#masterpieceofass

[malachitegrey]

masterpieceofass replied to your post: I’ve started monitoring my in...

WELL THIS WON ME OVER.

I should mention that it's emotionally intense at times--there are deaths of animals and children shown. But what's also shown is a chimp in a sweater and Benedict Cumberbatch in tiny glasses and a tiny beard and an important character who is a ghost!

[divinethedivine]

MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO MASTERPIECEOFASS AKA LAUREN AKA TWIN

I SLAVED AWAY WITH GOOGLING

I SPENT AN ETERNITY FINDING THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO THAT I'VE WATCHED 8019238109238 TIMES

BUT

EMMA

SO

HERE YOU GO

JLM AND ROMOLA PERFECTION

[hotbritishguyspluscats]

you are the bee's knees! that is all.

Are you sure that isn't you?

[thelongbournlibrary]

As I've only heard from a few people on the book completion front, I'm going to hold off on scheduling chats for a bit. In the meantime, those of you who have finished your books can start on another sister's book if you like (or, you know, read whatever the hell you want). For anyone else currently reading, or if you've finished something but haven't checked in, consider this a friendly reminder to do so when you're done. Another option, if potential chat groups remain on the small side, is to talk about more than one book at the same chat. I certainly wouldn't mind a multi-book lovefest. Yeas/nays for that option?

[divinethedivine]

sunsetshark replied to your post: OMG YOU HAVE HIDDLES FEELS? did we just become best friends? Wanna go do karate in the garage?

No. NO YOU DIDN’T. I amon the verge of sobbing because of that picture. I hope i didnt add to your hiddles deels going away :(

Twas originally a thing created by Miss Masterpiece of Ass.

BECAUSE SHE SAW HIDDLES IRL. AND TOOK THIS PICTURE AND MADE A BLACK BACKGROUND TO PUT ANYTHING YOU WANT IN IT.

GO FOR IT.

[malachitegrey]

jennhoney replied to your post:

I really like goodreads, and you can set up your own book clubs with your own discussion boards with different privacy levels and control over members. your imaginary book club sounds awesome.

Good to know! I'll have to look into that more. Maybe Goodreads could be supplemental to the tumblr version, like for people to discuss questions as they read, suggest topics for the chat, etc.

masterpieceofass replied to your post:

yep. yep. yep. drawing outlines on how we could make this work. i agree with all of your feelings about bookclubdom. the thing i dread most about it is the deadline/dedication - reading should be carefree, above all else.

Definitely, it needs to be flexible enough to be carefree and fun, with just enough structure to make sure everyone who wants to can talk about it. I'm thinking instead of having a set deadline, we could have people check in when they're close to done or ask for updates every once in awhile and then plan discussions around that. And if there are multiple books being read, we wouldn't go three months between discussions or anything, because the people reading something really quick would be able to have their discussion in like two weeks and the people reading something slower would feel free to take their time.

You're making outlines, I'm having silly-but-potentially-brilliant ideas about an overarching theme to ensure diverse selections (which I will tell you about later)...It sounds like this imaginary book club is close to becoming real. I'm game if you are (and I have plenty of free time at the moment to set it up). We should talk more.

Casual survey: would anyone else who's been following this discussion be interested in participating in this possibly-soon-to-be-no-longer-imaginary book club?

[malachitegrey]

masterpieceofass replied to your post:

i love this. i always wanted a way to categorize/remember recommendations too (goodreads never really caught on for me) - we could even have an organized tag section if we did it on tumblr spy/romance/classic/fan fic etc. hmm! hmm! brainstorming…

Yeah, I haven't looked into Goodreads too much, but I don't think discussion boards with huge numbers of people you can't really get to know are really the most fun way to talk about a book. I'd rather have chat parties like we've done for MoA (which I clearly enjoy since I've attended every one since JJ Week). My book club would be, like, here are three or four or five books of different genres, let me know sometime over the next couple weeks which one you're reading, and then I'll arrange for everyone reading the same book to get together to chat about it a couple weeks after that, and the chat would be as serious or as silly as you want, you know? And occasionally there'd be a catch-up chat if you went back and read a book later or missed the original chat or whatever, or people could just enthuse about what they read even if no one else has read it yet so it'd be like sharing a really personal recommendation real-time. So I guess I'd want a bit of structure but a lot of flexibility for people's tastes and moods, because that's what always stopped me from trying other reading clubs...like, what if I don't feel like reading romance this month? What if I start the book and it bores me to tears? Nope, none of that in MY book club. If the mystery option is boring or you're angry at the world and don't want to read about kissy people or you find Marianne Dashwood insufferable and throw your S&S across the room, there's still time to read the zombie book or the nonfiction book instead!

And I really like the idea of including fanfic. I always want to talk about fic and no one has ever read the same things I've just finished (just like how I felt when I was reading the Parasol Protectorate books that originally started this discussion!) (and oh man I read the best HIMYM fic this morning that has been with me all day...)

[malachitegrey]

masterpieceofass replied to your post:

theotherausten recommended ‘the eyre affair’ to me awhile back, as well! ive been downing so much georgette heyer i havent had a chance to pick it up yet. we should start a tumblr reading group.

Excellent! glitterbubbles recommended it as well; the last time I got this many recommendations for something it was for watching North and South, and we all know how that turned out, so things are looking good for Thursday Next. I ordered The Eyre Affair from paperbackswap earlier today so perhaps I will be reading it soon!

Dude, I would totally be up for a reading group. I was just thinking about that a few weeks ago. I've never found one yet that planned to read a majority of things I was actually interested in (life's too short for disappointing books and I want to read what I want to read, dammit) but I'd been thinking with a large/committed enough group of people online and a few different books to choose from, everyone who wanted to talk about their book could find at least a couple people to chat with.

(I've also heard good things about Georgette Heyer when I used to follow Smart Bitches Trashy Books but I'm in a non-romance phase at the moment.)