The North Independence Masterpiece Book Club
December 10, 2011
Often, classic books endure because of their timeless themes or insights. Such literature can even rekindle our own imaginative abilities. Yet, it’s understandable how people can disagree as to what books deserve to be called 'classics' or what classic titles are really worth reading. Reading tastes and opinions simply vary. But we shouldn’t give up on categorizing some books as classics because any such labeling process might somehow be flawed. Instead, ordinary readers should be part of the search for truly great books. Moreover, when people are exposed to books that are considered classics, it is more likely that they’ll discover individual titles that are especially meaningful to them. The goal of our new Classic Masterpiece Book Club is to offer people this exposure.
We want to encourage those who participate to not only read great books, but also introduce them to literary gems they may not know about. This new book club will actively select great books and discuss the ones the group decides to read. Book titles will be selected that club members find appealing rather than books simply chosen from an arbitrary list. At each meeting, members will discuss a specific book that the group has previously decided to read. Members will also be involved in selecting a great book to be read for the next book club meeting. First, my colleague and I will give background information on certain classic book titles, and then, participants will vote on the one they like the best. Of course, we’ll narrow down the book titles to those that are generally considered as classics. But, we’ll offer up choices rather than just our own personal preferences.
This book club is geared toward adults. It will be lighthearted and upbeat. Meetings will take place at the MCPL’s North Independence Branch. The dates and times will be decided as soon as we hear back from enough people. You can sign up by calling 816.252.0950 and asking for Ed, or just email us at emertz@mymcpl.org.
Hope to hear from you soon!!
Ed M.
North Independence Branch
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First Book Club Meeting
The first thing we'll discuss at the initial Masterpiece book club meeting Monday evening, Jan. 23rd will be classic books in general. It will be a good way for participants to share their reading experiences and help guide our book selection choices for future meetings. After that my colleague and I will offer up choices of classic books and ask memebers which one they prefer to read for February's meeting. This book club will be informal. You can feel free to make suggestions as to things like book title selections. Although the meetings will have certain guidelines that we'll discuss during the our first meeting, Jan. 23rd, 7pm.
To kick off this first meeting, am including the titles of 2 fairly brief general readings about classic books. If possible we would like people to read these before our book club's first meeting on 1/23. One of these can be found on the web off GOOGLE SCHOLAR. It's a book called Why Read the Classics? by Italo Classics. Try just reading the first chapter in this book. The title of that 1st chapter is also called "Why Read the Classics". I think it's around 12-14 pps. Here's the web address for GOOGLE Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/ Go there and type in the book title.
The other reading is called "The Existenial Reader: Or Reading, Rumination, and the Classics" by James Allen, from the Sewanee Review, Winter '91. It's an article that can be found in one of MCPL's online databases called Academic Search Premier. If you're using your own computer, you'll need a library card with us to access it from our website. But if you have any trouble getting either of these readings just contact me directly at the email address or phone number listed at the end of this blog.
Allen's article helps introduce and explain the nature of classic books. Also what we really liked about both of these 2 readings are their enthusiam for the topic. Of course these 2 readings don't represenst all the viewpoints surrounding classic books. But if we have your email address, next week we'll send you some annotations from other good sources that offer different perspectives regarding classics books.
Finally if you get a chance sometime before now and our first book club meeting think about what types of classic books you're most interested in reading as far as time periods, themes, etc. Feel free to email us your comments. Hope to see you on Monday January 23rd!
--Ed
North Independence Branch
emertz@mymcpl.org
Phone: (816) 252-0950
Will there be a list for future months' choices?
It would be nice for members to take turns reviewing, leading the discussion, don't you think? Or is this more a lecture?
Starting Date!
The date for the first meeting of this book club is January 23rd, 7 p.m. It's a Monday evening. The location is our North Independence library branch at 317 W. 24 Hwy, Independence. This meeting will be an introductory session and should be fun. It would help us if you let us know you're planning to attend. You can sign up by calling (816) 252-0950 and asking for Ed, or just email us at emertz@mymcpl.org We'll post more details late. We're going to suggest some reading materials for this first meeting. So contact us or check this blog at a later date. Happy New Year!
NI Masterpiece Book Club
Yes, I'd be interested.
masterpiece book club
I would definitely be interested. I am in a neighborhood bookclub near your branch and will also tell them about it.
Tangentially related, but I
Tangentially related, but I also wanted to take an opportunity to point out that a lot of classics are out of copyright, and thus, public domain. What this means is that you can often find the complete text online, and if you'd got an e-reader, you never have to wait to check out your book. Just FYI.
-Amanda
Masterpiece Book Club
I am interested...it just depends on when the group meets. I hope you post more information soon.
Masterpiece Book Club
Hurray! Count me in especially if Monday evenings are set as the meeting date. Any title works for me! Thanks for your efforts in launching this group.
6in12.org
This would be a great opportunity to get your six books in for the 2012 Reading Challenge. I'll be eagerly awaiting your first title.
I would love to join. I told
I would love to join. I told Brenda already, but I'll post here, too: Mondays or Thursdays work best for me!
-Peyton
Starting Date & First Book Title
We'll set up a starting date as soon as we get enough people involved. Also we would like to have an introductory meeting before selecting the first book title or at least get some initial feedback from those that are interested in joining. We're looking forward to hearing from anyone interested in reading and discussing great books!
Masterpiece book club
When will the book club start? And what is the first title?
Feel free to speak with the
Feel free to speak with the manager of the branch or branches you frequent. If enough people are interested, a club could definitely be started up in the northland!
-Amanda
Masterpiece Book Club
Hopefully, something like this will be available to the Northland!!
Would be interested,
Would be interested, depending on meeting times. I could only do evenings during week.
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