Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club (2008)
project history · status: last documented in 2011 · last event: milestone (2008-10-28 (said on 2008-10-27, implied))
Hank started the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club in February 2008: Nerdfighters read a book together and competed for prizes with blurbs of ten words or fewer, starting with 13 Little Blue Envelopes and going on to Slaughterhouse-Five and Going Postal. After a pause it came back in June 2008 with The Catcher in the Rye, and in October 2008 Hank named Paper Towns as its next book.
Parts: Hank asks Nerdfighters to buy and read 13 Little Blue Envelopes for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to write and send blurbs of 13 Little Blue Envelopes for a vote (2008) · John: read all the 13 Little Blue Envelopes blurbs (2008) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to read the first Blurbing Book Club blurbs and list favourites in the forums (2008) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to get Slaughterhouse-Five for the second Blurbing Book Club (2008) · John asks Nerdfighters for regular and LOLbook blurbs of Slaughterhouse-Five by Wednesday midnight (2008) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to pick favourite Slaughterhouse-Five blurbs in the forum (2008) · John asks viewers to suggest the next Blurbing Book Club book (2008) · John asks Nerdfighters to discuss the first half of Catcher in the Rye in a Ning thread (2008) · Hank asks Nerdfighters for ten-word Paper Towns blurbs for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) · John asks for Paper Towns questions for the Blurbing Book Club wrap-up (2008) · John: two videos answering questions about Paper Towns for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) · Blurbing Book Club 2011: group reading of The Great Gatsby
Told alongside: John's LOLbooks: LOLcat-style book blurbs (2008)
About: Blurbing Book Club, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Catcher in the Rye, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Going Postal, Nerdfighter Ning, Kurt Vonnegut, LOLbook
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) | launched | Hank launches the Nerdfighting Blurbing Book Club: a book every two weeks, blurbs of ten words or less, a poll for the best, with a t-shirt and an appearance on the channel as prizes; first book 13 Little Blue Envelopes. | Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! 00:02:00 |
| 2008-02-26 | rule change | John sets the blurb rules: post it as a blog post in your Ning profile; the deadline is Sunday at midnight. | Best Wishes! 00:02:22 |
| 2008-02-26 | milestone | John names the next Blurbing Book Club book: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. | Best Wishes! 00:02:32 |
| 2008-02-27 | milestone | Hank asks everyone to post their blurbs at nerdfighters.com and says there will be a vote next week (week of 3 March 2008). | People Who Love Giraffes Who Love Giraffes (The Song) 00:03:29 |
| 2008-03-07 (said on 2008-03-08, implied) | milestone | Hank announces the end of the first Blurbing Book Club blurb fest. | Shawty Got Low, Tritube and Blurbing 00:00:50 |
| 2008-03-07 (said on 2008-03-08, implied) | rule change | New rules for the second club: blurbs go in a specific forum topic (blurbs only, no discussion), one blurb per person, ten words per blurb. | Shawty Got Low, Tritube and Blurbing 00:01:26 |
| 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) | milestone | The first Blurbing Book Club (13 Little Blue Envelopes) ends with a winner, who gets special prizes, and a second winner John adds without consulting Hank. | Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club 00:01:30 |
| 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) | rule change | From Slaughterhouse-Five on, the club runs two contests, a regular blurb and a LOLbook blurb; entrants may submit both. | Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club 00:02:35 |
| 2008-03-21 (said on 2008-03-22, implied) | milestone | Hank declares the Slaughterhouse-Five round of the Blurbing Book Club complete and names the next book, Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. | Twitter After School Time 00:03:36 |
| 2008-05-30 | proposed | John says the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club will return in the near future. | The Dread Pirate Fireball Roberts! (And Housekeeping) 00:00:48 |
| 2008-06-26 | milestone | John brings back the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club, with The Catcher in the Rye as the new book. | Don't Suck on That Bone 00:01:47 |
| 2008-07-22 | rule change | John sets the Catcher in the Rye schedule: read the first half, to the end of chapter 15, by next Tuesday (29 July 2008); he will make one video on each half over the next two weeks. | OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!! 00:02:14 |
| 2008-08-02 | milestone | John posts his (late) video on the first half of The Catcher in the Rye for the Blurbing Book Club. | Catcher in the Rye, Part 1 00:00:00 |
| 2008-08-18 | milestone | Hank announces the winner of the Going Postal Blurbing Book Club. | This Video Comes in Threven Parts 00:00:35 |
| 2008-10-28 (said on 2008-10-27, implied) | milestone | After a long gap, Hank names Paper Towns the new Blurbing Book Club book. | Early Voting with Hank 00:02:20 |
Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).
What is said about it
19 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) · Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! — announcement: Hank launches the Nerdfighting Blurbing Book Club: the brothers and participating Nerdfighters read a book every two weeks and each writes a blurb of ten words or less. — 00:01:31
- 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) · Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! — recommendation: Hank picks Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes as the first book, fitting since it is a Nerdfighter's book. (hedged) — 00:02:00
- 2008-02-11 (said on 2008-02-12, implied) · Nerdfighters Blurbing Book Club! — ask: Hank asks readers to post their blurb in a blog post and send it to him; he will set up a poll, and the winner gets a free Nerdfighter t-shirt and their face saying the blurb on the Vlogbrothers channel. — 00:02:00
- 2008-02-19 · Your Spying Thieving Valentine: Hank — announcement: Hank says they will announce the next Blurbing Book Club book before wrapping up the current one, so readers can have it in hand for the next two weeks. — 00:00:32
- 2008-02-26 · Best Wishes! — ask: John: To take part in the Blurbing Book Club and maybe win prizes, Nerdfighters must write a blurb of 13 Little Blue Envelopes in 10 words or less and post it as a Ning blog post by Sunday (2 March 2008) midnight. — 00:02:12
- 2008-02-27 · People Who Love Giraffes Who Love Giraffes (The Song) — Hank tells John he is excited about reading Slaughterhouse-Five again. — 00:03:29
- 2008-03-07 (said on 2008-03-08, implied) · Shawty Got Low, Tritube and Blurbing — announcement: Hank: New rules for the second Blurbing Book Club: post blurbs in a specific forum topic, blurbs only, no discussion; one blurb per person, ten words per blurb, or no entry. — 00:01:26
- 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) · Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club — announcement: John announces the winner of the first Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club: a blurb that is an anagram of Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. — 00:01:30
- 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) · Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club — announcement: John: The winning blurb's author will receive special prizes, but John could not find out who that Nerdfighter is and hopes Hank knows. (hedged) — 00:01:30
- 2008-03-15 (said on 2008-03-14, implied) · Ruins, LOLBooks, and the Blurbing Book Club — announcement: John: Without consulting Hank, John declares a second winner: the vote's runner-up, a LOLbook blurb about Europe, grieving an aunt and kissing. — 00:01:30
- 2008-03-21 (said on 2008-03-22, implied) · Twitter After School Time — announcement: Hank: The Slaughterhouse-Five round of the Blurbing Book Club is complete; all submissions are in the forum at nerdfighters.com. — 00:03:36
- 2008-03-21 (said on 2008-03-22, implied) · Twitter After School Time — announcement: Hank: The next Blurbing Book Club book is Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. — 00:03:36
- 2008-04-01 · Please Google, Take Me to Mars — Hank points to the nerdfighters.com forum for Blurbing Book Club information and says blurbs for the next book (heard as 'Going Coastal', likely Going Postal) can go up now. — 00:03:00
- 2008-06-26 · Don't Suck on That Bone — announcement: John: For thing six, John brings back the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club; its new book is The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. — 00:01:47
- 2008-07-22 · OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!! — announcement: John reminds Hank that the current Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club book is J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. — 00:00:00
- 2008-07-22 · OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!! — announcement: John says that over the next two weeks he will make two Catcher in the Rye videos, one on each half of the book, and be 'totally English teacher-y' about it. — 00:01:44
- 2008-08-02 · Catcher in the Rye, Part 1 — ask: John invites discussion of this and anything else in the first 15 chapters in the official Catcher in the Rye thread he started on the Ning. — 00:03:38
- 2008-08-18 · This Video Comes in Threven Parts — Hank admits he and John are embarrassingly bad at giving rewards; past Blurbing Book Club winners never actually received anything. (playful) — 00:00:35
- 2008-12-26 · Skoodilypooping — announcement: John says that to wrap up the Paper Towns edition of the Nerdfighter Blurbing Book Club he will do two videos about the book, ideally answering questions. — 00:02:36