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Buddy Reads > Buddy Reads - Explanation and Organisation (Trial)

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message 1: by Mpauli, Bitten by a radioactive book (last edited Mar 12, 2014 03:59PM) (new)

Mpauli | 769 comments Mod
What is a Buddy Read?

A Buddy Read is the possibility to read a book of your choosing together with members of the group outside of our normal Books of the Month.

How does it work?

There are two steps involved. The first one is pretty simple. You post into this thread, saying "I like to read book X in the next weeks/months. Is anybody interested?"

If you get one or more responses from interested members to read with you, you can create a thread for your book in this folder ( Book Discussion - Non BotM).
The thread title should look like this:

BR "Booktitle" - "Author" ("Timeframe")

As an example:

BR Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien (01/01/2014 - 31/01/2014)

Pratically, you might not have an exact timeframe in the beginning, so (April) or (tbd) is totally fine, when you initially set up the thread.
In the thread you should discuss the timeframe with the participants, so this main thread here isn't cluttered with timeframe discussions.
And of course, you can discuss the book in the thread, when the time arrives.
As the initiator, you are the discussion leader. A good idea for the first post might be to put in the synapsis of the book and keep track of the participants, but it's up to you how to run your discussion.

BR sounds fun, but I'm not really experienced with forums and don't want to do anything wrong.

If you're not sure about setting up a BR thread, you can ask a moderator to help you set the thread up for you.

So, have fun organizing Buddy Reads on your own and with discussing the books you want to read! :)


message 2: by John (last edited Mar 12, 2014 06:14PM) (new)

John (johnred) I've nominated Shadow and Claw for the next book of the month, but even if it doesn't win I'm planning to begin reading it next month. If anybody would like to make it a buddy read, I'd be happy to set up a thread and timetable.

A suggestion regarding the organization:
I've seen another group where they arrange a schedule -- usually something like 100 to 200 pages per week -- and the rule is that you can only discuss up to what's scheduled. So, for example, if the schedule is 150 pages/week, then at the end of week 2 you can only discuss up to page 300.

This method kind of helps to eliminate the risk of spoilers, while keeping the discussion down to one thread. You can, of course, read ahead - as long as you don't discuss anything prematurely.


message 3: by Trillian (last edited Mar 13, 2014 01:14AM) (new)

Trillian In my other group we handle the risk to reveal something to people who haven't read this part, by always putting the specific text in spoiler tags and mentioning the chapter or location/percent above. If you just discuss general stuff or everyone has the same readingtempo then hiding isn't really necessary. The problem I see with the page schedule is that when you're ahead of the schedule and read something interesting you can't instantly write about it but have to wait at least until the end of the week or even longer - and until you finally can write about it you may have forgot some details. And in this week you can only check the thread after you have finished the 100-200 pages that were planned - before that there is still the chance to read a spoiler. I have the feeling that the discussion can get quite slow that way?! But maybe it's just me who's only so accustomed to the buddy read process in the other group ;)

btw. thanks Mpauli for intruducing it here in this group :)


message 4: by Nic, Wormhole Technician (new)

Nic Margett (enn_eye_cee) | 353 comments Mod
Well, John, I would be interested in reading Shadow and Claw with you if it doesn't get nominated (i'll be voting for it anyway!). It was nominated by you in the first BOTM poll here and i've wanted to read it ever since!


message 5: by John (last edited Mar 13, 2014 05:52AM) (new)

John (johnred) Trillian wrote: "I have the feeling that the discussion can get quite slow that way?!"

I think you're probably right, just using spoiler tags would be better - and there's less to keep track of for the discussion leader.

Nic, if it doesn't win the vote, I will set up a thread. I've got the book on hold at my library now!


message 6: by Trillian (new)

Trillian John, the book you nominated sounds really interesting, so I'm going to vote for it. If it doesn't win and I find enough time to read next month :), I'm going to join the buddy read too.


message 7: by Mpauli, Bitten by a radioactive book (new)

Mpauli | 769 comments Mod
As Trillian said, we use spoiler tags in the other group and it works well.
But I might think that the key here is to handle it within each thread. If 3 people are reading a book together and everybody likes the 150 pages per week approach, then this particualr BR can work like that. Others might want to do the spoiler thing .
From my pov we could leave it flexible and if there really would be a necessity within the first few reads to stick to a reliable format, we could later agree on one.


message 8: by Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy (new)

Rinn (rinnsohma) | 3456 comments Mod
Spoiler tags are wonderful. Then you can keep everything together in one post and can clearly mark things that people might not want to read just yet =)

I'm in for Shadow & Claw - I have the Gollancz 50 version =) Also the titling is a bit confusing - Shadow and Claw is the first two books of the Book of the New Sun series, but it's not immediately obvious from my edition!


message 9: by Adam (new)

Adam (amilesb) | 35 comments I started but am a relatively slow reader and am in Fall of Hyperion if anyone wants to buddy read in that series?

Shadow and Claw is one I want to get to but might be a bit for me.


message 10: by Krys (new)

Krys I just finished Way of Kings, and am starting up on Words of Radiance. Would anyone care to join me in doing a buddy read? This is the kind of book I'd LOOVE to have someone to chat with along the way. I'm thinking the timeline would be very loose (I may blow through it really fast, or it may take me a while, depends how much free time I have with class).


message 11: by Scott (new)

Scott (thekeeblertree) I'm hoping to finish up Way of Kings in the next day or so and was having the same thought to jump right into Words of Radiance so I'd definitely be down.


message 12: by Krys (new)

Krys Excellent! I have a test tonight, but sometime this week I'll get around to making the thread for this.


message 13: by Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy (new)

Rinn (rinnsohma) | 3456 comments Mod
I've made a Buddy Reads folder and moved all relevant topics over =)


message 14: by Mpauli, Bitten by a radioactive book (new)

Mpauli | 769 comments Mod
Rinn wrote: "I've made a Buddy Reads folder and moved all relevant topics over =)"

That's geat! Thank you, Rinn. :)


message 15: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Arnette (saraharnette) | 8 comments I am interested in reading Archmage (Homecoming #1; The Legend of Drizzt #28) by R.A. Salvatore if anyone wants to read this one with me.


message 16: by Lancer, Warden of the Slums (new)

Lancer (elancer) | 1667 comments Mod
I would but unfortunately I would have to read about nine hooks to catch up in the series first :(


message 17: by Roger, Knight Radiant (new)

Roger | 2032 comments Mod
Sarah wrote: "I am interested in reading Archmage (Homecoming #1; The Legend of Drizzt #28) by R.A. Salvatore if anyone wants to read this one with me."

I just don't know about the new Drizzt books, I always get excited to read them and then I am a bit disappointed, they just aren't as good as they used to be. Or they've just gotten to predictable to me, not sure why but I don't enjoy them as much as I used too.


message 18: by Lancer, Warden of the Slums (new)

Lancer (elancer) | 1667 comments Mod
I got up to either pirate King or ghost King and what started to bother me was there was no sense of danger anymore. You always knew that no one would die, they would always win and go on another day.

That may have changed after I stopped reading them but it always stuck out to me.


message 19: by Roger, Knight Radiant (new)

Roger | 2032 comments Mod
Lancer wrote: "I got up to either pirate King or ghost King and what started to bother me was there was no sense of danger anymore. You always knew that no one would die, they would always win and go on another..."

Not really much has changed in that regards...


message 20: by Lancer, Warden of the Slums (new)

Lancer (elancer) | 1667 comments Mod
With the massive amount of books in the series I think it may be time to wrap things up. I always enjoyed Salvatore's writing and would love to see him write some fantasy outside of the forgotten realms setting. I know he has written some star wars books and he did a lot of the writing for the video game Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning


message 21: by Roger, Knight Radiant (new)

Roger | 2032 comments Mod
Lancer wrote: "With the massive amount of books in the series I think it may be time to wrap things up. I always enjoyed Salvatore's writing and would love to see him write some fantasy outside of the forgotten r..."

Agreed, or if he felt comfortable in forgotten realms he could write some new characters...My favorite series that he wrote was the Cleric Quintet


message 22: by Lancer, Warden of the Slums (new)

Lancer (elancer) | 1667 comments Mod
Totally agree, I thought I wouldn't like it as much and ended absolutely loving it


message 23: by Jeff (new)

Jeff Davis (bonafidewb) | 75 comments I liked all of them,up to the point of the thousand orcs,where it just became too much.The spearwielders tale was good also,dont think that is forgotten realms.I just grew past salvatore,maybe,The cleric quintet remains one of my favorites,and the original drizzt novels were great.


message 24: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Arnette (saraharnette) | 8 comments I loved Cleric Quinetet! That is one of the ones that got me started on his writing.

Roger wrote: "Lancer wrote: "With the massive amount of books in the series I think it may be time to wrap things up. I always enjoyed Salvatore's writing and would love to see him write some fantasy outside of ..."


message 25: by Lancer, Warden of the Slums (new)

Lancer (elancer) | 1667 comments Mod
I lost interest around witch king/ghost King. O really enjoyed the first three sets , icewind Dale, dark elf, and legacy of the drow. Some of my favourites were the books that followed Artemis entreri and Jarlaxle.


message 26: by Susie (new)

Susie (susiend104) | 265 comments We've already discussed in another thread, but just to follow the correct procedure, I am interested in setting up a Buddy Read for Seveneves! I believe the plan is for December, but considering the 800+ pages we can discuss whether or not people would like more time. If you're interested, head over to the topic when I figure out how to create it. =]


message 27: by Kristofer (new)

Kristofer Hanson (kristofermhanson) | 73 comments I wish I would have caught this sooner... just finished Archmage. While his stories have grown somewhat predictable, I do agree on that, the ending was a nice change of pace.


message 28: by Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy (new)

Rinn (rinnsohma) | 3456 comments Mod
I'm going to start adding Buddy Reads to the home page for the month they are run - just let me know if you're organising one (if I haven't seen already) and I'll pop it on the shelf :)


message 29: by Greg (last edited Mar 19, 2016 12:21AM) (new)

Greg | 1465 comments Adam wrote: "I started but am a relatively slow reader and am in Fall of Hyperion if anyone wants to buddy read in that series?"

Adam, I read both Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion quite a while ago and would love to re-read them someday.

But I'd probably want to start with the first one since it's been so long; so I don't think our timing would match. I remember them being fascinating - very literate and quite unpredictable as well. I loved all the references! Enjoy!

(edited) Oops, your post was March 2014 not 2016. Yep, long gone! :)

Is this still the right thread to use to request buddy reads or is there another newer spot?


message 30: by Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy (new)

Rinn (rinnsohma) | 3456 comments Mod
No need to request, you can just set them up yourself - just make a new thread in this folder.


message 31: by Kitty-Lydia (new)

Kitty-Lydia Dye | 36 comments I would be interested in doing a buddy read for the book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I would probably start reading once the New Year is over, so probably mid-way January, Would anyone else be interested? It is quite a long book, but I would love to discuss the story with someone while reading it.


message 32: by Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms (new)

Paul | 3571 comments Mod
I have read the book three times so not sure If I'll actively read but I remember most of the detail so will happily join in any discussion


message 33: by Kitty-Lydia (new)

Kitty-Lydia Dye | 36 comments Paul wrote: "I have read the book three times so not sure If I'll actively read but I remember most of the detail so will happily join in any discussion"

That's great :) I'll start up the thread in January and dust the book off from my shelf.


message 34: by Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms (new)

Paul | 3571 comments Mod
No worries, its up there on my list of favourite books


message 35: by Vinca (new)

Vinca Russell (vinxlady) | 1561 comments Kitty-Lydia wrote: "I would be interested in doing a buddy read for the book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I would probably start reading once the New Year is over, so ..."

I might be up for this one, it's been on my TBR pile for a while now.


message 36: by Shawnie (new)

Shawnie | 3240 comments Mod
I can probably join in this one.


message 37: by Cody (last edited Apr 28, 2017 04:40AM) (new)

Cody | 75 comments BR A Shadow of All Night Falling - Glenn Cook (15/5/17 - 14/6/17)

Hello all, I am just finishing the black company series by Glen Cook and noticed that he has another series - the dread empire.

I wondered if anyone else would fancy reading this? I loved all but one of the black company novels and was about to read them again until I found this series

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Thanks


message 38: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 1248 comments Is anyone interested I doing a buddy read of Children of Time? I think this was mentioned by someone before I went on holiday but I can't find the post.


message 39: by Vinca (new)

Vinca Russell (vinxlady) | 1561 comments Dawn wrote: "Is anyone interested I doing a buddy read of Children of Time? I think this was mentioned by someone before I went on holiday but I can't find the post."

Yes, that was me :-) I think it's over on the book deals thread, a couple of people said they might be interested. I'm certainly up for it.


message 40: by Dawn (new)

Dawn | 1248 comments Yes, that was me :-) I think it's over on the book deals thread, a couple of people said they might be interested. I'm certainly up for it. ..."

I've set up a thread and it looks ok so far.


message 41: by Audrey, Queen of the Potato People (new)

Audrey (niceyackerman) | 3532 comments Mod
I'm buddy reading Truthwitch with a couple people starting tomorrow. Let me know if you want to join in.


message 42: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 1665 comments how fast are you planning on doing the buddy read Audrey?


message 43: by Audrey, Queen of the Potato People (new)

Audrey (niceyackerman) | 3532 comments Mod
I'm thinking of setting it for a month; I don't want it to be a stressful rush to finish.


message 44: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 1665 comments oh then I am in for sure - will you set up a separate thread for discussion?


message 45: by Audrey, Queen of the Potato People (new)

Audrey (niceyackerman) | 3532 comments Mod
Sandy wrote: "oh then I am in for sure - will you set up a separate thread for discussion?"

If the mods think it's okay -- I don't know how many people we officially need.


message 46: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 1665 comments we can chat about it here too if that is ok.


message 47: by Narilka (new)

Narilka | 390 comments I read that last year and enjoyed it. I think I remember enough to participate in a conversation if you get one going.


message 48: by Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy (new)

Rinn (rinnsohma) | 3456 comments Mod
Yeah, feel free to start a new BR thread for Truthwitch :)


message 49: by Cupcakes & Machetes, Hybrid Creature (new)

Cupcakes & Machetes (hybridcreature) | 888 comments Mod
I'll join in. I'll be reading Eye of the World as well so I may be a little slower at it. :)


message 50: by Alan (new)

Alan | 158 comments Hi! I was planning to read A Darker Shade of Magic in April, since I've already read Anansi Boys, and the third book is the MOD pick.

Would anyone be interested in doing a BR for it?


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