Oh neat! That's what I would have voted for had I not voted for something else.

Can you repost the reading schedule here?

The vote tally worked out as follows:

Sinclair Lewis' Babbit
--Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49
----Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World
------David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas
-Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow
Yann Martel's Life of Pi
Ralph Edney & Craig Callender's Introducing: Time
---Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
-Lisa Goldstein's The Alchemist's Door
-John Barth's The End of the Road
-Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things
John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany

I myself neglected to vote, as it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. Thought I think as honorable mentions, I might give 2nd and 3rd place a "BYE" as automatic nominations for January (with the understanding that though the original nominator can nominate another book for January that if either is elected, they will help co-moderate). Let me know what you think.

(Also, I'm quite fond of the tally system I just whipped up. It clearly shows the winner and requires no Excel or HTML!)

My thanks in return to everyone who was nice enough to thank me for organizing. Sometimes I forget I'm a person, too!

Nice tally system. Thanks for doing this all!

MetaChat: fond of the tally system I just whipped up
/tallywhacker

For SN, and everyone else without eidetic memories. Please pay attention to the things in bold; they usually indicate something I would like a response about:

I plan to adopt a co-moderation style with the person whose book was selected (the first person to nominate that book) where they will come up with 5 central questions (it seems like a good number) they can ask one at a time throughout the discussion to keep things moving.

We'll be discussing the book in January, probably around the 7th (rather than the 1st, because of its holiday nature; we'll give everyone time to get home). We'll also be doing nominations about a week in advance of the month's end for December (though this will be interesting as I'll likely be out of the country at that time). I think three days for nominations and then three days of voting with the book being announced on the last day of the month will work from now on. You can always e-mail me with feedback and suggestions (as some of you already have) about what you like and what you'd change.

We'll typically start discussion of the book on the first of the month following its selection, though if people would prefer it on a weekend, we can do the first weekend. I myself prefer to discuss during the week, as I'm more likely to be out of town or hosting guests on the weekend.

amberglow, I believe you are the co-moderator for Cloud Atlas. You may wish to finish the book at little more quickly or jot down a few notes (just as things occur to you; this is not school) to give yourself time and material to compose your questions. Like I said, I may not have time to finish the book myself (we're entering finals) so your role is vitally important!

ok---i already have a lot of questions and comments about it--from style to content to larger themes---it's so meaty. : >

email me and we'll go back and forth all month? (i've never modded a book club or even been in one before--i need tips)

You won't be disappointed folks--it's some book!

Will the discussion take place in a big thread? Can we link from the main page so it doesn't get buried or anything?

Ooh, that's the book I would have voted for if I'd voted. But I'm already part of one and-a-half bookclubs and have lots of reading to do. Still, I hope I can join in.

Can we link from the main page so it doesn't get buried or anything?

How 'bout a link from our yellow circle? It's been really quiet lately since we haven't been doing emcees or mixswaps recently.

I probably won't have time, but I'll see if it's at the library. If I were more committed I would have voted (Lot 49, probably).

20 years ago, my Literature professor opined, "Nobody reads Babbitt anymore." He followed it up with a social relevance argument. I found it interesting that whoever proposed it mentioned relevance specifically.

I am now thanking a lot more people. But this one (thanks) is heartfelt, Eideteker.

Yay! (and I voted for it too) I'll pick it up on the way home from work.

TaZ: It's your site; don't let me piss all over it. The circle would be lovely.

Stilicho: I proposed it! I haven't read much about Babbitt (I prefer to go in cold) but what I had heard echoed what I hear today. I suppose I'll have to load the e-text onto my PDA and find out for myself.

Warm fuzzies back at all of you. This club is just an extension of an earlier club that stalled out when I left for college, though my original idea was always to take it national as soon as I could figure out how to scale it. I still plan to do that at some point (with MetaChat certainly having its own founding chapter!). Maybe in 10 years we'll be having meetups all over the country. I'd certainly love to visit all sorts of little enclaves and discuss books with you folks face to face. I may look at moving it offsite at some point, not to take the focus away from MeCha, but to open it up a bit more (say you want to invite a friend who does not also want to get wound up in the "politics" of MetaFilter and MetaChat as well).

My idea was to have chapters all over, with principle memberships in one group, but affiliated memberships freely available. I may be a principle member of MeCha chapter (meaning I read what you guys are reading), but I am still affiliated with the chapter from my high school (though we've somewhat dissolved). By the same token, if a Chapter started here in Ithaca, as an affiliate, I could go to their meetings just as if I was a principle member and enjoy the social aspect without necessarily having to read every book every club read.

The whole concept has always been quite exciting to me (but also quite intimidating). We'll see how it goes right here on MeCha!

Aw, man, I'm a thoughtless jerk. Thank you Eideteker!!

I have also neglected to follow up in my AskMe threads. Off I go...

I demand a recount.

I demand savory meats.

Mine's on the way..thanks Eideteker!

I demand big meats. and here's where I'm getting mine.