Everyone, WELCOME to the third session of the HW/PC Book Club, to be held during May and June!
Following two very successful sessions so far, where we discussed "Being Mortal" and "When Breath Becomes Air," we are now preparing to read and discuss "Thaw's Hammer," an exciting sci-fi novel written by our fellow forum member Tall Allen.
We now have the benefit of experience gained from our two previous Book Club sessions, so I believe the operation of this current session (May-June) should go smoothly and well.
But, to review, here are our club guidelines, as established and communicated by JackH at the beginning of our first session:
HW/PC BOOK CLUB GUIDELINES:
1. The “meeting” will be all online, in a single thread with a Subject line similar to this thread.
2. Let’s initially plan on a 2-month cycle (possibly as many as 6 books/year)—picking a new book every 2-months ("reading months" will be: Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov) and starting a new “meeting” a month later on the alternating months ("meeting months" will be: Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec, starting on or around the beginning of those months). In other words, May-June will be one complete 2-month cycle of reading/discussing.
3. Half way into each “meeting” month, we’ll start discussion about a new book for the next cycle, and then who's-ever book we select, the person proposing that book will become the facilitator for that next round. Participants from the prior read/discuss cycle will pick the next book...in other words, join for at least one round as a participant before suggesting a book for the next round.
4. Facilitator shall “take the lead” for the 2-month period by initiating and maintaining a new “book thread” on the topic once the book has been selected. During the “reading” month, the new facilitator shall encourage new participants to join, stimulate interest in the book by posting “teasers” (without giving too many “spoilers”), and track who will be participating in the “meeting.” During the “meeting” month, the facilitator continues in the “lead” role by asking stimulating questions of participants and helping to steer the discussion and keep it on-track. In the 2nd half of the "meeting" month, the facilitator leads an effort for current participants to recommend/select another book (and facilitator) for the next cycle. The facilitator's responsibilities come to an end after the 2-month cycle and a successful hand-off to the next facilitator is complete.
5. Participants are asked to help keep discussion in each “book thread” on-topic. In general, if you haven’t read the book, we’d like to ask you to simply skip over this HW/PC thread (observe the dialogue if you'd like, but sit-out of the discussion) and consider joining in the next cycle with the next book.
6. Let’s pick books that are at least in some way related to why we are all here at HW/PC…we'll leave it to you to creatively describe the connectionIf you want to acquire "Thaw's Hammer," whether in online or paperback version, this link to Amazon just below can serve this purpose. Both versions there are reasonably priced, and last time I checked some paper copies (if you prefer) were still available, the digital version always available of course, and ordering either is simple:
/www.amazon.com/Allen-Edel/e/B00ADX2R4GOr, the other standard ordering services, such as online Barnes and Noble, may do so as well, and finding a copy at your local public library may even be a possibility.
I hope you all and others will now use this thread to sign-up for this round of the Book Club. If you’ve already read "Thaw's Hammer" and are interested in participating in discussion about
it in the June “meeting,” let me know by posting that information here on this thread. If you have not yet read the book, but are interested in reading it and participating in the June discussion about
it, also let me know.
So as a summary, here's how the Book Club will work, as it already has for the past two months, and here's what your next steps are:
• May is "reading" month, and discussion begins online on June 1st
• The book selected for the May-June cycle is: "Thaw's Hammer," by Tall Allen
• Reply to this thread in May if you are interested in participating; then get the book and read it by June 1st.
• If you participate in this cycle and you've got a good book to recommend next, bring it into the discussion mid-June time frame for consideration in the July-August cycle.
To whet your appetites, here's the
opening of the first paragraph of "Thaw's Hammer," posted to help get you "hooked" into reading this thriller novel:
"Jace hadn't slept much in the two weeks leading up to the deaths of two members of the team he was medically responsible for. Now, a month later, with the disease killing thousands in Hobart, Tasmania, sleep was impossible, and he could only ruminate all night upon what possible missteps he might have taken. He longed for the days when he could sleep, when he worked alone in a laboratory and all he saw of patients were their serum samples. It was so much easier to pronounce a fatal prognosis over a test tube labeled with a name that meant nothing. These were real flesh and blood people up until a couple of weeks ago, until he caused their deaths, until he killed them. What could he have done differently that would have made a difference?"Throughout May, I will likely be posting other excerpts from the novel from time to time (maybe I will do so on Tuesdays, labeling them "Tuesday Teasers") to encourage others joining in late to see samples of the good writing they’ll be getting to read if they choose to participate in Book Club
Well, let's begin having a fun month getting and reading "Thaw's Hammer," as well as looking forward to a great discussion of it in June!