LTH book group?

Messycook and I are trying to gauge interest in an LTH book group. We've got a number of possibilities--but are eager to hear your suggestions as well.

We could all read the same food-related book at the same time and chat about it as we go along.

We could open up a number of book discussions on-line and see where they go.

We could turn it into another occasion to move from the virtual world to the real one by meeting in person-- either to supplement or instead of on-line discussions.

We could limit ourselves to books about food or we could expand to include particularly interesting cookbooks as well.

So here's a first poll. We're not going to hold anyone to anything, but if you think you might be interested in any of these permutations, answer the poll and elaborate in this thread as the spirit moves you. We'd also be eager to hear any cautions or wisdom arising from your participation in any other virtual or real book groups.

Thanks!

Forum-ites already *do* discuss(somewhat) books within the parameters of LTH. I like the idea of contemplative discussion and imagine if this were an online-specific endeavor it would work best within it's own board heading; to differentiate from the more usual reading ideas requests i.e. "what's a good cookbook?" Cool idear.

Me, I vote for meeting in person. I think it would be more fun, enhance a sense of community--and offer an always-welcome chance to eat

howzabout a combo of both?

meetings, oft times, bring about scheduling conflicts, but....

online chats, don't even require a change of clothes.

anyhoo... the prospect of your 'project' - is indeed, enticing, to a newbie foodie, like me.

I think this sounds like a lot of fun, and I agree with those who enjoy getting together.

Can't be certain I'll always make it, or that I'll always have time to read the books, but it sounds like a perfect combination of two of my favorite things -- eating and reading.

I think it's a great idea. Here are a few thoughts I'd like to share:

1) I think the best way to make this interesting and viable are to choose issue-oriented culinary books--something that's really going to stimulate some conversation. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" would be a good first choice in my mind. (particularly because it's sitting on my desk waiting to be read).

2) As far as cookbooks go, we've tried getting the "Exploring a Cookbook" threads going, which are essentially cookbook-clubs, even though not too many people have jumped in. There's one for Authentic Mexican and one for The New Spanish Table.

3) I think you can easily do a hybrid component of online and off. Online you can take a chunk of time (say, a week) and a chunk of the book (a few chapters or whatever) and keep constant conversation going. When the book is finished, anyone who wants to can meet for a dinner/end-of-book discussion.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for taking this on, Ann & Messycook.

Best,
Micahel

We could read Julie and Julia, my copy of which conveniently comes with "book group discussion points" in the back

Actually, I just finished it, and it doesn't really have much of the issue thing that EC suggested, although perhaps others don't find that a criterion. I've never been involved in a book group before, so I'm flexible. I found Julie and Julia entertaining, although I'm not sure I'd have a lot to say about it. I suppose with a bit of drinking, which would only be en pointe for that book anyway.

In my to-read stack in a general LTH vein are The Nasty Bits and Sweetness and Power but I'd also be game for other suggestions.

I also just read About Alice and am inspired to re-read Trillin's food corpus, should anyone be interested in those. Also the recent mention of Raymond Sokolov reminded me that I haven't read any of his work, but am interested in a few.

Hi,

I know Joan Reardon who wrote a biography on MFK Fisher. She will present a program on MFK Fisher to the Chicago Foodways Roundtable on May 12th.

This may be an opportunity to either read books of MFK Fisher and/or Joan's book, then discuss it with the author.

Regards,

I would enjoy partipating in such a discussion group but the reality is that I probably couldn't -- two school-aged kids at home take up much of my evening/weekend time, I teach one night a week, and have political meetings, etc. etc....but I would say this is a great idea and would love to be kept posted about how it develops. Since I'm a historian, I'd be most enticed by the historical/political/social science type books, and since I have taught food history courses I might be able to help even if I couldn't come to the gatherings -- if you should take up the excellent and crucial (but dense) Sweetness and Power , for instance, I have a study guide I prepared for it. Good luck -- I'll be interested to see what happens!

Cathy2 wrote:I know Joan Reardon who wrote a biography on MFK Fisher. She will present a program on MFK Fisher to the Chicago Foodways Roundtable on May 12th.

While not totally issue oriented, I think reading MFK Fisher with a group could be fun. Her books are really interesting for primary source history; that vein of American culture isn't what you learn in school. Maybe a comparative "great ladies of American Food Culture" with some about Julia Child's time in the OSS as well?

Here are some others I have on my Amazon wishlist that I'd buy if motivated:

Oranges (John McPhee)
Slim's Table: Race, Respectability, and Masculinity (Mitchell Duneier)
Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (Lizzie Collingham)
Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work (Gary Alan Fine)
Cornbread Nation 2: The United States of Barbecue (Cornbread Nation: Best of Southern Food Writing) (Lolis Eric Elie)
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (Mark Kurlansky)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Michael Pollan)
pretty much covers the gamut, I think

HI,

You will not believe the coincidence: Joan Reardon wrote a book M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters: Celebrating the Pleasures of the Table.

Regards,

Great idea! I put myself in the "maybe" camp. I do like the concept and would be interested in participating in person, with food and drink. However, with another book club and other life demands, I don't know how well I could balance another. I will continue to follow the thread.

germuska wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:I know Joan Reardon who wrote a biography on MFK Fisher. She will present a program on MFK Fisher to the Chicago Foodways Roundtable on May 12th.

While not totally issue oriented, I think reading MFK Fisher with a group could be fun. Her books are really interesting for primary source history; that vein of American culture isn't what you learn in school. Maybe a comparative "great ladies of American Food Culture" with some about Julia Child's time in the OSS as well?

Here are some others I have on my Amazon wishlist that I'd buy if motivated:

Oranges (John McPhee)
Slim's Table: Race, Respectability, and Masculinity (Mitchell Duneier)
Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (Lizzie Collingham)
Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work (Gary Alan Fine)
Cornbread Nation 2: The United States of Barbecue (Cornbread Nation: Best of Southern Food Writing) (Lolis Eric Elie)
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (Mark Kurlansky)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Michael Pollan)
pretty much covers the gamut, I think

John McPhee's Oranges is a favorite of mine...I read it in the late 80's along with KW Jeter's In the Land of the Dead(o.o.p.). They are inextricably-connected in my mind though are quite different(one an exploration of the orange as culture, the other an existentialist fable set amongst migrant workers and failing, forgotten California orange groves...guess which is which).

Anyhoo, here's this possibly my favorite outsider art experience evah(I used to love visiting it as a child...I think my first time was as a cubscout...I had a crazy cool den mother...until we drove her, literally, crazy and she took a leave of absence):

http://www.orangeshow.org/

Actually, I do love this idea, and would be glad to participate. The only reason I clicked "maybe/maybe not" was that I couldn't decide whether to vote for online discussion or meetings. I would really enjoy meeting at restaurants to eat while we talk about books about food. But I am a little worried that most of the group will live in and want to meet at places downtown, and I don't know how often I could do that (living in the northern suburbs and already being in two other book clubs). I think I could probably make a meeting once every three months or so, and would enjoy the online discussion in between.

So, I cast my vote for a hybrid of the two choices.

Katie

Katie,

Your post reminds of a suggestion made on the other board a few years ago: everyone was to collect take out from a specific restaurant, then go home to eat and chat about their meal over the internet. You have a sense of community and isolation all at once!

Regards,

Katie wrote:Actually, I do love this idea, and would be glad to participate. The only reason I clicked "maybe/maybe not" was that I couldn't decide whether to vote for online discussion or meetings. ... I think I could probably make a meeting once every three months or so, and would enjoy the online discussion in between.

My sentiments exactly. This sounds like a great idea to me, but I cannot commit to meeting in person more than once a month or so.

Holly of Uptown wrote:

Katie wrote:Actually, I do love this idea, and would be glad to participate. The only reason I clicked "maybe/maybe not" was that I couldn't decide whether to vote for online discussion or meetings. ... I think I could probably make a meeting once every three months or so, and would enjoy the online discussion in between.

My sentiments exactly. This sounds like a great idea to me, but I cannot commit to meeting in person more than once a month or so.

I wouldn't imagine we'd want to meet more than once a month, if that, and the online format certainly gives more people a chance to participate.

I like the basic idea here, and I'm glad Ann proposed it.

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the feedback. Ann and I have decided to go ahead with these five books:

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (Mark Kurlansky)
Julie and Julia (Julie Powell)
Heat (Bill Buford)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Michael Pollan)
M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters: Celebrating the Pleasures of the Table (Joan Reardon)

We decided to pick a list so that people could order books (or request them from the library) in time for the discussions. That being said, we will have some order to this. The first book we'll discuss is Heat. So let's get a discussion going around that online, and in about a week we'll decide when/where to meet (about a month from now). In general, we'll try to meet once a month for the "wrap up" of the book, and to enjoy food/drinks/each other's company. Until then, we'll use this forum to talk about the first book on the list - let the commentary begin!

The only other book of this list that's on a timeline is the J. Reardon, as she is having a program here in Chicago on May 12th.

I'm really looking forward to this. Keep the suggestions coming, as this is evolving as we go.

Cheers!
Messycook (Alex)

In my experience book clubs are usually more about the eating anyway so I think it's a great idea to combine the two.