Some questions about Group Reads/Listens

[WitWhimWiz]

Good evening!

I haven't been a member of Goodreads very long - unfortunately, I work full-time and go to university full-time, so even though I joined up a while ago, I haven't had a lot of time to get to know the website.

Likewise, Horror Aficionados is the first group I've ever joined on Goodreads and I love it very much! However, I'm finding I have a little trouble maneuvering through the post system and am not entirely sure how to find information.

I have a couple of questions about Group Reads and Listens for the month - I see we are nominating the Group Read for February and the theme is "Cults." This is exciting and I'd love to participate!

If my questions have answers somewhere already on the board, would someone be kind enough to explain how to find the thread in question and point me the right direction? And if I have asked something new, could y'all help me out with an answer?

My first question is, is there a difference between "Group Reads" and "Group Listens?" I end up using a lot of my down-time to handle extra homework, so I don't get to sit and read novels as much as when I was young. Typically I listen to novels at work or in the car. Does the group prefer to keep the two separate, or can I participate in a "Group Read" by listening to the novel on Audiobooks.com? I want to play fair!

My second question is, are there any particular limits concerning books we want to nominate? The theme is "Cults" and I would eagerly suggest The Shadow Over Innsmouth, but I wondered if the book was too old? Are there any rules like, "No books over twenty years old," or, "No books before the 20th Century?"

Third, should we nominate only books we haven't read, or are the people nominating them supposed to lead group discussion, so they should know the books well? If they're supposed to be new reads, then I would like to second a certain book I saw already nominated, but if the people voting are supposed to lead the discussion, I'd like a novel that I know fairly well (hence the Lovecraft suggestion.)

Thank you so much! I'm sorry I'm a little clueless, but I really look forward to finding out the facts and joining the group read!

[Latasha]

Ok, 1st question- you can listen or read either of them. The only rule is there MUST be an audio version of the book for the group listen. As for the group reads, it’s fine if you want to listen instead of reading them. I do that too sometimes.
Ok 2: there is no rule on the age of the book or how many you nominate. The only rules here is: if we read or listened to it in the past year, it’s not eligible. And authors can not promote their own books.
3- no, no one really leads the reads or listens. The moderators will look over them to make sure everyone is playing nice but we don’t lead them. As far as nominating books you haven’t read vs. ones you have- that’s your decision. I don’t nominate books I’ve read unless I’m ready to reread it. If you 2nd or 3rd a book it’s more likely to make it on the poll. Not every book makes it on the poll as you may have noticed. There’s sometime just too many.
I hope this helps & answers your questions. See you in the monthly reads!

[WitWhimWiz]

Awesome - this helps, thank you so much! I'm looking forward to the group read for February!