Improving the group

[Barbara]

Seraphina wrote: "I don't really mind it as long as the said book doesn't get voted as the monthly read, which it generally doesn't because it puts off alot of people when authors do that. If the book was good enoug..."

Well said. And most are self-published.

[[deleted user]]

I always figured that as long as the group selects the book it wants, it doesn't matter who nominated it.

On one occasion a self-published book about the survivors of the Titanic came second, but otherwise they tend not to do particularly well.

As long as it's selected by members who join the group for the right reasons, I'm more than happy to read anything.

[Paul]

Sounds fair

[Colleen]

The novel is called The Girl Who Came Home and back when it came in second it was available only on kindle or nook I think but it has since been published in paperback and I saw it in Barnes and Noble . I read it when it almost won and really liked .

[[deleted user]]

@Cathleen. Thanks for refreshing my memory. That's the very book, and it might have made a good read, by the sounds of it.

[[deleted user]]

@Jamielynn. You're very welcome.

[[deleted user]]

Easy mistake, Jamielynn. :)

[Susan]

I can barely keep up with the new posts let alone the old ones. That's why I am always asking questions. I am old. What can I say?

[Susan]

Too much for me, Theresa. Are you still in Russia?

[Susan]

Terrific. Please be better prepared that Allan and Declan and share pictures. Have a wonderful journey.

[[deleted user]]

Sounds pretty swish, Theresa. Enjoy!

[[deleted user]]

@Susan. Sorry. :(

[Susan]

I knew I could depend on you, Fiona. It takes a woman to get the job done.

[Allan]

I'm really not a picture taking person. In fact I have to admit to taking a grand total of zero pictures in Dublin at the weekend. :)

[Diane]

Me either Allen. About twenty five years ago I visited the UK (London, Canterbury, Bath) for two weeks and didn't take enough pictures to use up the entire roll of film.

[[deleted user]]

I never used to be one for taking photos, but the I started taking photos with group members -i.e. Susan- in mind. :)

[Cathleen]

Jamie Lynn wrote: "Allan wrote: "I'm really not a picture taking person. In fact I have to admit to taking a grand total of zero pictures in Dublin at the weekend. :)"

Me neither Allan. I understand."

This whole thread is making me laugh. I'm (fortunately or unfortunately) the photo taking person among my family. My husband and I both came from families of five, and we have 17 nieces and nephews--and I usually have a camera with me when we meet up. We don't live near other family, so maybe that's why....My sister rarely takes photos so for her last birthday, I made her a photo album of pics going back 10 years. She was so happy. That's good for me, but I have no idea how I'll top that b'day present.

[Susan]

Allan, you will have to get over your non-picture taking ways. How will I be happy with no pictures of what you're doing? Does your phone not take pictures? Thank heavens, I now have Fiona to count on.

[Barbara]

Susan - you are absolutely right - sometimes these discussions move so fast, I miss all kinds of things.
About pictures, I find that when I focus on taking pictures, I miss a lot of what is going on around me. I try to balance being in the place and the moment with taking pictures.

Theresa - being offline has it's benefits, and I think group members understand when some of us are traveling. Having said that, wifi seems to be everywhere these days, though I did get lost in Maine when my phone couldn't keep connected to Google Maps. Lesson learned - bring detailed maps. I did pick up a state map (for free!) at a Visitors' Center on the highway.

[Barbara]

I meant to add that I was also interested in the book about the Titantic. The Belfast connection and all that...

[Colleen]

Barbara wrote: "I meant to add that I was also interested in the book about the Titantic. The Belfast connection and all that..."

I read it when it almost won and really liked it.

[Barbara]

Colleen wrote: "The novel is called The Girl Who Came Home and back when it came in second it was available only on kindle or nook I think but it has since been published in paperback and I saw it ..."

Colleen - that was the book I meant when I mentioned the book about the Titantic:) Sorry I wasn't more specific.

[[deleted user]]

I think we should have a chat where all members can talk

[[deleted user]]

Never mind I found what I was lookin for

[Sara]

I notice a lot of talk on the nothing to do with books thread having to do with food, so I gave the topic its own thread.

[Barbara]

Emma wrote: "Barbara posted this comment in another thread and I thought I'd post it here for discussion:

"Many of the comments in Nothing-To-Do-With-Books - this thread are actually book related. Such as auth..."

I thought renaming some might help as some are super specific e.g. book reviews - which could be a thread related to reviews, author appearances, stuff online etc.. But I don't want to confuse things or make work.

[Paul]

Sounds like a good idea. Your not deleting anything just tidying up so don't see an issue

[Seraphina]

I can't see a problem with that. I think the main thing future members will look at is the list of books read so once that's easily accessible I think ye are spot on with the tidy up

[Seraphina]

How about calling the nothing to do with books thread, the general chit chat thread?

[Donna]

Thanks for the housekeeping, Emma. Now to remember General Chit Chat (sounds like a military officer in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)!

[Paul]

Sounds good Emma ☺

[Seraphina]

Good job Emma :)

[Barbara]

thanks Emma!

[Sara]

Thanks to my fabulous co-moderator for the housekeeping and for keeping the group on the right course while I adjust to my new crazy schedule. I will be tiding the "Stuff Worth Sharing Folder" later tonight.

[Sara]

I've made an attempt at tiding the "Stuff Worth Sharing." folder. I used pretty much the same criteria as Emma to move threads into the "Inactive Folder." I also moved some threads into the "Promotions Folder," and one or two threads into the "General Folder." Let me know if you think I moved anything in error.

[[deleted user]]

My experience of affordability and accessibility of BOTMs is that it is important because I left a book circle because of this issue. The circle was insistent on so recently published books that they were unaffordable/difficult to borrow from the library. I constantly read on a time lag four to six weeks behind everyone else when the ebook price had dropped. The group refused to delay the BOTMs for this short amount of time, so I left.

It would be a pity to lose members or to exclude members because of affordability and/or accessibility issues when a short delay might be all that is needed for new books.

[Paul]

it seems fair considering some recent nominations weren't even out yet . And obviously the more available a book the more people will read it.

[Sara]

I think it's too late for this month to make any changes, but for December we could implement a change. I would support a rule than said that a nominated book should be available in paperback in the U.S. and Ireland.

That's actually a fairly easy thing for folks to check on.

They would just need to go to:

Amazon UK (I assume that's the Amazon our Irish members would use?)

and Amazon US

If people forgot before nominating, it'd be an easy thing for Emma and I to check before putting together the poll.

[Seraphina]

I think that's fair enough. I didn't participate in the last quarterly read because i found it hard to get. That being said, there was something wrong with my server and it was available on amazon.co.Uk

[Sara]

With the last quarterly read were all the individual books available in Ireland? (The Commitments etc.?] as individual volumes rather than in the omnibus edition? I would have assumed that all of Doyle's books were available in most Irish library systems. It also paid the Kennys test as our Irish members could have ordered the omnibus edition from there. I know a lot of folks are unaware of Kennys, so perhaps when reads are available there and not other places Emma and I can let folks know.

[Seraphina]

Ya I think that was the problem with ordering it online. It is something I will do from now on when nominating but I must admit I haven't considered it before now

[[deleted user]]

It's also easy to buy an ebook on a short lived offer and then forget that it's not yet out in paperback, which is what has happened to Barbara and myself with All the Light We Cannot See

[Sara]

That's right Emma. Sorry about that :o). Looking up At Swim, Two Boys was also available to ship from Kennys I think with the QIR there's a bit more leeway for folks to buy from Kennys or otherwise get the book, since there's more time to read it.

[Paul]

Emma , If theres difficulty getting stuff shipped to Ireland or theres a huge difference in shipping use Parcel Motel. I've used it to get collectible books from a lot of dealers and it saves a fortune

[Paul]

I got book covers sent there this week and it saved me about 8 euro. For those who don't know Parcel Motel lets you send a package to Belfast and theu bring it to a collection point in Ireland so you can save a lot on shipping or get UK only items. It costs 3.50 per package so if the difference between UK and Irish shipping is more than that ( and on Amazon 3rd party sellers generally are higher) Its well worth it

[Paul]

The issue will be people get more excited about recent releases but most don't want to spend too much on group reads. I think the Martian is the only group read since I joined not in paperback yet. So its not a regular issue but it is a goid idea to ask people to be aware.

[[deleted user]]

One of my other groups is having to reschedule a BOTM because of different publication dates on each side of the pond.

[Kevin]

I think just asking people to be wary would be enough. A hard rule might look discouraging.

[Seraphina]

I guess once it's accessible both sides of the water...that's a must. It could be on hardback yet still pretty reasonable like the Martian was

[Cathleen]

Emma wrote: "A discussion started in the monthly poll about the availability of books and given its probably a valuable discussion to have I'm suggesting we continue it here.

What are people's thoughts? Shoul..."


Emma, I've read your initial post and the responses following. I think it would be a good guideline/"soft rule" for monthly reads, and I agree with your comment about the quarterly Irish read. I've learned about a number of outstanding Irish writers here who are not well known in the US, so if we had a rule that the book needed to be in paperback, it would eliminate a number of authors.

Maybe the nominator could include the info with the nomination. That would save you and Sara the task of looking up the titles on Amazon.