Book PenPal Exchange

[clownlesbian]

I have this idea for a project and was wanting to put out a call to see if people were interested. My idea is this. There is a book called "The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions". by Larry Mitchell. If you have never heard of this book before, it's a piece of queer history. it is a manifesto of sorts giving guidance to queer people aiming to survive. it has a huge emphasis on community. this was a book queer people read to each other and discussed since its creation. i have recently moved to a new place and dont know many ppl or queer people but felt really sad about not being able to connect as much to the community aspect of this book bc i haven't found one where i live yet.

this is where yall come in. mostly im wondering if yall can tell me if this is practical or not lol or if any of you would want to participate. basically i was wondering about the possibility of passing this book along, letting it go person to person, adding more and more onto it through annotations or conversations online. this would be a lot to manage so id probably try and do it during the winter months when im out of college.

the other option is a straight up book club if anyone is interested. i read a ton of queer (esp lesbian) books and think it would be so fun to share that.

let me know what yall think! 

[alexela64]

I'd love to participate in something like this! The idea of passing a physical book along with annotations is something I've always wanted to do, and I often feel as though I'd like to be more involved in the queer community.
Even if it was just a book club, I'd still love to participate!

[candycanearter07]

how would it work though? would you download a markdown file and give it to someone else to download? google doc? an everyone site page? I do like the idea, but it does need to be worked out a bit. Also, I'm straight, so IDK how much I could contribute :P

A regular book club does sound more fun and practical and stuff though!!

[clownlesbian]

how would it work though? would you download a markdown file and give it to someone else to download? google doc? an everyone site page? I do like the idea, but it does need to be worked out a bit. Also, I'm straight, so IDK how much I could contribute :P

A regular book club does sound more fun and practical and stuff though!!

i did think about this and its part of why i mentioned a normal book club as more practical. i know there is (or used to be i havent checked in awhile) this project that would send a sketchbook around for different artists to use. i remember it being pretty open for participation but it def would take a lot more research for me to figure out how they managed that lol.

[clownlesbian]

I'd love to participate in something like this! The idea of passing a physical book along with annotations is something I've always wanted to do, and I often feel as though I'd like to be more involved in the queer community.
Even if it was just a book club, I'd still love to participate!

its always a goal for me to be more involved in the community lol i rly should be better at it.
im happy to hear ur interested. ill keep this thread in mind as i start to work out technicalities lol.

[TheDuke_11037]

This seems like such an interesting idea! It really does seem like a tough thing to set up, I would like to be more involved in the community tbh so I'm totally following this!

[clownlesbian]

For all interested i have now created a google form. let me know your interest. it also lets you give me some feedback as far as how you would like this to be formatted. Id love to make this something all of yall who want to be involved with the queer community can benefit from so i am very open to feedback!    

[tertiaryapocalypse]

filled it out just now! i'd like to say if there's enough interest in passing around an annotated copy but issues with desire for privacy in terms of physical address/paying shipping fees we could potentially look into digital ways to annotate as a group. this also allows people who would be earlier in a physical chain of mail the chance to look at more people's annotations!

[clownlesbian]

Another update to say i made a website! There I put some more info on the way I predict this club will go. I also hope i can build it into a place where we can have at least some interaction though i expect most of the discussion would have to occur other places (just bc my limited knowledge of anything besides basic html and css lol) i am really happy you are all interested. i really hope this can be something good for us all 

[DiffydaDude]

i sent a form, dunno if i will be participating but id like to hang out occasionally

[nintendowii99]

I filled out the form and am definitely interested!

I have tons of book ideas (my wife studies queer theory lol) but I like your suggestion to start!

I prefer the idea of everyone getting their own copy and then communicating about it on discord. I think mailing a copy sounds cool, but might not be feasible for everyone. Then you're also dependent on others to keep mailing it, and if someone forgets, then it kind of ruins the chain.

[DeltaFrost]

I filled out the form and I would also like to mark my interest. I struggle to pick up anything that is not fiction and I think joining a book club that incorporates non-fiction (I'm not sure if it would be ALL non-fiction, but my understanding is that at least the first book is) would help me out. Plus, I am always looking to join more smaller, cozy clubs and communities. Great idea and I hope to keep track of it as this progresses!

[litten]

i'm interested & i filled out the form! it's been a long time since i've read a book, and i've never actually read any queer history. it would be exciting to learn and interact with the community through this ^__^

[DiffydaDude]

@nintendowii99
I dont wanna chat about it on discord though because i dont like discord 

[nintendowii99]

@nintendowii99
I dont wanna chat about it on discord though because i dont like discord 

That's fine because I was just sharing my opinion, which can differ from yours! It is ultimately up to the organizer!