Getting to Know You

[WndyJW]

Hello Suzanne. Welcome. It’s great that you’ve found your way back to the joy of reading for pleasure!

[Frances]

Hi everyone. I’m Frances. I’ve actually got the different book prize awards noted in my phone calendar and have been following the lists. That doesn’t mean I’ve actually read the books. I did read the Hugos and Nebulas, so I was a bit busy 🙄. So I was pleasantly surprised that there’s a GR group just like.....this!!!! You know what I mean! 🥳. I’m catching up on the Russian tomes now as I’m late to the classics, and actually new to GR. But I’m going to be so excited along with all of you. This is like a countdown til NYear's for me but with books. Except I don’t have time to read all of them for now. So I’ll just be lurking as you discuss and enjoy vicariously through you.

[Ang]

Welcome, Frances. Threads stay open so you can join in on discussing books whenever you get around to them. Glad to have you here.

[Frances]

Thank you, Ang!

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome Frances

[WndyJW]

Welcome, Frances.

[Debra]

Welcome, Frances! Your "about me" description reminds me of a quote by T.S. Eliot: Books. Cats. Life is good. I have two cats of my own and can identify.

[Frances]

Thank you for the warm welcome! Debra, that description was spontaneous and a coincidence. Ha ha. Was it T.S. Eliot or Edward Gorey?

[Debra]

Ah, you're right about Edward Gorey. For some reason, this quote popped up in my GR thread and was attributed to T.S. Eliot. Perhaps because Gorey illustrated a book of Eliot's cat poems???

[Frances]

Debra wrote: "Ah, you're right about Edward Gorey. For some reason, this quote popped up in my GR thread and was attributed to T.S. Eliot. Perhaps because Gorey illustrated a book of Eliot's cat poems???"


I saw that too! It’s so cool that whenever I open my app there’s a nice quote.

This says Gorey illustrated Eliot’s work:

https://flashbak.com/edward-goreys-il...

[Carol]

Hello, I'm Carol from Essex in the U.K. I've always loved reading a wide range of books, but found it tricky to find reading time. I've become interested in the Women's Prize for Fiction in the last few years and enjoyed that it prompts me to try things that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. I love a second hand bookshop and an audiobook. I'm currently reading the Women's Prize previous winners and am now fourteen book in to the twenty five winners, so joined this groups as a great place to discuss them. I usually try and read some of the long and short list for the women's prize and the booker, but have been waylaid by the previous winners this summer. I work in theatre and am missing it terribly so trying to plug the gap with zoom book events and discussions, recently enjoying the women's prize shortlist events. I look forward to reading your reviews and views.

[Ang]

Welcome, Carol. I am missing theatre too but as an audience member.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome Carol

[WndyJW]

Welcome, Carol.

[Ella]

Hey everyone, just a note that if you have a book blog or a booktube channel (instagram, pinterest, etc), we now have a place for you to share that information, and where hopefully we can find it more easily than trying to search the entire forum:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Areeb]

Hey folks! My name is Areeb and I am from India. I have been lurking here for a few months, swimming in all the book talk. Now, I have finally decided to join the group and actively participate in the discussions. It is always fun to have be a part of a dedicated community of readers and while I don't have much of that in real life, online spaces do make up spectacularly for it. I just finished an undergad in English and now I plan to follow it up with a Masters. I have been reading voraciously since I was in sixth grade, so much so that my parents now regret getting me that Hardy Boys. I am the only reader in my family, and they all just don't understand my obsession. I finally took the plunge and started publicly talking about books, reviewing them, and documenting my reading on Instagram last year. I haven't looked back.

I read quite widely across genres: my first love was fantasy (which is now sadly a bit neglected) and I consume literary/contemporary fiction the most these days. I also read quite a significant amount of poetry and memoirs (I really like creative/narrative non-fiction in general). For the last few years, I have been trying to improve my stats in terms of writing from the global South, writing from women, writing in translation, writing by BIPoC writers. I have a fondness for South Asian/Muslim/Queer narratives as they tend to align with my own lived experiences. I love experimental stuff, especially books which play with form, structure and voice. I think I have gone on for quite a bit now. It's absolutely great to be here and I look forward to engaging with you all. Have a great day!

[Paul]

Welcome!

[Emmeline]

Welcome! Good to have you.

[WndyJW]

It’s wonderful to have you in the group, Ameer! A lot of your interests are shared here. What is your Instagram name, I love bookish Instagram.

[Areeb]

Thank you, folks!

WndyJW wrote: "It’s wonderful to have you in the group, Ameer! A lot of your interests are shared here. What is your Instagram name, I love bookish Instagram."

Its @bankrupt_bookworm, the perfect epithet for me in real life.

[WndyJW]

I think that’s true of a few of us!

[Carol]

Hello, just wanted to share that I've finished reading the 25 previous winners of the Women's Prize this weekend. I'm usually someone who enthusiastically starts a challenge but never has the time or attention span to complete it, so I'm delighted to be able to add my rankings in the appropriate thread. In a year of so much change and uncertainty it's been really nice to read so many great books and feel a sense of accomplishment.

[Paul]

Congratulations Carol, that is an impressive achievement.

[WndyJW]

Well done, Carol! I admire your commitment and follow through!
Which titles stand out as the best among the 25?

[Paige]

Hi all! I stumbled across this group and was impressed to see great discussions of so many books. Reading has always been one of my favorite things to do, and in recent years I've found that being able to discuss what I've read adds a lot to the endeavor. I have 3-5 online book clubs or discussion places I like to contribute to discussions at and am always looking for new ones. I also read out loud to my husband often, or have him read out loud to me while I work on crafts, and we have a lot of fun discussing the books and even record podcasts on them, though I am pretty lazy about actually editing them and uploading them. I don't read every selection of the groups I'm in because I have a full time job and am taking classes for a masters program as well, but knowing that there will be good discussion is definitely a motivating factor in reading books I might not otherwise pick up.

I'm new to this group and I don't see a clear pattern for what books you guys read and discuss when. It seems like as soon as the list for a prize is announced, there is a thread created for every book and discussion for them all happens simultaneously? But then there are winners from decades ago that crop up for discussion too. Just curious how y'all roll with the discussion :)

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome Paige. The group's discussions are largely dictated by prizes, because the group's founders were part of Booker discussion forums on other sites some of which no longer exist. The range of discussions has expanded since then. The historic Booker shortlist discussions are an occasional side project - from time to time we choose a quiet time in the prize season to select a year and discuss the books on it.
We also have places to discuss favourite authors and more general topics. We rarely create new discussion folders, so some of the older ones contain several pages of threads - we don't normally delete the older ones.
Feel free to ask further questions.

[Carol]

WndyJW wrote: "Well done, Carol! I admire your commitment and follow through!
Which titles stand out as the best among the 25?"

Thanks all. I particularly enjoyed Hamnet, How to be Both, Home Fire, A song of Achilles and Small Island. I'm looking forward to reading other books by authors of all of those. What I really enjoyed is not having that decision of what to read next? Just happily going through them all knowing they'll be interesting and enjoyable. Loved Half of a Yellow Sun and voted for that in Winner of Winner on the Women's Prize website.

[WndyJW]

I loved Hamnet as well. Prizes are great way to combine a love of reading with a love of lists. Years ago when I didn’t know any readers and had no resource for good books I decided to read at least one book by every winner of the Noble in Fiction, which led to reading everything Saramago wrote, everything Patrick White wrote, at some point I stumbled upon the Booker and wanted to read every Booker winner and then it became a free for all when shortlisted titles and favorite authors were discovered. I say all of that to say it must feel good to have read every book on the list you set out to read.

[Paige]

Hugh wrote: "Welcome Paige. The group's discussions are largely dictated by prizes, because the group's founders were part of Booker discussion forums on other sites some of which no longer exist. The range of ..."

Okay, thank you, that makes sense. :)

Does anyone here follow the Tournament of Books? It's definitely not a traditional "award" format, but it's pretty fun.

[Joy D]

Greetings, my name is Joy and I live in Northern Nevada, US (near Lake Tahoe). I have lurked on this group for a long while, but I hope to participate more next year and going forward. I always follow the discussions, especially the Booker lists, and enjoy your enlightening comments and reviews. I love to read literature, past or current, though I am an eclectic reader overall. Each year, I rank my books and I love to make lists. I look forward to participating.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome to the group Joy

[WndyJW]

Hello Joy. It seems a lot of readers also enjoy lists. I wonder why that is?

[Joy D]

Thanks, Hugh and WndyJW!

I have noticed that, too, Wndy. I cannot speak for others, but when I rate books, I want to be reasonably certain that I am following a logical thought pattern, so I look to see where it fits into a ranked list. I look for books I liked "about as much" as the one I am rating.

[WndyJW]

I still don’t have a consistent rational for ranking books and over time I have become more generous with stars. Several years ago books I really liked I gave 3 stars and rarely gave 5 stars, saving that for books that would be in my lifelong top ten, now books I really like are 4 stars and I’ve given more 5 stars rating. As far as ranking that’s more for the maths lovers in the group!

[Hugh, Active moderator]

I can't rank by anything other than gut feeling, and I often find it almost impossible to explain why I love one book while something others see as similar leaves me cold. So to me the rankings are fun but should not be taken too seriously, though they are as good a gauge as we have of the prevailing opinions in the group.

[Joy D]

Count me in as a math lover. For me, it's just fun to see how people rank them against each other. I also like to rank them to go back later and see if they have stayed with me, and if so, I may move them up the list.

[WndyJW]

If I was a math person I would grade different aspects of each book like characters, setting, language, sense of place, story or narrative, originality, etc. then come up with composite score. As it is some books I score high without having enjoyed them because I recognize how very good they are, others I score high even though I don’t feel they have real literary value, but I enjoyed it. So 5 stars from me is not an indication of a well written book, just a book I loved.

[Joy D]

Too funny, Wndy, you have just described my system. I have seven categories that I score and then take an average, but I always check it against other books I have liked to make sure I am being internally consistent.

[Robert]

My ratings just really document my enjoyment levels of a book. Recently I gave 5 stars to Gravity’s Rainbow. Although it was a tough read I had a lot of fun piecing everything together.

[Jen]

Paige wrote: "Hugh wrote: "Welcome Paige. The group's discussions are largely dictated by prizes, because the group's founders were part of Booker discussion forums on other sites some of which no longer exist. ..."

Hi Paige! I'm an irregular contributor here but love popping in to read the discussions of prize lists. I do follow the Tournament of Books (which isn't discussed here) so just wanted to let you know about the Group of the same name where there is great discussion happening, including awaiting today's shortlist announcement. If you're not taking part there already, check it out. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Jen]

Joy D wrote: "Greetings, my name is Joy and I live in Northern Nevada, US (near Lake Tahoe). I have lurked on this group for a long while, but I hope to participate more next year and going forward. I always fol..."

Hey Joy! Nice to see you here.

[Karen Michele]

I do a simple compilation in my mind. I rate the writing itself and the story's flow and appeal. A book only gets 5 stars if both are strong. Most get 4 because one or the other of my criteria isn't met. Occasionally I rate a book 3 stars, but anything lower I don't read or rate. It suits me, but means that my ratings are usually high.

[Roman Clodia]

Hi everyone, I'm RC from London and have just joined the group. I'm friends with some of you here and have stumbled across reviews by others so figured this is a good place to share book news and views.

I don't actively follow the prizes but often have read some of the books either in advance as ARCs or at listing stage.

I'm an eclectic reader and mix it up between contemporary and classics.

To give you a feel for what I like, looking at your best of 2020, I loved Apeirogon, The Discomfort of Evening, The Death of Vivek Oji, Piranesi, When We Cease to Understand the World, The Mirror and The Light.

On the other side, I disliked Hamnet intensely (ok, hated it!) and don't get on with Ali Smith or Daisy Johnson.

Looking forward to lots of book chat here.

[Debra]

Welcome, Roman! I'm not as active on this board as some of the others but enjoy participating when I do.

I hope you will consider adding your books to the Favourite Books of 2020 thread.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Welcome to the group RC - good to see you here.

[Paul]

Good to see you here RC, have loved following your reviews for some time

[WndyJW]

Hello RC. I liked the books you liked and liked the books you didn’t like. Although Ali Smith is close to the patron saint of novels in this group diversity in reading tastes makes for much better discussions. “I liked it,” “I liked it, too,” gets stale. I look forward to many discussions!

[Sam]

Derek wrote: "Hey all,

I am Derek Owusu from London. Very happy to be part of this group and a reader of anything, but I'm mostly drawn to fiction that focuses on character a lot more than plot. Fav books are ..."

Hello Derek, I just reread Steppenwolf this past year which was a interesting revisit compared to my first read when I was in my teens. Just wanted to remind you that your book is on our best of the year list and feel welcome to contribute your own ranking of any of our nominations.

[Areeb]

Derek wrote: "Hey all,

I am Derek Owusu from London. Very happy to be part of this group and a reader of anything, but I'm mostly drawn to fiction that focuses on character a lot more than plot. Fav books are ..."


Hey Derek! Happy to see you here. I had been unable to get a copy of your book here in India for the longest time until a UK friend, on hearing my woes, gifted it to me earlier this month. I am so excited to read it next year. Becky and Kobby (over on Booksta) have been really hyping it. Plus, the good folk here at M&K are all praises. All the best on your future books! Hopefully they are easier to acquire, hahaha.

I am not into Hesse and Fitzgerald, but I really want to read Ellison sometime. I quite like Saramago, have read Blindness and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. I definitely need to read more and I think I will now pick up The Double next.

Happy holidays to you as well!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Thanks Derek - that’s lovely to hear.