Got a Question?

[Katy, Old School Classics]

If you have a question that you want answered, but you're unsure where to ask, here's the place!

Need help with Goodreads features? Need Technical advice on issues using Goodreads? Navigating our group? Reminders of how things work? Queries about book editions? Ask away! We will do our best to find answers for you.

[April]

Hi! I was just wondering what happened to all of the author sections? Like there used to be sections for Jane Austen and maybe Poe, several others (of course i cant think of them now). Did those sections get retired? I kinda liked that. Wondering where i can join conversation about those books that are not current reads of the yeR... or does the group get refreahed every year? Thanks!

[Sara, New School Classics]

The author sections were eliminated and the books were placed in the appropriate time slot...so the Austen books were moved to
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

All threads remain open, so you can comment on any book that has been read either as a group or in a buddy read. The easiest way to find the book you are looking for is to go to the folder, click on the word "topics" at the far left and the books will be listed alphabetically.

Hope this was helpful, April. Happy reading.

[April]

Question- how exactly does a book become a "classic"? Since the future classics challenge, i have been wondering what books actually classify as classics in the "new" category, or whatever is beyond that. How does Goodreads come to define its classics, because some are labelled and i think, some are not. ??
Thanks

[Sara, New School Classics]

Classics are defined differently in different contexts, April, but I think most people would agree that the classics are books that have endured over a long period of time, still have a readership, and/or contain themes that remain relevant. In this group, for reading purposes, we consider any book written before 2006 to qualify--a very low bar. In truth, not even every book written in antiquity is a classic, and you can no doubt find arguments all over GR and the internet at large over what constitutes a true "classic".

For the future classics challenge, you are just being asked to choose a book written after 2005 that you think people will still be reading in 2050. It is subjective, so you cannot pick the wrong book.

[Sarah]

What is this group mainly used for?
Recommendations, reviewing requests?
I am not sure as I am a few days new to this group and haven't seen anything specific and just wanted to make sure.

[J_BlueFlower]

We read the classics and discuss them. The point is to Catch up on Classics.

Right now we are reading and discussing the four books you can see on the front page.

Ongo discussion is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

So what is a "classic"? Yes, we sometime spend time discussing that too.... In practice we simply vote on what to read next.

If you want to join quickly, try this October short story The Invisible Girl by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Discussion here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Katy, Old School Classics]

~sarah~ wrote: "What is this group mainly used for?
Recommendations, reviewing requests?
I am not sure as I am a few days new to this group and haven't seen anything specific and just wanted to make sure."

As J_BlueFlower said, this group is for reading and discussing classic books.

[Klowey]

~sarah~ wrote: "What is this group mainly used for?
Recommendations, reviewing requests?
I am not sure as I am a few days new to this group and haven't seen anything specific and just wanted to make sure."

And just to add, there seem to be three varied ways to interact with members. All are optional, you can choose what you'd like to participate in.

1. Monthly polls for pre-1905 (Old), post-1905 (New), and short stories. There's also a quarterly poll for long reads. And these books are discussed as we read them.
Current Nominations
Polls
Current Group Discussion

2. Buddy reads. Mostly books that didn't win a poll but have a small group of very interested members who want to read it. You can suggest a book or an author for those.

3. Challenges. There is a BINGO that starts new each year, and a set of challenges (around 15, sometimes more) that you can choose to try. I see these as motivational.

[Teri-K]

~sarah~ wrote: "What is this group mainly used for?
Recommendations, reviewing requests?
I am not sure as I am a few days new to this group and haven't seen anything specific and just wanted to make sure."

I'd add that some of us are pretty active commenting on each other's Buffet and Personal Challenge pages. We discuss what we've read, how we rated it, and give each other suggestions of books and authors. You may find a "group" that suits you by reading and commenting on the posts of books that interest you, if you want that type of interaction. This group can be as much or as little as you want, folks are quite friendly, I think.

[Sarah]

How do I put books into a reading challenge more efficiently?
I've been confused about this for while, but nobody I know uses Goodreads, so I can't ask anyone

[Klowey]

To fill in the BINGO and challenges I try to use books that I already own along with the books that come up over the year in this group. You can decide as you go, with all of them except Challenge #1, the purpose of which is to read books that have been sitting on your to-read list that you seem to never get to. ;-)

You can create a Personal Page, which I have found convenient to keep track better. This is mine.

When the new challenges and BINGO for 2026 are announced in December this year, you will be able to create a new page off of them.

Does that help?

[Sara, New School Classics]

In case what you are asking is how to physically put the book in the challenge, there is a button above the comment box that says "add book/author". If you click on that another box will pop up where you can enter the name of the book (or author), make a selection and add it to your challenge.

Example: Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell.

This might not be what you are asking at all, but in case it was, I wanted to answer.

[Sam]

I can't seem to find December Reading plans topic. Can someone tell me where it is?

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Sam wrote: "I can't seem to find December Reading plans topic. Can someone tell me where it is?"

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Sam]

Katy wrote: "Sam wrote: "I can't seem to find December Reading plans topic. Can someone tell me where it is?"

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks Katy!

[Terry]

Hi Katy, where do I find the thread for The Stories of John Cheever?

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Terry wrote: "Hi Katy, where do I find the thread for The Stories of John Cheever?"

In the buddy read folder:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Terry]

Thanks, Katy — found it!

[Terry]

Searching again. Where can I find the thread for Kew Gardens?

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Kew Gardens is our January 2026 short story read so the thread will not open until the 1st. Here is the link to the thread though: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Terry]

Thanks, Katy! No wonder I couldn’t find it. I guess I got ahead of the game. 😊

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Terry wrote: "Thanks, Katy! No wonder I couldn’t find it. I guess I got ahead of the game. 😊"

It's nice that you are excited for the January story!

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Please, ask a moderator before starting a new thread. We can point you to a thread that is appropriate for your post, or if we think a new thread is needed we will start one.

[Amyjzed]

Hi. I know there are many thoughtful and wide-read folks here, and I am wondering where I should post to ask for member recommendations for YA novels or books that are accessible and interesting to young adults with some meaningful themes.
Thanks!

[J_BlueFlower]

We are mostly reading older classics in this group.

Try the young adult books list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/43

Personally my favs are:
Harry Potter
The Fault in Our Stars
The Giver
To Kill a Mockingbird
Hunger Games

[Amyjzed]

Thank you! I am working on book recommendations for my school's summer reading program. Each summer we pick one book that the whole high school reads. We started in the summer of 2018, and it can definitely be challenging to find something that is accessible (has an audio version), is interesting, challenging and/or complex enough for projects and discussions, not significantly lengthy, and is somewhat different from our previous choices.

I will follow up with the list you suggested!

Cheers!

[J_BlueFlower]

In that case I would suggest looking a bit down the list to find something that most people havn't already read.

The Little Prince
Ender’s Game
Lord of the Flies (it may be a little too bleak)

There is plenty to discuss in these

[Amyjzed]

Thanks! Ender's Game seems interesting, and I was thinking that The Little Prince is a nice length.
I have mixed feelings about Lord of the Flies... I used to teach it years ago, but I don't think I would now given the choice! It feels like a thought experiment for adults. :|

[Teri-K]

Amyjzed wrote: "Thanks! Ender's Game seems interesting, and I was thinking that The Little Prince is a nice length.
I have mixed feelings about Lord of the Flies... I used to teach it years ago, but I don't think ..."

We read Lord of the Flies in High School; it's the only book I refused to finish. lol

My 16 year old grandson is reading 1984 and wants to follow it with Animal Farm, which is short but requires some background, I think. He also liked Ender's Game and Starship Troopers.

That's a big stretch of interests and ages. What other titles have they used?

[Teri-K]

I'm wondering if you've ever considered occasionally having the group reads be "never read by the group before" only choices? It just seems like the same books keep getting chosen - and I'm an avid re-reader and also realize new folks, like me, come to the group regularly. So of course, it's fine. But personally I'd like to see the group tackle a few more of the never-read choices. Maybe once a year or so each category could be only new choices? Just a thought. :)

[J_BlueFlower]

It used to be that way. Until the December 2024 only new books were allowed in new and old school. There was a Revisit the Shelf Poll for rereads.

If we should occasionally do a more narrow nomination, I vote for "translations only" (i.e. not originally written in English).

[Darren]

in terms of poll winners, the problem doesn't look to be that great
in 2025, of 28 slots (12 New School, 12 Old School, 4 Long-Read) there were only 6 re-reads chosen
i.e. "never read by the group before" happened 22 of 28 times

re-reads feature quite a lot in the nominations, but it seems that there is still an appetite for new reads

my vote for a restricted poll is "Author New To Our Shelves"

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I’m not sure I can fully answer your question or offer a perfect justification for the way we select books, but I can explain the reasoning behind our current process.
One of the biggest challenges we face is popularity. Books that are widely loved and have stood the test of time tend to be repeatedly nominated, and they often win. When we previously ran the Revisit the Shelf nominations and poll, only books already on our shelf were eligible. As a result, the same popular titles kept repeating. Jane Eyre, for example, has been selected and read five times, including two years in a row. To reduce this repetition, the moderators introduced a rule requiring that any book already on our shelf must be at least three years old before it can be nominated again.
Limiting nominations to books the group has never read before might seem like the simplest solution, and it would work well if our membership were static. But our group grows by roughly 1,000 members each year. New members deserve the chance to read a “popular” book alongside the group in real time. Yes, our discussion threads never close, but commenting on a years‑old thread is not the same experience as participating in an active group read.
As for narrowing nominations, for example, restricting them to “translations only”—that’s not a direction we want to take. Our group has always maintained very few limitations on what can be nominated. While we naturally lean toward books written in English, we’ve never excluded translated works from other languages, and it doesn’t feel right to impose restrictions now. Requiring “never read before,” “translations only,” or “English only,” even temporarily, would go against the inclusive spirit of our group.
Our process may not be perfect, but it is fair. Working within the nomination rules, anyone can nominate a book. Members who like the choice can second the book. The seven books with the most seconds move to the poll, and the winning book is added to our group shelf.
I hope this explanation clarifies things.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Darren wrote: "in terms of poll winners, the problem doesn't look to be that great
in 2025, of 28 slots (12 New School, 12 Old School, 4 Long-Read) there were only 6 re-reads chosen
i.e. "never read by the group ..."

Thanks for the research, Darren. Like Terri, my first impulse is that we read the same books repeatedly.

[Teri-K]

I did my best to make it clear it was just a suggestion, I wasn't criticizing or complaining. And I never intended to start a kerfuffle, so I'll leave it here. :)