Common Ground Reading Group
Common Ground is a group of folks who gather monthly at the Border’s Bookstore in Concord to discuss the month’s selection. Although Common Ground is a subgroup of Capital Gay Men, it welcomes anyone who wishes to participate (no discrimination based on gender or orientation; we ask only that you be 18 years of age or older).
We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Border’s provides some kind of “rewards” program for its book club members that should make books cheaper. Once upon a time, Borders supplied free coffee during the meeting. Before that, we got a free drink from the cafe. Times are hard; frills come and go. Expect little, bring your wallet, and leave satisfied.
2008 Selections
In the table below, links are provided to the Amazon.com page where you may learn more about the books. The columns to the right are for ratings by our regular attendees; each is asked to rate the book from 0-5. If the rating is a link, it leads you to a full review by that attendee.
The columns identify our most-frequent attendees: George, Bill, Jeremy, Glenn, and Glenn. Joining us does not obligate you to be identified on this website or to be the group leader (although we welcome it).
| Date | Monthly Selection(s) | Author(s) | GK | WA | JW | GMy | GMa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Map of the Harbor Islands | J. G. Hayes | ||||||
| Death Trick | Richard Stevenson | ||||||
| Ice Blues | |||||||
| Winter’s Light | John Preston | ||||||
| Arkansas | David Leavitt | ||||||
| Gay Soul | Mark Thompson | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | |
| The Back Passage | James Lear | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.5 | ||
| ManBug | George K. Ilsley | ||||||
| The World Turned | John D’Emilio | ||||||
| Totally Joe | James Howe | ||||||
| The Call | Tortuga, Lane, Veinglory | ||||||
| The Velvet Rage | Alan Downs | ||||||
| The Kid | Dan Savage | ||||||
| Reader’s Choice |
Note: We will select books for 2009 at the November 11 meeting.