Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal - Mary Roach
Reading start: 2017-09-01
Reading finish: 2017-10-31

The books have been chosen - Gulp and Forensics were both tied at 7 votes each, so we'll do Gulp first and Forensics on November 1st.

I'll set up discussion threads in the coming weeks, and the read will begin on September 1st.

Blah. I tried reading Gulp a few months ago. I didn't even get past the first chapter. The author's overly chatty manner was extremely irritating. Maybe it will be better a second time around? :)

Reply to post #3 (show post):
Maybe? At least now if any of us don't overly enjoy the book, we know we're not the only one?

Or we can both do a buddy-read of one of the books that interested us both that are languishing near the bottom of the list later in September.

Reply to post #4 (show post):
We can do that. :) Which book(s) did you have in mind?

I'm happy to set up a parallel read of another book in September if 2 or more people would like me to do it - just let me know the book. And if Gulp doesn't end up working for some people they can switch to the parallel read (or do it at the same time) if they'd like. My reasons for choosing one book every other month was to give people time to find a book if they're interested, but also just so people don't feel pressured or burned out by a faster pace. But that totally doesn't mean we can't set up multiple reads of people request it.

(Themis and BrokenTune are also able to setup additional reads - just in case I run off and join a circus someday. *grin*)

Reply to post #5 (show post):
I was thinking something lower down on the list since it seems less likely that it will chosen. I'm not sure if there are any on the list that would appeal that you haven't read, but perhaps Oxygen, When Life Nearly Died, or Goldilocks Planet? Those all have two votes so I suspect we may be the only ones who voted for them. Why don't you send me a list of which books you did want to read/reread and we can compare what we voted for? Or I can send you mine. Are there any that you haven't already read?

@MbD, I really like the fact that the reads are spaced out because it feels like there's less pressure to fit everything in, so I'm hesitant to add in an alternate. Once Elentarri and I decide on what we want to read, I'll throw out some feelers in the book suggestion thread but unless several other people want to join in, I don't think it should be added as an alternate book. It's just that several books the we both found interesting don't seem very popular, so we might as well plan a buddy read so that I can finally get around to reading them?

Ok, no problem. But if you find there are a couple of you interested, I'm happy to set it up; I'll make sure to note in the read it's a supplementary read started by a rogue faction of flat bookers so no pressure is intended. ;-)

Reply to post #8 (show post):
lol rogue flat bookers

This book isn't broken down into handy sections like TION, but it's 300 pages long, approximately, so I'm going to create three threads, each representing 6 chapters (ish - there are 17 chapters, so the last thread will cover 5).

If anyone feels that 100 pages covers too large a span for discussion, let me know; I just didn't want to do 17 threads. :P

Reply to post #10 (show post):
I vote no for 17 threads. Just saying.

Reply to post #11 (show post):
Any one who votes yes for 17 threads might find their posts mysteriously disappearing.

(JOKING! I'd never delete posts that weren't rude or inappropriate.)

17 threads for one short book is a bit excessive. Splitting it into sections of 5 or 6 seems functional and non-cluttered.

6 more days until our first read's kickoff - I hope everyone participating is looking forward to it!

I'm not sure I won't be grossed out, but I'm pretty sure we'll have plenty to talk about. :D

Reply to post #14 (show post):
Thanks for the reminder to go pick up my copy at the library!