The Literary Interests and Direction of the Group

[[deleted user]]

Thank you, Paul :) ... And Emma.

[Barbara]

1. Why did you join Goodreads Ireland? What attracted you to the group?

I was interested in reading, discovering and discussing books by Irish writers.
Then I realized it seemed to be more a group for GR's members in Ireland, which was OK because it really became both. I will say what I've said before - I never would have read some great American authors - John Steinbeck and Willy Vlautin to name a couple - but for this group.


2. How would you describe the literary interests of the group?

Overall, it is quite varied, more than my own. I have avoided reading most classics but I am moving a bit closer to perhaps someday reading Austen, Dickens, Dostoyesky etc. Because there are "so many books so little time" I chose not to read certain kinds of books - so I rarely read romance, science fiction, and books set in Ireland by Americans (because I read Irish fiction to get an insider's view). For years, when I was too busy to read as much, I read mysteries and not literary fiction. A friend, who never went to university, really got me reading more literary fiction - TC Boyle, Marilynne Robinson, etc.


3. What would you like the literary interests of the group to be going forward?

I do like a mix. If I see a title nominated that I would like to read, I usually refrain from nominating something else. If a books is chosen that doesn't appeal to me, I read other things. I refrain from posting comments evaluating nominations or about what wins or loses.

[1901]

1. Why did you join Goodreads Ireland? What attracted you to the group?
I have only recently joined this group. I have used Goodreads for years but hadn't joined any groups until this one. I haven't contributed to any internet forums in the past and so i thought i would be more at ease contributing to discussions when i have more in common with the members. So i was interested in it mainly because it has an irish focus.


2. How would you describe the literary interests of the group?
Having looked through the nominations and polls i would say it is diverse, which is good in my opinion. I have some favourite authors and genres but i saw the group as a way to broaden my reading choices.


3. What would you like the literary interests of the group to be going forward?
I haven't been around long enough to contribute much on that score, only to say again that i like the diversity. I personally like the idea of using some discussion questions to kickstart a conversation (with it being clear that the conversation isn't limited to only those questions or for it to feel academic). Probably longtime members don't need it but it may be the nudge new members need to start or join a discussion.


4. How does everyone feel about general tenor and atmosphere of the group?
I felt i was warmly welcomed on joining. My notification setting is for a regular digest and from the sidelines i had noticed some tension in exchanges, which honestly made me a little wary of joining any threads. But I think that this thread has gone a long way to explaining and removing that tensity.

[Barbara]

I've lost track of who made the comment about how the use of smart phones has increased comments. That makes sense because sometimes I wonder how it's possible to post a lot, and do much else. I make most of my comments on my laptop. I have more control that way...

[[deleted user]]

Barbara, I had also been thinking about the effect of using phones as it's harder to make longer posts and the shorter the post the greater the possibility for the tone to be misinterpreted.

[[deleted user]]

Perhaps I should add that I find it easier to contribute via my mini tablet than by phone.

[Barbara]

Theresa wrote: "Barbara, I had also been thinking about the effect of using phones as it's harder to make longer posts and the shorter the post the greater the possibility for the tone to be misinterpreted."

As I tend towards longer posts with links to books and/or weblinkes, I prefer my laptop. I also like to be able to preview longer posts to make sure they are clear. Electronic communication us often tricky with tone.

[Thomas, Moderator]

I joined GR in the fall of 2013 in order to categorize books by favorite authors into books read and tbr. Then last spring I became more active and joined 2 groups--Mystery and World Mystery. Sometime in the summer I joined GRI because I am of Irish descent and wanted to find current Irish fiction/mysteries. Prior to joining these groups, my tbr list was about 200 books. It is now 602. But I noticed someone else was up to 800, so I don't feel so bad.
I am happy with the way the group is run. Mods are doing a great job!! I don't participate in the group reads. But I do participate in various discussions.
I have friended several members of GRI because of these discussions. I do post reviews of various books that I read.

[Sara]

So based upon the comments so far Emma and I will be making a couple tweaks to the group.

(1) Going forth people will be encouraged to introduce themselves in one big thread. This will make it easier for Emma and I in particular to make sure each new member is greeted. If anyone else would like to "bookmark" that particular thread and greet new members (in particular if you have interests in common) that would be grand.

(2) Emma and I will do our best to provide a link to discussion questions about each monthly read and each QIR. While this is not strictly needed, it might provoke additional discussion!

Lastly we've decided to not implement a genre of the month scheme. The group appears to be divided on the idea. We think we'll be ok if at nomination time if folks remember

"Don't type before you think. Take a step back.
Don't be dismissive or negative about people's nominations.
Don't take comments about a particular book too personally. " (To quote my wonderful co-moderator).

[Seraphina]

That all sounds reasonable

[Susan]

Allan is lying. He joined the group because of me. Ha Ha. I do a lot of personal chatter, Allan. I am sorry. It's just GR is like a family to me.

I am so clueless. I didn't know we were doing two quarterly reads all the time. Why did we decide to do this?

In any book club when you read a book that every one likes, like An Officer and a Gentlemen, it's hard to get a good discussion. What do you say? I liked that. Yeah! Me too. It's a good book. Discussion fades off. The best book club discussions are when one person hates it and one person likes it. Unfortunately what has happened is that it's gotten too personal. It seems like if you disagree, a personal attack follows. We're supposed to be able to discuss not have the same opinion.

It seems to me if you nominate a book you can't be personally attached. Not everyone will like the same book and that can often lead to great talks if you don't attack people for disliking a book. It is also good not to celebrate when your book wins. It's not a contest of who likes you. It's about books. I wish we could talk more without tip toeing around fearful of hurting someone's feeling about a book.

I don't like the idea of Sara and Emma putting discussion points out. I don't feel like being regimented. I feel like I'm in a straight jacket enough as it is. I don't think we need more guidelines. In the last six months, it feels like we have guidelines up the ying yang. Sometimes they are discussed for a very short period of time with only a few people having time to weigh in and then they're passed.

I think we need to lighten up. Reading should be fun.

[Seraphina]

Here here, Susan. Up the ying yang lol

[Susan]

I don't know why people want to shut off discussions on the nominations page anyway. It's a good place to mention if we've read the book before or if it's hard to get, etc.

So we're doing two quarterly reads. Again, my question is why? we have a monthly and a quarterly and a zillion buddy reads. I am just curious where this idea came up and where the discussion is about it. Can you point it out to me? I am curious about the history of it.

The discussion points illustrates my point about how things pop up with limited time and discussion and it's already a done deal.

[Susan]

Sara wrote: "So based upon the comments so far Emma and I will be making a couple tweaks to the group.

(1) Going forth people will be encouraged to introduce themselves in one big thread. This will make it eas..."

Thank you for tabling the genre of the month. I feel we are too regimented as we are.

[Sara]

As moderators I generally want to keep our guidelines to the minimum number necessary for us to function. We're probably one of the least regimented groups I've ever been a part of, so I'm struggling to understand your point of view Susan.

Our general guidelines are:

(1) Be nice to other group members (which includes being respectful about other people's nominations during the nomination process)
(2) Authors can't nominate their own books
(3) Some other more technical stuff about the nomination process to ensure things

I think part of the issue is that as a general principle, as groups get larger there's more need for written laws/rules/guidelines than in smaller groups where things can be generally understood and handled by consensus. It holds true for societies at large and with smaller forums like Goodreads Ireland. It would be great if we could just operate with One Rule "Don't Be A Jerk," but given the group size it's necessary to clarify what that means. That's all I've been trying to do with the guidelines.

When it comes to changes in the group, we've generally tried to take the temperature of the group as a whole, but we can't let the discussion go on for ever on a proposed change.

Sometimes we bring up "out of the box" ideas like the genre of the month, and there's no clear consensus that people want the change. Those ideas we don't implement.

If I remember correctly though, the idea of of two QIR was a suggestion made by a member. I forget who at this point but it wasn't Emma or I. There didn't seem to be much objection if any to the idea. It also didn't seem to Emma or I like an idea that would do much harm...The idea just gives people more opportunities to discuss interesting books as a group. The only people who are obligated to read each book are Emma and I...

Likewise the idea of suggested discussion points didn't seem to be too controversial. Many long time members didn't feel the need for change and worried (sweetly) about making extra work for Emma and I. Newer or shyer members might want additional entry points into a book discussion though. Like Emma said, having suggested discussion questions doesn't stop people from bringing up other points.

[Allan]

I think that if all of us manage to follow the all encompassing 'Don't be a jerk!' rule, and if we all aim to stay lighten[ed] up, as Susan says, we'll have no problems!

At the end of the day, from what we've seen posted here, I think we all agree that people can read what they want to read, contribute to the group read discussions if they so desire, using discussion points or no, find some titles for their tbr piles from the threads or just talk about their love of books (or indeed anything else) in the various discussions.

Aside from aiming to ensure that we are all considerate to our fellow members, I don't think that there's much that people need to do any differently than they've been doing all along! :)

[Barbara]

Susan wrote: "Sara wrote: "So based upon the comments so far Emma and I will be making a couple tweaks to the group.

(1) Going forth people will be encouraged to introduce themselves in one big thread. This wil..."

Susan - I have to disagree that this group is "too regimented". When you said people shouldn't be attacked for nominating a book, are you saying that happens? I don't agree.
Being a moderator is a thankless job. I don't think as a group we are considerate enough about everything our mods do. I don't think saying 'thanks so much' once in a while is enough. I think being considerate of each other all the time especially our mods is what I would like to happen.
Sara and Emma took on this job when we were in danger of losing the group. I myself don't want to see lots of responses to my post saying Thanks to Sara and Emma for fear they will stop moderating. I would like to see widespread consideration of others all the time.

[Claire]

I joined this group to hear about books either set in Ireland or written by Irish authors. Those interested in Ireland tend to be wise to what books are out there. I'm hoping to read good reviews on Irish books!