Hello Bookworms,
We hope your first days of school are going well. We just have a couple of things to tell you about.
We're in the process of renewing the club this year and we were wondering if anyone is interested in being the Treasurer (there is little to no money to handle so it is more of a 'symbolic' position). If you are interested send us an email with your name and contact information. Please email us as soon as possible (preferably before Monday).
Also we (Stephanie and Sam) will have a table on September 17 as part of the clubs week. We'll be there all day so feel free to swing by and chat with us if you have any questions, comments, or just want to hang out! We'll have books...and possibly cookies...
That's it for now - we'll have the poll for choosing our September book posted early next week so keep checking the blog.
Hope to see you all very soon! Be sure to invite your friends to join the Bookworms - the more the merrier!
Stay Connected!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Plan for August and September
Hi Bookworms!
Based on the poll and the turnout at our last meeting, Steph and I have decided that we aren't going to hold a meeting for August, but instead focus our efforts on making a great meeting for September!
We're planning on doing a cooking mystery for the September book, with a meeting at the end of the month. We're hoping to cook one of the recipes from the novel at the meeting! If you know of any good cooking mysteries, please email us your suggestions at uottawabookworms@gmail.com or leave them as a comment to this post!
In September, we are planning on actively recruiting new members. We'll be having a table during Clubs Week - Steph and I will be at the table all day on Monday, September 17th. If you have any suggestions for recruitment, please let us know! If you have any questions for us, drop us a line or find us at our table!
See you in September!
Based on the poll and the turnout at our last meeting, Steph and I have decided that we aren't going to hold a meeting for August, but instead focus our efforts on making a great meeting for September!
We're planning on doing a cooking mystery for the September book, with a meeting at the end of the month. We're hoping to cook one of the recipes from the novel at the meeting! If you know of any good cooking mysteries, please email us your suggestions at uottawabookworms@gmail.com or leave them as a comment to this post!
In September, we are planning on actively recruiting new members. We'll be having a table during Clubs Week - Steph and I will be at the table all day on Monday, September 17th. If you have any suggestions for recruitment, please let us know! If you have any questions for us, drop us a line or find us at our table!
See you in September!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Freakonomics: Bonus materials
Hello Bookworms! I hope you've all had a great month! There are a few things I'd like to mention to you all:
First, there's a meeting this Saturday (August 11) at 1PM, and it's going to be held in room UCU301. See you there!
Second, Steph and I are both out of town at the end of August. We'll still be able to organize a meeting if there's enough interest, but we figured we should put it to a vote to see if there are a lot of people who want to have an August meeting. To that end, there's a poll up on the blog. If you vote yes to having a meeting, we'll have one early in September, most likely the first week of school. If you vote no, we'll skip the August meeting and go straight into preparation for our September book club, which will most likely be the cooking mystery! Please vote - polls are going to close on Saturday at 1PM so we can discuss it at the meeting.
Last, it's time for some bonus materials for this month's book, Freakonomics. The authors Levitt and Dubner have had some pretty wild success with this book, so there's cool stuff online produced by them and about them. Check out some of these links:
In case your copy of the book didn't include it, here's the original article that NY Times writer Dubner wrote about economist Levitt: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/magazine/probability-that-real-estate-agent-cheating-you-other-riddles-modern-life.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
The authors keep up an ongoing blog here: http://www.freakonomics.com/
They also write an ongoing column at the NY Times. Here's an archive of past articles if you're interested: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/features/magazine/columns/freakonomics/index.html
They also wrote a "sequel" book to Freakonomics called Superfreakonomics: http://www.freakonomics.com/books/superfreakonomics/
Check out a couple of the TED talks that Levitt has given:
Are children's carseats still necessary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um5gMZcZWm0
The freakonomics of McDonald's vs drugs: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html
Levitt was named one of Time's 100 best people of 2006 (or something), but the tribute to him was written by hugely popular nonfiction author Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers), and it's pretty interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1975813_1975844_1976457,00.html
There was actually a documentary made that is based on the boo - one of the directors is Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Supersize Me.
Check out the trailer here: http://www.magpictures.com/freakonomics/
Here are a couple of clips from the film as well:
On real-estate agents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jO_w6f8Ck
On abortions and crime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6gOeggViw
A lot of the material in the book was based on papers that Levitt had already published. You can see all of his published papers on his CV found here: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Levitt-CV.pdf
And here are the originals of some of Levitt's papers covered in the book, in case you want to see them in more detail:
Understanding why crime fell in the 1990s: Four factors that explain the decline and six that do not:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf
Market distortions when agents are better informed: The value of information in real estate:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/market%20distortion.pdf
Using repeat challengers to estimate the effect of campaign spending on election outcomes in the US House: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUsingRepeatChallengers1994.pdf
Rotten apples: An investigation of the prevalence and predictors of teacher cheating:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/JacobLevitt2003.pdf
Winning isn’t everything: Corruption in sumo wrestling :http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DugganLevitt2002.pdf
Testing theories of discrimination: Evidence from Weakest Link:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittTestingTheories2004.pdf
An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittVenkateshAnEconomicAnalysis2000.pdf
The impact of school choice on student outcomes: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/CullenJacobLevittTheImpactOf2004.pdf
Understanding the black-white test score gap in the first two years of school:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevittUnderstandingTheBlack2004.pdf
The causes and consequences of distinctively black names:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevitt2004.pdf
I hope you enjoy those materials. Please vote about the August meeting, and see you on Saturday!
First, there's a meeting this Saturday (August 11) at 1PM, and it's going to be held in room UCU301. See you there!
Second, Steph and I are both out of town at the end of August. We'll still be able to organize a meeting if there's enough interest, but we figured we should put it to a vote to see if there are a lot of people who want to have an August meeting. To that end, there's a poll up on the blog. If you vote yes to having a meeting, we'll have one early in September, most likely the first week of school. If you vote no, we'll skip the August meeting and go straight into preparation for our September book club, which will most likely be the cooking mystery! Please vote - polls are going to close on Saturday at 1PM so we can discuss it at the meeting.
Last, it's time for some bonus materials for this month's book, Freakonomics. The authors Levitt and Dubner have had some pretty wild success with this book, so there's cool stuff online produced by them and about them. Check out some of these links:
In case your copy of the book didn't include it, here's the original article that NY Times writer Dubner wrote about economist Levitt: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/magazine/probability-that-real-estate-agent-cheating-you-other-riddles-modern-life.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
The authors keep up an ongoing blog here: http://www.freakonomics.com/
They also write an ongoing column at the NY Times. Here's an archive of past articles if you're interested: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/features/magazine/columns/freakonomics/index.html
They also wrote a "sequel" book to Freakonomics called Superfreakonomics: http://www.freakonomics.com/books/superfreakonomics/
Check out a couple of the TED talks that Levitt has given:
Are children's carseats still necessary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um5gMZcZWm0
The freakonomics of McDonald's vs drugs: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html
Levitt was named one of Time's 100 best people of 2006 (or something), but the tribute to him was written by hugely popular nonfiction author Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers), and it's pretty interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1975813_1975844_1976457,00.html
There was actually a documentary made that is based on the boo - one of the directors is Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Supersize Me.
Check out the trailer here: http://www.magpictures.com/freakonomics/
Here are a couple of clips from the film as well:
On real-estate agents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jO_w6f8Ck
On abortions and crime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6gOeggViw
A lot of the material in the book was based on papers that Levitt had already published. You can see all of his published papers on his CV found here: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Levitt-CV.pdf
And here are the originals of some of Levitt's papers covered in the book, in case you want to see them in more detail:
Understanding why crime fell in the 1990s: Four factors that explain the decline and six that do not:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf
Market distortions when agents are better informed: The value of information in real estate:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/market%20distortion.pdf
Using repeat challengers to estimate the effect of campaign spending on election outcomes in the US House: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUsingRepeatChallengers1994.pdf
Rotten apples: An investigation of the prevalence and predictors of teacher cheating:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/JacobLevitt2003.pdf
Winning isn’t everything: Corruption in sumo wrestling :http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DugganLevitt2002.pdf
Testing theories of discrimination: Evidence from Weakest Link:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittTestingTheories2004.pdf
An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittVenkateshAnEconomicAnalysis2000.pdf
The impact of school choice on student outcomes: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/CullenJacobLevittTheImpactOf2004.pdf
Understanding the black-white test score gap in the first two years of school:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevittUnderstandingTheBlack2004.pdf
The causes and consequences of distinctively black names:
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevitt2004.pdf
I hope you enjoy those materials. Please vote about the August meeting, and see you on Saturday!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
July selection: Freakonomics
Aloha Bookworms! We're excited to announce that this month's selection is Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. We haven't read non-fiction in quite a while, so it should be a lot of fun to read this best-selling book!
This month's meeting will be held on Saturday, August 11 at 1PM. We'll post a meeting location once a room has been booked.
Happy... economizing? See you in August!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
July selection: Let's vote!
Hey Bookworms! Thanks to everyone who came to the meeting today - it was a really great discussion!
Some great ideas also came up in discussion for possibilities for future meetings. There was talk about acting out a dinner mystery (the kind that's like a board game) for a month when mystery is our genre, as well as talk about potentially having a meeting with a local author (someone suggested Patricia McCarthy, who apparently writes vampire novels set in Ottawa). If you can build on these ideas or have any other suggestions, feel free to comment or email us!
At the meeting, we had a lot of novel suggestions as well, so we decided to skip the genre vote and go straight to voting for some of the suggested books. There's a really great variety, so take a look at the summaries on the sites provided to get a feel for the subject matter:
Some great ideas also came up in discussion for possibilities for future meetings. There was talk about acting out a dinner mystery (the kind that's like a board game) for a month when mystery is our genre, as well as talk about potentially having a meeting with a local author (someone suggested Patricia McCarthy, who apparently writes vampire novels set in Ottawa). If you can build on these ideas or have any other suggestions, feel free to comment or email us!
At the meeting, we had a lot of novel suggestions as well, so we decided to skip the genre vote and go straight to voting for some of the suggested books. There's a really great variety, so take a look at the summaries on the sites provided to get a feel for the subject matter:
- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1202.Freakonomics)
- Watchmen by Alan Moore (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472331.Watchmen)
- 20 000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12856474-20-000-leagues-under-the-sea)
- The Children of Men by P.D. James (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41913.The_Children_of_Men)
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168668.Catch_22)
Polls are up for both the book selection and the meeting date / time. Please head on over to the blog and make sure to vote for all the times that you are available, and for all the books you're interested in! Both polls will close at 11:59PM on Thursday, July 12 and we'll announce the winners on Friday.
Happy voting!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Meeting location update for July 8
Hi Bookworms,
I've just received confirmation that we can use the room UCU 207 for this month's meeting. It's located on the top floor of the University Center - if you're in the overpass with the Tim Horton's that connects the library to Montpetit building, UCU 207 is on the right just before you reach Montpetit.
This is actually a pretty nice room with lots of windows, so I'm thinking that we'll just meet there. If it's nice outside, we should be able to enjoy the sun through the windows anyway!
So I'll see you all in UCU207 at 1PM this Sunday! Bring any genre suggestions or book recommendations you might have!
I've just received confirmation that we can use the room UCU 207 for this month's meeting. It's located on the top floor of the University Center - if you're in the overpass with the Tim Horton's that connects the library to Montpetit building, UCU 207 is on the right just before you reach Montpetit.
This is actually a pretty nice room with lots of windows, so I'm thinking that we'll just meet there. If it's nice outside, we should be able to enjoy the sun through the windows anyway!
So I'll see you all in UCU207 at 1PM this Sunday! Bring any genre suggestions or book recommendations you might have!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Bonus Materials
Hello Bookworms!
I hope that you had a fabulous June filled with dark secrets, magical artwork and mysterious deaths - in our novel, of course!
I'm still waiting to get confirmation on the room location, so similar to last month, our Plan A will be to meet outside on the lawn between Morisset Library and Fauteux (outside the cafeteria), and our Plan B will be to meet wherever they decide to let us hold our meeting indoors! I'll update you as soon as I know the location.
I'd like to post next month's genre poll right after the meeting on Sunday to make sure we get the ball rolling as quickly as possible for next month. Bring your genre suggestions to the meeting, or submit them as a comment on this post or an email to uottawabookworms@gmail.com. Additionally, if you have a preference for meeting times, please let me know so that I can include those in our next meeting vote.
Now for the fun stuff! I've compiled some goodies about this month's book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde! The subject matter was... dark, to say the least, so I'm afraid the bonus materials aren't exactly pick-me-ups, but they're interesting nonetheless! Feel free to check out these links:
I hope that you had a fabulous June filled with dark secrets, magical artwork and mysterious deaths - in our novel, of course!
I'm still waiting to get confirmation on the room location, so similar to last month, our Plan A will be to meet outside on the lawn between Morisset Library and Fauteux (outside the cafeteria), and our Plan B will be to meet wherever they decide to let us hold our meeting indoors! I'll update you as soon as I know the location.
I'd like to post next month's genre poll right after the meeting on Sunday to make sure we get the ball rolling as quickly as possible for next month. Bring your genre suggestions to the meeting, or submit them as a comment on this post or an email to uottawabookworms@gmail.com. Additionally, if you have a preference for meeting times, please let me know so that I can include those in our next meeting vote.
Now for the fun stuff! I've compiled some goodies about this month's book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde! The subject matter was... dark, to say the least, so I'm afraid the bonus materials aren't exactly pick-me-ups, but they're interesting nonetheless! Feel free to check out these links:
- An interesting 8-minute animated adaptation of the novel: http://vimeo.com/26229857
- Analysis of themes, motifs and symbols: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/themes.html
- Important quotations explained: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doriangray/quotes.html
- Quotable quotes from the novel (didn't Lord Henry Wotton have some spectacular lines?): http://classiclit.about.com/od/pictureofdoriangray/a/aa_picturequote.htm
- Film adaptations:
- 2009: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235124/
- 2007: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435669/
- 1945: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037988/
- A bit about the scandalous Oscar Wilde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
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