The Rory Gilmore Book Club discussion
Intros, Questions & Suggestions
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Please add me to the book list! (THREAD CLOSED)
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message 51:
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whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass
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Mar 22, 2008 02:10AM
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I thought so! I guess someone removed it. I really don't understand why that happens.Anyway, that's all right. There will be plenty more months to nominate it. ;)
In episode 5.15, "Jews and Chinese Food," Rory is seen reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius before Logan climbs into her window.
In episode 6.15 "A Vineyard Valentine" Rory reads The Year of Magical Thinking when she and Logan and Lorelai and Luke go to Martha's Vineyard.
OK, I've noticed that these books haven't been added to the list. Could there maybe be another shelf for books seen/referenced on the show but not on the WB's original list if you don't want to add these to the official list? Because our official list isn't just from the WB anyway.
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As for the list, I wish they'd let us break up the bookshelf in the group like they do our personal bookshelves. It'd be so much easier to access, too. Not that I'm complaining about this site - Otis and the gang are AMAZING and their constant upgrades fantastic! Maybe I just need to go request this one again.
I thought they did allow custom shelves in groups now?
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The Constant Reader group used this feature when it was first implemented to break up the books for the two components of CR so maybe this "glitch" occurred during a more recent update and will be simple to fix on the next release. We can always hope so. They are so good about keeping things going smoothly around here though -- you are right on target about that.
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Will we be able to choose books from any list?
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I did a simple break-down of modern and classic, but obviously there will be some cross-overs. However, the ones on the original WB list were categorized by them, so I'd prefer if no one changed them. Actually, it would be best if you feel there should be changes, that you suggest it here... but in general, if you think a book should be acceptable for modern and it's classified classic, or vice versa, then simply nominate it in the category you prefer. No on will likely argue... unless it's pretty obvious for some reason.
Thanks gang, and I hope this is what you were wanting, and I'm sorry you had to wait so long for it.
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Go Michele!!!! You need a vacation! You should come to St. Louis, where it is 95 and dry, BUT we have central air set at arctic temperatures. Plus, you could have the thrill of swimming in the Mississippi. Or I could teach you the fine art of "floating" with a little road trip, which basically involves sitting in a slow moving canoe or inner tube, getting sick off of canned beer, and acquiring the sunburn of your life. Or you could do it like I do, which basically involves paddling the entire way, drinking water and adult punch out of a plastic jug, ignoring the drunk fools doing stupid things, and swimming in the cold springs while men in dive suits look for treasure. My way rules, but its definitely not the Missouri way. Plus, I take many breaks to stare at beautiful trees and mentally imagine the history of the place. The sunburn still pretty much happens, but there is a hotel at the end of the day instead of a mosquito filled cabin or dread tent with children screaming about. Ah! Missouri in the summer. it really is a dream paradise. Perhaps others could help Michele with this book list thing? Although I must say, we are miles from finishing the current list, so do we really need MORE books (especially The DaVinci Code? Perhaps we could save the list of books to add when we had finished more than half of our current list? Does Rome have to be built in a day, I think not. Plus, isn't this a massive distraction from reading, eating chocolate and watching movies? Not to mention all the other cr@p we HAVE to do.
So here is my proposal. What if, just for the summer, we chill out, work with our current list and method of reading, and then, in September, we can appoint a committee of dedicated members to investigate all the myriad ways we can improve the group. Perhaps we can then have a conference in my backyard, but only if there are pugs involved. I am sure one of us could type the conference on GR for all the members of the group who cannot attend, live, via wireless. And we could have cute shirts made.
Or at the VERY least, the committee could report its findings and the group could bring the individual issues to the floor. We could vote or at least comment and then our group could be super-charged, version 2.0 and ready to go.
This way, perhaps more people would have time to read and comment on the books we are currently discussing. {book: Me Talk Pretty One Day] is in the corner moldering whilst we process the need for more books. Plus its summer and its hot and not the time for restructuring and making Michele work 24/7 in her unairconditioned RGBC cell. Read people, read!
(Please note: the tone of this was meant to be a bit in jest and cheerful, so don't get your panties in a twist).
Courney--I have a pug! (You may remember I lost one in January and got a new one, Homer, in February.) I have a t-shirt I love that says, "Pugs not Drugs." Not quite "Oy with the poodles, already" but still fun.
Courtney, your floating thing sounds like fun. But I live in a city with 2 major rivers (The American and the Sacramento) and every single year there are multiple drowning deaths from people boating and drinking. So please be careful!!
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Robbie-the pug reference was directed straight at you. I love them and miss having them terribly. My sister has a half-pug -- the baby of an ill-fated romance between a cocker spaniel and my sister's best in show pug. He is getting really old, but always comes when my sister visits. Its not the same thing, but close. As soon as I figure out how to make the scanner work, I will definitely put up some pics of the pugs we had growing up. But I would die of happiness if you came and brought your pug. Pugs are hugs (not to be cheesy:)).
Um, Sarah, one doesn't float in the Mississippi. At least not unless one has a huge raft and is fleeing from his adopted home, although I may try it soon just to get rid of these no smoking cravings. The Southern part of Missouri is filled with a number of very small rivers, most of which feed into the Mississippi or the Missouri at some point. They are fed by cold streams and rainwater and cut through some incredibly beautiful deciduous forests. Most are only 4-5 feet deep, except near the very cold springs and are very safe to canoe or float. The drinking thing is a Missouri tradition because of the shallowness of the rivers/streams that I generally do not subscribe to, except perhaps a bit of punch at lunch and a lot very near the end. Plus, the Mo Conservation Department works all of the rivers and is very diligent. But I generally go on weekdays where everything is more mellow and I can enjoy the beauty of the water and the trees.
Could we have a group discussion/dialog/debate about adding these extra books to the list? I thought the point was to read the books Rory read and not every literary reference in the entire series. I am not a fan of expanding the pool to include books they mocked or those read by other characters until we get through the seriously wonderful, challenging and enriching books Rory read. They are of a much higher caliber and more worthy of discussion. Plus, it adds about a billion times more work for Michele and the other moderators along with a series of endless and pointless debates about how to tweak the system. I could understand if we were tearing through the list, but we are definitely not.
If there are members who feel like the group needs to move in a more "general book club" (like the 700 million other groups on this website) perhaps they could step up, brainstorm for suggestions and come up with a plan?
Is this a reasonable suggestion?
Please advise.
As always, your loyal and loving servant,
Courtney
(I'm listening to Beethoven and thinking about book: Remains of the Day, so I couldn't resist. The goblins are coming.)
I'm with Courtney on this one. Let's just get through the basic list and then take it from there.
me, threeIf those books which as said -- those mocked or whatever or simply mentioned or read by others are compiled -- just give them their own shelf and we can move on to them later if so wished.
Okay, here's the thing, and forgive me if I'm not clear because I haven't had any coffee yet this morning:1. The original, official, WB "List of Bests" list contains not only books Rory read but also books that were mocked by Lorelai, read by other characters (like Jess), and simply referenced. Some of the references were to a specific character, not the book itself, so it could be argued that those references were to the movie and not to the book. However, obviously, not ALL the references made it to the WB's list.
2. The last two books I requested to be added to the list were books I actually saw Rory reading in rerun episodes. I referenced the season, episode title, and scene.
If the true intention is to only read books that Rory read, I suggest someone go through the seasons and write them down while watching the SHOW, not using the WB's list, which as I said contains other books. I have a feeling that the list, sans references and Jess books, would be quite a bit shorter than it actually is now. I also suggest that the companion books no longer be permitted to be off of the list.
Perhaps Shannon, who started this group, could chime in here and let us know what her original intention was?
When it comes down to it, I really don't care where the books appeared on the show. What I care about is that we HAD a nice little system that was pretty low-maintenance except for the flurry of voting and has now entered a thicket of bureaucratic confusion. The list (as presented when I joined) was a set universe of books we could read and discuss in depth. Now, it seems like every book ever written is suddenly on some shelf, but perhaps not the proper or perfect shelf, and very few of us are reading and commenting on the actual books or our lives, but pointing out every misshelved book.
I, for one, think this is becoming a bit like all the real life book groups I run screaming from (where everyone talks about the chips, their kids, the next location and no one has actually read the book). I beg everyone to just take a summer and read. And talk about something real -- like these books or our lives or cookies or bath products or pugs. And later we can figure out which of these books (which we can certainly continue to cite here) belong within our closed universe of books. But the universe was closed, to a list, when we started and it was a much more low maintenance and interesting group at the time.
I think Michele, Alison and Shanon have been doing a fine job keeping track of the list, so I am not sure "appointing another moderator" does anything but create another person to micromanage a system that henceforth worked quite well.
My point is, we could be making less work and focusing less on the set-up of the site and more on the words on the page. Absolutely, keep a list here of books members see on the show, but let's not devote more of the group's energy on shelving or re-shelving or choosing or re-choosing books. Keep it simple until, perhaps, we can manage to read and discuss our already set universe of books.
And I am quitting smoking, so if I sound a bit b*tchy, its because I am (but I am trying not to be). But like Jonathan Frantzen, literature is my religion and I would prefer to focus on the text than the Dewey decimal system.
Courtney, I'm a little confused about your complaint that there is too much discussion about what books should be read. You said:Could we have a group discussion/dialog/debate about adding these extra books to the list? I thought the point was to read the books Rory read and not every literary reference in the entire series.
I am not a fan of expanding the pool to include books they mocked or those read by other characters until we get through the seriously wonderful, challenging and enriching books Rory read.
I for one have not witnessed anyone "pointing out every misshelved book." I was merely pointing out that the books I have suggested ARE books Rory read, and that the original list contains many of the books you are saying you're not interested in reading. Originally when I suggested another shelf I did not intend for Michele or anyone else to re-shelve every book already on the list, but to possibly add a new shelf for new books seen on the show if the mods wanted those books to be separate from the original list. Others have expressed an interest in keeping track of all the books on the show, even if we were not going to read them together.
Aside from the very first month (October 2007) we have never had a "closed universe" of books. In November we read The Time Machine which was not on the list. In December we read A Christmas Carol which was not on the list. In January we read Northanger Abbey which was not on the list. In February we read The Eyre Affair which was not on the list. There have only been three or four months in which both books we read appeared on the original list.
Furthermore, when we originally decided to read two books a month, it was so that we could compare and contrast them. I believe that is also why it was decided that the companion book didn't have to be on the list; so that we'd have more opportunity for comparison. This has not happened over the past few months (even though Alison started a thread last month, few people commented). Personally, I don't see the point in reading two books a month if we're not going to compare and contrast.
Good luck quitting smoking. I know firsthand how difficult that can be.
I think my own point is that I would like the original list we started with to stay clearly delineated. Those we've read on a shelf and those to still be read on a second shelf -- so we can find nominations from that original list (whatever books it may have included) easily.Secondly -- additional books with appearances or whatever could then be on another shelf -- again easily found to nominate.
Those books read already which were not list books on their own shelf and other non-list books on a shelf. I think we did enjoy picking books to pair for discussions and had some interesting tie-ins which we weren't really expecting in a few cases -- so certainly don't want to forbid all books not on the list, I don't think.
In the end, I'm along for the ride and will go whatever direction everyone decides upon.
Mod
See, the thing is...and I should have made this more clear from the beginning...getting involved in the logistics of this group is just NOT FUN FOR ME. I mean...meeting people, reading the books, I LOVE, but the time spent debating what books will or will not be on the list is just not time that I have. And I'm ashamed to say that because I know that stuff is important, and there is a place for it. In order to stay involved, I have had to shirk on a few things, and those type things seem to be the ones that I have slighted.
So, in order to keep this fun for everyone, moderators included, what if we just stuck with that original WB list, or whatever we have going now since Michele's done so much work updating it, and stick to the forum of two books per month, one on the list and one not, alternating each month either a modern or a classic that must be off the list. Make sense?
Month 1: Modern: On the List
Classic: On or Off the list
Month 2: Classic: On the List
Modern: On or Off the List
and so on. That way, if you want to nominate a book that was mentioned on the show, but may not be on the list, you can do it on the off the list month.
And then I say we close "the list" and this thread for good.
More importantly than any of that above, please know that if you are reading this now...despite our differences in opinion on the way things go or don't go...you are a valued member of this group...and we sincerely WANT/NEED you in the book discussions. When one person pulls away from the discussion, that's one perspective that we all miss out on. And that's everyone's loss.
Any thoughts on this? Can we close this thread and get back to the books?
The only thing I would clarify/change about what you said above is that I don't think the second book should be *required* to be from off the list. And really, I'll go along with whatever. Just wouldn't want to eliminate the possibilty of reading two books from the list at the same time.
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What say the rest of you?
Alison, thank you. THANK YOU! You got it exactly right, from my perspective, and without all MY unnecessary histrionics and poor attempts at wit (Again, I plead quitting smoking; please tell me that hasn't become too tiresome yet). Please send me your address so I can send you a bouquet full of the girls music. (I have it ALL, being a band-aid and such). I third Robbie's vote, but only because I'm so thrilled to agree and put this debate to rest. GAH! A copy of Code of the Woosters popped up on mooch this morning and I missed it by mere minutes. So I guess, considering, I will have to go to B&N to procure it and the Count (since the guy I mooched it from must have been busted by the SEC because its never coming). Poor me, having to buy MORE books.
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So, in case you haven't read my ramblings in other threads...I am home alone tonight. I am about to pop open season 1 Flight of the Conchords (ordered from Amazon--they're hysterical!). But now, thanks to Courtney...I may have to go crank up some Indigo jams before I get started! Wish you all were here!
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Well, I'm going to close this thread now, as we've decided to let the book list stay as it currently is. So...
THE BOOK LIST IS CLOSED FOR ADDITIONS AT THIS TIME. HAPPY READING, GIGIS! :)
