Out of Town

We moved 1000 miles away from our friends and family and just had a new baby....

Friday, June 09, 2006

Online Jewish Book Club

I would like to start an online bookclub. Each month could be hosted at a different blog. If anyone in interested, leave a note and we can work out the details.

15 Comments:

Blogger Orthonomics said...

Cool idea. We will chat about it. :)

June 09, 2006 4:42 PM  
Blogger Esther said...

That's a great idea! (And reminds me, I have to get the book for our book club here!)

June 09, 2006 5:12 PM  
Blogger Selena said...

I am so glad you three want to do it....I was hoping that. So does anyone have any suggestions? I want to read Off the Derech. It has been ordered at my public library, but I don't know about yours. I don't want anyone to have to buy a book. So let's try to come up with a list of books we want to read, preferably a combination of fiction/non-fiction that none of us has read yet. I don't personally care if it is Jewish themed, but if anyone has a feeling on that, let's discuss....

So here is the start

1. Off the Derech

June 12, 2006 7:41 AM  
Blogger cool yiddishe mama said...

Off the Derech sounds great. Have to actually read the book for a local book club as well. Right now, I don't have suggestions but will add when I think of one.

June 13, 2006 8:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you want to only discuss Jewish books, or any nonfiction? fiction?

June 15, 2006 9:42 AM  
Blogger Selena said...

any...

June 15, 2006 11:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I suppose you could see if you have a core group and have books nominated and voted on. I enjoy almost any good book. We could work with current ones, though I think some of these sophisticated bloggers could try tackling some of the classics that were generally mangled by high school teachers and Cliff Notes. (Today's generation uses the online Spark Notes to take the place of the actual texts.)

June 15, 2006 1:30 PM  
Blogger Selena said...

Ariella:

That sounds like a good idea. For now, I think our group is:

Me
SephardiLady
Esther
Eli7
MaryKayGal
Ariella

Anyone who has an idea, let us know. I would like to put off Off the Derech for a couple months, so people can get it at the library. What should we read in the meantime? I love classics, but non-fiction or Jewish stuff is fine as well.

June 15, 2006 4:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok as no one as thrown out a concrete suggestion yet, here are some:
fiction: Jewish female (not frum) authors: Anzia Yezierska --for a vivid portrayal of immigrant life.
Anne Roiphe's Lovingkindess written from the perspective of a mother of a wild daughter who becomes a BT (also her nonfiction recalls her brother's brief interest in being frum)

Fiction: classical authors works
Jane Austen: I would suggest something less commonly known from her like Persuasion.
Charlotte Bronte (subject of my dissertation): Villette -- very modern for a 19th century work.
Elizabeth Gaskell: either her bio of Charlotte Bronte for a bit of historical revisionism to appeal to Victorian feminine ideals or Cranford, Wives and Daughters
Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Or her novel, Maria --an eye-opener for all those who have been taught that feminism was only a product of the 20th century.

I have whole lists of Jewish sociological and historical sources geared toward the question of Jewish women's identity if you want to hear some of those titles

June 19, 2006 10:00 AM  
Blogger Selena said...

Let's read Villette. We'll discuss it the 2nd week of July

Thanks, Ariella for the ideas. I love victorian and regency literature. I have read almost all of Jane Austen, but I am up for reading them again :) I have also read at least one of Anzia Yezierska's novels. (the bread givers?).

Maybe we could read LovingKindness next?

June 20, 2006 8:24 AM  
Blogger Ahuva said...

This sounds like fun. May I join? (I actually just read Villette a couple of weeks ago.)

June 21, 2006 2:23 PM  
Blogger Selena said...

that is so funny, ahuva. What a coincidence. Please join. That would be awesome!

June 21, 2006 8:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad I checked in today. I couldn't help gloating a little to my husband about the fact that other people actually choose to read Villette. warning fellow club members_- this one is longer than Jane Eyre and not as much of a page turner. But there is psychological depth to it. I intend to reread, so that it will be fresh in my mind for discussion.
Out of Town: do you want everyone to complete the entire novel before commenting or to read it in sections? I would suggest breaking it up by thirds -- corresponding to the original volume division. You can give a suggested timeline for each third, and we can discuss those parts. Of course, people can read ahead but not yet bring later development in the book to bear on earlier parts until everyone has read them.

June 25, 2006 4:53 PM  
Blogger Selena said...

Ariella:

Sounds good. I will write a post telling everyone the story tomorrow (b'li neder).

June 26, 2006 7:08 PM  
Blogger mother in israel said...

Coming in late, I'm a new blogger. I want in on this!!!! What happened?

July 27, 2006 6:30 AM  

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