Goodreads Ireland discussion
Improving the group
Susan wrote: "The discussion of the selection of books has been interesting. When a problem has arisen in the past, we've just discussed the problem and then made the decision. It seems to have worked well.Of ..."
Cathleen - I like the "soft" rule idea.
Susan - now you have piqued my interest and I will also look at the polls. But Emma says she recognized people.
That sounds like a good idea Emma and fair really
I have a question ,I have the intention of reading the novel I voted if it wins or sometimes reading the one that won but I don't get around to it so should I not vote ?I'm not sure what rule of thumb to use as whether I am being an active member.
The Book of Lost Things came in second last month so I think people want to read it.
The Handmaid's Tale andAll the Light We Cannot Seeare both amazing novels
Mod
"We ask that people only vote if they intend on participating in the group read [If the book they voted for wins]. This is to ensure the book selected reflects the choices of those participating" in our message saying the polls are open. It's not a rule. We aren't preventing people from voting, we are just asking that they think twice before voting.
I actually have no problem if people don't read the group read because they voted for a different choice. Perhaps the won that did win is not to their liking.
@Collen I think you're fine.
Colleen wrote: "I have a question ,I have the intention of reading the novel I voted if it wins or sometimes reading the one that won but I don't get around to it so should I not vote ?I'm not sure what rule of..."
Colleen - there are different reading tastes in the group which is the nature of the reading world. I am not a fan of dystopian fiction, and though I've read some, such as The Handmaiden's Tale, I have so many books calling out to be read, I won't be rereading it. Plus I read for my job (and should read more in that area) as I am a university professor. As Emma said, you are here, you are visible, and the people we are talking about we never ever hear from. In other forums, I don't vote in the monthly polls because I only lurk in those forums, but don't really participate.
Unfortunately, I think the email goes out to ALL members of GRI from the moderators, notifying everyone of the polls that are open for voting. And for some reason, many people who never participate in the forum want to vote for a book or film that we will never know if they read or watched. It's aggravating but I don't think there is anything the moderators can do about it aside from the wording they have already decided to add.
I think Ive only watched one sinced I joined. It does fall behind the book side of things
I haven't really gotten into it either. I'm always far more interested in the book nominations.
Since I've joined it seems that the book side is much more utilized by the group.
Ya it seems to be running out of steam alright
I'm guilty as well as I nominated it. Maybe the tv and films thread accommodates this area enough without there being a set film to watch, although I'm sure the more veteran members will know better than me. Has the quarterly film been popular before?
I think it was a wonderful idea to try out, and I think it was started to see how it would go. It went well for awhile, but it does seem to have lost its steam. I'm always interested in what's chosen, but I don't often get a chance to watch them.
Mod
I, too, try to watch them. The problem is some of the movies are hard to get here.
Having caught up on the nominations threads there, I noticed that Kevin asked about having a second Irish read now that the movie thread has been parked. What would people think about the idea of having a Quarterly Northern Irish read? It may be a pretty niche concept, but I know that there is a bit of interest in the group for NI based books, and also a desire amongst some to read more coming from here. A specific read might allow more scope for this, and would obviously be like the other reads, in the fact that people can opt in or out of each title.
Any thoughts?
Personally I'd say an Irish read is an Irish read and wouldn't seperate Nortern Ireland out. I'd think a better Idea would possinly be a classic Irish read and a modern Irish read quaterly to get a good range of books. Northern Irish books will get voted in often enough anyway.Just a thought
Although looking at the interest in the NI thread maybe there is a demand there
I was probably thinking out loud Emma. I suppose a time scale would be easiest like pre 1960's but your idea sounds easier and more sensible.
If we decide to go with two Quarterly Irish reads why not keep it simple. Have the criteria the same, e.g. Irish author or Irish interest and let everyone nominate and vote as normal then have the winner and second place books as the two quarterly reads.
I really like the idea of two quarterly Irish books. There are so many, many fantastic Irish writers that aren't as widely known in the US (like Jennifer Johnston, inexplicably), and GRI members often mention new (to me) authors/books that I'd be really interested in reading and discussing. And it could be like the other reads--people could opt in or out, as they wished.
I agree Emma. My idea wasnt fully thought through ☺
Trelawn's right. The simpliest option is to take the top two scores in the quarterly poll as the two reads.
Kevin wrote: "Trelawn's right. The simpliest option is to take the top two scores in the quarterly poll as the two reads."I think I like Kevin's option despite the fact I am probably second only to Allan in the number of Northern Ireland reads. As I noted before The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a classic, an Irish read, a fantasy read and a Northern Ireland read. I love it when books fit multiple categories.
In my local contemporary Irish book group, I got 3 NI novels on our list last year. This came in handy when an author, Jan Carson, asked if we read NI fiction and when the Northern Irish Bureau in DC asked our director about Northern Irish cultural events hosted. Both were pleased and surprised that the organization supports NI culture, writers, artists etc. as much as we do.
It's come up in group conversations numerous times whether or not authors can self promote their books in the group.I have no problem with promotion of books as long as it's in the promotions section and not in our monthly nominations. The two girls also have enough to do besides filtering authors self published books that are only available in e-book format.
Do people agree or disagree to putting a rule in place that authors cannot nominate their own books?
While they never get selected it annoys the hell out of me . Its pretty rude to be honest . Most don't even bother with an introduction. In real life you'd chase them out of the building
Yep, and whilst I know that everyone needs a starting point I think that's what the promotions thread is there for.
Pretty much. If they want reviewers just ask. But trying to get it in as book of the month seems sly to me. On the other hand if any of our regulars were to write a book I'd buy it and read it no problem monthly read or not ( Get writing Susan )
I agree with you both, Seraphina and Paul. If an author nominates their own book I'd like to see the comment removed from the nomination thread and re-posted in the promotions thread after all it's what it is there for.
I think Theresa's idea is a good one. It annoys the bejesus out of me to see a post from someone promoting their book when they never post another thing in this group. I think it's beyond rude. However, if it's in the promotions thread, at least it's in the right place.
Paul wrote: "Sounds sensible"Good idea. Until Susan writes her memoir...then let's put that under nominations like Paul said. I'll be especially interested in the chapter where she owned the bikers' bar :)
We'll have Susans book as a monthly read for at least hakf a year
Susan's memoirs deserve a sticky thread of their own :)
It is a shame that there isn't any way for us to flag the undesirable comments so we can help Sara and Emma out in any way, rather than they having to discover and deal with the comments all on their lonesome. Susan owned a bikers' bar? What?
And crashed her mobility scooter speeding Kevin!
And has been known to partake in naked rain dances
And visited the Oval Office in the White House...
And those are only the escapades that we know about.....
Having visited the Oval Office I can imagine she has many secrets that would be treason to divulge.Speeding on a mobility scooter is an achievement in itself!
She also counted to infinity ..... Twice
Paul, so long as Susan doesn't divide anything by zero we'll be alright.
Other groups have an outright ban on authors nominating their own publications. The Goodreads site understands readers' misgivings about overly pushy authors and has this suggestions page for their delectation:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/guid...
https://www.goodreads.com/author/guid...
Mod
I (wearing my private member hat here) would be in favor of a rule for future months that says that authors are not allowed to nominate their own books. I would also be in favor of adding a statement to the group information page that went something like:
"We are happy for authors to come participate in the group and even promote their own books. All promotions of books, however, belong in the promotions thread [insert link] or as a comment in an appropriate thread. An example of appropriate promotion outside the promotions thread would be that an author could comment in our Irish history thread with the name of their book about Irish history.
AUTHORS ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT PERMITTED TO NOMINATE THEIR OWN BOOKS FOR EITHER OUR QUARTERLY IRISH READ OR MONTHLY GROUP READS. Authors who break this rule once will receive a warning and have their comment deleted. Authors who break this rule more than once are subject to being banned from the group at the discretion of the moderators."
Thoughts?
I am a little late to the discussion but I would fully agree with banning author's from nomimating their own work in the monthly or quarterly nominations mainly because this tends to be their sole participation in the group. They can post in the promotions thread if they wish. Besides clogging up the other threads it is just rude to pop up, nominate your book and then disappear on what is predominately a readers forum.
There is a way to add a little speech bubble to the comment box that appears while you're writing the comment that can state the group rules. At least then you can keep it short and sweet plus there is really no way of avoiding the notice.
I'm more than happy with that change Sara.
Goodreads Ireland
Books mentioned in this topic
The World's Wife (other topics)Sidereal (other topics)
A Taste for Hemlock (other topics)
The Color of Magic (other topics)
The Wee Free Men (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rachael Boast (other topics)Michele Vassal (other topics)
Terry Pratchett (other topics)
Jo Walton (other topics)
Sebastian Barry (other topics)
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Of a bigger concern to me is the voting by people I have never heard of before the voting. One of the leading books in our voting has six votes by people I've never heard of before this. It is influencing the outcome. Although we have discussed this, these people are just drop by voters so never have participated in the discussion. They only stop by and vote and that's all we hear from them. Why? It's so frustrating.
Urg. I just checked the other poll. Again the contest is being decided by people who don't participate. This is so frustrating. We are not really going to read what the active participants want to read. I find this a real problem.