Join in Our Group Read. It's Going to Be Fun!
We're going to read The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood together. Anyone who's a newsletter subscriber, free or paid, can join in.
A couple of newsletters ago, I floated the idea of hosting a group read of THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood. Lots of people seemed interested, so I thought, why not? Let’s give this a try!
And my friends
and , who created the brilliant bookish podcast , also thought it sounded like fun, so we’re going to collaborate for this group read. On their podcast they chat about one hyped book a month and discuss whether they like it, hate it or are ambivalent, and they're starting a new segment where they chat with a guest author about one of their favourite or more influential books. They've asked me to be their first guest in April, discussing The Blind Assassin. It’ll be even more interesting to do this interview after reading it with so many people! So all of our combined newsletter readers can participate in the group read, which means there’ll be an even wider community of people involved.Now I’m really nervous because—what if you all hate the book?! As I’ve mentioned before, it’s one of my favourite books and I really want you all to like it!
Anyone Can Join in! No Judgement, No Uber-Highbrow Expectations
I know that everyone has different tastes and that it’s fun to talk about a book even if you don’t like it. There’s going to be no judgement in this group read. I’m fully prepared for some people to like it, some to hate it, some to love it, some to be on the fence about it. And that’s okay! We want to hear from everyone, no matter what you think. Even if it’s just to ask a question like: what the hell is going on in the chapter called The Lipstick Heart?
Ask away! We might not have any idea what’s going on either, but it’s more fun to be lost with a group of people than it is to be lost alone.
I’m pretty confident that you’ll enjoy the group read, that nobody will be too lost, and that by chatting about what we’re reading, we’re going to enjoy the book even more. Margaret Atwood is a phenomenal storyteller; she won the Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin. And it makes me cry pretty much every time I read it, even though I know what’s going to happen.
How Does the Group Read Work?
Grab a copy of the book. Paperback, ebook, audio, library edition; it doesn’t matter what format it is! I’m using the 2001 Virago Press edition because that’s what’s on my shelf.
I’ve created a schedule below of which chapters we’ll read each week. This is very flexible and is nothing more than a guideline! If you can’t read all the chapters in one week, that’s fine. We still want to hear from you. If you race ahead because you’re dying to know what happens, that’s fine too. Just be mindful of not dropping a spoiler into the chat for a future chapter.
Drop into the Group Chat during the week and let us know your thoughts about that week’s chapters. I’ve decided to use Substack’s Chat feature to host this group read because then you don’t have to go searching for the right post to comment on each time and it feels more like a community. I’ve got some instructions for you about the Chat below.
You can post as many comments as you like in the Chat each week. Comment on other people’s comments. Ask people about their comments. Disagree respectfully. Tell us what you loved and hated.
I’ll create a couple of questions or prompts each week to get the Chat going. But you can talk about any aspect of the chapters we’ve read.
It’s not compulsory to post in the Chat. You can just read the chapters and read the Chat if that suits you best.
It’s about reading a book together in a fun, friendly, curious way and enjoying the experience of being able to share our thoughts with a group of book lovers.
Make sure you subscribe to
too so you can listen to the podcast wrap up of the group read in April.
Questions? Let me know in the comments?
Week One
I’m going to give everyone a week to get a copy of the book. So all we’ll do in the chat this week is introduce ourselves. Jump into the Chat here or by clicking the button above. Then say hi, tell us where you’re from, tell us if you’ve read the book before, if you’ve ever read any Margaret Atwood, or if this is your first time.
This will give everyone a chance to practise using the chat!
The Reading Schedule
Like I say, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get through the chapters in any given week. You can still join in the chat based on whatever you have been able to read. And, honestly, I don’t really know how many chapters to set each week because I’ve never done this before! So this schedule might change a little if I see that it’s too much or too little for the group.
The schedule outlines the chapters to read (if you can) each week. At any time during the week you can pop into the chat with comments. My copy is 637 pages long, so we’ll read roughly 130 pages a week, which is about 18 pages each day. I feel like that’s pretty manageable? But let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Week One (w/c 17 Feb): Buy or borrow the book and get ready!
Week Two (w/c 24 Feb): Read Part I, Part II and Part III (up to the end of the chapter called The Soda)
Week Three (w/c 3 March): Read Part IV and Part V (up to the end of the chapter called The Tango)
Week Four (w/c 10 March): Read Part VI and Part VII (up to the end of the chapter called Xanadu)
Week Five (w/c 17 March): Read Part VIII, Part IX and Part X (up to the end of the chapter called Union Station)
Week Six (w/c 24 March): Read the rest of the book!
Week Seven (w/c 31 March): Wrap up. We’ll chat about our overall impressions and how the group read worked.
As I said, I’ll adjust the schedule if it isn’t working for us.
How to Use the Chat
A confession. I haven’t ever done a group read before. I might make mistakes with the tech, but I’ll give it my best shot to make it as un-confusing (I know that’s not a word!) as possible. And let me know if you need help. But it’s pretty easy. Chances are if you’ve ever used any social media, you’ll be able to figure out Chat.
The main thing is, don’t be scared. We’re all in this together! Substack has detailed instructions here, but this is my simpler take on it.
You can access the chat via the Substack app or the web. Your choice! Download the Substack app for either iOS and Android, or just use the web.
For the Substack app: tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar.
Click on the two bubbles that I’ve circled in red in this pic. You’ll see a row for my Chat. Click on that.
Select the Bijoux Chat For the web: go to Substack on your browser and click the Chat icon. It looks like a bubble and is located on the left hand side of the screen.
Click the bubble I’ve circled in red in the pic above That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
What To Do Now
Let me know in the comments below if you’re joining in and if you have any questions. Then, pop into the Chat here and introduce yourselves!!
PS - in case you missed it, here are all the details of my tour for THE MADEMOISELLE ALLIANCE. If you missed out on tickets to the Dymocks Literary Lunch, you’ll be pleased to know we’ve moved to a bigger room so now there are tickets available!
So excited about this!! x
I’ve Started….. in my book chair with my Friday night 🍷 and 📖