June's Group Reads....

[Lori, Super Mod]

So I've been watching the participation within our self-nominated group reads each month and it appears interest and conversation around those books are dwindling...

For the month of May, I think I am going to take a break from those and let you guys have a READ-WHAT-YOU-LIKE month.

I need to re-evaluate how I want to handle the group reads going forward. Maybe just one group read with no categories? Maybe focus solely on the Author/Reader Discussion novel I host each month...

Decisions, Decisions....

[Dani]

I personally love being able to nominate and vote on a book every month so it would make me a bit sad not being able to do so... I don't currently know what else to offer. I will try and brainstorm!

[Zara's Retreat]

I like choosing books each month.

[Tanya]

I like when we nominate books to vote on each month, the main reason is I research all the books nominated before I vote and because of that I frequently read more than one book from the categories. Often I vote for a book ahead of the one I have nominated.
Maybe a suggestion for the classic nomination is that we have to nominate a book from a particular era or decade,people would really have to research their books then, or maybe we pick an author from a particular era and vote from a selection of that authors books. You could pick the author Lori and we will nominate their books to be voted on. For sure Lori you do a great job as moderator of this group, thanks for all the hard work, I know whatever you come up with will be the right decision.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. It's obvious to me that everyone likes to nominate and vote, but when it gets down to the actual discussion, people seem to lack an interest in talking about it as they read or they simply aren't reading it...

It feels like too much effort for so little reward in the end. I'm still contemplating...

[Cordelia]

I like having a book nominated for me by the nominator. We end up with something different and unusual - not just the same old popular stuff that everyone else is reading.

[Chelsea]

maybe we could do a regular fiction every other month and a classic every other month. it would be cool if we all could come up with some discusion questions to ask eachother. So many times people just say they like the book or didn't like the book but they don't get any more in depth than that.

[Lori, Super Mod]

I've tried to have the nominator of the voted book run the discussion.. but no one really liked that idea.

[Tina]

I really like Chelsea's idea to alternate classic & fiction. When when we had that series of very big & large-ish books in a row (Anna Karenina, Lonesome Dove, Cloud Atlas, Casual Vacancy ...), it was challenging to keep up with 2 titles per month. I agree that discussion questions would be nice too. (I got in the habit of only posting when I finished the story.)

[Tanya]

It amazes me too that so few people actually vote. I wonder do many people read the book. Maybe we should try and enter the guinness book of records for the largest member book club reading the same book simultaneously internationally . You would have to comment on the book as proof of read, then you would have plenty of chat. lol it is a joke

[Gabriella]

I like only having one book per month too, but instead of alternating between classics and fiction, why don't we have a new theme every month?

[Heather L]

Didn't we try nominating books by theme back a couple years ago? I seem to recall doing that. One month that stands out was either for Memorial or Veteran's Day, where the book had to be war-themed.

Anyway, like most everyone else, I like being able to nominate and vote on books. I will try to read at least one of those nominated if I have it, or can lay hands on it before the month is over, and do try to comment on those I do read.

It also surprises me that so few people vote each month, even with notice going out that nominations are open, or the poll is up. In a group this size there should be hundreds voting, not just a few dozen.

As for the featured author discussions... I have not read a single one of these, the primary reason being that none of them have ever interested me--just not the sort of books that interest me.

[Lori, Super Mod]

So yea, we've tried a theme each month, I was actually partial to that.. and I'd be willing to try that again if more people were into or thought they'd like that.

I just don't have the time or energy to search for or come up with discussion questions for the group reads.. but if the person who nominates the winning book wants to tackle it, or if someone here is interested in taking the lead in a discussion... I'd be down for that too!

[Tanya]

Is the real story that people don't read the books nominated. Seeing as how so few people vote does this mean a similar amount of people read whats nominated. What are peoples main reasons for joining tnbbc.

[Jocelyne]

I think a theme per month would be a great idea. Classic fiction is nice but there is already a group that reads classics.

[Cordelia]

Lori wrote: "So yea, we've tried a theme each month, I was actually partial to that.. and I'd be willing to try that again if more people were into or thought they'd like that.

I just don't have the time or e..."

Lori wrote: "So yea, we've tried a theme each month, I was actually partial to that.. and I'd be willing to try that again if more people were into or thought they'd like that.

I just don't have the time or e..."

Probably not a bad idea. The person who nominates the winning book runs the discussion. Yes.

I say forget the classic read. There are other clubs for that. But what is the story about the book that you as nominator nominate.

[Cordelia]

I also think that a theme each month would be a good idea. Isn't the whole idea to get us to read something a bit different and get out of our comfort zone.

I think that the nominator of the winning book should run the discussion - might focus peoples minds a bit as to what gets nominated, and do they really want to jump in and nominate something - make them think twice because they might have to do some work.
One lone nom (even if you are a super-nom) can not do everything.

I also like your author/reader discussion books. I have bought all the recent ones except those that are e-books only. (Dont like e-books)

[Chelsea]

I am curious...when you had the nominator of the book lead the discussion, what was it about that that people didn't like? It seems like a good idea to me but I wasn't a member of TNBBC or even goodreads when you did that so idk...

[Heather L]

Anne and Chelsea ~ As Lori mentioned, she tried turning the discussions over to those who nominated the winning book. The problem with that is that no one wanted to lead the discussion, so no one nominated books at all. It was an idea with an epic fail.

[Lina]

I just recently joined. From all the recent comments, it seems that ideas that previously failed might now work with the current members. Why don't we just pick a theme and see what nominations come in?

[Jocelyne]

Agreed! Although, to be honest, I would not have the time to lead the discussions right now if my book were nominated.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Since we're discussing it,

I'm all for one themed read each month with the nominator of the winning book leading the discussion.

So... keeping May as a read-what-you-want month, I just might bring this back for the start of June.

[Tanya]

how about whoever comments on the book must also pose a question ? Themed booked each month is a good idea.

[Jocelyne]

Tanya wrote: "how about whoever comments on the book must also pose a question ? Themed booked each month is a good idea."

Do you mean instead of having one person leading the discussions? I think that it is a good idea to have to pose a question everytime one comments. It would keep the discussion going and have more people participate.

[Dee]

I kind of like the idea above - comment and ask a question

Maybe also more structured - like week 1 - first 25% of book to discuss etc

[Lori, Super Mod]

Dee, the structuring of the read, I feel, would just be too difficult to manage. That would mean that someone is 100% committed to leading the discussion the entire month through. While I do know of other groups who handle the books in such a way, I know I cannot devote that kind of attention to it and I wouldn't want to burden the nominator with that either.

[Tanya]

If you think of it this post has been up for 5 days and so far only 12 of us are discussing it. The title of this discussion is 'May reads'. Would have thought more were interested. We all seem happy with the themed read suggestion. How about when we discuss the book that we do more than say we like it or not. We need to encourage comment that urges a response, not summaries of the novel, we should encourage a system where people make conversational comments and ask opinions of other participants. Should we pick a theme for May, but choose our own book to read.We can discuss our choices throughout May. Its really decision time now as we are more than half way through
April.Our May discussion can be to try and attract others to read our book choice. This exercise might stimulate a different method of discussing our books.

[Tanya]

P.S Have any of you anything more to say about 'Defending Jacob', waiting for more discussion. I've just started 'Anne Frank'.

[Ethan]

Personally speaking, I belong to a few other groups on the site, so there are simply some months where I read the books for other groups instead of this one. Having participated in both member nominated reads and author discussions in this group, I have really enjoyed the thoughtful dialogue that goes on. It probably doesn't get said often enough, but thank you Lori for organizing all of this!

[Tanya]

That is a good point Ethan about readers in multi reading groups, I'm only in 2 so I hadn't thought about that before.

[Jocelyne]

I am glad that Ethan raised the point. I too belong to several groups, which is why I only read one book for this month. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lori for her hard work. If we find it hard to read several books and participate in the discussion, I can only imagine how daunting a task it must be to organize this group. You deserve a lot of credit, Lori.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Awww, thanks Ethan and Jocelyne. That's so nice of you.

Tanya - no theme for this month, we can start fresh with June's nominations. I think we all deserve a bit of a break....!

[Nancym]

Lori wrote: "So I've been watching the participation within our self-nominated group reads each month and it appears interest and conversation around those books are dwindling...

For the month of May, I think ..."

With all due respect a read what you want approach does not lend itself to discussion.

[Brenda]

I am going to pick a book from the group shelf that I haven't gotten to yet and then I will add my thoughts to the old discusssion....maybe it will spark some new discussion - who knows??
Thanks Lori for all the work you you put into this group.

[Lori, Super Mod]

That's the point Nancy. I'm giving everyone a break from a discussion book this month.

[Alicia]

I'm new to this group, so I don't know what has worked or not in the past. But, I truly enjoy the selected books for the month. Thank you Lori for your hard work in this group!

[Paula]

I too like the idea of one book per month. Sometimes, I've found it hard to read both books in a month's time, especially if they're longer, and I also belong to another group. As far as who determines what we read, I don't mind either way if it's selected for us, we have a theme, or we vote. I must say though that author/reader discussion book selections chosen for us have opened me up to books I would not have read on my own. I also feel like those discussions seem to have more comments than the regular group reads. I think it would be a good idea that people who nominate the book lead the discussion and those who comment, must also ask a question.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Thanks for all of your feedback and for weighing in Paula.

[Ethan]

Paula wrote: "I too like the idea of one book per month. Sometimes, I've found it hard to read both books in a month's time, especially if they're longer, and I also belong to another group. As far as who determ..."

I'll second what Paula mentioned, the author group reads have really introduced me to books that I would have otherwise not read.

[Barbara]

I agree with Anna's suggestion.

[Colleen]

I admit to being a lurker here, and stopped by to see what May's book selections were.

One thing I've noticed is that sometimes it takes a bit of time to get my hands on a book (especially if I'm using my local library).

For another book club, we have much more luck/participation when April's book was chosen the end of February rather than the end of March. People then have time to get a copy AND time to read it.

Anyway, just tossing out some random feedback.

[Jocelyne]

I totally agree with Colleen. It would be best to know what to read in advance. I also get most of my books from the library and if it is a popular book, by the time I get it, it is time to read the following month's selection.

[Keri]

Hi! I have just joined your group. I like that some of the people are really active and care about the group. I have never done an online book club (all in person) so I do not have a lot suggestions yet. I do like the idea of one book per month. If two were offered I would probably only choose one to read even though I am looking for just one group to join. I go to school full-time and am a SAHM so one group/book is all I can commit to!

I also like the suggestion of having the books picked a month in advance so we can get and start early if we want.

I look forward to getting to know all of you.

Keri

[Jocelyne]

Keri wrote: "Hi! I have just joined your group. I like that some of the people are really active and care about the group. I have never done an online book club (all in person) so I do not have a lot suggestio..."

One book a month is plenty for me too. I look forward to your posts too, Keri.

[Dee]

I do like the idea of planning a couple of months in advance

[Lori, Super Mod]

So, I've decided to let June go by without a formal nomination and poll period as well.

Mid June, we'll get back on track with one THEMED group read nomination....

Enjoy your free reading time and thank you all for your feedback. It's helped me sort through some thoughts and offer you what you'd be most interested in!!