Group Reads 2.0.

[Rachel, First Lady]

Hi everyone!

Happy September! I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to this brand new month :)

Well, the mods and I have been discussing about our next group read. We realize that we haven't had one in a while, and we also realize that sometimes it's hard for people to commit to reading a different book each month (one not of their own choosing). So we've finally decided to start it up again, but instead of a monthly group read, we will do a quarterly group read.

Thus, our next group read will start on October 2014 and finish on December 2014. Sounds good?

Also, to kick it off, the mods and I thought that maybe we could do a Mod's Pick? In case some of you don't know, #ILEB (that's our official hash tag btw) has 4 mods:

Myself
Reza
Lynossa
Jati

Our tastes differ and we were thinking of nominating the book that we most enjoyed this year for our group read. Of course after that, you guys will get to decide which out of the 4 we should read next month.

Do you think this is a good idea? If yes, we will start voting in a couple of days. If not, we'll think of a new theme for our Oct-Dec read.

Let us know what you think!

Much love,
The Mods

[Citra]

Sounds good! Whenever I finished a book, I got undecided on what I should read next. This will totally help (and it's fun!). Cant wait for the official kick-off!

[Christanto]

good idea. let me know ya, i think it will be fun if we can share book that we read with other friends who also read that book.

[Patricia]

Yes this is a great idea! It'd fun to read a book together and have discussions about it :)

[Dini]

Cool idea, mods! Looking forward to your recs.

[Aryanti]

yay! anticipating the book nominations :D

[Samantha]

Sounds awesome!

[Sylvia_rh]

Sure! Bring it on! :)

[Femmy]

Not sure if I'll have time to participate, but sounds like a good idea!

[Natasha]

Couldn't agree more!

[Aisya Raisya]

sounds great

[Aliya]

Agree! I'm in :)

[Natasya]

Sounds wonderful! I'll be looking forward to see the nominated books!

[Namida]

Sounds like a good idea..

[Mikochin]

I wholeheartedly agree, this is a great idea!

I was one of the people who many times wanted to join the group discussions, but too late finishing the book, lol. It took times reading books which genres were out of my comfort zones :"

Can't wait for the Mod's Picks nomination! :D

[Adhika]

Sounds good! Even better if the book has an audiobook version (helps when I'm too busy to read).

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Haha, I am still torn between several options. I hope I'll come to decision soon.

[Arleen]

I'm currently reading Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi). It's a dystopian YA novel. Not as good as The Hunger Game, but it's quite uniquely written.

[Nieke]

Hi... am a new team member... and I'm looking forward to participate in Group Reads!

[Eddline]

Sounds great I'm looking forward to this one!

[Kiki Rizky Agustina]

Sure. :)

[Mpur]

great idea!

[Firda]

The mods' pick happens at every book picking? Why can't we nominate our own? Just occasional nominations, so there are variations to the picks..

[Rachel, First Lady]

Hi Firda :) To set the matter straight, no, we don't always pick the books for our group reads. This is the first time actually. We thought that - to start our newly revived group reads - we could do something different.

For the next quarterly group reads, of course the members can nominate books (that's the way it has always been in the past) :) I hope this clarifies things for you.

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Hi Firda,
We usually set a theme and then members nominate the their choices along the theme. But just for this time the mods decide to pick the nominations and they are not restricted by any themes.
It'll be interesting to see the nominations because we have different taste.

[Oon]

Lynossa wrote: "It'll be interesting to see the nominations because we have different taste."

It is the good will of Providence, then, that I am not one of the mods :D

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Oon wrote:It is the good will of Providence, then, that I am not one of the mods :D"

But I - almost - always like your recommendation! I stalk your bookshelves sometimes :p

[Reza, The Curator]

Okay, for this QGR (Quarterly Group Read) I'm nominating The Way of Kings



It's a fantasy book, the first of an epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson.

The book is everything you want in an epic fantasy book. Vast setting, vivid worldbuilding, cool magic system, characters to root for, and a classic Sanderson avalanche (look it up, it's a thing). Admittedly, it is slow at first, and it is actually a big book. But boy oh boy does it pay off in the end.

This is what other people feel about the book:

"Holy Hell" -Jati, Our Chief Dragon Herder

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

For me, I recommend The Secret History. It's the only book I gave 5-star this year and I'm not easy in giving 5-star.
It's Donna Tart's first book and in a way it provided the path to The Goldfinch, her prize-winning book.

It's a story about a young man who falls into the charm of an exclusive group of students in his college and eventually becomes a part of it. There's romance, mystery, physchology, and adventure.
What makes the story linger in my mind for days are the narration and how it potrays (in albeit a bit extreme) real life; it's not a fairy tale.

[Jati, Chief Dragon Herder]

"Goddamit, Reza"-me, seeing your nom

Competing with Sanderson's works is going to be pretty damn difficult, but for this quarterly nomination, i am bringing into this fight.

A Week in Winter is a remarkably beautiful story of life, loss, pain, love and redemption. of a small inn where people come to seek an escape, but found peace instead. maeve binchy was a magical storyteller and it clearly shows in all her works.

this the kind of book that you read at the end of a particularly disappointing rainy day. classic storytelling at its best. it's light, slow, and i will say this in the manliest way possible, intimate...

so turn up your aircon, wrap yourself with a nice thick warm blanket, cup of hot chocolate on the side, and bawl your eyes out on this book.

[Biondy]

woah. the 2 noms are heavy books. I'd prefer something thinner for a group read OTZ

[Marina]

it is should be 4 books for Oct-Dec 2014 or only one books but we can vote from four mod's recommendation?

how about if i already read one of them? i actually have read A week in winter by Maeve Binchy

[Rachel, First Lady]

OK, my turn to pitch my nomination. When we first had the idea to do a Mod’s Pick – the book we most enjoyed this year – one book IMMEDIATELY came to mind. So here it is, my nomination (probably the most predictable pitch out of the four of us, but hey, I am who I am!):



Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell absolutely took me by surprise. I only picked it up because work was slow a couple of months ago and I needed something to pass the time, and I chose Fangirl because well, why not, and it turned out to be a masterpiece.

It has everything I’ve ever wanted in a nicely-designed paperback: family love, romance (it’s subtly done this time, so it’s not corny, guys! Promise!), friendship, nerdy references (I understood all of them!), lovable characters and just the right amount of angst. I don’t know if I’m making a good case for it, but whatever I just said… I guarantee you the book is 100% better.

BONUS: Fangirl gives you *drumrolls* The world of Simon Snow, which is pretty much, a canon world of OUR Harry Potter. Goodness guys, this book is a gem, seriously.

I have no Mod(s) quotes to share, but I do have this!:

[Rachel, First Lady]

@Biondy: The other 2 noms are lighter, I think. So maybe you can vote for one of them? :)

@Marina: We will only end up reading 1 out of the 4 nominations. You can vote for the one you want to win :)

Poll is up guys. Head on here to cast in your votes.

Thanks, everyone and happy voting!

[a.z.]

Sounds cool! Not really sure if I can make it, tho. Perhaps I'll choose the cheapest book nom cuz I'm kinda broke lol.

[Aryanti]

mods, question here~ I've read two of the four nominations, so does that leave me with only two to choose from, or can I still vote for the one that I want more people to read? :D

and btw thank you for the nominations, no matter which one wins the vote, I'll add every nomination to my to-read list! hahaha

[Lynossa, Resident Connoisseur]

Aryanti wrote: "mods, question here~ I've read two of the four nominations, so does that leave me with only two to choose from, or can I still vote for the one that I want more people to read? :D

and btw thank yo..."

You can pick the one you've read; it's up to you. For example you read it and you like it and want to discuss it; that's one reason to vote, I guess.

[Silvana]

The Way of Kings looks like a huge commitment and I'm a very committed person thanks to George RR Martin and JK Rowling so I'll vote for it.

[Jessica]

Sounds really cool!

[Astrid]

sounds great. i wish we can have gathering sometimes

[Biondy]

oh, I think we already have a winner for the group read ;)

[Rachel, First Lady]

Hi Astrid. We do have gatherings from time to time. We'll keep you posted regarding our next one :)

We do, Biondy. We'll be sending a message to all members soon :)

[Rachel, First Lady]

Check out our new masthead on our group home courtesy of our very own curator, Mr. Reza (emoticon here).

[Novy]

so what are we going to read this month?

[Darnia]

@Novi: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and The Secret of History by Donna Tart

[Novy]

@Darnia: thanks for the info! but fangirl already has a thread in this group. am i late to read it? you guys have finished it, haven't you?

[Femmy]

@Novy: the current group read runs from October to December 2014, so you're not late!

[Novy]

@femmy: i'm happy to heat that!^^
i want to ask, do you guys read the books from hard copy or softcopy like pdf, epub, or something else?

[Femmy]

I usually read English books on my Kobo reader nowadays, which uses the epub format. I think most people here read hard copies, though.

[Novy]

@femmy: oh i see.. do you purchase it or get it free? i use scribd but it sometimes suck when downloading the document