OutReaders:2021-06
6/19/21 2-4 pm
Zoom meeting
A Luminous Republic by Andres Barba
Robert Allen was the coordinator. 6 people attended: Bil, Ed, Sophie, Robert, DeVon, Jamie (new)
We went over these items:
- Next meeting is July 17. We are reading two books: The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin.
- In July, we return to meeting in person. Going to meet either at a library (if meeting rooms are open to the public, as of today they are not) OR at my house.
- Future of book club. Do we want to make any changes? We discussed possibly moving the day to a Sunday, meeting a little earlier than 2 pm but not meeting later than 2 pm. We discussed meeting at cafes or restaurants but decided that’s not ideal. We discussed meeting in people’s homes, but that was not well received either. We will revisit this topic next month before making any changes.
Book Discussion Recap
What we liked: The book is short so a quick read. It’s well-written and evocative. It has a literary/poetic style more so than other books we read. The translation was done well. It's chock full of themes, symbolism.
What we disliked: It’s not speculative fiction, which is what we’re used to reading. The book felt like it was building to something at the end, but the conclusion is rather anticlimactic. Red herring? Possibly because the narrator is unreliable? It’s also devoid of character development. Was that intentional? The narrator was difficult to like.
Verdict: Mostly thumbs up
August Book Nominations
- Kindred by Octavia Butler - Robert
- Over the Woodward Wall by Seanan McGuire (A. Deborah Baker) - Sophie
