Reading Liberally Cambridge Chapter Blog

Hi everyone,

The next meeting of Reading Liberally Cambridge will be on January 26 at 7 PM at the Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square. We will be discussing "The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems" by Van Jones. You can find it at Amazon or other fine booksellers.

I will sadly not be able to attend, so Shai will be leading the discussion. I am still looking for feedback on possible February books, particularly works that deal with the early years of other Presidential administrations (considering that by February, we'll be in the middle of the early part of the Obama admin.). In particular, if anyone knows of any good books related to JFK or FDR (both of whom faced different major events and controversies in their first months in office), that would be particularly useful.

Thank you,

John

Hi everyone,

Thank you for making it out last night. For next month, we will be meeting on January 26th at 7 PM at Clear Conscience Cafe, rather than on January 19th, because of the Martin Luther King Day holiday. We will be discussing "The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems" by Van Jones. You can find it at Amazon or other fine booksellers http://www.amazon.com/Green-Collar-Economy-Solution-Problems/dp/00616507...

As for February, the group in attendance discussed last night, and considering that we will be in the very beginning of the Obama administration by the next time we meet, it might be a good time to explore readings based on the early years of other administrations. So if you have any suggestions, you may email them here, or if you want to, post them on our Facebook group page and join the group if you haven't already done so :) (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20941219307 ).

Thank you, and have a great week!

John

Just a reminder: The next meeting of Reading Liberally Cambridge will take place TONIGHT at 7 PM at Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square (581 Massachusetts Ave, near the Central Square Red Line stop). We will be discussing "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld, a fictional book that is very loosely based on the life of Laura Bush.

Also, the poll for next month's book (economic) is still open. If you are interested in voting, please do so. I'll be using it to help figure out next month's book, so any feedback will be helpful.

You can access the poll at http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1175529/

Have a great day, and see you tonight!

John

Just a reminder: The next meeting of Reading Liberally Cambridge will take place on December 15 at 7 PM at Clear Conscience Cafe in Central Square (581 Massachusetts Ave). We will be discussing "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld, a fictional book that is loosely based on the life of Laura Bush.

Also, I set up a poll for the January book to see what people would prefer. January's book will be economically themed, so keep that in mind as you vote. I'm experimenting with this, so I'll keep the results in mind as we decide the book for the month. Any suggestions would be helpful.

You can access the poll at http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1175529/

Here are the 5 books I've included in the poll (alphabetical by author):

The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, by Van Jones http://www.amazon.com/Green-Collar-Economy-Solution-Problems/dp/00616507...

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein http://www.amazon.com/Shock-Doctrine-Rise-Disaster-Capitalism/dp/0312427...

The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman http://www.amazon.com/Return-Depression-Economics-Crisis-2008/dp/0393071...

Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity by Michael Lewis http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Story-Modern-Financial-Insanity/dp/039306514...

Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Money-Reckless-Politics-Capitalism/dp/06700190...

The five choices that I have put in are based on requests and my own perusal, so if you have a suggestion as well, please use the write-in box.

Have a great week and I will see you on the 15th,

John

I've put together a poll for this month's book (Economic-themed). If you want to vote for a different book, there is a write-in option.

Which book would you like to read for January 2009? ( surveys)

Hey everyone,

Thank you again to those of you who were able to make it out for "The Nine" on the 17th. For next month, we will be reading Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife" (available at Amazon and other fine booksellers: http://www.amazon.com/American-Wife-Novel-Curtis-Sittenfeld/dp/140006475... ), a fictional take based loosely off of the life of Laura Bush. Considering that Thanksgiving is upon us, and the Holiday season is almost upon us, it's the perfect time to do some lighter, more fictional reading.

The meeting will take place on December 15th at 7 PM at Clear Conscience Cafe.

There has been some discussion about where to go after the new year in terms of topics. We'll be focusing on the economy for January, particularly books dealing with either the modern crisis or the events that led up to it. Any suggestions would be helpful. And any suggestions for future books/topics would also be greatly helpful.

Thanks again, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and see you on the 15th!

John

Hey everybody,

One final reminder: The Reading Liberally Cambridge meeting is today, November 17, at 7 PM at the Clear Conscience Cafe (581 Mass Ave, Cambridge)

(On a side note, I recently learned that another, larger book club happens to be meeting at this same time, so if anyone wants to come a little early (maybe 6:50-6:55) and help me make sure we have chairs for our little table, that would be greatly appreciated :) )

We will be discussing Jeffrey Toobin's "The Nine". As the Obama Administration begins to pick names, one place where they will almost certainly have openings is in the US Supreme Court early into his term? What sort of nominees will Obama pick, and what sort of personalities and doctrine will drive the court?

For December, we'll be going at reading fiction-style with Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife", the tale of a First Lady who partially resembles a certain current US First Lady. That meeting will be on December 15, same time and place.

Also, bring book suggestions with you. I would personally like to do something economics-related for January, considering the financial crisis we're currently in, but I'm always open to suggestions.

Thank you and see you tonight,
John

Hey everybody,

Just another reminder: Next Monday, November 17, 2008, will be the next meeting for Reading Liberally: Cambridge. We will be discussing Jeffrey Toobin's "The Nine". As the Obama Administration begins to pick names, one place where they will almost certainly have openings is in the US Supreme Court, probably to replace John Paul Stevens or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the context of "The Nine", what sort of justices will Obama choose/be able to choose?

The deets on the meeting:

Monday, November 17, 7 PM, Clear Conscience Cafe (581 Mass. Ave, Cambridge).

(On a side note, I recently learned that another, larger book club happens to be meeting at this same time, so if anyone wants to come early and help me make sure we have chairs for our little table, that would be greatly appreciated :) )

Second, future books. I've gotten some great suggestions, but I wanted to throw it to the floor. I want to send the Harvard Book Store a decent list (I'm thinking next 3+ months after the December book, Curtis Sittenfeld's "American Wife"). We're now at the point where we can shift into a more policy focus, whether that happens to be the power of the presidency (Schlessinger's "Imperial Presidency"), economic questions (Larry Bartels and Kevin Phillips have recent books on the rich/poor gap and capitalism, respectively), health care questions, environmental questions (Al Gore and Thomas Friedman immediately come to mind), and the multitude of books on the situation in Iraq. Any way, I'd love to get some more suggestions for future readings, that we could talk about at Monday's meeting, so if anyone has any thoughts, by all means, send some along.

Have a great week, and I will see you on Monday :).

John

PS - For those of you with Facebook, our group page is at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=20941219307

And you can always reach us on the Living Liberally site at: http://livingliberally.org/reading/chapters/MA/cambridge

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick reminder: Our next book will be "The Nine" by Jeffrey Toobin, an inside look at the United States Supreme Court. The meeting will take place on November 17, at 7 PM, at the Clear Conscience Cafe.

Also, we're having an election night party.

JOIN THE,
Young Democrats of Massachusetts
Generation Progress and
Drinking Liberally (Cambridge, Boston, and Brookline)

As we host THE largest young professional's Election Night watch party in the great city of Boston.

DATE: November 4, 2008
TIME: 7PM - Til we get kicked out & find out the winner
PLACE: Mantra, 52 Temple Place (Near Downtown Crossing, Park St & Boylston T stops)
www.mantrarestaurant.com

Event is 18+ (IDs will be checked at the door)

Have a great night and hope to see you all tomorrow and on the 17th!

Thanks,
John

Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who made it out on Monday to talk about "Taking on The System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era". Our next book will be "The Nine" by Jeffrey Toobin, an inside look at the United States Supreme Court. The meeting will take place on November 17, at 7 PM, at the Clear Conscience Cafe.

On a previous Reading Liberally note, DL Boston will be holding an event on Wednesday with Rick Perlstein (author of Nixonland, our September book):

Weds., Oct. 29
7 - 8:30
Globe Bar and Cafe -- on the balcony
565 Boylston St, Boston, MA (Copley Square)

For those of you who had a chance to read the book, or those who didn't (or those, like me, who skipped ahead after the 1970 election), come on out! It should be an interesting discussion.

Have a good weekend and happy reading!

John