Reader's Ink discussion
Housekeeping
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Page Length Limit?
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FORGET THE PAGE LIMIT IDEA. EVEN THOUGH I HATE SKIPPY, (I JUST CAN'T GET INTERESTED IN IT), MAKING A PAGE LIMIT IS A BAD IDEA FOR ALL THE REASONS LISTED ABOVE. AND FOR THE RECORD, I NEVER WOULD HAVE READ SKIPPY EITHER...
I also think we don't need to have a page limit. (Side story: my husband is currently reading the Chinese epic 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' which is 2,000+ pages. He was joking that I should select it for my month for the club! Ha ha.)
My vote is against a page limit also. I'd rather individually choose to skip a book because I don't have time or I'm not interested and it's too long to battle my way through. I wouldn't want anyone choosing the book to feel limited and have us miss out on what might be a great read.
I don't mind admitting I'm the one who emailed Ashley. As a sidenote, this has nothing to do with Skippy (which, so far, I'm enjoying) and everything to do with wanting this group to continue for a good, long time with lots of active participants.In my real life, I'm part of a Shakespeare / Elizabethan play group. When I go, it's always educational and entertaining. However, over the past year or so, it's become more and more time consuming to prepare for every month's meeting. I increasingly don't go because it's stopped being nerdy fun and turned into a chore. That's not to say I don't enjoy what we read or that I don't enjoy the discussions when I do go - I do, but the group's gone from a loud, eclectic assortment of people to a few diehards with one or two "lazy" members who show up occasionally (I fully admit to being in the latter group).
I don't want that to happen with this club. It's more fun when there are more voices in a discussion, and when people stay involved every month. I floated the page limit idea as a way to make it easier to stay involved month in and month out and to prevent this group from becoming a chore. Yes, there are some fantastic books that are on the longer side, but I'd rather avoid those and have everyone involved in a discussion than only have three or four people discuss an 800-page monster.
So that's where I'm coming from. I'm fine with whatever the group decides, but I wanted to float the idea.
Mod
What a terrific idea on your survey. After reading yours, perhaps my ideas would change. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, you guys seen the movie yet? We went night before last, and they did a great job, again you have to keep the book and movie separate but they did a terrific job of both. I've read all the books at least 4-5 times each, and have seen the movies at least 1-2 times each. Good stuff.
I also love Flavia de luce. She is so cute and clever, and as you stated at the top, I now have new books to put on my reading list. And I literally do have a reading list that I take with me to the library. I think I'm 8 out of 15 holds on "A Dog's Purpose", so should be close.
Mod
Hey, the idea needed to get floated! So, thanks for floating it.
Ashley- it's so funny that you mentioned 352 because the book I just started reading (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) is exactly 352 pages. I am going to have extra awareness of this from now on :)
A page limit rule might be too constricting this early in the game. If I need to opt out one month, I'll opt out if the book is too long and/or tedious to get through or if I just don't have the time. On the flip side, is there a page MINIMUM?
I vote no on a minimum - two of the most fascinating and discussion-worthy books I've read this year clocked in at around 100 pages.
1. People are more likely to read and finish shorter books.
2. If you hate a book, it's easier to only have to read 350 pages as
compared to 700.
3. I also wonder if shorter books will make it more likely people will
remain active in the club.
4. I think it's more fair to everyone - we don't have to worry about
two long books in a row or being exhausted from discussing War and
Peace only to not really be up for discussing the next selection.
I’m putting this up for a vote. Here are reasons against a page limit. You know, to be fair:
1. I would never have read Skippy Dies with a page limit! And I love Skippy.
2. Too many rules on book choice could be restricting, and some folks might be a smidge nervous about making the selection as it is.
3. Many swell books would be out of the running at 350 pages ( in fact 352 pages is a super common book length, as it allows for 88 page signatures for when the printer cuts the book into pages—not that we can’t bump up to 400 or some such).
4. Members CAN opt out of a particular month or book. No one will kick you OUT if you don’t finish or choose not to read a particular book.
Honestly, I can see the positives and negatives of a page limit, so it makes no difference to me. Ready, set, VOTE!