Loved Piranesi! Radically different from Jonathan Strange and yet so clearly by the same author. Definitely someone who is not concerned with following trends or trying to be like anyone else in her writing.
You'd be amazed. There's a whole genre of video on YouTube called "Clean with Me." Which is literally watching someone clean their house, and presumably doing some cleaning of your own at the same time. But I have no room to talk; the number of makeup application videos I've watched is...indefensible.
Ok, old here too. Actually it was a good bonding moment for me and my 21-year old son because I turned to him after dinner and was like, "Um, what is this? Would I like this? Why do people watch other people play video games? I don't get it." We were both very amused at how baffled I was.
I just bought Far Cry 6. Looking forward to comparing notes with you, Freddie. Left off the book club last week as I was visiting family, but I plan to mount a glorious comeback in the days ahead. FWIW, I would be one of your Umberto Eco diehards.
Yay, more book club! I'd love to do The Name of the Rose someday, though I agree it might be a risky choice. (I've tried to read the damn thing at least twice, but it ultimately winds up staring at me reproachfully from my nightstand after a few chapters.) As a former lit major, "classics I feel guilty never getting around to reading" is a broad category I'd also be excited about.
I read Demian in high school and remember exactly nothing about it, so this is great! Have you ever watched Felicia Day on Twitch as she plays games and talks to her fans? She's the only person I follow, though I follow a few other channels that show specific movies. I think she does a nice job keeping the viewers engaged while seeming to have fun gaming.
Is it weird that whether or not I'd view the Twitch has to do with whether or not I'm interested in the game being streamed?
I avoided the first book club because of my fictionphobia. But Demian was a book I was assigned to read in German Civilization as a college senior and blew it off because, well, I was a college senior. I would actually be really interested in finally reading it and would do so if it was in the book club.
Monday's Far Cry 6, which is just a series I know well that's not super talky which I think would be good for streaming. I'd love to do some of the graphic adventures I used to constantly play as a kid in the future, but honestly I'm flying by the seat of my pants.
Here at my house we just discovered Discord. No description would be fully helpful, maybe you already know. Just… get ready for memes. And cue up the film theorists, so you can add edumacational contentext to the… um… stuff and things out there. If you do this long enough you will collect 10-year-old fanboys. But they’ll swear at you, unprintably.
I for one have really enjoyed the book club. My reading life is mostly solitary, and I had not tried a club or any sort of online community thing before. It was great just to hear from people interested in reading. I am down for whatever book, however long. Looking forward to this next one.
You're not posting too much writing for me. I find that one of the great joys of being retired (fairly recently) is that I have far more time to read. Keep it coming. I really enjoy your writing. Thanks.
I also really enjoy the book club. The short reading assignments make it accessible even when I’m busy (I can always find time for 2 chapters), and the weekly posts keep me on track.
I’ve tried other book clubs where there’s just one date to discuss the entire book, and that never works as well for me. Plus, discussing a couple of chapters at a time makes me read more closely, since every part gets a discussion.
1. There’s a light paywalling you can do where only Twitch subs can chat (or you can make their chat more prominent, or give them FdB emoji, shit like that). Not essential but can be helpful if you want the chat to be troll-free. (Anyone with an amazon prime account is given 1 free twitch sub per month, so that’s $2.50 to you for something most people don’t even know they already have)
2. If you plan to do this long term, you could consider a Discord server that the Substackers get an invite to. I think a few Substack accounts do this (Charles … the NYT tech guy….sorry I’m not looking it up)
3. I understand you probably have a good setup for this already but consider a capture card (amazon has plenty) if you want to be able to potentially stream non-PC games. I am fairly sure you’ve mentioned Mario Kart and other Nintendo games before. (Just a thought, feel free to ignore)
Good luck and looking forward to the twitch experiment
i really enjoyed the cement garden and it's not the type of thing i would have normally picked up so you've won my trust and i'll follow the book club wherever it goes. the commenter community is great as well.
also if you're taking suggestions for future books, a classic american crime novel would be fun. they're usually quite short and easy but have a lot to chew on. maybe jim thomson's pop. 1280 or the killer inside me, or dorothy b. hughes' in a lonely place.
No, it's coincidence that the first three are men. I would hope my book recommendations and reviews would be a clue to my interest in women authors.
Loved Piranesi! Radically different from Jonathan Strange and yet so clearly by the same author. Definitely someone who is not concerned with following trends or trying to be like anyone else in her writing.
Excellent suggestion! There would be so much to talk about with that book!
Yep loved Piranesi as well ... Do that please :-)
Dude it makes me feel ancient so don't feel bad. I just think it might be fun and I want more people to hang out with when I game.
You'd be amazed. There's a whole genre of video on YouTube called "Clean with Me." Which is literally watching someone clean their house, and presumably doing some cleaning of your own at the same time. But I have no room to talk; the number of makeup application videos I've watched is...indefensible.
Ok, old here too. Actually it was a good bonding moment for me and my 21-year old son because I turned to him after dinner and was like, "Um, what is this? Would I like this? Why do people watch other people play video games? I don't get it." We were both very amused at how baffled I was.
Freddie is complicit in systemic reading. SOMEone has to hold him accountable. Do better.
Foucault’s Pendulum is sooooooo good, would love an excuse to re-read it
lol at the Twitch thing, but i’m here for it.
No one will ever believe me but people ask me all the time and have since like 2017.
My son and husband watch some stuff on twitch. I’ll let them know about you. FDB: services for the whole family!
I just bought Far Cry 6. Looking forward to comparing notes with you, Freddie. Left off the book club last week as I was visiting family, but I plan to mount a glorious comeback in the days ahead. FWIW, I would be one of your Umberto Eco diehards.
Yay, more book club! I'd love to do The Name of the Rose someday, though I agree it might be a risky choice. (I've tried to read the damn thing at least twice, but it ultimately winds up staring at me reproachfully from my nightstand after a few chapters.) As a former lit major, "classics I feel guilty never getting around to reading" is a broad category I'd also be excited about.
I’ve enjoyed hearing your thoughts in a less scripted space, podcasts and the like, so I’m excited to see what Freddie on twitch brings us.
Also I second the well-wishes for your vacation. My partner and I are planning one right now.
I read Demian in high school and remember exactly nothing about it, so this is great! Have you ever watched Felicia Day on Twitch as she plays games and talks to her fans? She's the only person I follow, though I follow a few other channels that show specific movies. I think she does a nice job keeping the viewers engaged while seeming to have fun gaming.
Is it weird that whether or not I'd view the Twitch has to do with whether or not I'm interested in the game being streamed?
I avoided the first book club because of my fictionphobia. But Demian was a book I was assigned to read in German Civilization as a college senior and blew it off because, well, I was a college senior. I would actually be really interested in finally reading it and would do so if it was in the book club.
Monday's Far Cry 6, which is just a series I know well that's not super talky which I think would be good for streaming. I'd love to do some of the graphic adventures I used to constantly play as a kid in the future, but honestly I'm flying by the seat of my pants.
I may buy a gaming rig now!!
Twitch!
Here at my house we just discovered Discord. No description would be fully helpful, maybe you already know. Just… get ready for memes. And cue up the film theorists, so you can add edumacational contentext to the… um… stuff and things out there. If you do this long enough you will collect 10-year-old fanboys. But they’ll swear at you, unprintably.
I for one have really enjoyed the book club. My reading life is mostly solitary, and I had not tried a club or any sort of online community thing before. It was great just to hear from people interested in reading. I am down for whatever book, however long. Looking forward to this next one.
You're not posting too much writing for me. I find that one of the great joys of being retired (fairly recently) is that I have far more time to read. Keep it coming. I really enjoy your writing. Thanks.
I also really enjoy the book club. The short reading assignments make it accessible even when I’m busy (I can always find time for 2 chapters), and the weekly posts keep me on track.
I’ve tried other book clubs where there’s just one date to discuss the entire book, and that never works as well for me. Plus, discussing a couple of chapters at a time makes me read more closely, since every part gets a discussion.
A few notes on your Twitch idea:
1. There’s a light paywalling you can do where only Twitch subs can chat (or you can make their chat more prominent, or give them FdB emoji, shit like that). Not essential but can be helpful if you want the chat to be troll-free. (Anyone with an amazon prime account is given 1 free twitch sub per month, so that’s $2.50 to you for something most people don’t even know they already have)
2. If you plan to do this long term, you could consider a Discord server that the Substackers get an invite to. I think a few Substack accounts do this (Charles … the NYT tech guy….sorry I’m not looking it up)
3. I understand you probably have a good setup for this already but consider a capture card (amazon has plenty) if you want to be able to potentially stream non-PC games. I am fairly sure you’ve mentioned Mario Kart and other Nintendo games before. (Just a thought, feel free to ignore)
Good luck and looking forward to the twitch experiment
i really enjoyed the cement garden and it's not the type of thing i would have normally picked up so you've won my trust and i'll follow the book club wherever it goes. the commenter community is great as well.
also if you're taking suggestions for future books, a classic american crime novel would be fun. they're usually quite short and easy but have a lot to chew on. maybe jim thomson's pop. 1280 or the killer inside me, or dorothy b. hughes' in a lonely place.