Lit and MR Book Clubs - the way forward

[issybird]

That's enough, people. Opinions have been expressed; repeating them doesn't further the conversation and no minds are being changed. This is another topic that needs to be dropped as of now. Anyone with further questions can PM me.

[Bookpossum]

Basic Rules for the New Club
I thought it might be helpful to reread this thread and try to summarise the sorts of things people agree should be the way we run it.

1. Courtesy: no denigration of a book nominated and no wrangling over whether it is appropriate or not. Please keep all discussions polite, even if you disagree with an opinion.

2. If you vote, you are expected to participate in the reading and discussion of the chosen book.

3. Don't nominate a book which is less than a year old, for reasons of both price and library availability.

4. A price limit to be set at, say, $US10 in the US systems.

5. Nomination and voting systems to be as they are in the MR Club.


I think that covers the main items, though various figures have been tossed around in terms of price limit. As most members are likely to be from the US and Canada, it seems to make sense to use US prices as the base.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Basic Rules for the New Club
I thought it might be helpful to reread this thread and try to summarise the sorts of things people agree should be the way we run it.
...
5. Nomination and voting systems to be as they are in the MR Club.
...

Does #5 cover the "no repeats" and the 6 month rule from the current MR Book Club? If it doesn't, I think it should at least cover the 6 month rule. I suspect the no repeats one isn't as important - I don't think many people will want to repeat things we have already done anyway.

For anyone unfamiliar with these rules:
No repeats: Books that either of the book clubs have selected in the past are not eligible.
6 month rule: Books cannot be nominated again for 6 months after being fully nominated.

[Bookpossum]

Yes, I think they are both good rules, although I suppose the one about repeats of books which were read a great many years ago (say more than five years ago) could be worth reconsidering. The change in the membership over the years of the two Clubs would mean that only a very small number of members might have been involved in that first reading.

However, there are so many good books out there, we can probably avoid repeats of books read previously.

[CRussel]

I would like to see no repeats within 5 years from either previous club. But I don't want a 'never repeat' from more than 5 years ago. I have no idea what was read then (though I could/should go check Dazrin's thread), but I suspect that there are some books in there that I would really like to read as part of a new, more collegial, club.

I agree on the 6 month rule.

I also believe we appear to have settled on themes rather than the narrower genres of most of the months of the MR Club. (I would argue that Award Winner is a theme, and one I'd like to see us repeat with the New Club. )

[Bookpossum]

Yes, I didn’t list the use of Themes as a rule, but I think it should work well. And Award Winners is, I agree, definitely broad enough to count as a Theme.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

[1. Courtesy: no denigration of a book nominated and no wrangling over whether it is appropriate or not. Please keep all discussions polite, even if you disagree with an opinion.

Sorry, we cannot allow books to be nominated that are not appropriate for that month. It's not wrangling to point this out so it can be removed from the nominations. It's correct form.

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

2. If you vote, you are expected to participate in the reading and discussion of the chosen book.

Only if the book that wins is one you voted for are you expected to read and participate. Sometimes there are books I won't read and I don't vote for them. If one of them wins, I don't read. But sometimes I will read what won even though I didn't vote for it. So rule 2 only works for books you voted for.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sorry, we cannot allow books to be nominated that are not appropriate for that month. It's not wrangling to point this out so it can be removed from the nominations. It's correct form.

Only if the book that wins is one you voted for are you expected to read and participate. Sometimes there are books I won't read and I don't vote for them. If one of them wins, I don't read. But sometimes I will read what won even though I didn't vote for it. So rule 2 only works for books you voted for.

Jon, you must stop stating your opinions as facts. The rules are whatever the rules are determined to be, whether or not you like them or agree with them. Restating your opinion changes nothing.

If you want to discuss this further, PM me as I said above. The discussion is over as far as the open forum is concerned. Any further posts along these lines from you will be deleted.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Only if the book that wins is one you voted for are you expected to read and participate. Sometimes there are books I won't read and I don't vote for them. If one of them wins, I don't read. But sometimes I will read what won even though I didn't vote for it. So rule 2 only works for books you voted for.

I think this is a little counterintuitive to what we are trying to do. If we all stuck to this standard, only a few people each month might read a book. I think that is why we are trying to think about lower price limits, incubation periods and themes - so more people will be willing to read outside their zone and participate in the discussion.

[June]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I think this is a little counterintuitive to what we are trying to do. If we all stuck to this standard, only a few people each month might read a book. I think that is why we are trying to think about lower price limits, incubation periods and themes - so more people will be willing to read outside their zone and participate in the discussion.

Yep, the point is to build a community around books we read, and that includes sometimes reading things one wouldn’t normally. A member should be expected to read and discuss, or at least give it a proper effort to be able to discuss why they couldn’t bear finishing it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by June

Yep, the point is to build a community around books we read, and that includes sometimes reading things one wouldn’t normally. A member should be expected to read and discuss, or at least give it a proper effort to be able to discuss why they couldn’t bear finishing it.

I know the point. But there are some books that people won't read. For example, the winning book for September was Jane Eyre. I was not going to read that. The issue I've had in the past is people voting for a book and then not reading it if it won. That's where the problem lays (IMHO).

[issybird]

Jon, you need to drop your hobbyhorses right now.

The point is, that if people commit to reading all the selections, you won't have the problem of people voting and then not reading. Problem solved. And certainly in the future, as part of our commitment to courtesy and consideration, no one will be so rude as to announce s/he won't read a book. That goes for you also.

[JSWolf]

For February, what's the topic, theme, or whatever?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

For February, what's the topic, theme, or whatever?

It's still in the planning stage; a little leeway would be good, please! The plan is to poll a month earlier, as we did with January, but we might have a slight bit of catchup for February, although we'll still be well within the bounds of the old club.

This is probably as good a time and place to announce what probably many have inferred, that Tom will be retiring from running the club at the end of this month and that I'll be taking over as runner. And lest dark suspicions be directed at me, let me assure you that he asked me first, and then I started to solicit ideas for a new club, having run the possibility by Tom. No coup here.

I checked back and Tom's run the MR Club for over six years! A colossal effort for him and always marked by his grace and humor. Thanks, Tom!

[JSWolf]

Thanks Tom.