What we’re about
Welcome to reading aloud together and book discussions over zoom. Full length novels, short stories, essays, letters and diaries on Tuesday night. Non-fiction and modern to contemporary fiction, regular book club format. From time to time there are table reads of plays on Fridays. The remaining days of the week are open. Suggestions welcome.
We have a lot of fun. We read the entire book or the entire play together, from first page to last. Co-organizer Mark L. and I have found this to be a terrific way to get to know a writer, and to share with other readers. Currently we're reading Virginia Woolf, and writers connected to her.
Format for the read-alongs: At each session, a volunteer will recap the previous week's readings, and introduce the upcoming material. We will then take turns reading a few paragraphs at time, stopping for discussion as we go. Link to free copy of the text provided.
This is cool for books because: We gain a shared, thorough understanding of the book. We may take weeks and months to explore a novel (and the writer’s world). Also, you don’t “have to” prepare in advance. No anxiety-inducing deadline reading! Plus the obvious benefits of Zoom: not only can you attend in the comfort of your jammies, but you get to meet people from all over the world. By the way, vocal participation not required; some prefer to come and just listen.
Also, from time to time we read a variety of plays, from all eras, using scripts available on-line. Cold reads can be challenging, and few of us have done theater; but we learn a lot and have fun doing it. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/theater/plays-to-read-out-loud.html
Most of us will be non-professional speakers, learners and enthusiasts. Non-native speakers of English are especially welcome. People of all ages, gender orientations, ethnicities: please come. The only “rule”: be mindful of each others’ experience in the session.
Me: Literary fiction, history, biography, general non-fiction, natural history, poetry, and more. Louise Erdrich, Salman Rushdie, David Mitchell, Yann Martel, Toni Morrison, Lauren Groff, Madeline Miller, and many more. Most of these discovered via Meetup book clubs.
Cheers,
Sherry
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By Hazel, our Founder, now retired:
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~Dr. Seuss
I've tried joining a few book clubs that were genre specific (chick lit), gender specific (chicks only), and author specific (Stephen King) but as none seemed to satisfy my palate, I thought I'd try to see if there were others like me, i.e. those who can equally enjoy the likes of Jane Austen, Stephen King, Shakespeare, Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz as well as nonfiction books. Chosen as "One of the 5 Best Book Clubs to Join in New York" by CBS Local* ! (in 2012)
Story About The Name of this Book Club:
I am a huge Jane Austen fan and attended a Jane Austen Discussion at the Morgan Library featuring modern day authors whose works were a tribute to Jane Austen literature. One of the authors, Ben Winters, had written "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monster"' published by Quirk Classics. I admit that I had read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by the same publisher and had no desire to read another work from their publishing house. During the Q&A session, Ben Winters confessed to an audience mostly comprised of the Jane Austen Society of North America that he had actually disliked Jane Austen in school and wrote his book to appeal to a larger audience. What caught my attention was an audience member who had read the book asked him to confirm the HP Lovecraft references in the book. (HP Lovecraft?!). He affirmed this, adding that other influences for the book included Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson. This intrigued me and yes I did go "Hmmmm..." buying the book that same day and devouring it over the weekend.That experience taught me to keep an open mind and inspired me to create this book club. As Ben wrote when he autographed my copy "Come on in, the water's fine.."
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Readaloud: "Will in the World" by Stephen GreenblattLink visible for attendees
This is a read-aloud session, with all text shared on-screen. You do not need to purchase the book for yourself, although we encourage you to do so.
For the foreseeable future, we will be reading from a selection of works about William Shakespeare and his plays. Our primary works are Marjorie Garber's "Shakespeare After All" and Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare". We will be focusing on Greenblatt's book for the next several months.
The starting point for the current session will generally be given in a pinned comment on the event page.
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[Amazon]: Stephen Greenblatt, the charismatic Harvard professor who "knows more about Shakespeare than Ben Jonson or the Dark Lady did" (John Leonard, Harper's), has written a biography that enables us to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life; full of drama and pageantry, and also cruelty and danger; could have become the world's greatest playwright. A young man from the provinces―a man without wealth, connections, or university education―moves to London. In a remarkably short time he becomes the greatest playwright not just of his age but of all time. His works appeal to urban sophisticates and first-time theatergoers; he turns politics into poetry; he recklessly mingles vulgar clowning and philosophical subtlety. How is such an achievement to be explained?
Will in the World interweaves a searching account of Elizabethan England with a vivid narrative of the playwright's life. We see Shakespeare learning his craft, starting a family, and forging a career for himself in the wildly competitive London theater world, while at the same time grappling with dangerous religious and political forces that took less-agile figures to the scaffold. Above all, we never lose sight of the great works―A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and more―that continue after four hundred years to delight and haunt audiences everywhere. The basic biographical facts of Shakespeare's life have been known for over a century, but now Stephen Greenblatt shows how this particular life history gave rise to the world's greatest writer. Bringing together little-known historical facts and little-noticed elements of Shakespeare's plays, Greenblatt makes inspired connections between the life and the works and deliver "a dazzling and subtle biography" (Richard Lacayo, Time). Readers will experience Shakespeare's vital plays again as if for the first time, but with greater understanding and appreciation of their extraordinary depth and humanity.
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Late-comers, unless we know you, will generally not be admitted, as it disrupts the reading. However, it's fine for attendees to drop off at any time they want. - Milt Commons Shakespeare: "Henry VI, Part 2"Link visible for attendees
Join us in reading Shakespeare plays out loud; no prior experience needed. We assign roles by scenes, and discuss the scenes after.
You only need a copy of the play to participate; we use the Folger's online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works
We will commence or resume our reading of our current play from where we left off the previous week.***
After the play reading, for those who are interested, we will show the scenes we have just read from a RSC production.
***A quick overview of Shakespeare: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/The-Plays-of-Williams-Shakespeare--A-Complete-Guide-20240317
An article about the Folger Shakespeare Collection reopening: https://wapo.st/4c5w4vc.
The Shakespeare readings are named in honor of our long-time participant, Milt Commons.
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Click on the link at right to join the Zoom meeting. You may need to install/update the Zoom software on your device. We usually open the room a little early in case you want to test your settings.Image of the Folger Shakespeare Library Reading Room.
Late-comers, unless we know you, will generally not be admitted, as it disrupts the reading. However, it's fine for attendees to drop off at any time they want.
- The Waves by Virginia WoolfLink visible for attendees
Links to free online copies of the text will be provided shortly before our start time. Check the comments section of this event page, below.
WELCOME to our in-session reading and discussion of literature by and near Virginia Woolf, every Tuesday evening.
Tonight we continue our several-months-long journey through the most experimental, and most poetically beautiful, of Woolf's nine novels. This is a slow reading group, so please don't hesitate to jump in "midstream". We focus on a few pages at a time.
Blurb: "The power of communicating with profound insight and discriminating exactness experiences which are widespread and produce in the reader a sense of recognition is an essential part of Virginia Woolf’s creative gift, though it is not the whole. It is developed to its fullest extent in The Waves." In other words, Virginia Woolf knows what humans have in common, and is a genius at expressing same. Often while reading someone will say, “I didn’t realize other people felt this way too; and she expresses it so artistically.” The book is about the way we affect each other, and how the passage of time changes everything.
In addition to reading and discussing the text itself, we will deepen our understanding by reading excerpts from Woolf's relevant letters and diaries, and by tracing her friends' and family's lives which are woven through the characters, as well as other biographic information. Prior familiarity with the material is not necessary to enjoy these evenings. Taking turns, we read aloud during the session, discovering and discussing as we go. Of course you are welcome to pre-read and even read ahead if you like. Free copy of The Waves: https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0201091h.html
Aim: To have fun! A deep dive, to gain some degree of understanding and appreciation of the text.
Who: We are mostly non-professional readers, learners and enthusiasts. All ages, gender orientations, ethnicities. Friendly people, mindful of each others’ experience in the session.
Where: Zoom. The link becomes visible when you rsvp.
How to prepare: No prep necessary. We do our reading IN the sessions, out loud, taking turns.
What to bring: An open mind and a sense of humor. The text will be provided free of charge during the zoom via pdf or screen share.
Format: We take turns, with each person reading a page or two out loud, pausing for discussion as we go. Speaking is not required. It is fine to simply listen; most people do discover that they love reading aloud.PLEASE NOTE:
- We begin on time. If you need to arrive later, log in to the zoom waiting room and we will try to integrate you into the group if we come to a natural stopping point.
- Links to free online copies of the night’s reading will be provided every Tuesday in the comments section of the event page below.
- Please open the pdf and find the starting point as you are logging in, so you will be ready to go.
