Tea & Books - What are you reading?

1992 Replies
mtchyg said

Hello everyone. I am starting a local tea book club with some people that will focus on Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy with some general Lit thrown in. I am meeting with a few starting members to discuss the bones of how the group is to be run. I myself have never been a part of a book club. Some other members have. I also have a Facebook group page set up and am hoping to have an active community on there as well.

Would any one you have any good suggestions on what, in your experience, works best for things like picking out the book of the month (vote or just rotate who gets to pick?), tea of the month, is it better to have one set meeting place or rotate places, types of questions to try and touch on during meetings, etc.

Any input would be awesome. Thanks!

I’ve never been part of a book club, but other groups I’ve been part of have worked better if they have a consistent meeting time and location. It might still work if you rotate between two places as long as there’s a consistent rule that people can remember about where you’re meeting this time (ie. summer vs. winter, odd vs. even months or weeks), but even that can be a little tricky. You definitely don’t want any uncertainty about when or where you are meeting. If people have to look it up every time, you’ll get a smaller turn out.

Having members present nominations and then vote from them might work well. You can keep a list of what’s been nominated previously to give people ideas as well. This works even if you don’t have a consistent number of members. Anyone who’s at the meeting gets to vote on the next month’s book. People who know in advance they won’t make it can still nominate things.

Uniquity said

I think it really depends on the type of people in your group. I am part of the local library book club and it is always held the third Thursday at the library, at a set time. We don’t meet in December, July, or August, but in June we all bring in selections and pick the next year’s titles. Then we can distribute the list of books and dates and those that like to read ahead can do so. We also do e-mail reminders a week before in case someone (like me) forgot to read it.

We don’t do any food or drinks as it is library club, but if I were with friends or people who became my friends, I would like some snacks. We don’t do set questions but whoever selected the book of the month brings a totem which theoretically gets passed around so everyone can talk. I don’t find that works so well as after the first round the dominant voices still duke it out, but I can’t think of a better alternative either. Flexibility until you find your groove will probably be key. It took us nearly a year to get used to each other, and to be more confident in our assertions and suggestions.

mtchyg said

Thanks! Yeah I am starting to form some ideas of how I want it to run. I really do appreciate the input as it gives me a bigger well to draw from. First exploratory meeting is tomorrow morning!

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Decided to read some Egypt books-

“Akhenaten and the Religion of Light” by Erik Hornung

“Pillar of Fire” by Judith Tarr

“Akhenaten- Dweller in Truth” by Naguib Mahfouz

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mtchyg said

Just finished The Eaton by John Addis. Well done horror involving an abandoned underground hotel and hallucinations. Also The Gate Thief by Orson Scott Card. Second in its series about mages, Gods, and a struggle between two worlds

The Eaton looks interesting … just added to my queue. Thanks!

Rasseru said

interesting

mtchyg said

It really is good. I picked it up because the author lives in my neighborhood. I’ve even chatted with him a few times. The book ended up waaay exceeding my expectations for a local, small budget book. My book club just finished reading the Eaton and everyone really enjoyed it.

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Uniquity said

I finally read (well, listened to the audio) of Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I am a terrible Canadian and had only ever read The Penelopiad by her, largely because my former step-father hated her. Turns out, I really like her stuff. Now I’m reading the hard cover copy of Year of the Flood that I bought years ago, and then hubby and I are going to listen to MaddAdam (third in the trilogy) together.

I haven’t noticed any tea references so far, but Canuck style I’ve had lots of Timmies tea with it while on the road. I’ve become way too fond of a large earl grey with 1/2 milk, 1/2 sugar. And people think I’m a tea snob?!

Psyck said

1/2 sugar? as in half cup milk and half cup sugar?

Uniquity said

1/2 of the quantity of milk and sugar that they would normally use. It seems to be a different amount based on the size of the cup but I’m not positive on that. Earl Grey and I have a sordid history but I’ve come to love it, with adulterations. It’s a rare exception for me but I’ve always been the type to drink what makes me happy.

Psyck said

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Lynxiebrat said

Got a new set of books that I am working my way thru…finished the majority of the last set finally, I just wish I could convince myself to not start so many books at once, though havn’t had much luck.

*Widdershins by Charles deLint
*The Final Formula by Becca Andre
Wolf Spell by M.R.Polish
The Gatekeeper’s Sons by Eva Pohler
*The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter by Rod Duncan
The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson
Parallel by Claudia Lefeve
*The Descent Series by SM Reine
*Beastly Bones by William Ritter (Jackaby #2)
*Chains of Water and Stone by Katherine Hurley
Evolution by Kelly Carrero
Dead Wrong Leighann Dobbs
Skin Deep by T.G. Ayer
The Chronicles of Dragon Series 1 by Craig Halloran
Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock
*Skinwalker by Faith Hunter
The God Killers by David Simpson
Dead Radiance by T.G.Ayer
Half-Made Girls by Sam Witt
Marking Time by April White
In Times like these by Nathan Van Coops
*Acne, Asthma, and Other Signs you might be half Dragon by Rena Rocford
*The Last Necromancer by C.J.Archer

The ones with the asterisk by them are not only ones that I would like to finish before the others (And considering in removing the others from the carasel if not the device.)but also at least so far, ones that I would recommend to any scifi fantasy fan.

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I loaded up a few books on my kindle before heading to China. I’ve been poking my way through Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. It’s been an enjoyable read. The book is quite dense. I can read for a day and the kindle percentage counter stays the same. He is a verbose author for sure. Still, I like living for a while in the worlds he creates.

mtchyg said

I find that many of Neal Stephenson’s books are dense and very detail oriented. Have you read Seven Eves?

I have not. The last book of his I read was Cryptonomicon. I liked it a lot, and I even started liking his verbosity a bit more. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it ended. :-) I was really enjoying being a part of that story.

mtchyg said

My friend has suggested Cryptonomicon. He really enjoyed it. Seven Eves is probably one of the more interesting books I’ve read. It is broken down in 3 parts and I loved 2/3rds of the book. The other 1/3rd almost made me give up on it. But the ideas he fleshes out in that book are fascinating. Part apocalyptic novel, part space opera, I recommend it if you want to spend some time with a book.

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Reading Camellia Street by Catalan author Mercé Rodoreda, who translator David Rosenthal calls the greatest Mediterranean woman writer since Sappho. Wow! Now that’s a recommendation. We’ll see…I’m making a point to read more women and continuing my quest to read literature translated from as many languages as possible.

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mtchyg said

Cross posting this to hopefully get input from the book loving crowd as well.

Hello everyone. My tea book club is currently working on reading its second book. Last time, some may remember, I came here seeking advice for a pairing and was pleasantly pleased with the response.

This month we are reading After Alice http://www.amazon.com/After-Alice-Novel-Gregory-Maguire/dp/0060548959

I have my ideas of what tea I want to pair with this book but I would love to get your opinions. Thank you so much for your wonderful suggestions!

Uniquity said

AAAHHHHH! I thought I had read all of Gregory Maguire, but that was before fall 2015. Alice is my favourite, and I have read so many retellings I can’t count them all. This is going on the list to be read ASAP!

Also, I can’t recommend a specific tea, I would go the mad tea party route. A couple funky pots, mismatched mugs, etc, different teas. Maybe a dormouse. :)

mtchyg said

That is a great idea. A couple of random teas in each pot to keep people on their toes. Heeeey, I actually have a decent amount of Liquid Prousts “Andrews Insanity Birthday Tea,” on hand. That might fit in with the “very very unbirthday” notion as well.

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Currently that would be my pathophysiology book. Now that I’m back in school I don’t really have time to read for enjoyment ._.

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nycoma said

am reading demogorgon by brian lumley!

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