Semi-OT: MGoBookclub During this Offseason?
February 8th, 2012 at 8:53 AM ^
Is there free Bud Light?
February 8th, 2012 at 9:01 AM ^
if you have to ask, then no.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^
Apparently no one has seen the commercial where the guy goes in his girlfriends book club because of the free bud light. I'm glad we're all feeling humorous this morning.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^
i can barely make it through the Wall Street Journal due to my hummingbird-like attention span
February 8th, 2012 at 10:20 AM ^
February 8th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^
Its been the best of winters and the worst of winters...
February 8th, 2012 at 9:03 AM ^
OP: As an Mgoblogger, you must have a pretty high interest in Bo and all things Michigan. The book itself is a really good read. How could you be patient enough to take 'the next couple of months' to read it?
/not being snarky, genuinely curious
February 8th, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^
February 8th, 2012 at 9:05 AM ^
I'm a voracious reader when I can put this damn laptop down, so I would participate. My request would be alternating a Michigan football book with a completely non-Michigan-football book that has high general life value, or perhaps the book of a coach outside the Big 10 coaching sphere. Coaches books translate well to business. I'll check back for updates.
EDIT: I think that should be 'coach's' books. Well, whatever.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
and like the alternating of books idea.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:10 AM ^
I'm in.
Luckily with this demographic I won't have to defend my "NO NICHOLAS SPARKS" policy very ardently.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
I'd be up for this.
I am reading Age of Fracture by Daniel T Rodgers, which looks at US ideology from post WWII to 9/11. Interesting read.
Unbroken by Laura Hillabrand was exellent too.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^
Any idea that promotes reading books has to be a good one.
February 8th, 2012 at 8:53 PM ^
And fundamental
February 8th, 2012 at 9:19 AM ^
I like the idea, count me in
February 8th, 2012 at 9:26 AM ^
Sounds like a great idea
February 8th, 2012 at 9:29 AM ^
and I like the alternating book idea as well.
February 8th, 2012 at 9:47 AM ^
... some of the OSU folks started a book club, too. Here's their first book:
February 8th, 2012 at 9:56 AM ^
but this would be better if it could be live and verbal as opposed to typing which takes longer and is less spontaneous.
Would a conference call, or even a video conference call, be cool (could we even do that through Go To Meeting, Skype, etc.)? Maybe just a diary post with lots of comments would be better though. I don't know.
P.S. just started reading another Bacon book, Blue Ice: The Story of Michigan Hockey, and it's starting out just as good as Bo's Lasting Lessons.
February 8th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
I think diary post would garner the most participation, but there is something to be said for realtime. If we can keep the unrelated chatter to a minimum, a live blog could work. Possibly a conference call, but with that many people, you'd need a moderator. A call with webex could work, where someone who wants to speak first has to raise their hand in the webex. Callbacks would be even better, but it wouldn't really be right to use a company-provided account for this type of functionality. But I'm just thinking out loud (sorta)
Long story short, I think a diary is the best way to go, with a live blog second best. Maybe do both.
February 8th, 2012 at 10:05 AM ^
I reed good.
February 8th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^
This is interesting, I would definitely consider it.
February 8th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^
should we tweet at plaxico for recommendations?
February 8th, 2012 at 10:27 AM ^
like a really good idea, I'm all for it
February 8th, 2012 at 10:38 AM ^
Only if we do Infinite Jest.
February 8th, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^
I actually just started that massive doorstop this week. I'll have to look through that site once I finish it in 2014. But since it is set in 2014, I'll actually be right on time, so there's that.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
February 8th, 2012 at 12:51 PM ^
Thanks. I'm actually a big Pynchon fan, so I'm no stranger to strange and difficult fiction. I'm about 80 pages in and enjoying it so far.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:30 PM ^
Actually most of it is set in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.
Check back in when you're done.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^
"Set in the year 2014, Infinite Jest projects the U.S. as a grotesquely extrapolated present. Entertainment and commercialism have reached a climax. Everything is product. Numbered years have been replaced by sponsors' names. There is the Year of Glad, the Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland, the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. The technology of pleasure has driven people deeper into themselves. There is a new political structure known as the Organization of North American Nations whose acronym is ONAN. Get it?"
http://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?titl…
February 8th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^
I like this idea simply because it is something that RCMB would never do.
February 8th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^
I am ashamed that our fan base would start a book club. I have no words for this.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
would you be ashamed?
February 8th, 2012 at 2:07 PM ^
Reading for fun can be a great thing.
Joining a fucking book club and having to read shit you don't really want to read, just so you can talk about it with others, is fucking gay. Or for Oprah.
February 8th, 2012 at 2:53 PM ^
Ah, so you're one of those that uses homosexuality as an insult. That was cool in junior high.
If you don't want to read what the MGoBookclub is, don't read it! It's an internet forum so it's not like somebody is going to call you out and ask for your thoughts on it. The fact that many on this board are well-read is what makes it one of my favorite boards. I've received numerous book suggestions in many different genres of literature from those on this board. Besides, I believe the OP wants us to read books about Michigan athletics. Isn't very far-fetched to think that most on this board would be interested to read books on that topic.
The ability to express oneself in the written word is one of the things that separates us from animals. It's a unique aspect of man and one that should certainly be taken advantage of. So I am all for an MGoBookClub!
February 8th, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^
think you get the point of this book club.
A. You do not have to join it
B. The books we will be reading will in all likelihood have something to do with Michigan athletics.
C. Don't join the book club if you don't like the idea, and do not click on the link if you do not think the topic is of your liking. It is like a channel on TV, if you do not like what they are showing, then change the channel, pretty simple stuff.
February 8th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
We just need to get the logistics worked out, but it's a great idea.
February 8th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
For anyone looking for a truly fascinating Michigan book I highly recommend "The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium".
The book covers two seasons of Michigan football leading up to the construction of Michigan Stadium. It also covers the stadium building boom that was going in the Big Ten at that time, as well as the construction of Yost Fieldhouse.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-House-Fielding-Building-Michigan/dp/1932399119
I was taken by how similar things were back then to how things are now (the games, the fans and stadium building booms). Where things are different they are fascinating. Images of fans and the marching band escorting the team down to the train station (now the Gandy Dancer) for away games, and of fans packing Hill Auditorium to watch a big scoreboard showing the play by play from away games (relayed by telegraph) are still burned in my mind years after reading.
I think this is a truly under-rated book. I just wish my brother would give me my copy back so I could read it again.
February 8th, 2012 at 3:52 PM ^
I'd leave it to others to figure out logistics of such a book club thing on line, but a [State of] Michigan-related book I'd highly recommend is Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex. Much of it takes place in Detroit (from Greek Town to Grosse Pointe, from rum-running to chili dogs), though starting in Asia Minor and ending in Germany. Involving lesser-known European and Detroit history, recessive genes, and fascinating characters affected by the above. Don't want to give too much away for those who like to be surprised (for those who don't, the internet is your friend), but it's a great read. (As for the U., there is one character who is accepted to UofM; as for sports, I seem to recall a brief field hockey scene in a private girls' school.)
February 8th, 2012 at 4:21 PM ^
have a subscription to Maxim? I think we should start a club that discusses the latest issue every month.
February 8th, 2012 at 4:44 PM ^
I'd be down for this, and I also like the alternating books idea.
February 8th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
This is actually an excellent idea and I would enjoy being part of it. If there is to be a discussion about who would participate, when the latest thread would be posted and how often, logistics, etc....be sure to announce it so I can help if possible. I also like the Michigan / non-Michigan alternation, for clearly many of us have a keen interest in the stories of other teams as well as our own.
February 8th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^
I'll bring a big bag of Tootsie Rolls.
February 8th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^
I like the idea. My only request is that the books are available for the Kindle b/c I'm about to buy one and really want to use it all the time.
February 8th, 2012 at 7:19 PM ^
This is an awesome idea. I bought a bunch of used Michigan-related books after finishing Three and Out, including the two Mitch Album books (Bo's first book and his book on the Fab Five), which are good reads. I'd also recommend John Falk's book, "If These Walls Could Talk" for a great prespective from someone's perspective that's been there from Bo through RichRod (if I recall correctly, it was written between the 2009 and 2010 seasons, so at the end it provides an interesting viewpoint of being post-RichRod disappointment but pre-Hoke). If there is some kind of way to coordinate which book is discussed when, I'd be happy to read any of them agian (or whatever new ones I haven't collected yet).
February 8th, 2012 at 7:26 PM ^
I just bought myself the book for Christmas (yes, I buy my own Christmas presents b/c my wife and kids suck) :~)
Anyway, I'd be game - but not a conference call! I'd likely contribute to a written book club format.