The Reading Circle - discussion about books to read

Lucid Lounge
1

Gather up, dreamers, gather up! :happy:

In a recent discussion with other mods, I cough actually, it was Moogle, but never mind that :roll: cough came up with the idea of starting a Reading Circle here in the forum—a place for the members to read and discuss books and literature…

So this is how it’s going to work:

Every moon, the Reading Circle will have a different host.

It’s up to the host which book is going to be read for that moon—this can obviously be discussed with the other members, but the final decision on the host’s hands.

The host plays an important role in the Reading Circle. He or she is responsible for keeping the circle active by reading everyone’s posts and trying to give feedback and motivate people to join the ongoing discussions.

Every moon, a book

So every moon we’ll have a new topic here in the lounge for the discussion of the current book. In that topic, users can post their questions, discuss the book, post interpretations etc.

The next moon’s book shall be decided a week before the it’s beggining, so that people have time to buy/borrow a copy (or, if they’re anything like me, find their copy of it :tongue:).

Spoiler bonanza!

Since will have a lot of them, spoilers can now be hidden in a safe way! Whenever there’s something you’d like to screen, you can use our brand new spoiler tags! Here’s an example. If you write the following…

[spoiler]harry potter falls down the staircase and dies[/spoiler]

…you’ll get this:

SPOILER - Click to view

harry potter falls down the staircase and dies

Cool huh? :cool: To read a spoiler, just highlight the contents of the box with your mouse. Go ahead! Try it!

Aren’t you a spoiled forum member? :grin:

Cool! Where can I apply for it?

That’s what’s cool about all this: the Circle doesn’t require membership or frequency!

You can join us whenever you like the book that was chosen, and you don’t have to do it formally. Just tell us you’re interested in the next book—so that we have time to change if we notice no–one is. :razz:

In this thread, you can volunteer to be the next moon’s host, suggest and vote for the next moon’s book and discuss these guidelines.

And that’s about it. I’ll be your host for the next moon, which starts on April the fourth. I’ll post the options to make a pool in a moment, ok? :wink:

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You know this is great! Not just great, but Marvelous!!!

I so love the enthusiasm for encouraging reading. There’s a thread for creative writing and now reading!! Super High-Fives for you and Moogle, Bruno.

This is wonderful.

The book can be on any topic? Or is it going to be LD related? Are you guys coming up with the selections or will their be a Sci-Fi month, Fantasy Month, Psychology, Thriller… see where I’m going?

This is really great guys!

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ahem Hello, hello! My name is Bruno, I’m going to be the next moon’s host. :cool:

(Seriously, ain’t I the coolest? :razz:)

Since we’re in short of time to discuss the next book (sorry, I wish I hadn’t come up with the whole thing just a week before the beggining of the next moon) and we need to haste a bit, I prepared a list with some of my personal favourites for the users to choose as the next moon’s reading. :wink:

I tried to choose some interesting fiction books, I hope you guys enjoy it. I wish I had more time to make a nicer, more diverse selection of books, but these are the ones which were top of my mind. I hope you enjoy the selection.

Ilum, I like your idea on diversity, I hope we can make a nice selection of books for next moon, so we can choose between some non fiction works too.

I made this selection in a haste, because I don’t have time to prove for you that the best book ever is called Le Roi de Fer or that reading Thus spoke Zarathustra won’t melt your brain. :razz:

So here’s the list:

The Lion, The Which and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis

Published in 1950, this is the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia, the famous series of books by the Irish author C.S. Lewis.

It tells the story of four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. In the middle of the Second World War, they’re sent to a safe place, the house of a professor in the countryside. There, Lucy finds a magical wardrobe that leads to the lands of Narnia, taken over by the evil White Witch.

The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien

Published on 1937, this book, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, this book tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit that, one day, has his house invaded by Gandalf, the wizard, and a band of dwarves who make him join their group in an epic quest.

The Hobbit is considered a prelude to Tolkien’s monumental fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.

The Neverending Story
Michael Ende

The last suggestion for a fantasy book is Michael Ende’s Neverending Story (Die Unendliche Geschichte). It tells the story of the young Bastian Balthazar Bux, who steals a book called The Neverending Story from an antique bookstore. The book’s story and Bastian’s start to fuse in one fantastic, moving story.

This is an awesome, powerful book, definately one of my favourite stories, and it’s really worth to read it—especially with someone, so that you can discuss it.

The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini

Published in 2003, The Kite Runner is the first by the Afghan author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a buy from the high society of Afghanistan in the 70’s, and his friendship with Hassan, his hazara servant.

A moving, shocking book that tells us the atrocities of the Taliban dictatorship and the power of friendship. Be ready to be moved by this book.

These are the ones. Moogle or Siw, can you make the pool for me, please? :smile: Thanks.

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What a great idea! Seems like a good way to get more people interested in reading, and books are always much more fun when you have some one to discuss them with!

I have read The Hobbit several times, and I also reread and analysed it more deeply as part of a big language project we are required to have in the last year of high school in Norway, so if that book is chosen, I’ll definately try to actively take part :cool:

I also read The Neverending Story when I was younger, and a reread of it would be pretty neat too :content: Narnia might me interesting as well, and The Kite Runner I’ve never heard of :eh:

5

A good idea. !

I voted the hobbit , but when come to think of it.

I would rather re read The Lion, The Which and the Wardrobe

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So you want to change your vote? (Is that possible?)

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there are only five votes so far… i could redo the poll if you want Bruno (or just if you remember his change of vote may be easier :tongue: )

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I read the hobbit and didn’t like it much. I wouldn’t mind reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe again, but I voted for The Kite Runner. :smile:

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Nah, it’s ok, Moogle, I’ll remember it. Thanks, though. :smile:

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I have allredy read 3 of the 4 next months book :neutral:

Bruno you are seresly begining too sound like Wolf! :grin:

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I’d be careful Painocus… It would seem that Wolf is contagious and so might be Bruno now. :tongue:

Okay, I voted The Hobbit. My dad had been bothering me to read the book for years up until he died. I think I started it once but don’t ever remember too much of it. Just the animated cartoon that was made.

This to me, is a good incentinve to give back to myself a pleasure that I’d forgotten was there, reading. Yeah I know TMI…

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Not at all, Noelle, not at all! ^^

It’s good to know this is going to help you give yourself back the pleasure of reading. [=

Do you know what your father liked so much about the Hobbit?

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I was at the libray today, but I couldn’t find the two last books in the list, so I decided that I want to reread “The hobbit” (since I own 2 copies of that book(one in Swedish and one in English))

I’m looking forward to this reading Circle^^

EDIT: I almost forgot to vote :razz:

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BTW it would prob be a good idea to write down what chapter you are upto … if any posts are made before the end of the book. So fellow readers will know if it’s safe to read the hidden spoiler or not.

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Or you write down in the quote the name of the book and the page(s) where you talking about.

Good you mention it Moogle :content:

I like this idea, but I haven’t voted yet because I’m not sure about it.

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Blackangel, page number wouldn’t work since different editions could be different.
eg
Chapter 10

SPOILER - Click to view

do not read!

mmmm Q would it be possible to alter it to do the same as quotes?

[spoiler="chapter 10"]
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Seems like I have to borrow a copy of the hobbit again

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When I was about to make the thread, and asked Q to prepare the mod, she said it would be too troublesome, but you can always do little hacks:

[spoiler][color=black]Chapter X:[/color] Gandalf is, actually, an ilusion cast by the yellow–bearded dwarves of the waterfall.[/spoiler]

Outputs:

[color=black]Chapter X:[/color] Gandalf is, actually, an ilusion cast by the yellow–bearded dwarves of the waterfall.

I have planned some posts that will use this system :wink:

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i’ll look into that later to see if i can alter it, but seems like bruno’s hack will work fine too.

mumble spoiled kids, make them a spoiler tag, are they happy? nooooooooooooo it should have extra’s mumble

:tongue:

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/me gives pasQuale a big hug :hugs:

I know how you feel, Q, I really do. :smile: