Surprise! Mediocre Books = Great Book Club Discussions!

Last week my small book club (one10th grade boy, seven 9th-10th grade girls) discussed James Patterson's The Angel Experiment, the first in the popular Maximum Ride series. The students and I loved the book - so much action, such great characters, such imagination! But we agreed that the writing wasn't fabulous, and the characters were sometimes unbelievable, like when one would suddenly and just in time realize she had a special power that would save the day. But now my students are fighting for the sequels and devouring the series.
 So, what made this a great discussion? We made a list on the whiteboard of all the characters, their powers so far, and if those powers were positive or negative. The hilarious discussion that ensued (like about the character Gasman - guess his special power), made my day. I often try to find literary, critically acclaimed books for us to read (Our next selection is The Book Thief). Now I know that sometimes it is great to dissect books that are really just fun. The conversations that arise about what makes a great story, or what makes a book literary (or not) are just as valuable when discussing a mediocre book as when discussing a masterpiece.

Twitter Book Club

I am on page 147 of People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks. I am loving this book - partially because it is about a very old, very rare Haggadah, and Passover starts next week. I didn't realize the timeliness of my spring break reading until I started reading the book.

I twittered about loving the book, and then I thought - how about a Twitter book club? I got several positive responses, so here goes: A Twitter Book Club about People of the Book.

Now it turns out I am not the first one with this idea (big surprise). Vegan YumYum, a blogger who is a vegan cook, did a Twitter book club about Twilight. And Picador, an imprint, has a book club too. I found a couple other ones - each trying it out in different ways. Here is what I'd like to try. Your input is more than welcome.

1. Read People of the Book.
2. Twitter about how you feel/what you think of as you read. Use the hashtag #potb.
3. If you have already read the book, you can post too!
4. No spoilers, but feel free to refer to certain page numbers - i.e. -pg 124, Can't believe Hanna did that - so out of character!
5. Once in a while, search the #to see what people are writing, and respond to them, still using the #. And maybe subscribe to the feed for #potb.
6. Let's finish it up by April 15th - the last day of Passover. If that is too soon, we can extend it.
7. If it works, we can start doing one per month!

Part of a great book club is having deep discussions about the text. Obviously this may not happen. But I am a working mom - I don't always have time to meet and discuss in depth!
I also like book clubs that bring in information about the author, etc. This site has it all - even an excerpt read by the author. We should explore this site and share favorite parts via twitter as well, still with the #potb hashtag.

Let me know what you think! Will you join me in the book club?