News: Twitter bookclub coming... or a least that's what a little birdy told me...

If you enjoy book discussions and live social feeds, then you will be excited to find out that The Atlantic has launched an official Twitter book club.

Starting June 1st 2011, tuning in to hashtag #1book140 connects you to thousands of other book lovers just itching to be heard.  The chosen first book?  The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (McClelland, 2000). (LOVE ATWOOD!)

While face-to-face book clubs offer a more intimate space for discussion, online book clubs have become very popular because of variety, high volumes of members, and convenience.  With online book clubs you aren't limited to the people living within a certain distance of you, and you aren't restricted to only discussing once a week or even once a month (depending how often you want people in your house).  Book sites like the hugely popular GoodReads can offer discussions with thousands of people, for a variety of books, anytime, anywhere (with an Internet connection of course).   It also offers hundreds of book lists, trivia, and other fun extras.  There is no question as to why its successful.

Or how about BookCrossing?  The awesome site where you can tag your books (the way a researcher will tag an animal) and "release them into the wild".  Not only do you get to "hunt" for free books (why is that girl digging through that dumpster? She must be hungry... Poor thing...) but you can track your book's migration.

For a lot of people the Internet has brought a new excitement to reading by making it more social and fun, and in some cases, competitive.  (Side note: I am amazed at how many reading savants there are nowadays.  Many "top readers" on GoodReads are at a pace of 2 or 3 novels every day! WOW! Where do I sign up for the pills you guys are taking?)     

But, if the Internet enabled ability to "brag" about reading more than your weight in books before breakfast or the 140 character opinions that #1book140 will generate gets more people reading, then I'm all for it! 

Just one piece of advice to the participants of #1book140... soar like an eagle, don't sh*t like a seagull!