Who can come to Bulldog Book Club?
Anyone.  We include students, faculty, staff, and local residents.  If you want to talk with other people about books, please come.  We meet in the Student Learning Center four times a month during the term.  For specific times and days, look at the University Library's News and Events page.  Or email me for info, fteague@uga.edu , and I'll be glad to respond. 

How formal are you?  Is there a test on the reading?
We are very informal, and you’re welcome whether you’ve finished the book or not.  You should signal others to avoid discussing the ending if you don’t want to have it spoiled.  The discussion starts with the question, “What did you think most interesting about the Book?” and ends with the question, “What did we forget to talk about?”

What do you read at Bulldog Book Club?

Here's what we have planned for Fall Term 2009, at Jittery Joe’s in the Miller Student Learning Center. 

Each meeting is a blue card event. Fran Teague leads two sessions on each book to fit varying class schedules.  

Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game
“This futuristic tale involves aliens, political discourse on the Internet, sophisticated computer games, and an orbiting battle station. Yet the reason it rings true for so many is that it is first and foremost a tale of humanity; a tale of a boy struggling to grow up into someone he can respect while living in an environment stripped of choices.”
Tuesday, Sept. 1, , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Sept. 9, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Oscar is a 300-pound-plus "lovesick ghetto nerd" with zero game (except for Dungeons & Dragons) who cranks out pages of fantasy fiction with the hopes of becoming a Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. This novel won the 2008 Pulitzer for best novel.
Tuesday, Sept. 15, , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Sept. 22, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice with Zombies
Elizabeth Bennett is a young woman who is proud and prejudiced against the haughty Mr. Darcy. Enter the zombies, hungry for brains, and Elizabeth’s warrior skills come into play as she and Darcy come to know one another.
Tuesday, Sept. 29, , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Oct. 7, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Neil Gaiman Graveyard Book
Bod Owens lives in a sprawling graveyard, raised and educated by ghosts, with an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . .
Tuesday, Oct. 13, , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Oct. 21, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey
After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent.
Tuesday, Nov. 3, , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Nov. 11 , Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture
From Stanford law professor Lessig (Code; The Future of Ideas) comes this expertly argued, alarming and surprisingly entertaining look at the current copyright wars and the Internet.
Tuesday, Nov. 17, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 12:30
Wednesday, Dec. 2, Jittery Joe’s in Miller Learning Center at 3:35 pm

Here’s the list for past terms.  And we could repeat a title if enough folks asked us to do that.

Fall 2006
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisburger
Lucky You, Carl Hiassen
Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling
Pelican Brief, John Grisham
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman
Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris

Spring 2007
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, Douglas Adams
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J. K. Rowling

Fall 2007
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling

Spring Term 2008
The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson
Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach
Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

        Fall 2008

Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
E. M. Forster, A Passage to India
Hunter S. Thompson. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Stephen Colbert I Am America—and So Can You .
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima
Spring 2009
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
Edward Jones, The Known World
Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man
Sarah Vowell, The Wordy Shipmates
Allen Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen
J. K. Rowling, Tales of Beadle the Bard

Who picks these books?
Anyone who has attended a meeting is welcome to vote on the list of suggested titles at the end of each term.  Then Dr. Teague counts the votes; if several are in a tie, she’ll choose the one that offers some balance and the most variety.  But the top four or five titles are usually clear winners. 

Where can I find more info?
Here’s a story that appeared in Columns.
Here’s a piece in Georgia magazine.
The Red and Black has had a story as well. 
And here's some more information courtesy of  the Red and Black.
Here’s how we began.