Life's Library book club: launch and first year (2018)
project history · status: last documented in 2019 (looked back on in 2020) · last event: milestone (2019-11-15) · last mentioned: 2020-12-08
John and Rosianna Halse Rojas proposed Life's Library in October 2018, a book club whose proceeds go to Partners In Health. It launched within days, closed enrollment in November 2018, opened more slots in 2019 and opened year-two subscriptions for 2020.
Parts: John asks viewers to sign up at lifeslibrarybookclub.com to be notified when Life's Library launches (2018) · John invites viewers to join Life's Library at lifeslibrarybookclub.com (2019) · John: read at least two books a month in 2019 (2019)
Told alongside: Nerdfighteria revenue (Pizzamas royalties, Life's Library proceeds) redirected to charity (2018) · John asks uncommonly organized viewers good at calling strangers to apply for a job with him and Rosianna in Indianapolis (2019)
About: Life's Library, Rosianna Halse Rojas
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-10-16 | proposed | John announces Life's Library: a year of books every six weeks discussed on Discord, profits to Partners In Health, first book If You Come Softly, launching only if enough people sign up. | Life's Library 00:00:58 |
| 2018-10-19 | launched | Hank congratulates John on launching Life's Library: it got its first thousand people and is now open for sign-ups; Hank has signed up himself. | This is the scariest graph I've ever seen 00:03:14 |
| 2018-10-23 | milestone | That idea is one reason John and Rosianna started the Life's Library Book Club, which thanks to viewers' overwhelming response is now open for enrollment. | Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris? 00:03:01 |
| 2018-11-08 (happened 2018-11-09) | milestone | John says the Life's Library book club closes enrollment tomorrow because it is running out of spots. | Let's Talk Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semi-Annual Report 00:03:18 |
| 2019-01-01 | milestone | Life's Library is going great; John invites those who are or want to be part of it to go to lifeslibrarybookclub.com. | How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions 00:03:05 |
| 2019-01-15 | milestone | The Life's Library book club's Q&A with author Jacqueline Woodson will be January 31st at noon Eastern. | On Burning Resentment 00:03:24 |
| 2019-03-05 | milestone | In a P.S. John says more slots are opening in the Life's Library Book Club, to read with him, Rosianna and a community that includes many from Tuataria; more at lifeslibrarybookclub.com. | Way, Way Down the Rabbit Hole 00:03:24 |
| 2019-04-23 | milestone | Life's Library has slots open for its new book, Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits; sign up at lifeslibrarybookclub.com, with all proceeds going to Partners In Health's work in Sierra Leone. | untitled 00:02:26 |
| 2019-11-07 | milestone | Year-two subscriptions for the Life's Library book club have just opened: in 2020 it will read nine more books, beginning with Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. | I took a year off social media. Here's what happened. 00:03:10 |
| 2019-11-15 | milestone | Hank pushed for the new year of Life's Library to have an audiobook option: subscribers choose audio with digital or physical perks and keep their audiobooks if they cancel. | Are audiobooks worse? 00:02:52 |
| 2020-12-08 | looked back | John says Hank helped him and Rosianna start Life's Library, a book club whose members read together and raise money to fight maternal mortality. | A Love Letter to My Brother, Basically 00:01:56 |
What is said about it
4 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — announcement: John wants to read at least two books per month and be a productive member of the Life's Library Book Club community. — 00:02:58
- 2019-04-23 · untitled — John: Rosianna, who is great at titles, pointed John to the Julius Caesar line about the fault in our stars and came up with the title Life's Library for the book club. — 00:02:26
- 2019-05-07 · How I Read and Why — ask: The description invites viewers who want to discuss books further to the book club John runs with Rosianna at lifeslibrarybookclub.com. — video description
- 2019-10-22 · Why We're Donating $6,500,000 — John: In a P.S. John thanks Andrew, John, Ruth and Dr. Barrie at PIH, Niki Hua and Rosianna Halse Rojas, the Life's Library community and the matching donors. — 00:08:06