Welcome to SkepLit, our brand new online book discussion group. Anyone who is interested in reading and discussing books is welcome to join in.

How does it work?
When Skepchick is published each month, I’ll announce the book for the month. I’ll also make an announcement in the forum at the same time.

During the month, we’ll read the selected book and discuss it in the forum. Depending on the book and how lively or quiet the discussion is, I may introduce specific questions to discuss.

The following month, Skepchick will feature a review of the book or an interview with the author or someone knowledgeable about the subject.

What does it cost?
Nothing. It’s free if you take the books out of the library. It costs a few bucks a month if you want to buy the books.

How do we discuss the books?
In the Skepchick Forum. A special SkepLit area is moderated to keep discussions on track.

Who chooses the books?
I’ll choose a book every month, and will be regularly asking for suggestions in the forum. It’s impossible for me to keep up with all of the interesting books that are out there, and I’m also biased by my own taste in books and subject matter. So please don’t hesitate to recommend anything that you find interesting or entertaining.

What kind of books are read?
Anything about skepticism, women’s issues, science and pseudo-science, the paranormal, medicine and so-called alternative medicine, history, social forces, religion, and atheism. We’ll start out with non-fiction, but I’ve got a few ideas for novels to read as well. If you’ve got any other suggestions, post them in the forum.

What topics will be discussed in the Book Talk forum?
I don’t like rules and we seem to be a fairly well self-policed community, but here are a few guidelines to help us stay on topic:
Comments pertaining to the current book.
Suggestions for future books.
Comments about other skeptical books and authors.
Information about literary events, websites, and TV shows related to the skeptical books.
What we’re reading now...

We’ll start off with the quintessential skeptical book by Michael Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things. An abridged version is also available on tape for those who prefer to listen while they drive or pretend to work.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read this, but it certainly looks worthwhile. For those who have actually read the book before, the current edition includes a new chapter entitled “Why Smart People Believe Weird Things.” According to the author’s website (OK, he may be biased!), the book is “Witty and eloquent. A no-holds-barred assault on mass delusion, prejudice, and gullibility. UFOs, ESP, Near Death Experiences, Alien Abductions, Recovered Memories, Creationism, Holocaust Denial, Race, God, and Science v. pseudoscience.”

What’s coming up?
Jennifer Ouellette's Black Bodies and Quantum Cats : Tales from the Annals of Physics is coming up in May. Also, I’m binging on all-things Darwin right now, so in the near future we’ll probably talk about one of the books cluttering my nightstand. For those who are curious that includes—some read, some unread, some in the middle, and in no particular order:

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals) by Charles Darwin, Edward O. Wilson (editor)

Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost Notebooks by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life by Niles Eldredge

Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral by David Dobb

The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma by Marc W. Kirschner and John C. Gerhart

Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo by Sean B. Carrol

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think by Alan Grafen and Mark Ridley (this one may be slightly off the Darwin topic, but since it’s about Dawkins, Darwin is bound to pop up somewhere)

Who the heck are you, anyway?
Here’s my bio, written in the third person to make me sound more important than I really am:

Donna Druchunas (aka writerdd on the Skepchick forum) is a freelance technical writer and editor and a knitwear designer. When she's not working or knitting, she blogs, downloads music from the Internet, reads science and sci-fi books, mouths off on atheist forums disguised as “writerdd,” and checks her email every three minutes. (She does that when she's working, too.) Although she loves to chat, she can't keep an IM program open or she'd never get anything else done.

ISSUE 4 CREDITS

Skepchick-in-Chief
Rebecca Watson

Managing Editor
Diane Perry

News Editor
Chani Overli

Contributing Writers
Darcie Hodgkins Langone, Lynette Davidson, Aj Davis, Risa Beckwith, Matthew Armstrong, Donna Druchunas

Logo
"Flash Guru" Nick

About Skepchick | Links Elsewhere

Archives