Do any of you participate in any of the online book discussion groups. I can't seem to find any that seem like they're any good.

I'm looking for a place to share my thoughts on plots, symbolism, themes, etc. on books as I read them.

Do any of you participate in any of the online book discussion groups. I can't seem to find any that seem like they're any good.

I'm looking for a place to share my thoughts on plots, symbolism, themes, etc. on books as I read them.

If you build it, they will come, perhaps?

While I'd have to beg off from participating, do you think it would be a good idea to organise a book-discussion group right here, perhaps centralised in the "Book Recommendations" area and, with an Admin's assistance, perhaps kept as a "Sticky" there for the month of the chosen book?

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Marc

Well, I don't really post much on some of the groups I follow, that is because someone has usually been there, and said it much better then i ever could.

What I've found is that some of the older groups tend to be quirt a lot of fun, as long as you take the time and effort to find out and follow the written and unwritten rules for discussion.

And those often tend to widely differ from group to group. Best advice I've ever received and followed is to lurk around for a while, just reading the posts to get used to the ebb and flow of the conversation. The jumping in, but politly. I've had my head nearly bitten off a few times for saying something stupid.

But getting back to the original question, if you like SF

rec.arts.sf.written is one of the best discussion groups I've found. You can access it through usernet or though google groups.

For pratchett's work alt.books.pratchett and alt.fan.pratchett are great.

Best of luck finding groups you like

Thanks both of you for the comments. I don't know, the idea of a monthly book discussion has never appealed to me. Look at the nature of these boards and you'll see they span many months and even years. I would rather see a forum based on individual books. Open a thread, have an admin pose some questions, and leave it open. If someone decides to pick up say, The Chronicles of Narnia, why should they wait until it's being read and discussed in a specific month. I'd rather be able to go to a forum, find the thread(s) for the book, and then read and post my own comments.

I, too, am interested in book discussions and haven't found any. And I, too, am not interested in planning my reading "assignments" in advance, particularly based on what other people are interested in reading at the moment. So open-ended discussion threads might be cool. If you go to Amazon, there are reviews (most are not worth reading) and no real discussions. If you Google a particular title, you'll find far too many hits to buy the thing, a few reviews, and a bunch of comments randomly in blogs, etc. If someone finds one or more true discussion sites, please post links to them here.

This is certainly the correct place for such discussions. Please do feel free to start such threads!

I've found the online discussions at Barnes & Nobles' Book Clubs to be very well done. http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/