Reading Schedule for Les Miserables

[Everyman]

Earlier weeks stay open for posting throughout the discussion, so if you temporarily fall behind you can keep posting about the sections you’re on while you catch up.

Postings can be cumulative – that is, in Week 4, for example, you can discuss not just the chapters for that week but anything up to the end of that section. Sometimes you want to carry forward ideas from an earlier section into a later section, and that’s great.

If you’re reading ahead of the schedule, please be careful not to post spoilers – that is, nothing relating to, or even hinting at, chapters ahead of the assigned section. But if you haven’t read ahead but have thoughts of what might happen or things that you think are foreshadowing, it’s fine to post about them, since you’re not revealing anything that you read in future sections. Speculating about what direction a book might take is fun, as long as you are just guessing and don’t know from reading ahead.

If you’re reading ahead and have thoughts on a chapter we haven’t gotten to yet, you can jot them into a Notepad of Word document for cutting and pasting into the discussion when we get there. I find that’s a good way to avoid spoilers without losing track of interesting (I hope!) thoughts.

Discussion of a section begins on the day it is posted, so if you want to be ready on day 1, have that section read before the opening date. But if you're reading more slowly, that's fine; just post whenever you're ready.

Our reading/discussion schedule will be:

Week 1 - Sept 23 - 29 - Fantine Books 1-3
Week 2 - Sept 30 - Oct 6 - Through end of Fantine
Week 3 - Oct 7 - 13 - Through Cosette Book 3
Week 4 - Oct 14 - 20 - Through end of Cosette
Week 5 - Oct 21 - 27 - Through Marius Chapter 6
Week 6 - Oct 28 - Nov 3 - Through Saint-Denis Book 3
Week 7 - Nov 4 - 10 - Through Saint-Denis Book 9
Week 8 - Nov 11 - 17 - Through end of Saint Denis
Week 9 - Nov 18 - 24 - Through Jean Valjean Chapter 3
Week 10 - Nov 25 - Dec 1 - Thanksgiving break, catch-up if needed
Week 11 - Dec 2 - 8 - Through end of book
Week 12 - Dec 9 - 16 - Discussion of the book as a whole

December 17 - January 5 - Midwinter Break

January 6 will be the start of our next book to be voted on probably in November.

[Peregrine]

Neatly scheduled, Everyman!

[The Book Whisperer (aka Boof)]

Ooh, this looks like a good schedule. It means that I can read other books too without worrying about being left behind with Les Mis. Looking forward to this.

[Everyman]

I'm pondering how best to set up the discussion sections for each week's reading.

I see two main options, since we read several books each week.

1. Set up a separate thread for each book. For the first week, then, there would be three threads: Fantine Book 1, Fantine Books 1 and 2, and Fantine through Book 3.
2. Set up one thread for each week's reading.

Setting up a separate thread for each book would allow those who have not finished all three books at the start of the week to participate actively as soon as they finish one book, without having to worry about spoilers. This was my initial thought. But then I thought about the effect of having forty eight different discussion threads for the book, and worried about loss of continuity of discussion and too much confusion as to what points were posted where. So my current thinking is to just set up one thread for each week, and if people haven't finished the reading by the start of the week they can either wait (all threads will remain open throughout the reading, so one can post on the first week's reading anytime), or plunge in and accept that there may be spoilers from later in that week's reading.

If people have strong opinions one way or the other, I'll be glad to consider them.

[Alias Reader]

I would go with option two. -2. Set up one thread for each week's reading.-

Maybe people can put the book they are reading at the top of the post. (Fantine Book 1, Fantine Books 1 and 2, and Fantine through Book 3.)

Then people can just scroll by if they are not up to that book.

I agree. You don't want 48 threads.

Everyman, may I ask, are you going to archive old book discussions? I hope you don't plan on erasing them. They are too good ! That is what we do with old posts on the GR board that I take care of. (book nook cafe)

We just set up a folder titled "Archive" and move the old topics there. Just a suggestion. :)

Oh, another housekeeping tip that I learned the hard way. When you post the book jacket at the top of the board, you would need two "current" reads to post two "Future" reads. For some reason they need to be equal. But it's not a problem to post all Future or all current reads. It's just an issue when you try to mix and match.

Your doing a great job here. I've been looking for a Great Books type of board or face to face group for ages. I am so happy to have found such a friendly and interesting group.

Thanks !

[Everyman]

Alias Reader wrote: "Everyman, may I ask, are you going to archive old book discussions? I hope you don't plan on erasing them. They are too good ! That is what we do with old posts on the GR board that I take care of. (book nook cafe) "

It's my understanding that Goodreads doesn't delete past discussions, and I have no intention to. I had thought I would just let them flow down to the bottom of the folders list so they're still there, but out of the way. I'm still learning my way around goodreads, and don't know how to combine threads, and I don't want to risk losing anything by too much experimenting.

[Alias Reader]

You can't combine threads, but you can move threads to new folders. (such as an archive folder). You just click on EDIT in the threads title. There you can decide to move a thread or even close it to further discussion. You can't accidentally delete it. To do that you would have to click the delete link. As you noted, just letting the folders move down is also an option.

It took me quite a while to figure out the workings of GR. In fact, I'm still learning. :) A good place to ask questions and pick up tips is the GR Feedback board. You will see the link for it on your board, usually on the right side. The creators of GR and other posters answer questions there and also take suggestion on how to improve GR. Also looking how other boards are set up is a good way to get ideas.

As moderator you can move threads or delete threads. It up to you how you run your board.

I'm glad to hear you're not planning on deleting any of the book discussions.