MobileRead Discussion/Suggestion thread

[WT Sharpe]

This new sticky is a place to discuss suggestions for the MobileRead Book Club. Let the games begin.

[Asawi]

What a good idea to start this topic!
I hope this means that discussions about procedures, categories and such will be kept here and that the nomination and voting threads can be held clean of those and instead be about the books.
I haven't been able to be very active in the book of the month discussions for various reasons, but the "pre-read" discussions in the nomination and voting topics has given me a lot (for example a long TBR list...) and it has been so sad to see those threads ruined by other discussions.

[sakura-panda]

From someone who reads the poll threads but not the nomination ones, I'd love a reminder in the poll post what the theme is. Or is that a conscious choice so that the votes aren't influenced?

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'd like to see multiple-choice voting. As Nyssa has said previously, sometimes there's more than one book we may be willing to read. Allowing us to vote for say three options would let us show which books we're willing to get involved with rather than having to pick the one.

I'd like hidden, but multiple-choice voting. This is a book club and should be about choosing the book that the most people are interested in reading and disussing. Last month there were three books I would have been interested in reading and discussing.

[Elfwreck]

Current Lineup (for reference):
Jan RunnerUp
Feb Romance
Mar Thriller/Suspense
Apr Humour
May Fantasy
Jun Classic
Jul Mystery/Crime
Aug FreeForAll
Sep NonFiction
Oct Horror
Nov Science Fiction
Dec Classic

(I'd put asterisks on the ones that get open voting, but I haven't sorted out which those are, and that seems to be a matter of debate in itself.)

[HomeInMyShoes]

Someone's got to touch it, so I'll do it.

I would like the second Classics month to start pushing up the daisies. 18 of 39 winners have been published prior to 1941 which corresponds to some 70-year number I read some where as a cutoff for Classic. We don't need a Classics category to ensure we pay hommage to the dead.

I've got two options for the second Classics month: Youth or Prize Winner. As I wrote in another thread, we have younger readers on MobileRead so let's get them involved in the book club. Throw in the fact that there have been some pretty highly rated Youth books over the years and I don't think we'd lose out on quality of selections. Prize Winners would be as Elfwreck corrected me any prize winner, whether that was Giller or Pulitzer or Basketweaver's of America Book of the Year.

[Nyssa]

I really like the "Young Adult" suggestion.

I would also like to point out that classics have always been nominated and accepted in every genre for every month in this club. Not to mention that we also now have a seperate book club devoted entirely to Classics.
So it is perfectly reasonable to now have one of the "classic" months changed to something else.

[Asawi]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I would also like to point out that classics have always been nominated and accepted in every genre for every month in this club.

So true!

[Elfwreck]

Carried over from other thread:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1#post1855291]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

[/url] I cannot speak as to the 2nd point, but as for the 1st, "WTF?!" seems like a nicely self-evident category name which would need no further explanation. We could slot it in April as an optional book club Alternate Selection* for "Humour".

I like the idea of the alternate for April being WTF?! Fits well with the month; "you thought you'd get a good book to read, but no! We have this instead!"

Where "this" can be some bizarre bit of medical propaganda from history, or some horrifically un-edited self-published bit of egotistical tripe (grab it quick before the author pulls it when they google their name & find the discussion), or a surrealist treatise, or any other text that hurts the brain to read.

I suppose that includes Finnegans Wake.

[issybird]

We're discussing changing two classics months for 2013, correct?

[Hamlet53]

Great a separate “sandbox” for all of this. I would like to start by proposing one rule. While debates can begin, well right now, I suggest any actual decisions, whether through a quantitative poll or qualitative through the number, persistence and stridency of posts, all be made at the end of the year [2012] rather then at random times during the year. This so that anyone who is interested in the issue and wants their voice heard will know when to pay attention. Setting it at the end of year will also leave less time for the minority that disagree to continue to argue and try and reopen a settled matter.

[Hamlet53]

Originally Posted by issybird

We're discussing changing two classics months for 2013, correct?

Yes everything here is about 2013. Yes WT Sharpe?

[Elfwreck]

Currently, yes, mainly. With a side option of discussing any other potential changes to the book club system--genres, voting methods, definitions of the categories, time for voting, or whatever else might be relevant.

I think a lot of us would like to switch the second classics month to something else.

[Fbone]

Why are there so few posts in the Monthly Book Club winner's discussion threads?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

We're discussing changing two classics months for 2013, correct?

I was just suggesting getting rid of one of them. I think a Classics category is a good one to have, just not a duplicate one. I suggested two alternatives for the second one: Youth or Prize Winner. I do like the WTF category, but think it might not be well participated in.