Introduction & Welcome Thread

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Yeah, there is group of us that are all friends on goodreads including all of the mods for the malazan group. Plus the decision to read first law spawned from an off topic thread there.

I'm not really sure how the group grew to 60 people though.

Glad you found us, and welcome.

[Kevin]

Rob wrote: "Yeah, there is group of us that are all friends on goodreads including all of the mods for the malazan group. Plus the decision to read first law spawned from an off topic thread there.

I'm not re..."

Sorry, a good of number of those sixty people are here in the group because of me.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Kevin wrote: "Sorry, a good of number of those sixty people are here in the group because of me."

Nothing to be sorry about. I knew you've invited a bunch. There are some who don't have connections that I can determine. Many of those haven't even posted anywhere on the group though.

I don't really see the point of being in a group you don't participate in, but to each their own.

[Juniper]

Rob wrote: "I don't really see the point of being in a group you don't participate in, but to each their own."

I do this. I sometimes become a member because I want to be able to follow the happenings and events in a group despite not being active in it myself. Being a member and actively check the group when I want to is easier than not being a member and have to seek it out every single time. :)

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

I knew people had to have a reason, even if it wasn't obvious to me. :-)

[Juniper]

There is always a reason! I imagine some of these invisible people are observers who prefer to watch from the sidelines. :)

[Mpauli]

I can relate to that. I used the bigger groups sometimes for inspiration on what to read when. It gives abit of structure and it's sometimes interesting to read about what others thought, even without participating.

But I hope to be a more active part here. It might be easier to have discussions and getting to know people better in a smaller enviroment.

[Anders]

Hi, I'm Anders. I'm a silent member of a few book clubs, but find this one to be more appealing than the others. I like the friendly laid back atmosphere.

I haven't done too many group reads, but always enjoy seeing what my Goodreads friends write about various books.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Anders wrote: "Hi, I'm Anders. I'm a silent member of a few book clubs, but find this one to be more appealing than the others. I like the friendly laid back atmosphere.

I haven't done too many group reads, but..."

Just doing this now? slacker. :)

[Anders]

Better late than never is what I've been told. :)

[Dara]

Welcome, Anders!

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Dara wrote: "Welcome, Anders!"

Lol. He's one of the oldest members of the group. Not that it's been around that long, but he joined the same day you did! :-P

[Dara]

Rob wrote: "Dara wrote: "Welcome, Anders!"

Lol. He's one of the oldest members of the group. Not that it's been around that long, but he joined the same day you did! :-P"

For real? Well, still. Welcome anyway!

[Anders]

Thank you Dara! :)

[Mark]

Hi, I am Mark, been reading books since I was a kid, read thousands of books and thankfully got thousands more to read.

Just finished was very good.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome Mark.

[Mark]

Thank you Rob.

[Kris]

Hi all,
My name Is Kris. I'm 33yrs old and living in Columbus, Ohio. I've been an avid SciFi/Fantasy fan ever since my older sis got me Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings for Christmas when I was 11. Since then I'm always looking for the next new story to dive into. Pleas feel free to recommend something. Currently I'm looking for something along the lines of Glen Cook or Steven Erikson. Darker gritty fantasy.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome Kris. I'd guess Kevin pointed you in this direction.

[Kevin]

Rob wrote: "Welcome Kris. I'd guess Kevin pointed you in this direction."

How did you ever guess that?

[Kris]

Thanks Rob and yes he did

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Kevin wrote: "Rob wrote: "Welcome Kris. I'd guess Kevin pointed you in this direction."

How did you ever guess that?"

I'm all knowing..

[Simona]

Hi, my name is Simona and I'm from Italy (I'm telling you this so, if my grammar is somehow strange, you won't suspect that I'm in primary school).
I've followed here Mark (message 66) from another group, the same person who recommended me The Thousand Names, which I finished and really liked.
I hope to find many other good books here.

[Mark]

Welcome, Simona

[Simona]

Hi you. Thanks.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome to the group Simona.

[Simona]

thank you Rob.

[Angie]

Hi, I'm Angie. Found this book club after doing a group search for Science Fiction. I'm an avid SFF reader (when I can be). I like the size of this group, and the seemingly more laid-back atmosphere (I've been in much larger ones where I just couldn't keep up with everything). That and the fact that all three Gentleman Bastard books are on your Read shelf had me sold.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome Angie. We do try to be laid back here. Participate when you can/want sort of thing.

That's interesting that we came up in a search. I'm always wondering how some people end up here when they don't seem to have a connection to anyone in the group.

[Mpauli]

Welcome Simona & Angie! Good to have you with us. Hopefully you're going to enjoy the cozyness of the group and find some interesting books to read with the group. :)

[Andy]

Welcome Simona & Angie, some great reads to be had here! Enjoy :)

[Mark]

Hi Angie.

[Angie]

Simona wrote: "Hi, my name is Simona and I'm from Italy (I'm telling you this so, if my grammar is somehow strange, you won't suspect that I'm in primary school).
I've followed here Mark (message 66) from another..."

Buon giorno Simona, ho studiato italiano per due anni, ma io non uso mai! Il mio italiano è probabilmente molto peggio di tuo inglese.

And hi/thanks to everyone else!

[Simona]

Buongiorno Angie, e grazie di avermi accolto con il tuo saluto nella mia lingua. Molto gentile!

[Andreas]

Hi, I'm Andreas from Germany. I've been reading a lot and reviewing for a German SF&F fanzine back in the 80s. But then came university, job, family and... MMORPGs :) Job and family staid but I discontinued pc games this year. That's when I started reading again and I became active at GR.
I prefer fantasy but also read SF - Tolkien's world and Dune being my all-time favourites.
I found here probably via Penny. And, hm, Rob, who didn't accept a friendship request :)

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome. Nothing personal Andreas. I reject all friend requests, unless they are someone I already know.

I even have that on my profile, but I still get random friend requests anyways. I'm still not sure why.

[Lee]

Hi. Why am I always reminded of the first day of class whenever I see one of these "Introduction" threads. Gah. I always dreaded those. Oh well. Deep breath. My name is Nienna. And I look forward to reading with you all.

* And yes. Kevin directed me here as well :)

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Haha. Well hopefully this is less awkward. Welcome Nienna!

[Lee]

Yes... No... Well, maybe? :)

I was always very, very painfully shy but being online has actually helped a lot with that.

[Lee]

There is a few shy lurkers here ;)

[Shirley]

Hi I'm new to this group. I've set myself a 52 book reading goal for 2014, I'm hoping to work through my to-read pile. I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy so I thought I'd try out a couple groups on here, since I have never tried one before. My favourite type of books tend to be Dystopian Sci-Fi but I read from many different genres. Dangerous Women is next on my to-read list so I'm hoping to actively participate in the discussions.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome Shirley!

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Welcome Clive. Yeah we have ~150 members but I'd say only 10-20 are actually active. I'm not sure what all the lurkers stay for.

I assume it's the top quality group moderation! ^_^

[Bill]

Rob, 130-140 lurkers is nothing. I was just looking at the fantasy book club series and they have 2380 members and only 156 voted in the poll on what to read next so over 2200 lurkers. People just love to lurk for some reason.

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Lol yeah, looks like we have a long way to go on lurkers. I just find it strange is all.

[Simona]

I think it's just like watching TV. In a "Let's see what they are talking about today" kind of way.

[Andy]

Rob wrote: "Welcome Clive. Yeah we have ~150 members but I'd say only 10-20 are actually active. I'm not sure what all the lurkers stay for.

I assume it's the top quality group moderation! ^_^"

Yer right ;)

[Rob, Mayor of Ghost Town]

Simona wrote: "I think it's just like watching TV. In a "Let's see what they are talking about today" kind of way."

We are quite exciting..

[Andreas]

Rob wrote: "We are quite exciting.."

You should charge entrance fees for lurking. Something like "one thoughtful comment on book discussions per month". That releases the stress from the rest of us and we can just stay funny.

[Orelia]

Hey, everybody. I'm Orelia. I'm joining because I saw on S&L that you're doing a discussion of Words of Radiance. I'm in.
Not sure if I'll do much with you after that, but the laid-back atmosphere seems like a good fit for me. Guess I'll join in when I can.