Announcing the First Site-Wide Read-Along

In August, let’s read Carl Sagan’s Contact together, shall we, dear readers?

As you know, The BAOS Book Club is hosting a site-wide read-along on the BAOS Book Club. For August, our read-along partner is Akshad Singi, and the book we picked (based on votes from our book club members) is Carl Sagan’s Contact.

Here’s what you can expect from the readathon:

1. One general discussion thread before starting the book. This will include reasons why we are excited to start reading, our thoughts before we proceed, etc.
2. Weekly chapter-wise posts, with detailed chapter discussion. These will be a great way to find what other readers thought about the same passages and how the words affected them. After all, as Edmund Wilson says, “No two persons ever read the same book.”
3. Akshad will also be sharing small tidbits throughout the week — like a favorite quote, some interesting connections he noticed, etc. Readers will also be sharing their own quotes, snippets, and observations, making this an enriching discussion for all.

Here’s what Akshad has to say about the read-along:

When I first read Carl Sagan’s work, it blew my mind away. I remember thinking to myself that whoever’s not read Carl Sagan’s work is missing out on something great in life. I was so blown away, I even tweeted that.

The book I read was Dragons of Eden; a book discussing the evolution of human intelligence that won the Pulitzer prize in 1978. That’s right. 1978! A book that was written that long ago is still an extraordinary piece of work today.

And mind you, that book was about facts — there’s not much room for creativity there. And even then, Carl’s words were poetic. Almost intoxicating. However, the book we’re about to read this month, Contact, is a hard science fiction dealing with the theme of contact between humans and extraterrestrial life. This means, that there are no limits to creativity and imagination.

And if Carl can make science — a supposedly dull subject to many — poetic, I can’t even imagine what he can do if he’s not bound by the fences of facts. Suffice it to say, I’m super excited to read this book. I hope you are too.

How Can I Join the Read-Along?

The read-along will be happening on the BAOS Book Club Slack channel (which has several other perks aside from the read-along. More on that here).

To join, you’ll need to be a member of the BAOS Book Club.

Are you as excited about reading Carl Sagan’s Contact as I am?

Leave a reply to let us know. Or if you found this online, Tweet your thoughts and tag us @BooksSuperpower.

See you on the read-along soon!

With love,
Anangsha
Creator, Books Are Our Superpower.