Announcing: The Seattlest Book Club

The first rule of Seattlest Book Club is you have to read the book.

The second rule of Seattlest Book Club is you have to read the book.

It's a well-known fact that Seattlest idolizes Oprah. (Our editor-in-chief is from Chicago. What do you expect?) So we figure she's got a book club, we need a book club. Especially since we're America's most literate city.

The deal is pretty simple. For March, we're going to read Jonathan Raban's latest novel, Surveillance. He's a local guy, it's a local book, our e-i-c has a huge literary crush on Raban, it's only about 240 pages, it's a natural. We'll do posts for the next few Fridays (March 9, 16, and 23) for people to discuss the book in the comments.

March 30 will be the last Surveillance day: our big wrap-up post where everyone celebrates finishing the book and dissects all the themes. Then, providing this goes well (and why wouldn't it?) we'll do it all again in April with a new title.

So what do you need to do? Buy the book. You can get special Seattlest Book Club discounts at Santoro's Books in Greenwood and Bailey-Coy Books on Capitol Hill. Check Santoro's Book Club wall or Bailey-Coy's in-store display, or just ask someone in the store of your choice about the Seattlest Book Club discount. (Secret tip: Santoro's also rents the book, if you'd rather not commit to purchasing it.)

Step two involves no junk and no boxes -- read the book. Then stop back on the next few Fridays to discuss themes, characters, plot, comparisons and contrasts, Raban's oeuvre, the role of surveillance in modern fiction, whether we were foolish to start our book club with a hardcover, and anything else Surveillance related.

Don't worry -- we're reading the book, too. See you on Friday.