The Alienist by Caleb Carr

In Episode 29 of the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast, the Drunk Guys read The Alienist by Caleb Carr.  While wondering why there are no aliens in the book, the Drunk Guys sample Founders Dirty Bastard, Founders Backwoods Bastard, Boulevard Dark Truth, Delirium Noel, DuClaw Mysterium, Barrier Morticia, Pipeworks Brown and Stirred, and Crime Passionnel.

The Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast can be found on on iTunes, Google PlayStitcher, PlayerFM and where ever fine podcasts can be found.  If you’re drunk enough to enjoy the Podcast, please give us a rating. To save time, just round up to five stars.  Also, please follow us on TwitterInstagramFacebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.  There’s no excuse to miss another Drunk Guys episode, announcement, or typo!

Join us next week when we read Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James.  That’s not a typo.  We really read it.

Also, check out our articles about science fiction book club discussion questions  and how to read 100 books a year.

How to Read 100 Books This Year – The 2018 Reading Challenge

Do you want to read more books?  Of course, everyone does.  Don’t be one of the 40% of people (and 100% of current US Presidents) who doesn’t read a single book after high school or college.  One of the best ways to motivate yourself to read is to give yourself a goal.  Make it your New Year’s Resolution.  You can lose weight next year.

Every year, each of us at the Drunk Guys Book Club challenge ourselves to read 100 books a year. And we’re drunk.  If we can do it, you can do it.  We’re here to help you.

Gold = 100 books (2 books per week)

Silver = 75 books (1.5 books per week)

Bronze = 50 books (1 book per week)

Stone = 25 books (1 book every 2 weeks)

Wood = 10 Books (a little under 1 book per month)

Paper = 5 Books (a little under 1 book every 2 months)

Trump = 0 books (0 books per lifetime)

Step 1:  Make a Reading Challenge on Goodreads

Join Goodreads, make a 2018 Reading Challenge for yourself, and add drunkguysbookclub as a friend.  The Goodreads reading challenge will keep track of the books you’re reading and tell you if you’re on track, ahead, or behind schedule.  This makes your reading challenge a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time-bound).  Tell us about your 2018 Reading Challenge goal on Goodreads, @drunkguysbc (twitter) or send an email to drunkguysbookclub@gmail.com.

Step 2: Find Books

It’s not just the size or your reading goal that matters, but also how you use it.

  1. Don’t JUST read the classics or serious books.  These are often dense and difficult, and you should read them, but space them out with easy/fun/short books.  You’ll find you will get a lot more read this way.
  2. Plan some time in your weekly schedule for when you’re going to read.  The Drunk Guys get a lot of their reading done on the subway to and from work. Maybe plan to read before bed every night.  Or make the most out of your time on the throne.
  3. Listen to Audiobooks as well as reading.  Audiobooks are great if you’re driving, at the gym, doing chores, or otherwise need your eyes for something else.  Not all books work as audiobooks, but most do.  Drunk Guy Mike thinks listening to audiobooks is cheating, but he’s drunk.  So fuck him.
  4. If you start a book but aren’t into it, put it down and start something else.  You can always go back to it later.  Drunk Guy Mike disagrees on this, too.  See above.
  5. Reward yourself with a beer every time you finish a book. Or a chapter.  Or page.  Or word.
  6. Spice up the variety in your reading with a genre checklist.  Its a great way to make yourself look for authors/genres you wouldn’t normally read.   We all have our preferences in genre and tend to stick to them pretty strongly. But there are plenty of entertaining books that you’ll miss out on if you slavishly stick to the styles and authors you know.

The Drunk Guys Book Club Reading Challenge Genre Checklist

Read AT LEAST ONE from each of the following categories:

Category A Few Recommendations
Literary Fiction The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Daiz

Science Fiction The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card

Fantasy  American Gods Neil Gaiman

The Once and Future King TH White

Historical Fiction  The Alienist Caleb Carr

The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead

Mystery/Thriller  The Snowman Jo Nesbo
Dystopia 1984 George Orwell

The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood

Young Adult (YA) Ready Player One Ernest Cline

The Fault in our Stars John Green

Comedy  Fool Christopher Moore
Pulitzer Winner  The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen

All the Light we Cannot See Anthony Doerr

A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole

Booker Winner  The Sellout Paul Beatty
A Book You Should Have Read in High School, But Didn’t The Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

History Devil in the White City Erik Larson
Biography Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand

Hamilton Ron Chernow

Science Packing for Mars Mary Roach

What If? Randall Monroe

New Release  The Winds of Winter (hopefully) hurry the fuck up, George RR Martin
Graphic Novel Watchmen by Alan Moore
19th Century Novel A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
18th Century Novel Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift
Series Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood

 Step 3: Hit Amazon or Your Local Library

Step 4: Listen to the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast

New episodes every Tuesday on  iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and where ever fine podcasts can be found.  If you’re drunk enough to enjoy the Podcast, please give us a rating.

Also, please follow us on twitter and pinterest.

 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Pulizter Prize 2001)

In Episode 18 of the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast, the drunk guys drink beer while talking about The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.  How are the main character’s lives a little like a comic book? Why does Joe always want to escape?  What exactly is a Golem?  The perfect beers for this book include Brooklyn Defender IPA and Hop Manna IPA from Shmaltz Brewing.

Join us next week when we read Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

The Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast can be found on on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and where ever fine podcasts can be found.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

In this pumpkin-filled of The Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast, the Drunk Guys take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and SEVEN PUMPKIN BEERS.  Blue Point Brewing Mother Pumpkin Ale, Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Wheat, Coney Island Freaktoberfest Pumpkin Ale, Punkin Ale by Dogfish Head, Pumpking by Southern Tier, Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale, and The Fear by Flying Dog all get a tasted and compared.  Why is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow the quintessential Halloween story?  Why would anyone drink seven pumpkin beers?  Find out, and more!

Join us next week when we read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

The Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast can be found on on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, PlayerFM and where ever fine podcasts can be found.  If you’re drunk enough to enjoy the Podcast, please give us a rating. To save time, just round up to five stars.  Also, please follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.  There’s no excuse to miss another Drunk Guys episode, announcement, or typo!

It’s not too late to join our reading challenge – for help read how to read 100 books a year.  Also, check out the Top Five Fantasy Books and Series for Book Clubs. Maybe consider some sci-fi books and Drunk Guy approved discussion questions.

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The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Pulitzer Prize 2017)

In Episode 10 of the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast we discuss The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.  What real historical events was Colson Whitehead writing about in this fictional story?  What was the real underground railroad like and how does it compare to this book?  Why in the book is there an actual railroad actually underground?

For Underground Railroad beer we drink Otherside IPA from Greenport Harbor Brewing and Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing.

The Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast can be found on on iTunes, Google PlayStitcher, PlayerFM and where ever fine podcasts can be found.  If you’re drunk enough to enjoy the Podcast, please give us a rating. To save time, just round up to five stars.  Also, please follow us on TwitterInstagramFacebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.  There’s no excuse to miss another Drunk Guys episode, announcement, or typo!

Join us next week when we read The Snowman by Jo Nesbo.

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