Book Group - Any Takers?

[spha6092]

Hi everyone,

I just moved to Chiang Mai at the end of March and expect to be here for quite some time because of work. I've been reading some of the stuff on the forum and it's been helpful

I was vaguely thinking of starting up a new book group as myself and a friend are keen readers. I've gotten lots of tips from various people as to how I could promote one here, but I thought I'd start with this forum and ask you all what you think. Is this the sort of thing that would be hard to run successfully here due to the difficulty in getting multiple copies of the same book locally? Or maybe the main question is, would people be interested in getting involved?

I like to read widely and am happy to read stuff that's popular and easy to find, as long as there's enough depth for it to be discussed. I'm also interested in going backwards in time and reading classics as well.

Any takers, or thoughts, would be appreciated. Thanks!

[CMX]

Chiang Mai Expats Club lists a book group in their literature. I've e-mailed twice (before joining, though) and received no response, so I cannot say if it is alive and well.

[Ulysses G.]

There are several bookreading clubs that are active in Chiang Mai, but it seems as if the most successful ones are run by and for women.

[el jefe]

Chiang Mai Expats Club lists a book group in their literature. I've e-mailed twice (before joining, though) and received no response, so I cannot say if it is alive and well.

the woman who runs the Expat book Club has been out of the country for several months. I believe she's due back soon (soon being relative). I don't know if anyone has taken over during her absence. btw, they always make sure that there are enough copies available foranyone interested in the current book.

[jayjay0]

check the ads in the Chiang Mai mail

[eek]

^As jayjay0 states. Check the Chiang Mai Mail happenings. Can also be viewed online at their website.

-Chiang Mai Readers & Book Discussion Group: Monthly over lunch to discuss a previously agreed book. All welcome.

-The Chiang Mai International Women’s Book Club: Group of English speaking book lovers. 7 p.m, last Monday of month.

[Rasseru]

There are several bookreading clubs that are active in Chiang Mai, but it seems as if the most successful ones are run by and for women.

Wouldn't it be a laugh if there were a book club in Chiangmai by and for men only?

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, we can all read Private Dancer and My Thai Girl.

[hagler]

Yes, we can all read Private Dancer and My Thai Girl.

From recent postings on another thread I would have thought Quentin Crisp would have been more popular

[lukeskywalker]

I've tried to contact the Expats Club's book club numerous times and never got a response so I would welcome a book club as long as the book are, like you said, deep enough to stimulate some interesting thought and discussion.

Not to promote IP theft, but there are a lot of copy businesses next to universities that will happily copy a book for about a 1/4 the retail price.

I looked at a new hard cover book from an American writer and it was 1200 baht! English books here are too expensive, the used bookstores are the way to go. Cheap to begin with and then can resell them back so the book only ends up costing you about 80 baht to read! That's a deal!!!

[spha6092]

Thanks for all of your responses. I haven't seen the Chiang Mai Mail around but it sounds like it might be worth starting a new group if the existing ones aren't particularly responsive...

So if any of you were interested, why don't you send me a private message with your email addresses and I'll send out a group email proposing a time to get together? I have one or two friends who are keen, and from my experience the ideal number for a book group is 5-10.

We could just meet up first and have a chat and work out what everyone is interested in reading and we could even meet near where all the book shops are and do some scouting around for titles. Not sure how I feel about the photocopying option but we may have to if we want to read books that are not easy to get a hold of locally!