The April Book Club book is ...

What a great novel to kick off Book Club! I had not heard about this one before it was suggested, but the Goodreads description sold me:

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

REALITY BOY was written by Printz Honor author, A.S. King and has 4+ start rating at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Goodreads. It's available in paperback or ebook for under $10. Nook also has a free preview for those that want to check out a chapter before buying it.

Okay book nerds, GO … you got this!

Book Club: Ready, set, drink!

Now that the important stuff is out of the way—

Wait, you didn’t read the rules?  Do it!  Do it NOW and do not come back until you have. 

Done?  Okay.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, a few Q&A’s to get things moving. Have a different question? Just leave it in the comments!

Q: What kind of books will we read?

A: Fiction of all kinds. But, many of the current members read YA—if you just can’t stand that genre this isn’t the club for you.

Q: How will you pick the books we read each month?

A: You read the rules right? Next question.

Q: No … I meant HOW will you pick randomly from the pool? Will you use a computer model? Draw names from a hat?

A: I can’t reveal my secrets.

Q: How/where will we meet?

A: We will have a Happy Hour once a month at a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the West End/Short Pump area. I will also create a blog entry for online participation.

Q: And at this Happy Hour, will we actually do bookly things, or just drink?

A: DRINK! No, wait. Both. I will create a blog entry with thought provoking (maybe) questions the day before Happy Hour. You can participate in one, both, or neither … but that last one basically means you aren’t part of the club. Just sayin’. I ask that at a minimum you give each book a rating from 1 to 5 stars. Email for privacy is fine. I will average out the stars and post results.

Q: So, when does all this awesomeness happen?

A: Third Thursday of each month, 4-6pm.

Q: Wait, that means the first meeting is March 20^th … that’s only like a week away.  I can’t read a book before then.

A: No worries. The first meeting is all about getting to know each other … naw, just kidding. It’s about drinking. Also, we’ll all come with a book suggestion (onliners – please submit your choice early) and we will pick the April book. 

Q: Am I going to have to buy all these books?

A: Negatory. First: library. Second: This group is going to have some fast readers and we should all be open to sharing books.

Q: This sounds like a lot of awesome for no cost. Is there a catch?

A: You want booze, you buy it. You want snacks, you buy them. You want to give back to others? I am considering the option of collecting $1 from anyone interested each month to go into a pool to buy books for kids who can’t afford them. Still looking into it, for now …

So that’s all I’ve got, people. As we get settled, I’m open to suggestions or changes. I also think it could be fun to take turns hosting at people’s houses—but, baby steps. Let’s just read a book!

The Rules of Book Club

1^st rule: You do not talk about book club

2^nd rule: You do NOT talk about book club

3^rd rule: You must submit at least one book into the pool

4^th rule: One book will be chosen randomly each month from the pool

5^th rule: You have to read at least one chapter of the book  

6^th rule: You must discuss and/or rate the book online or at the monthly Happy Hour

7^th rule: No spoilers

8^th rule: Ignore the first two rules

9 out of the 10 Tyler Durdens in my head recommend this book club.