What is a Buddy Read? How does it work?

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

      ~ Buddy Style Reads ~
    Three Ways to Enjoy a Book!

At NRBC we use three styles of buddy reads. These will be indicated in the thread title as “Buddy Read”, “Relaxed Buddy Read” or “Informal Buddy Read”.

A “Buddy Read” has a discussion leader and a reading date is set to start the book. A reading schedule is posted prior to the start date and discussion questions are posted each day regarding that section of the book. More information about these types of reads is below. An example is here, showing a reading schedule here.

A “Relaxed Buddy Read” is similar to our usual “buddy reads” except there are less questions and break points. For example, a book may be split into three sections and those reading the book should pause at the end of the section to answer some discussion questions, make comments, or ask their own questions to other readers. An example is here.

An “Informal Buddy Read” doesn’t have a discussion leader and participants are asked to consider some generic questions when making comments about the book. An example is here.

A “Read and Watch Buddy Read” may be set up as any of the above, but we will also watch the movie or T.V. series - or even go to a play! - and make comparisons, discussing what has been left out or changed as well as the actors and actresses. There is a long debate of what one should do first: read the books or watch the movie? We usually read first, but it isn’t essential. Also, if you would like to join in, but don’t want to watch the movie, show, or play, but only read the books, that is fine, too. An example is here.

In our “Cookbook Buddy Read” we try the same and different recipes in a cookbook (you know, the divide and conquer theory) to find out which are the best recipes.

We discuss if we like the recipes, post pictures of our final masterpieces (optional), ask questions about where to find an ingredient, if a substitution can be made, or what a particular ingredient is (I remember scratching my head as to what “oleo” was the first time I saw it mentioned. It's butter by the way).

We first discuss which books are available at everyone's library. This would be the perfect way for everyone else to determine whether or not to buy that tempting cookbook before investing all that money into one. Second, we agree and vote on a book just within that thread.

Our “Cookbook Buddy Read” folder is here.

More information about “Buddy Reads:”

“Buddy Reads” (“BRs”) include:

• A reading schedule which can range from 50, 75, to 100 or so pages a day.

• Discussion questions posted daily by moderators and occasionally group members
   who help one of us out. If you want to be a Discussion Leader, let us know.

• If the book is really long, we'll plan a break day.

• Members do NOT have to answer every question, they are meant to stimulate
   conversations about the books AND allow us to glance back upon them when the
   sequels come out. This helps us to remember what exactly happened in the previous
   book.

• We find the buddy style of reading to be more fun than just posting one or two
   sentences about a book. We feel this is what distinguishes us as being a ‘book club’
   rather than just another GoodReads ‘group.’

• If you can NOT start the book on time, feel free to join in at a later date. They are
   set up to make it easy to do so.

• Moderators are people too, so occasionally we get sick, have to work late at our real
   jobs, or have something that keeps us from writing the questions. Please forgive us;
   we're only human and we don't get any compensation for what we do--not even
   free books!

• Discussions and questions are set up to make you think, analyze, and see things you,
   or even we, may have missed. Feel free to add your own thoughts at any time, if you
   think we've missed something.

• If you've read the book, feel free to let us know what you thought about the book.
   You can do so at the end of the buddy read, or, if you can't wait, add spoiler tags
   before you comment like:

   **************BEWARE! SPOILER FOR THE END OF THE BOOK**************

   Or insert a (view spoiler)[spoiler (hide spoiler)]. If you do NOT know how to do so, just check out our
   GoodReads 101 explanation on how to Insert a Spoiler.

• If you are looking for a reading buddy, post an inquiry in our Buddy read requests thread. Use that thread, if you want to have a repeat read of a BOM
    or buddy read, too.

• Have fun! We always do when more than one person joins in. And we look less silly
   if someone else discusses a book with us.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

UPDATE: We have tweaked the above explanations to suit the needs of our members.

At NRBC we use three styles of buddy reads. These will be indicated in the thread title as “Buddy Read”, “Relaxed Buddy Read” or “Informal Buddy Read”. See above.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

reserved