Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We will not go back.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Fight them, without becoming them!

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Book Club – Adam Schiff’s Midnight in Washington

Book Club – Adam Schiff’s Midnight in Washington

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A month ago I put up a post asking if there was interested in a weekly book club to discuss Adam Schiff’s book Midnight in Washington.

Interest in a Weekly Book Club to Read & Discuss Adam Schiff’s Book Midnight In Washington?

Here’s a list of people who indicated they were interested:

A Good Woman
Ajabu
Alison Rose
Almost Retired (+1 book)
bemused senior
Betty
bluegirlfromwyo
brantl
CasieL
Damned_at_Random (+1 book)
debbie
eddie blake
ellie
grandmabear
HeleninEire
HRA
Jack the Cold Warrior
Jackie
Jean
Jess
Jim, Foolish Literalist
JoyceH (maybe)
JustinW (+1 book)
Kalakal
Krakengonewild
Low Key Swagger
Middlelee
narya (+1 book)
PatrickG (+1 book)
peggy
Ramona Rosario
Renie (+1 book)
Ruckus
sam
SiubhanDuinne
skerry
thruppence
WaterGirl
zamphuor
Zelma

?

Between the pet calendar, the fundraising and being down with a bug for a week, nearly a month has passed.  I assume everyone on the list is interested.  Yes?  Who else is interested in participating?

A few people offered to buy copies for other interested folks who aren’t in a position right now to buy the book, so if you resemble that remark, let us know in the comments or send me email.  Hopefully we can figure out a way to get a book for everyone in that position who wants to participate!

Now we need to figure out the day of the week and the time of the day.  Are weekends good?  Maybe during the day?  Are evenings better?  Let us know in the comments.

I’m thinking we won’t start until after Thanksgiving, and we can take a week off at Christmas if we want to.

Update:  It’s looking like we will start in early January.

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  1. 1.

    CaseyL

    Still interested, and got on the waiting list at the library back when your post went up. They say I should get the book in 5 weeks (!) though..

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    Please chime in if you’re interested!

    Also, can only Safari people see the spiffy little box up top with an image instead the title in a block quote?

    Book Club – Adam Schiff's <i>Midnight in Washington</i>

  4. 4.

    narya

    Still interested! Still willing to get an extra copy. I”m getting an ebook, but am happy to support whatever form factor someone wants.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    @Jerzy Russian: @Steeplejack:

    Interesting!  I don’t use Chrome but I have it on my mac for testing purposes.  In chrome I just see the book title, linked inside a block quote.

    Maybe it’s a setting?  I don’t use an ad blocker or mess with settings on Chrome because I want to be able to test stuff with chrome “as is”.  I bet it’s a social media setting of some kind.

    edit: Except that tweets show up fully formatted in Chrome, so maybe that’s not it.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Still interested. I own it on Kindle, have read perhaps 1/4 of it so far. Most evenings work for me, and some weekends.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    At first, I didn’t see the book cover, then i turned off the ad blocker, refreshed, and there it was. Now, with the ad blocker back on, it’s still showing.

    Chrome, old MacBook Pro.

  13. 13.

    bluegirlfromwyo

    Still interested and willing to buy a book. Weekends better than evenings but can make either work.

  14. 14.

    jeffreyw

    I am always interested in reading comments from smart people but for whatever reason smart people are never interested in reading my comments.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    My copy is supposed to arrive today.

    So obviously I haven’t read it yet. And won’t know if I am fully interested until after that. Very likely I will be though.

    USPS says it’s out for delivery!

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    I can actually send you a schedule of the exact weekend dates I’m *not* available. MET Opera/Bolshoi Ballet commitments. Weekend evenings are fine, though.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m not holding my breath…..

    And I agree with you, this is, one of the more hateful things TFG did in his time shitting in our house. A lot of the people effected would be the employees of the Postal Service and a large component of those are black. A decent and valuable job and he appointed someone who screwed it up for all of us, out of hate and his massive reserve of ignorance and just plain stupidity.

  25. 25.

    Jackie

    I’m interested, but won’t be able to buy the book until after New Years. Four young grandkiddos Christmas presents have depleted my finances for now.

  26. 26.

    Jerzy Russian

    @WaterGirl:    I am on my MacBook Pro running Chrome.    I can only see a link to a previous post, and not the image of the book.   Thus the post looks different than what I see on my iPhone at the moment.

  27. 27.

    Kalakal

    I can see it fine, chrome on Android

    still interested, checked the library management system -79 holds, Looks like I’ll have to get the kindle version.

    Fridays & Saturdays would work best , most evenings

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: Someone who wishes to remain anonymous would like to gift you with a copy of the book.  They just need to know your preferred format:  paper copy, Kindle, iBook, etc.

    Let me know here in the comments or by email?

  31. 31.

    Low Key Swagger

    Definitely interested.  My kids get me books these days for Christmas.  I’m wondering if this isn’t a better activity for Jan/Feb, when Winter really hits and there ain’t much to do except read?

  34. 34.

    bluegirlfromwyo

    Starting in January gives late shipments time to arrive and all of us time to negotiate the holidays. I’m down.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl: sounds good to me. I’m already kind of planning on getting a copy and skimming along to follow the discussions. Even with “the holidays” my December is looking pretty nutty

  37. 37.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: My team and I are insanely busy right now–one thing submitted Friday, and at least 5 more deadlines between now and the end of January–so waiting until January would be a bit preferable for me.

  40. 40.

    Jerzy Russian

    @WaterGirl:   I tried both Safari and Chrome on my iPhone and both show the image properly.  I usually use Chrome on both the phone and laptop.

  41. 41.

    thruppence

    I am interested. Generally work afternoons and evenings, though, so maybe early on a weekend day?

  44. 44.

    Jess

    I’m thinking I might need a break from all things political, but I’ll download a sample from Kindle and see how I’m feeling. Evenings would be best for me, but since I’m on the fence, feel free to ignore my preferences. I’ll let the fates decide…

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    Okay, let’s plan to start in early January.

    That may help with schedules and with pocketbooks.

    If we choose evenings, some CA peeps likely don’t get off work until 8pm blog time, and they might even want to have dinner after work.  So what time would we want if we chose evening?

    On weekends, what would we want for start time on Saturday?   On Sunday?

  46. 46.

    brantl

    I would be interested, but don’t have the book. If I purchase it on Kindle I get to have a big fight with my Republican in-laws, as I am part of their kindle-group.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Open thread?

    Bloomberg Opinion @bopinion
    Good news: The supply-chain crunch appears to have already peaked in the U.S. Evidence keeps piling up to suggest that the U.S. is slowly but surely making progress in easing freight congestion and supply shortages

    Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome 1h

    “End In Sight For Chip Shortages?” https://semiengineering.com/end-in-sight-for-chip-shortages/… “There are also some ominous signs for suppliers. Over-capacity may occur sometime in the second half of 2022 or 2023,”

  49. 49.

    Almost Retired

    If you’re talking January, I’d be interested!  We’ll be out of town until January 9th, recovering from the annual influx of East Coast and Midwest snowbird relatives, so I might miss the first one.  But Chapter One is probably about his childhood, or some such, so I’ll catch up.

    I’m in Los Angeles, but since I’m…well…..almost retired, the date and time doesn’t really matter to me.  Happy to pitch in an extra copy for someone.

  50. 50.

    grandmaBear

    I’m still interested and downloaded the kindle version when you originally mentioned it, but haven’t started it. January’s fine.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    We now have offers for up to 8 books for folks who are in a bit of a *pinch.

    Which might be everyone after the $75k we just raised in the first 3 weeks of November!  Not to mention the “no more ads” funding. :-)

    So please speak up here or send me an email if you would like a book or want to contribute a book for someone else.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    If some kind person would be willing to check my work in the list up top – to make sure I got everyone on the list who indicated an interest – that would be greatly appreciated!

  56. 56.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: I’m interested, but don’t wish to delay things.  If the book doesn’t come in time, I’ll just read it on my own.  But since I don’t like spoilers, I probably won’t participate in the book club discussion if I haven’t read it yet.

    ETA: Just saw that the discussion will be in January, and hopefully I will have gotten and read the book by then!  Will also read the excerpt.  Thanks so much!

    PPS_ Never mind about the spoilers; I forgot this wasn’t a novel, but an account of 1/6.

  57. 57.

    Zelma

    I’d be interested.  I heard Schiff on Charlie Sykes’ podcast (yes, I’m weird: Balloon Juice and Bulwark fan) and his insights into what happened to supposedly sane Republicans were fascinating.  I’m looking forward to reading the book.

  60. 60.

    CaseyL

    Chiming in again to say that Tuesdays and Thursdays are best for me, in the evening,  bearing in mind the time difference. Weekends are also good, though Sunday it would need to be the afternoon my time (PST).

  63. 63.

    HeleninEire

    I am interested in participating. I am good evenings. If it’s late because of the West Coasters that’s fine. If I’m in bed by 1am NY time I’m grand. Also good anytime on weekends.

    I’ll be purchasing on Kindle but am willing to purchase 3 hard copies for anyone who needs. (I don’t think there is a way I can purchase kindle books for others. If there is let me know.)

  65. 65.

    skerry

    I’d be interested in the book club. Starting in January works and I’m flexible about day/time.

  70. 70.

    Yutsano

    @HeleninEire: Are you back in New York? Or just operating on NY time?

    I could be interested. I most likely couldn’t get the book until after the holidays so January is good. Depending on the time weekday evenings or weekends are best for me. I might just have to be fashionably late!

    EDIT: Don’t worry about gifting me a book. I’m working on getting my finances stable after the three week gap of no pay. I’ll be more stable starting next month.

  75. 75.

    dopey-o

    I don’t want to read the book. I want to know what smart people who have read the book think about it. Crowd-sourced comprehension.

  76. 76.

    Alison Rose

    My library hold currently shows about four weeks’ wait, so January would actually work well, because I would probably have the ebook until about the middle of the month.

  80. 80.

    Damned_at_Random

    I would love to participate in the book club! Managed to miss the first call, so glad you reposted.

    I’m retired so any day or time is fine. And I can gift a copy to someone who needs it

  83. 83.

    Betty

    Not seeing my earlier post. I bought the book and would be happy to participate. Sundays seem to be the better day.

  85. 85.

    Renie

    I would also like to join in. I’ll get it on Kindle for myself but willing to ship a hard copy to someone if you can get me their address.

  86. 86.

    Alison Rose

    Okay so…I just noticed how long it is, and reading long books on my tiny shitty old Kindle is not much fun and hurts my eyes after being on the computer all day for work. Plus, if we’re doing it piecemeal week to week, it would be better to have a hard copy. Being that new hardcovers are pricey outside of the Bezos Behemoth, and that I’m relying on my parents to make my rent and bills each month, I would super appreciate if I could be in line for a gifted copy from someone. Lemme know, please and thank you

  88. 88.

    Middlelee

    The summary I got on Kindle was awful.  I’m No. 1 on the reserve list at the library.  Book is still showing “on-order” but I’m sure it will show up soon.  I agree that having a copy to underline and reread and have in hand during discussion might be handy.  I’m going to keep checking the used bookstores and see if I can find one to buy at something less than the $30 asking price.

    Elizabeth’s of Akron, an independent bookstore is selling for $27.60, $2 more than Amazon but it belongs to an organization called Bookshop.org, founded to compete with Amazon.  I discovered Bookshop.org at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 when suddenly I had no library AND I was too technologically challenged to borrow books on my Kindle.

    Looking forward to bookclub, my first.

  90. 90.

    HRA

    Whatever is decided will be fine with me. I have a gift card for the local bookstore to get a copy. Otherwise I can still use my influence at the university to get one. I am free for any day or time.

  91. 91.

    eddie blake

    i’d be interested, but i don’t have the book

    eta- i mean, i AM interested, but i’ve got to get a copy.

  92. 92.

    Ramona Rosario

    Oh yes, I am interested. I’ll buy a kindle edition if my hold on the library book doesn’t become available by January. My schedule is super flexible.

  99. 99.

    PatrickG

    Comment disappeared? I’d be interested in the discussion and can gift a book as well in whatever format.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @PatrickG: I have no idea why this comment landed in SPAM, but i fished you out.  Welcome and thanks for the book offer.

    I also freed your second comment, but then I deleted that one because it was basically a duplicate.

Comments are closed.