Group Related Comments, Questions or Suggestions?

[Judy]

I'll repeat my question here since I can figure out where else to put it. Where is the September nominations listing? The only time I can find it is when there is a nomination which hasn't been recently. The poll isn't up yet; so guess we are still making nominations.

[Jackie]

Hi Judy, we skipped polls for September. We're planning on organizing a buddy read and more details will come later in the week about it.

[Judy]

Jackie wrote: "Hi Judy, we skipped polls for September. We're planning on organizing a buddy read and more details will come later in the week about it."

Oh thank you for your reply. Weren't there nominations put up? I think I either seconded or nominated a book--can't remember which. I'm fine with a buddy read. It's just that there have been several times I never got notified about a poll. So ive begun checking out the poll section regularly. I'm not blaming the moderators (Bless you all for how you help us!). I think there are several squirrelly things happening on Goodreads lately.
Thanks again.

[Jackie]

Nominations were definitely skipped for September. The last ones were for the month of August and the same for the poll. Maybe you're thinking of that one?

Squirrelly things are definitely happening on Goodreads (i.e. Home page), but this one is our fault this time. lol.

[Judy]

Jackie wrote: "Nominations were definitely skipped for September. The last ones were for the month of August and the same for the poll. Maybe you're thinking of that one?

Squirrelly things are definitely happen..."

Who knows what I'm thinking of? Could be another group, but I've checked all I'm in and haven't found it. Anyway, thanks for clearing up the September question. I'll check to see if there's one I'm interested in. Sports isn't my favorite subject, but if the story/characters are good, then maybe. . .

[Chris]

So, Is anyone reading the OCT selection The Violinist of Venice: A Story of Vivaldi and what do you think of it?

[Margaret]

I read and loved the violinist of Venice and gave it 5 stars. I wrote a review but don't know how to show the link.

[Ed]

Is it unethical/improper to nominate my own recent novel, The Lies That Bind (DarkHorse Trilogy, Bk 1) for future book of the month? Recently received this review:
Historical Novel Society magazine - Issue 77 (August 2016)
"The action and drama are compelling from the first page to the exciting conclusion... Highly recommended, and I am anxious to read the next installment."

[Jackie]

Yes, we don't allow self nominations. Also, keep in mind that to promote in the authors threads you need 25+ group participation posts.

[Ed]

Thanks, Jackie. I nominate and highly recommend Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell, which takes place on the Missouri/Kansas border where The Lies That Bind takes place. Woodrell (Winter's Bone) is a great writer, and his novel really gets to the deep fundamentals of what happened without any preaching or didacticism (made into a movie: Ride with the Devil).

[Kristi]

Is there a poll for November yet?

[Brad]

Are we still planning on making monthly read nominations? For some reason I haven't seen one in a while and it shows we are still reading "The Clockwork Orange" ... which was August I believe.

Anyway, just wanted to check.

[Margaret]

I'm missing this too!!

[gathering feather]

I missed the nominations and never knew about the buddy read!

[Jackie]

Hey guys, I'm looking into what happened for October and November. I think it's too late for November nominations since it's right around the corner, but we can certainly start nominations for December. I'll keep everyone posted.

[Margaret]

Look forward to
That

[Carla]

Are any admins still running this site? No nominations for November. ??? No discussion of The Violinist of Venice in October. ???

[Jackie]

I just sent a message this morning regarding the nominations and poll. We're just going to keep The Violinist of Venice as a November read, since we never discussed it in October like we were supposed too. The poll is up for December. Please feel free to nominate any HF book you would like to read.

[Margaret]

Thanks Jackie that's great. No theme.

[Kristi]

Jackie wrote: "I just sent a message this morning regarding the nominations and poll. We're just going to keep The Violinist of Venice as a November read, since we never discussed it in October like we were suppo..."
Thanks!

[Linda]

when do we nominate for Jan.? I'm new to the group, but havebeen participating in the Dec. discussion and enjoying it.

[Camille]

What is happening with the group in 2017?

[J.J.]

April wrote: "For threads how about:
BCE books (before common era)
1-1000 AD
1000-1500
Medieval Times
1600-1800s
1900s" Good idea.

[J.J.]

J. wrote: "April wrote: "For threads how about:
BCE books (before common era)
1-1000 AD
1000-1500
Medieval Times
1600-1800s
1900s" Good idea." My response ... 7 years late.

[Camille]

Will there be a HFU Challenge this year?

[Jackie]

Camille wrote: "Will there be a HFU Challenge this year?"

I don't think there will be on this year, but we do have a new Winter Challenge - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Camille wrote: "Will there be a HFU Challenge this year?"


No --- unless someone else wants to come up with some ideas for HFU. The threads are still there if you want to go back and repeat some of the years or chose a different "major".

[Fred]

Hi, I was wondering, since there appears to be no book for March selected, is the group no longer active?

[Margaret]

There used to be a thread under the 'Recommendations' heading, about historical fiction set in India. I made a comment on it less than a week ago (I think). The thread seems to have disappeared. It's been gone a couple of days. Does anyone know what happened to it?

[Jackie]

I recall seeing the thread too, but the only I can find is this one: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It could be that the creator of the thread deleted it. Mods don't usually delete threads unless the first post has to do with spam.

[Margaret]

Thanks for the explanation. It's too bad if the creator deleted it. It had a good list of books about India.

[Book Concierge]

I'd like to suggest that the HFU Challenge folders for past years be archived, or somehow moved off the front page. As it is now, members have to scroll past all that "old" information to find current folders. If nothing else, they should be moved to the bottom of the list of folders.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Jackie]

Book Concierge wrote: "I'd like to suggest that the HFU Challenge folders for past years be archived, or somehow moved off the front page. As it is now, members have to scroll past all that "old" information to find curr..."

I started working on archiving in the beginning of the year, but then had to leave off. I'll start working on it again because I agree it's rather annoying to have to continually scroll to find stuff.

[Jasmine, Gatekeeper of Giveaways.]

Book Concierge wrote: "I'd like to suggest that the HFU Challenge folders for past years be archived, or somehow moved off the front page. As it is now, members have to scroll past all that "old" information to find curr..."

I moved the 2015 and 2014 ones to the bottom of the group page. I'm leaving the 2016 one for now since there isn't a 2017. I may make a 2018 if I can first figure out what all goes into it.

[Book Concierge]

Thanks for your help. I know it's a lot of work to keep an active group, like this one, organized.

[Lillian]

How do I find each months selection. What is the selection for February?

[Fred]

Hi Lillian. The monthly book reads are in the “Group Read Discussion section. The Jan book is Salt to the Sea. Good luck.

[Connie]

Lillian wrote: "How do I find each months selection. What is the selection for February?"

The book for February:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

[NancyJ]

Are there any guidelines or themes for future month's group reads?

So far I'm loving this group. I'm still pretty new to goodreads and the groups, so I apologize for any dumb questions. I'm attempting to juggle real-life and online groups. It would be cool if I could nominate something here that I'll also be reading with a local group later this year. Are there any plans for future month's reads? Or a pattern that you like to follower? (e.g. Black history month made a lot of sense, so I might guess that it could come up again next February.) If this is already printed somewhere, please let me know. Thanks!

I was surprised that the March selection isn't available in my county library system. I'm trying to stick to my "library card, not credit card" resolution. They're pretty receptive to suggestions and I'll also try Inter-Library Loan, so maybe it'll work.

[Jackie]

Hi NancyJ! Glad you are enjoying the group. :-)

We don't currently have set themes for future group reads. As for guidelines, we usually have the same rules that apply to all nominations. Usually, these guidelines pertain to whether the nomination can be HF and/or non-fiction. Thanks to Gretchen we usually know a month ahead what is the upcoming group read. If you have any themes you'll like to see you can post them in the Theme thread, which I see you found. ;)

I don't how into ebooks you are, but if your library has Overdrive, Libby or Hoopla try there.

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Jasmine wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "I'd like to suggest that the HFU Challenge folders for past years be archived, or somehow moved off the front page. As it is now, members have to scroll past all that "old" i..."

Let me know if you want more info on the HFU......I actually have word documents I can share where I put together and then updated each year. I mostly updated the lists and changed a few tasks around. However, I’m sure afresh set of eyes could mean better changes ;-)

[Gretchen, Keep your head up or the crown slips]

NancyJ wrote: "Are there any guidelines or themes for future month's group reads?

So far I'm loving this group. I'm still pretty new to goodreads and the groups, so I apologize for any dumb questions. I'm attemp..."

I'm not going to lie some months the themes are well thought out and purposeful. Other months, I forget until the night before and just throw something together. I like to try to pick a theme that fits with something historical from that month. Example June tends to have a lot of historical events related to WWI and WWII.

On the months when I think things out, I like to look at the theme suggestion thread and see if I can make a suggestion fit with something that happened during that month. Like I said above, other times it's completely random.

[Becky, Moddess]

Pretty much how it's always been, Gretchen! Lol

[Gretchen, Keep your head up or the crown slips]

I think this month, the nomination thread is due to hit after Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day. It might not be a well thought out month. :)

[Jasmine, Gatekeeper of Giveaways.]

JoLene wrote: "Jasmine wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "I'd like to suggest that the HFU Challenge folders for past years be archived, or somehow moved off the front page. As it is now, members have to scroll past ..."

That would be great. I never did them and they seemed complicated so I hadn't really taken them on yet.

[Haley]

I have two questions that might sound silly, but I just would like a little clarification. First, just to be sure, something written, for example, by Jane Austen is not historical because she was writing in what was the contemporary time for her, though a Pride and Prejudice sequel written this year would be considered historical fiction.

What exactly is the distance to make something historical fiction, especially something set in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and even early oughts? I was born in 1998, so I was either not alive to experience it or was so young that have no memories. (My first memories of something big in the world are little snippets of the 2004 election and then a lot Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the donations that my school did. I do not remember 9/11 at all, being only three.) Would me reading a book set in these periods be considered historical fiction?

[Jackie]

Haley, you're making me feel old. :(

To answer your questions, we try to follow the Historical Novel Society's definition of HF-
"To be deemed historical (in our sense), a novel must have been written at least fifty years after the events described, or have been written by someone who was not alive at the time of those events (who therefore approaches them only by research)."
Source: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/gu...

So, yes- Jane Austen wouldn't be considered HF but a sequel by someone else would be.

[Haley]

Ok. Thank you, that helps. :)

[Ken]

Haley, I've attended a couple of the Historical Novel Society's conferences where Cold Reads were offered in which an author submits the first two pages of their novel to be read aloud by a narrator to a panel of agents. The agents then judge the merits of the novel's opening sequence. I recall two submissions in which the novels were set in the l1980s. Although they were read, they were dismissed because they were deemed not historical.

[Renee]

Becky wrote: "Pretty much how it's always been, Gretchen! Lol"

ohhh there you are Becky. I came back and thought you were gone. Good to see u