that. But none of said Mormon geeks seem interested in forming clubs outside of the ward. Why bother?
It is still a modest club; only three people RSVP’d for the first meeting tonight. The club may grow fast though, as evidenced by the exchange in the café at the beginning of the meeting:
GREEN SHIRT GUY: (to LONG-HAIRED DUDE) … Excuse me, are you here for the book club meeting?
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: No, sorry.
ME: The fantasy book club? I’m here for that!
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: Wait, you guys are in a fantasy book club?
GREEN SHIRT GUY: Well, possibly. We’re just getting started.
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: (eyes alight) That sounds … cool.
ME: So perhaps you are here for the book club after all!
LONG-HAIRED DUDE: Yes, it would seem that way.
Remember this moment, my friends. This may be the first time you’ve ever heard of a book club press gang.
Then when the other RSVP member showed up (bringing the tally to three late-twenties-early-thirties white guys and me--surprise), we talked for about forty-five minutes about our favorite books, and movies that ruined them, and what kind of other nerdly pursuits we liked. Then we remembered that we’re ostensibly a book club and decided maybe we should read a book to talk about for next time, unless we forget or don’t like it.
Definitely my kind of club.
I’m hoping it picks up steam. Even around these parts, there have got to be some geeks and nerds around to hang out with in a setting that doesn’t require polyhedral dice. * You never know!
*There is such a thing as a Mormon fantasy freak, actually—we have a surprisingly large number of spec fic authors here in Utah, many of whom aren’t Orson Scott Card, Colossal Douche, and Mormons embrace that. But none of said Mormon geeks seem interested in forming clubs outside of the ward. Why bother?
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 06:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 03:17 pm (UTC)I tried joining a book club last fall, through the library. In the end the only real people who showed up, besides myself, were library employees who mostly talked about in-house drama and gossip. I felt horridly awkwardly out of place and uncomfortable and "forgot" to pick up the next book after the third meeting. I don't think they ever noticed I stopped coming because they have all my contact information (phone, email, etc) from when I signed up and have never once tried to contact me about it.
Where did you learn about your book club? I wonder if there's a place I can find something similar in my area and I just don't know how to look for it...
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 04:03 pm (UTC)One of my goals when I move is to become more social again. I tend to hermit-ize myself and that's not good when you're a major depressive introvert. :-)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 11:46 pm (UTC)I don't think he's a Mormon though, but I could be wrong.