Book Club Suggestions

[Alycia]

Since there are quite a few members that want to participate in a book club, I need some suggestions.

1. Do we want to read a book monthly or every two months?
2. When to start... beginning of the month, middle of the month?
3. Book suggestions, please feel free to list a few. I can do a poll so we can select our book that way once we decide on the schedule.

[Moni]

I'm in! One a month is good for me. But every two is good also. I have two kids I know others out there may have more. Between soccer games and school functions.. well book reading can get lost. So whatever works for everyone else. I am excited! I was going to buy the North & South novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. I watched the movie. Very much like a Pride and Prejudice.. that's the only suggestion I can give..lol But I am up for anything really.

[Megan]

Amongst a whole lot of other categories, I think The Bronze Horseman caters for two separate genres - Romance and Historical Fiction. Some fall in love with the romantic aspect and others the historical fiction... Personally whilst I love a good ol' romance, I tend to prefer historical fiction stories. I guess what we need to establish is whether people want to read more romance-based stories or more historical fiction stories, and then that can be split into different eras (I prefer modern history and war fiction). I just finished The Book Thief - great book and I would suggest books like that but I may be the minority, people may wish to read more romance books as part of a book club... Thoughts?

[Megan]

Also, perhaps instead of writing the books of recommendations, maybe people can tag them on the bookshelf? Just easier to refer back to rather than scrolling through pages of posts...

[Jessica]

I'm in as well! And Mumbo, I LOVE the Book Thief - it is a really great book!! One a month would suit me fine, however I'd be happy with every 2 months if that's preferable to others. I say start at the beginning of the month - though then that would mean waiting until October, so perhaps mid-Sept!

[Jessica]

Some books ideas: Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell), The Girl in Times Square (Paullina Simons), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Steig Larsson), The Book Thief (Markus Zusak), Time travellers Wife, Tully (Paullina Simons), Lord John series (Diana Gabaldon), Helen of Troy (Margaret George). I havent heard of North & South (Elizabeth Gaskell) however if it's like Pride & Prejudice I'm sure Ill like it!

[Alycia]

I'd read North and South. I like both historical fiction and historical romance so either is fine with me. If you label the books in the book shelf, then I'll know what it is meant for.

[Jessica]

What do you mean label them in the bookshelf? Was that for me? Sorry!

[Alycia]

It was in general. Maybe I'd the are labeled to read, I'll be able to tell what are book club suggestions. Sorry if it didn't make sense my husband was talking to me as I was typing. I am not surprised I didn't make sense

[Chrissy12]

I will love to join :)

I love your suggestions Jessica, a good range!

Monthly should be good, but it depends on the size of the book, could finish it in a week or could take two months

[Moni]

OOOO.. Chrissy makes a good point. Depending on the size of the book would be a good factor...

[Alycia]

I am fine with that. I just wanted to make it easy on everyone.

[Tish]

ooh Im in! Those suggestions were all great Jessica. I absolutely loved The Book Thief! I'm quite happy to read a combination of romance and/or historical fiction.

[Alycia]

I like all of Jessica's ideas as well. There are several there that I have wanted to read.

[Leea]

I'm in... Just let me know what your reading. I always love the books you ladies suggest!

[Moni]

So have we taken the poll on what book to get? I am ready to get started when you guys are.

[Alycia]

No poll yet, sorry. It's been kinda busy for me lately. If everyone is done with suggestions, I will put together a poll once I figure out how to do it :)

[Alycia]

*** I selected a handful of books mentioned and created a poll so we can select our Sept group read. I sent it to the entire group. Results will show, just not individual member's choices.

[Moni]

Ok so I haven't received anything. What is invalid member? Bare with me I am new at this..lol

[Alycia]

Moni wrote: "Ok so I haven't received anything. What is invalid member? Bare with me I am new at this..lol"

I haven't received it yet either. If it doesn't show up soon I will pm the group and have them go to the poll itself. invalid member? I am not sure what you mean.

[Moni]

lol..never mind I read it wrong..lol. individual .. not invalid..a quick glance over and worry over not receiving the email..lol I must pay more attention...

[Alycia]

That's ok :)

[Alycia]

The poll for selecting september's group read will be open through next sunday. I wanted to give everyone a week to respond.

[Hannah]

Im new to goodreads but popped over from Paullina's forum to get get involved in the book club thanks to Mumbo :) I'll take a look at the poll now.
Great idea guys, cant wait! :)

[Megan]

You're welcome! I'm sure there's a few regulars from the Paullina Simons website on this group...

[Moni]

Welcome Hannah!!

[Alycia]

Hannah wrote: "Im new to goodreads but popped over from Paullina's forum to get get involved in the book club thanks to Mumbo :) I'll take a look at the poll now.
Great idea guys, cant wait! :)"

Hi Hannah! Glad you joined :)

[Megan]

Hi there, I've just looked at the poll results and it says the winner's North & South. I've managed to order this from another district's library but it's brand spankin' new and is still waiting to be catalogued. Hopefully they'll get a wriggle on... I have no idea how long this book is. Anyone with a copy know how many pages it has? Did we decide how long we'd give ourselves to read it? Also (sorry for sounding like an ignoramus but I've never participated in a book club before) but will we have a discussion area for this book? Do we wait until we've all read it or can we post as we go?

I'm looking forward to sharing thoughts on our first book club book! :D

[Jessica]

I don't know how this works either... Should we start a new group (no idea how to do this or if it's possible)? That way we can have new threads for each book we read each month (ish). Plus others could join that may not be part of this TBH group. I would assume we can discuss/comment as we're reading, though I guess you would need to give spoiler alerts for those who aren't as far along? I've ordered my copy of North & South from the book depository, it should arrive in the next week or two.

[Moni]

I also have never been in a book club before but would assume we may have to have more than a month to read this book if many are having to wait for it to arrive. Just a thought. Also would we start a feed under the title of the book or make a new group possibly? I agree posting as we go would be good but to, spoilers are a huge part of that. My copy is 425 pages. I think most of us are just starting out with the whole club thing. I say we wing it...lol

[Hannah]

Im new to the whole book club thing myself.. but maybe if we are starting a thread to discuss it as we go along, we should quote the page number at the top of our post? That way you'll know straight away if you've read that part or not?
I know there may be slight differences between copies so page number may not be 100% accurate but it will give you a good indication anyway.
Just a suggestion :)

[Alycia]

Hi Ladies,
I don't have a copy yet, I wanted to give everyone a few days to track down a copy of the book so, I was thinking Having the group read from Monday, Sept 20- Wed, Oct 20th. That's a month. I will start a separate thread for discussion, everyone can chat now if they like, if you have already started the book, go ahead and chat as well. Most editions I looked at on GR are around 500 pages. I will provide a link to the thread after it is created.

[Alycia]

Here's the link for chatting about N & S
www.goodreads.com/topic/show/403599-s...