[INDOLOGY] Book Club Invitations

Fri Aug 21 06:23:27 UTC 2026

Thanks to all who caution readers and share their experiences.

On Fri, 21 Aug 2026 at 07:10, Ananya Vajpeyi via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I got a rash of these solicitous saccharine messages some months ago —
> supposedly from agents, book club promoters, podcasters, other authors,
> “influencers”, literary journalists and so on. Let me see if I can find the
> article explaining the workings of this bizarre phenomenon — it has
> happened to so many writer friends! Don’t believe a word of it.
>
> All best,
>
> AV.
>
>
> On Friday, August 21, 2026, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the tip! The message I received was from someone claiming to
>> represent “Unfotgettable Reads”. Must be a cousin of the Goodreads.
>>
>> Madhav
>>
>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,
>> India
>>
>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2026 at 3:51 PM Antonia Ruppel <rhododaktylos at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Just thought I’d add my usual two Euro cents on using AI here: simply
>>> search online for scam book club Goodreads (or whatever other platform was
>>> offered to you) and you will find large numbers of actual people telling
>>> you this is actually a scam. (Also, lots of people write genuine emails
>>> with the help of AI, so that alone doesn’t tell you much.)
>>>
>>> Your luddite truly,
>>>      Antonia
>>>
>>> On Thu 20 Aug 2026 at 22:39, Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I also received one of these, but it looked fishy to me. I ran it
>>>> through ChatGPT and was told that this was most likely a scam message.
>>>>
>>>> Madhav
>>>>
>>>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>>>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>>>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>>>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>>>> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,
>>>> India
>>>>
>>>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 20, 2026 at 3:27 PM Antonia Ruppel via INDOLOGY <
>>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Not dozens in my case, but also just two, specifically for Goodreads.
>>>>> It seemed odd to me right from the start that someone wanted to make some
>>>>> poor book club read my Sanskrit textbook, so I never responded.
>>>>>
>>>>> Antonia
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu 20 Aug 2026 at 22:06, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <
>>>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Patrick, I receive these almost daily. Like you, I took it at
>>>>>> face value at first. But it’s a scam. I started putting these emails
>>>>>> through an AI detector. They have all come up as 100% written by AI. I now
>>>>>> delete them reflexively. All the best! Jeff
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>>>>>> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_&af_ios_store_cpp=9d3a686e-218d-4849-8298-b480188dc8ac&af_android_url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.yahoo.mobile.client.android.mail%26listing%3Demail_signature>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thursday, August 20, 2026, 5:51 PM, Uskokov, Aleksandar via
>>>>>> INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Patrick,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have received these as well, though not quite a dozen, more like
>>>>>> two. I had the same experience, an initial brief exchange until it was
>>>>>> obvious that they want money.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best wishes
>>>>>> Aleksandar
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
>>>>>> Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> *Sent:* Thursday, 20 August 2026 17:28:19
>>>>>> *To:* INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] Book Club Invitations
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear All:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Just wanted to alert you all to a scam that is widespread. Someone,
>>>>>> generally with only a first name, sends an email saying he/she is leading a
>>>>>> large book club and would like to read a book of yours. They want you to
>>>>>> support this effort, and with the added advantage of publicity for the
>>>>>> book. Over the past year or so I must have received at least a dozen such
>>>>>> requests. I did respond to the first one, and with the third email there
>>>>>> was a request for money, small amount like a couple of hundred dollars, so
>>>>>> help with expenses — and she said this is NOT a pay to pay scan. I stopped
>>>>>> responding. Wonder how many have received similar emails.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> With warm good wishes,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Patrick
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
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>
> --
> Sent on the fly, please excuse typos.
>
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