shelf indulgence: a book club

My friend Tim and I had a loosely organized book club we fostered with a few close buddies. The club meets online through a Discord server, and we vote democratically on what titles to read.

Initially, we played with the idea of opening up the club to random denizens of the internet through digital means. We eventually ideated a hybrid analog/digital recruiting practice.

I designed and custom printed stickers, or "slaps," to honor the Greek Gods Apollo and Dionysus. On these stickers I placed a QR code with an invite to our book club. I felt that this methodology would be a better filter for the kinds of people we'd want to engage with. I carry these stickers around with me wherever I go, often leaving some in coffee shops and brick and mortar bookstores. I also slap them liberally on communal urban art fixtures.

The practice wasn't wildly successful, but we did end up making several friends who we still read with on a regular basis. It was a fun project, and I'm always excited when a new member joins the server. The slaps end up attracting an interesting lot: cultured, artistically inclined, generally well educated, and curious.

Some books we've completed as a club:

Sirens of Titan, War and Peace, The Left Hand of Darkness, Lolita, Post Office, What Dreams May Come, Blonde, The Sot-Weed Factor, Blood Meridian, Neuromancer, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Maltese Falcon, Mason & Dixon, Gravity's Rainbow, The Stranger, Orfeo, Winter in Sokcho, Frankenstein, First Love, Beacon 23, On The Road, Convenience Store Woman, The Constant Rabbit, and more.

If you'd like to join us, use this link or scan the QR code included in the project.

discord.gg/ke3gdcWDzY