Improving the group

[Paul]

Terry Pratchett , Thomas . Sadly died recently but sold about 100m books in his Discworld series

[Trelawn]

OK Emma, sounds good.

[Colleen]

I recently was at the second hand book store and a lot of Pratchett's novels were there for a dollar each, in perfect condition so I bought the ones I didn't have but next month's wasn't among them.I will list the ones I got in the other thread tomorrow.

[Paul]

And again congrats and thank you to Emma for managing to take an info overload and make sense of it all :-)

[Trelawn]

Yeah that's grand, thanks Emma

[Thomas, Moderator]

I have heard of Terry Pratchett. I haven't read any of his books.

[Thomas, Moderator]

My first thought about "Sir Terry"--stand up comic? Last name makes all the difference to someone this side of the pond.

[Paul]

In the run up to his death he got a lot of media coverage between his battle with alzheimers ( through which he still managed more than a book a year) and his right to die campaigning that most people this side of the pond know what you mean minus the second name. Understandably not the same stateside

[Susan]

I just want to say that I was not attacking a particular genre. I have enjoyed some of the selections like We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I am just saying it would be great to have more diversity. It is nothing personal. Yes I liked Harry Potter but that doesn't mean I'd nominate it. I should have the same rights to give my opinion without angering you.

[Paul]

Not angry just exasperated that the same point is made by the same people everytime there is a look at monthly reads. We actually do very few fantasy reads.
Fantasy is part of the literary spectrum and is a huge part of mainstream reading.
Excluding it seems self defeating for a diverse group.
It seems odd calling for diversity and exclusion in the same breath.

[Trelawn]

I don't remember you nominating much at all in the last year Susan, correct me if I am wrong. I think it's easy to get frustrated if books we are not particularly interested I'm seem to get voted in but the best way to remedy that is for us all to get nominating books we think will appeal to the group as a whole. We're a pretty adventurous bunch and will read an eclectic range of books. Everyone's tastes can be catered for.

[Thomas, Moderator]

Paul, thanks for the info.

[Margo]

Thomas wrote: "My first thought about "Sir Terry"--stand up comic? Last name makes all the difference to someone this side of the pond."

Sorry Thomas. My comments make perfect sense in my head, but can come out a bit jumbled at times ;-)

[Paul]

No worries Thomas. He's an interesting author and person. A lot of his later fantasy stuff is actually more akin to historical fiction and parody than fantasy and works well for a wide audience

[Thomas, Moderator]

Margo, no problem.
Paul, I occasionally read fantasy and historical fiction. I took a look at Wee Free Men thread, but have other books planned.

[Paul]

No worries Thomas. Definitely worth a look at one of his books at some point ☺

[SherryRose]

Sounds good Emma. :-)

[Trelawn]

Sounds like a plan

[Sara]

I just wanted to say a big public thank you to my co-moderator. A flurry of comments popped up on this thread while I was at work (where I get horribly spotty internet reception since I'm inside a warehouse). I agree with the plan to try the new nominations procedure and also Emma's reminder to everyone to be nice and respect the differences of your fellow members in the taste of books. Not everyone will read everything every month (except for Emma and I), and that's ok. The goal/advantage of the new nomination procedures from my Point of View is to increase the quantity and quality of the discussions surrounding the BOTMs and QIRs.

[Sara]

In regards to nominating books in series, I think it's ok every once in a while and highly depends on the series in question. Jo Walton wrote a great essay about series types.

Both recent series books that have won (The Wee Free Men (nominated by Paul I believe) and Rain Dogs (nominated by Susan I believe) are part of series where the individual books in the series can stand alone. Reading the rest of the books in the series of course provides additional context and can add to the reading experience. Other series books would work less well (for example, the middle volume of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) not read sequentially. Some people will however, never read a series out of order, no matter what. That's also ok, and it's why I think books in a series should only be our BOTM occasionally (as a loose guideline).

[Susan]

Paul wrote: "Not angry just exasperated that the same point is made by the same people everytime there is a look at monthly reads. We actually do very few fantasy reads.
Fantasy is part of the literary spectru..."

Never once called for exclusion, Paul, just diversity.

[Paul]

I had a response written Susan but reread and it sounded a bit too passive aggresive and I really don't want to get into an argument.
I had just assumed you were calling for a limiting or excluding of Scifi fantasy based on your first post.
And yes you are entitled to your opinion .
I think the group has definitely evolved heavily in the last number of years with Allan and Declan bringing a certain flavor to the BoTM which worked great for some and I fully understand that the choices have changed with two big voices like theirs gone.

[SherryRose]

Variety will be interesting.

[Susan]

Emma, once again I did not get any notice of the nomination and book voting this month. Am I off the list somehow?

[Paul]

Might be worth checking your notification settings as I get a notification in goodreads for any new posts are threads

[Paul]

I think Barbera had an issue as well before

[Seraphina]

I even get sent an email when get a private message. Do you get them Susan?

[Seraphina]

Have a read of this link Susan
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[SherryRose]

Hi Susan, I bet it's in the settings somewhere. If you contact goodreads they will help you. I've contacted them in the past and they're pretty good with giving answers to questions.

[Margo]

Hope you het it sorted out Susan :-)

I won't be doing anymore nominating anyway. I can blame to dyslexia or the brain injury, whatever, but I always seem to get it wrong. I'll watch from the sidelines in future.

[Paul]

I think we've all got it wrong at some point Margo so no worries

[Margo]

Thanks paul ;-)

[Seraphina]

Why margo? Nominate away

[Colleen]

I don't know if I'll nominate anymore either. I'll be worried I won't come up with questions in a timely manner because I never nominate a book I have read before. I will second a nomination if it's something I want to read.

[Paul]

With a lot of books its a quick google search for book club questions if that helps . I'm sure Emma or Sara will do.ot a lot of the time, I did it this month because I know Pratchett back to front .

[Margo]

I thought we could only nominate books that we had read?

[Trelawn]

No. You can nominate either books you have read or want to read Margo

[SherryRose]

I don't think it makes a difference if you read the book does it? I would think it would work either way.

[Susan]

Emma, I did not get a pm from you. Maybe there is something off between you and me. I will go back and read Seraphina's link and see if something I've done.

[Seraphina]

For anyone worrying about leading discussion of nominated books, a quick online search came up with these generic questions which you could pick a few from
http://www.litlovers.com/run-a-book-c...
I think reading the book and just giving your opinion on it is enough to generate discussion so hope it's not putting out regular members off nominating

[Margo]

Not worried about dissusion questions, there are tons on the internet, my concerns are more about nominating the wrong thing. I'll stay out of the nomination/voting process and if anything I'm interested in wins I'll join the reads :-)

[SherryRose]

Margo, I think if the group votes for a book and the majority doesn't like it, that's ok. We've still read a book we might not have picked out and we er explored something new. That's my opinion anyway. :-) Heck it might even be part of the fun. Everybody saying why they don't like it might be just as fun as saying why they do!

[Margo]

You're right there Sherry - some of my the best bookclub meetings I've been at are when everyone hated the book ;-)

[SherryRose]

Margo wrote: "You're right there Sherry - some of my the best bookclub meetings I've been at are when everyone hated the book ;-)"

LOL Margo! Any discussion can be a great discussion!

I agree Emma.

[Margo]

Sorry guys, just ignore me. I'm feeling very negative today!

[Paul]

Well tomorrow is a new week :-)

[Margo]

Ya but I've been stuck lying flat with backache for last for the 4. Don't think tomorrow will be much different. I'm getting a little (lot!) grumpy :-(

[Paul]

Fingers crossed its not long

[Trelawn]

You poor thing Margo. Being laid up is no fun. Yes you get to read and catch up on movies but that gets old quick when you can't get up and about. Feel free to rant or whatever.

[Paul]

Margo. What you need is a Play Station and Call of Duty. Problem solved ;-)