Join us for discussion of our current book as well as the opportunity to voice your opinion for our next selection.

This is what you missed at our last bookclub meeting:

For the month of July, we read Daemon by Daniel Suarez. The genius CEO of a gaming company dies of cancer, and after his death, unleashes his Daemon into the world. The program unleashes real-world consequences: individual deaths, a killer house, eventually risking the very foundations of modern society.

Most of our group generally liked the book: it was a quick read, though it was obvious it was a first novel in both style and pacing. We discussed exactly how realistic it is, since it’s set in modern-day, plus the political aspects of the book (and for those who had read it, its sequel as well).

When: Monday, September 13, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: First or second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

Join us for discussion of our current book as well as the opportunity to voice your opinion for our next selection.

This is what you missed at our last bookclub meeting:

For the month of June, we read Fables: Legends in Exile, our first graphic novel for the group, which attracted lots of attendees, most of whom liked the book. Fables follows the real lives of various characters from fairy tales and fables who have been forced by the conqueror of their Homelands into a clandestine community in New York City known as Fabletown. This first story arc involves a murder mystery involving Sheriff Bigby Wolf and Rose Red.

We discussed the archetypes involved: princesses and princes, pigs and frogs, ice queens and wife killers; how the characters differ from their fairytale sources; how the art influenced the reading experience; the typical murder mystery “big reveal” and whether we were surprised or not.

Most seemed to enjoy it and appreciate the approachability of graphic novels in general and Fables in specific, but thought we shouldn’t read them too often for this bookclub. Come join us to let us know what you’d like to read!

When: Monday, August 9, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

For our eleventh bookclub meeting we are reading Fables: Legends in Exile, our first graphic novel for the group, and the first graphic novel released for the comic, collecting issues #1-5. Fables follows the real lives of various characters from fairy tales and fables who have been forced by the conqueror of their Homelands into a clandestine community in New York City known as Fabletown. This first story arc involves a murder mystery involving Sheriff Bigby Wolf and Rose Red.

Join us for discussion of our current book as well as the opportunity to voice your opinion for our next selection.

This is what you missed at our last bookclub meeting:

For the month of May, the book club read A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Canticle is set in a future where World War 3 bombed civilization back to the dark ages. The three parts of Canticle follows a group of monks as they uncover knowledge and the hazardous path of the intellectual in a society where knowledge is taboo.

Canticle is considered a classic science fiction novel, but really grew out of three short stories Miller wrote. As such, there are three separate sections set over the span of thousands of years, which show the cycles that mankind enacts: superstition, sophistication, and eventual self-destruction.

Some people enjoyed the read, others thought it was dry in parts and/or the time jumps between sections were confusing. The explorations of religion and euthanasia aren’t currently as controversial as they perhaps once were, but the debate of science vs faith is still quite relevant.

When: Monday, July 12, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

For our tenth bookclub meeting we are reading A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Canticle is set in a future where World War 3 bombed civilization back to the dark ages and follows a group of monks as they uncover knowledge and the hazardous path of the intellectual in a society where knowledge is taboo. Join us for discussion of our current book as well as voice your opinion for our next selection.

This is what you missed at our last bookclub meeting:

For the month of April, the book club read “Brace New World” by Aldous Huxley, a book long celebrated in the science fiction communities as one of the first dystopian novels. Hundreds of years in the future, sex is purely recreational and all reproduction is handled through massive factories. A caste system has been carefully crafted through scientific means where the majority of embryos are stunted in growth. The entire population is conditioned through hypnotherapy to enjoy their lot in life and then given a regimen of drugs to increase happiness and satisfaction. The book explores the impact an outsider has on this society.

The consensus was very consistent this time around: Definitely a book that a well-read sci-fi fan should read, but not really enjoyable. The exploration of self and role in society was interesting and worthwhile but the science fiction was dated. “Huxley was obviously up on the cutting edge tech of the time,” one clubber said, “but he didn’t really go anywhere beyond it.” Another commented that there weren’t really any gadgets in the book, that all the advanced technology was in the form of industrial processes.

When: Monday, June 14, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

For our eighth bookclub meeting we are reading the Aldous Huxley classic Brave New World. Join us for discussion of our current book as well as voice your opinion for our next selection.

This is what you missed at our last bookclub meeting:

In March the Clubbers read “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” by Seth Grahame-Smith.  The book takes a look at the life of the 16th President of the United States through darkly tinted glasses.  The author’s premise is that he was given the secret journal of Abraham Lincoln by a centuries-old vampire that had known Abe personal.  The journal contained Lincoln’s life in his own words and described the decades-long secret war he fought against the creatures of the night.

The book has received a lot of press, as the second book by the author of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”  The Smithsonian even hosted a panel led by Seth Grahame-Smith several weeks after the book was released.  Historians are praising the book for providing snippets of history within the framework of the fantasy/horror genre.

Our discerning readers, however, were not overly impressed with the book.  Many felt it was too easy a read failed to provide any definitive statement.  One comment was, “Have you noticed that all the really sloppy fiction coming out right now has vampires?”  Mostly it seemed that the readers couldn’t get into the story, that Grahame-Smith didn’t create enough plausibility in his book for them to willfully suspend disbelief.

One reader felt the book had merit in the author’s unique ability to create a society in which vampires could survive.  As the slave owners of the 19th century South, they fed upon the millions of slaves that would not be missed or avenged.

Overall, the Book Clubbers didn’t feel the book warranted the hype and most would recommend a pass.  A reader who did enjoy it suggested that people who enjoyed “Tarzan Alive” by Philip Jose Farmer may enjoy “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” because they share a similar tone.

Next up we will be reading the Aldous Huxley classic “Brave New World.”

When: Monday, May 10, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

The Council of Elrond decreed that we form a bookclub, and we obliged.

For our eighth bookclub meeting we are reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Join us for discussion of our current book as well as voice your opinion for our next selection.

From Publishers Weekly Review:

Following the success of his bestselling Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with another mélange of history and horror, Grahame-Smith inserts a grandiose and gratuitous struggle with vampires into Abraham Lincoln’s life. Lincoln learns at an early age that his mother was killed by a supernatural predator. This provokes his bloody but curiously undocumented lifelong vendetta against vampires and their slave-owning allies. The author’s decision to reduce slavery to a mere contrivance of the vampires is unfortunate bordering on repellent, but at least it does distract the reader from the central question of why the president never saw fit to inform the public of the supernatural menace. Grahame-Smith stitches hand-to-hand vampire combat into Lincoln’s documented life with competent prose that never quite manages to convince.(Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When: Monday, April 12, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Second floor of the Noble Tree Cafe 2444 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL

Cost: Free

Next Bookclub:
Monday, January 11, 2010 – 6:30pm-8:00pm
2nd Floor of Noble Tree Coffee & Tea – 2444 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614
Discussing The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge
Detailed event info and ticket information

The Chicago Nerd Social Club’s Science Fiction/Fantasy Bookclub is open to new science fiction and/or fantasy readers as well as die hard fans.
The CNSC Bookclub meets from 6:30pm-8:00pm on the 2nd Monday of every month at the Noble Tree Cafe.  Our book choices alternate between the Science Fiction and the Fantasy genre, and after our second meeting on October 12th, 2009 we are opening up the book selecting to our book club attendees.

CNSC Bookclub Reads:

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – Meeting March 8, 2010 – Book nominated by Paul Callan and voted on at February meeting.
• Makers by Cory Doctorow – Meeting February 8, 2010 – Book nominated by Anne Petersen and voted on at January meeting
• The Snow Queen – Meeting January 11, 2010 – Book nominated by Anne Petersen and voted on at December meeting
• Lies of Locke Lamora – Meeting December 14, 2009 – Book voted on at November meeting
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Meeting November 9, 2009 – Book chosen by Eric Barnes of the CNSC Bookclub
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman – Meeting October 12, 2009 – Book chosen by Phil Kalata of the Chicago Nerd Social Club
• Dune by Frank Hebert (meeting was September 14, 2009) – Book chosen by the Chicago Nerd Social Club