Multilingual Book Club 2 – The Choice
When I read about the second book club and about having to choose a book myself this time, two thoughts popped up at the same time.
One was a “yes”. Yes, that might be a good idea, so that everyone can choose what they like, at a level that is appropriate for them.
The second thought was a “no”. I mean, what exactly can people share if they're reading completly different books? In my mind, people in a book club read the same book because they want to talk about the book, the content, the author and so on.
But I admit that a book club composed of people learning foreing languages might be different from a book club with people who all speak the same language. Maybe there is still a benefit in sharing the process itself, I don't know.
So stuck between a “yes”and a “no,” I opted for a “maybe” or a “just-try-it-out”.
I looked through my Kindle and found some books that I already have, but never got around to reading.
In English, the choice is between:
- 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster
- Dove Season by Johnny Shar
- Dreams From Father by Barack Obama
- On writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Steven King
- The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris
- Rising out of Hatred by Eli Saslow
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
- A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang
- A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey
For some of the books, I remember why I wanted to read them. For others, I'm not sure how they got on my Kindle.
At least now, in the first step, I've narrowed it down to nine choices.
Actually, it's only nine, because I'm only talking about the English books at the moment and I haven't checked my real bookshelf yet. I'm rather sure there are some other unread books hiding there, so I'd better not look there because then the choice will take forever.
And what are you going to do now? Will you buy a new book or do you also have tons of unread books at home?
Hi Cloudy, initially, I had similar thoughts about the second round of the book club, but I think it could be quite interesting. If everyone writes about their book, everyone else has the opportunity to find new, interesting books they might not have considered reading otherwise. One of the best books I've read so far this year I've found thanks to a Journaly post :) I'm really curious to see which book you'll decide to read (just judging by the title I'd probably go for "A Wrinkle In Time"). I'm going to try reading something in Catalan, so I had to buy a new book. Initially, I thought I'd take it easy this time and just pick some random book in English I'd read anyways, but then Robin said in his video that it should be challenging :D But even for that I'd have had to get a new book because I don't have so many unread books, neither on my shelves nor on my kindle. I decluttered my books two years ago and made an effort to read most of the unread ones. For my kindle, I just bought it last year and took care that I only buy books I'm going to read. When I come across a book I'm interested in, I'll download the "Leseprobe". This way, I can scroll through those when I'm in need of something new and I can read some pages before deciding wether I'm still interested in reading those books I've found a while ago.
@Caro: I'm really impressed how fast your Catalan is improving. You've just started and suddenly you can read books. I definitely need some of your brain :)) And yes, getting to know interesting books can be another positive aspect of this type of book club. I actually listened to the video as well, but I willingly overheared the word "challenging" :)), because at the moment I am in a really lazy mood.
It should be called the Multilingual Multibook Club, or the Multilingual Library xD. I agree with "A Wrinkle in Time" having a catchy title (so I'd probably go for that). The idea of choosing the book you want to read sounds a bit rebellious (or maybe they just didn't want to think about any specific book :D), but I guess it makes total sense. The problem is, of course, that I'd have problems to decide on one book, should I try to join (I am these days lazy as well, Cloudy). I guess I'd choose a rather short book, like "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" by Carlo Rovelli, in one language or another. I've read three chapters in Italian, though I don't speak the language. I guess that explains why I don't get it. Jokes aside, I guess I'll just use that book and finish it.
Cloudy, wow, your English has really come along! Great post)))
Hello Caro and Eduard!
Hi all, I'm here as well 😁 I still haven't decided which book I'm going to read in August. I actually have plenty of unread and also some partly read books on my selves. I recently bought a new shelf and thus realized how many of them long to be read or finished. But I'll probably go for a book on European Portuguese again.
I'm looking forward to the book club because I'd love to see which books other choose and why. I also enjoy learning about books without reading them.
I wish you all happy reading!
@CloudyDe: I'm not sure yet wether or not I can read books in Catalan, but I don't really have a choice, as there are (almost) no graded readers available. So I thought I'd give it a try.
Hello CocoPop, I've read in the comment section on Linda's post that you consider joining as well this time. I'd be curious to read something you've written in a language I understand 😁
So nice to see you all here! @Eduard: I quite like the name Multilingual Multibook Club. And yes, to decide on a shorter book is also a good idea. Today I'll check the Italian section of my bookshelf. @CocoPop: Thanks for the corrections. I'm also waiting for the day when I can give some back. So how about a German book? @Linda: Yes, happy reading to everybody.