The Spineless Book Club

02/02/2014

What's up, Witches?!After a long winter break, we're popping out of our snowed-in residences to bring you the first show of 2014! We continue to answer listener questions, this time discussing Superheroes as a magical tool, archetypes, modern magical tools...

06/26/2012

Hey everyone! Just an FYI. This page is no longer going to be keeping up with actual book club news. One of the tiny decisions I needed to make as Fire Lyte was that the real me needed his own safe space. Book club is going to be one of those safe personal spaces where I don't have to be Fire Lyte. If you'd like to keep up with the book club - for real - and you haven't been added to the new page already, let me know! Otherwise, keep listening to the podcast for any/all upcoming Riot Book Club selections!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

05/16/2012

Hey book clubbers! I never did make the official announcement: This month's book is The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - book 2 in the Dark is Rising Sequence. Don't worry...it reads just fine on its own without having read book 1. Buy the book here for $6. http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-Rising-Sequence/dp/0689829833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337134088&sr=8-1

A quick recap: everyone had a phenomenal time at last month's book club meeting. We thoroughly enjoyed This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. Most everyone thought the book was between 4 and 5 stars. We loved the incredibly human characters, and we debated exactly how much we hate Jen...and Wendy...and Alice. Basically the women are evil and use s*x as a weapon and the men are wildly screwed up in deep and truly hilarious ways.

Recommend it to your friends! Remember, this month's theme was children's stories. We've already decided that June and July will be EPIC SUMMER, and we'll be reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. We'll read and discuss the first half in June and the second half in July. Tricia had a great idea for a field trip to one of the locations in the book. Sounds fun!

Get reading, Spineless Ones!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift -- that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one d...

05/07/2012

FUNNY FACE PIC!!!

05/07/2012

The first time the entire club was able to get together!

05/07/2012

Aren't we an adorable couple?

05/07/2012

Mark & Georgia at Houlihan's

05/07/2012

Yummy!

05/07/2012

Best Long Island Iced Teas EVER!

05/07/2012

Drinks after book club on May 6, 2012!

05/05/2012

Hey Spineless folks! Tomorrow after book club, Nicole and I were planning on hitting up one of the restaurants in the mall for drinks and appetizers. If you don't already have plans, feel free to make plans to join us! It'd be great to get to know everyone a little better!

05/03/2012

Just a few more days, Oh Spineless ones! Can't wait to see you all! Andrea, will you be joining us this time?

04/20/2012

Hey Spineless Book Clubbers!

Nicole and I were talking, and we wanted to bring a few changes to book selection each month - in light of how successful this month's book turned out.

1) We are introducing monthly themes. Everyone still makes their suggestion for the month's book, but we will continue with the idea of coming up with a theme. Hopefully this will alleviate trying to choose between such disparate book types as Young Adult, Historical Fiction, and True Crime at the same time. Nicole and I will choose these ahead of time and let you know at least a week in advance to give you time to make your selections.

2) Starting this month... NO MORE VOTING! Don't worry, we're not becoming a Spineless dictatorship. Nay, we are going to put all suggestions slips of paper and have a random drawing! Since each month will have a theme, we know at least what genre we'll be reading. Also, this makes it a bit more fair since everyone's first inclination is to vote for their own book.

If you have any suggestions for additional changes, let us know! Also, remember to keep inviting people! We want to grow the club. Bring a friend!!

Next month's theme is "Children's Story". Get creative with what that means to you! Is it a straightforward kid's book? A story about children? Maybe a creepy modern fairy tale? Let your imagination run wild! See you all in May!

04/03/2012

The consensus of our group discussion of The Devil in the White City was that the story of Burnham and the architects was interesting but overbroad and contained more details than necessary. The Holmes story was much better, though underdeveloped and lacking in some of the more interesting details.

While comparisons could be made between the two stories, the fact of the matter is that they never intersect and - at times - seem to interrupt one another during crucial or interesting moments.

The Burnham story ranked about a 2.5-3 on our scale, and the Holmes story ranked about a 3.5-4. Everyone, however, agreed that if the story had fleshed out the Holmes tale a bit more, including greater detail about the murders and victims, that half of the book could easily have been a 4.5-5.

All in all, it was an interesting read that, for what it was, seemed to be a bit long.

Spineless Book Club ranking (out of 5): A Solid 3. Not fantastic, but not awful.

03/29/2012

FYI: The Spineless Book Club has a table reserved on the second floor of the Oakbrook Barnes & Noble. Since we're meeting in the early afternoon, the study tables provide a bit more quiet.

03/26/2012

Just a few days until Book Club! Can't wait to talk to you all about The Devil in the White City!

Do you know what you'll recommend for next month's book?

03/19/2012

How's everyone doing with The Devil in the White City? I've gotta be honest. I haven't started yet, but I am considering doing it as an audio book. Still reeling a bit from Dovekeepers. WHAT AN ENDING!

Wishing you all happy reading, and see you April 1st! (No fooling.)

One last thing, a very happy and belated Spineless Book Club birthday shout out to Georgia! She celebrated the anniversary of her 18th birthday the day after last book club.

02/28/2012

Hey everyone! Thank you to all those that could make the February book club! March's book is The Devil in the White City, and we will be meeting April 1 at 5pm in Barnes & Noble Oakbrook. Hope to see you all there! Here's a link to purchase or read about the book on Amazon if you need to: http://www.amazon.com/Devil-White-City-Madness-Changed/dp/0375725601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330443885&sr=8-1

Erik Larson—author of #1 bestseller In the Garden of Beasts —intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has c...