New Leaf Vote for February 2018 • A Rainbow of Reading

[orlok]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Yes, you're correct, orlok. My error, I was thinking of the next nomination period, not the next discussion period. Thanks for the correction.

I actually wasn't correcting you, as we posted at about the same time and I hadn't seen your post.

Looking forward to giving it a go, if I can just finish my two current books first.

[JSWolf]

So far, in my reading of Passing, I cannot say I like it or dislike it.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So far, in my reading of Passing, I cannot say I like it or dislike it.

On balance, I did like it in the end. BUT I took a ton of notes. Much of it having to do with the stereotyping of many things (but they fit the time). There was also some criticism of religion (that I did not necessarily disagree with). I look forward to discussing.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by orlok

I actually wasn't correcting you, as we posted at about the same time and I hadn't seen your post.

Looking forward to giving it a go, if I can just finish my two current books first.

It's a short book, so a quick read. And I think it should provide a healthy discussion. Which is, after all, one of the reasons we do this.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

It's a short book, so a quick read. And I think it should provide a healthy discussion. Which is, after all, one of the reasons we do this.

I'd prefer a good discussion about a bad book (Sylvie and Bruno *cough*) to an anemic discussion about a good book!

[CRussel]

How about a good discussion about a good book?!

Life is too short to read bad books. That being said, there's a big range between 'bad' and '5 stars'. As long as we keep it 3 stars and above, I'm probably OK. S&B was only 2 stars because of the book club. Had I started it on my own? Would have been tossed in the first 20 pages and given a single star.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CRussel

How about a good discussion about a good book?!

Life is too short to read bad books. That being said, there's a big range between 'bad' and '5 stars'. As long as we keep it 3 stars and above, I'm probably OK. S&B was only 2 stars because of the book club. Had I started it on my own? Would have been tossed in the first 20 pages and given a single star.

If S&B wasn't as short as it was, book club or no, I would have stopped it.

I would rather read good books. We've read too many bad books that it's time for a string of good books. In fact, the book club's was founded on a really bad book.

[gmw]

It's tricky. Yes, we'd all rather read good books, but for discussion purposes (I think) it needs to be an interesting book - and "interesting" very often means that a book is not going to be everyone's taste.

And I don't know about everyone else, but part of the reason I decided to participate here was to encourage me to try books I might never have seen otherwise, or would probably have skipped over if I did see them. I seem to have grown more conservative in my reading over the last several years, so I felt I needed some prodding to expand my horizons a bit. But trying new stuff always risks hitting books you don't like.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by gmw

It's tricky. Yes, we'd all rather read good books, but for discussion purposes (I think) it needs to be an interesting book - and "interesting" very often means that a book is not going to be everyone's taste.

And I don't know about everyone else, but part of the reason I decided to participate here was to encourage me to try books I might never have seen otherwise, or would probably have skipped over if I did see them. I seem to have grown more conservative in my reading over the last several years, so I felt I needed some prodding to expand my horizons a bit. But trying new stuff always risks hitting books you don't like.

^ This.

[JSWolf]

The problem comes when the book picked is one you know you don't like or one you know you won't like.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem comes when the book picked is one you know you don't like or one you know you won't like.

That's not a problem; it's the way it goes. So you suck it up and hope for something more to your taste next time. In the meantime, reading and discussing the chosen book is a courtesy we extend to the other participants in the expectation of similar courtesy when it's something we like and perhaps others would prefer not to read. And since we've addressed this before, I'd prefer not to belabor the point any longer.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by gmw

It's tricky. Yes, we'd all rather read good books, but for discussion purposes (I think) it needs to be an interesting book - and "interesting" very often means that a book is not going to be everyone's taste.

And I don't know about everyone else, but part of the reason I decided to participate here was to encourage me to try books I might never have seen otherwise, or would probably have skipped over if I did see them. I seem to have grown more conservative in my reading over the last several years, so I felt I needed some prodding to expand my horizons a bit. But trying new stuff always risks hitting books you don't like.

Absolutely. Book clubs encourage us to read books we might never have discovered, much less read. And the New Leaf Book Club has already given me two books I would never have discovered and that were well worth the read. And that in its first month!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

That's not a problem; it's the way it goes. So you suck it up and hope for something more to your taste next time. In the meantime, reading and discussing the chosen book is a courtesy we extend to the other participants in the expectation of similar courtesy when it's something we like and perhaps others would prefer not to read. And since we've addressed this before, I'd prefer not to belabor the point any longer.

Never having participated in a book club before, I'm kind of sitting on the sidelines trying to get a feel for it. While I can certainly understand the rule about committing to read the chosen book, some of the nominated titles were so unappealing to me that I knew I would never read them--so I did not vote.

So ... my question is this: If I don't participate in the selection process but decide to read a chosen book, is it bad form to participate in the subsequent discussion?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Never having participated in a book club before, I'm kind of sitting on the sidelines trying to get a feel for it. While I can certainly understand the rule about committing to read the chosen book, some of the nominated titles were so unappealing to me that I knew I would never read them--so I did not vote.

So ... my question is this: If I don't participate in the selection process but decide to read a chosen book, is it bad form to participate in the subsequent discussion?

Golly! Absolutely not! Everyone is welcome to join the discussion, the more the certainly merrier. Please join in.

In fact, everyone is welcome to participate at any point in the process; nominations are welcome from all even if the person doesn't plan to vote in the poll, say. It's just that we had to pair voting with participating as too many were voting only and it seemed less than fair that those who discussed didn't get to make the final selection.

[JSWolf]

I didn't mind people voting. What I minded was people voting for the winner and then not participating.

So how would I go about voting now when there is a chance one or more of the books could win that I know I won't read or reread?