The Polysyllabic Spree
 

The Polysyllabic Spree

by Nick Hornby

"Books are, let's face it, better than everything else," writes Nick Hornby in his "Stuff I've Been Reading" column in The Believer. "If we played cultural Fantasy Boxing League, and made books go 15 rounds in the ring against the best that any other art form had to offer, then books would win pretty much every time. Go on, try it. The Magic Flute v. Middlemarch? Middlemarch in six. The... (read more)

Top tags: essaysnonfictionbooks about booksnick hornbyliterature (all tags)

Overview: Groups

Writing Readers 524 books / 2990 members / 3324 posts If you're an aspiring or successful writer, this is the group for you. Suggest your favorite books on the craft, discuss past and present challenges, and share some nurture with a growing community of other online-savvy, "writing readers". Welcome!

Note: If you want to promote a book or writing website on which you publish, please use the "Shameless Self-Promotion" discussion thread. In order to keep this from becoming a chaotic open bazaar of single-shot marketing, we are deleting book notices, reviews, etc. from other threads and directing all authors to the "Shameless Self-Promotion" thread. Thank you for understanding.
100+ Book Challenge 480 books / 369 members / 5227 posts Up for a serious challenge? Then come join us! Our goal is to read 100 or more books in one year.

Just start a new discussion post, WITH YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ORIGINAL POST, and log your books.

You can start any time. Our goal really is to read 100 or more books in one year. If you haven't been keeping track of the books you've read, start when you join.


We have a Yahoo Group too. It is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/100-plus-book-challenge/


FOR 2009: There is also a Reading Challenge just for 2009 to read 100+ books in that year. The link is:

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2008/11/2009-100-reading-challenge.html

Optional: You can keep track of your list here and sign up there.
24 Book Challenge + Chat 677 books / 100 members / 2383 posts The 24 Book Challenge group is currently at full capacity; thank you for your interest.



"In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.", Mortimer Adler

*This is a group for book lovers who prefer to take an under-promise and over-deliver approach to their reading. It's also for those of us who quake at the thought of "committing" to read 50 books in a twelve month period.

The challenge: Set a goal for yourself to read and enjoy 2 books each month.(If 1 would be a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal for you, that's great too! If you crave more than 2, go for it. It's your challenge :-)

If you have been keeping track of all that you've read since January 2008, feel free to include those books towards your goal. If you haven't been keeping track, simply begin now.

How it works: Put your name in the subject line of a new post, and start to add your book list. From that point on you can add to your list by replying to the first post in your thread. If you prefer to keep your thread free of others' questions or comments then you may want to include this request in your original post title (e.g. "No comments please"). If you would like questions or comments within your thread, why not include "Comments welcome" in the title? If you feel inspired to write mini-reviews or comments on any book in your list, please do. Whatever feels right for you!

The group shelf:You are also invited to add your 24 + books to the group shelf. If you did write a comment or review please also add this to your book on the shelf. In an effort to keep things simple, we're only using the "Books We've Read" shelf.


Please drop us a note if you have any questions or suggestions for improving the group. We'd love to hear from you!
McSweeney's 188 books / 19 members / 7 posts "McSweeney’s began in 1998 as a literary journal, edited by Dave Eggers, that published only works rejected by other magazines. But after the first issue, the journal began to publish pieces primarily written with McSweeney’s in mind. Since then, McSweeney’s has attracted works from some of the finest writers in the country, including Denis Johnson, William T. Vollmann, Rick Moody, Joyce Carol Oates, Heidi Julavits, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Ben Marcus, Susan Straight, Roddy Doyle, T.C. Boyle, Steven Millhauser, Gabe Hudson, Robert Coover, Ann Beattie, and many others. Today, McSweeney’s has grown to be one of the country’s best-read and widely-circulated literary journals, with an expanding, loyal subscriber base and strong independent bookstore following. As a small publishing house, McSweeney’s is committed to finding new voices—Gabe Hudson, Paul Collins, Neal Pollack, J.T. Leroy, John Hodgman, Amy Fusselman, Salvador Plascencia and Sean Wilsey are among those whose early work appeared in McSweeney’s—and promoting the work of gifted but underappreciated writers, such as Lydia Davis and Stephen Dixon." (this text is quoted from: http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/about.home/about_us.cfm)
© 2008 Shelfari, Inc. | Portions of Shelfari.com are Copyright © 1996-2008 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy