rut row, Truman, colonelrascals, LKRFN88jp, RonBurgundy, texasraider, jorge, Daniel Ocean, nexus11313, TC (Guys above PM'd me at some point with book suggestions and / or were integral to the TMB Book Club at it's inception). It seems that the book club has fallen into a void and is on life support. This is possibly because I was out of pocket and neglected it for a while, but (not to absolve myself of any guilt) I believe the newness has just worn off. To this end, I'd like to get some input from its members as to what to do. I haven't been sent a suggestion in almost a month and the discussion threads seem to include 2-3 comments at best. Is it just the summer months draw folks toward more outdoors adventures and things will improve when the weather turns? Anything you guys can think to do, by me or anyone else, to kickstart this fucker in the ass? I appreciate any and all suggestions.
I stopped following because work got crazy for the past 6 weeks and I decided to plow through the first 5 ASOIAF books, currently 40% through Book 4.
TBH, I haven't read any of the winning picks. Im trying to get through ASOIAF, and neglecting most of it. I think a lot of it has to do with summer and activities. Sadly, I don't have any good suggestions at the moment. I'd hate for this thing to die a slow death though.
Thought the two week time limit would be cool. That way, I could fit in a book I'd like to read outside of the club (I don't like to read two books concurrently).
If you are reading ASOIAF, slow down. Those books are great, but you miss a lot if you read them too fast. Actually, I'm on my second reading and am discovering new shit all the time. Reading ASOIAF is the best excuse there is for not actively participating. :)
For me it was the combination of getting busy at the worst time and then wanting to plow through ASOIAF. When I finish those I know I'll get back in the swing of things with the club, because I really enjoyed it for the time that I did it. Especially since Ready Player One became one of my favorite books and I would have never read it without the club.
Arkie Proud I think you nailed it on the summer thing, just so much other shit going on. I would imagine it would pick back up quite a bit as the weather begins to get cooler. Also I might consider moving the current voting thread & discussion thread back to the main board to help increase participation while things are a little slower
I'll read when the books really interest me. I'm reading a lot, I read one our two of the book club picks thus far
So I feel like a dick but the truth is that I didn't like some of he books that won so I started reading other books. I picked up the millennium trilogy. I also did not see where the discussion threads where. Maybe as soon as the book is picked a thread could be started so people could started talking about the book. Spoilers would be allowed because it would be assumed that if you enter the thread you have read the book. I love the idea of the book club I just think people should sign up and commit to read the book. I want to discuss books but I have not be interested in reading the ones that have won thus far.
I loved 11/22/63 and ready player one but the next picks didn't sound as good so I started reading other stuff. Plus we just havent been able to really get a discussion going. It's like you say something and no one really responds. One possibility is to have more discussion while reading is in progress. I think that's how real book clubs do. Read a few chapters and show up to discuss them. That will be even harder to sync with everyones schedule though so idk. If nothing else im still excited about the club to discover cool books and occasionally discuss them. And I think we should use the book board more to discuss reading and books in general and not just stuff from the club Thanks again for setting this up Arkie
I agree with Ocean about having a discussion AS the book is being read. Maybe come up with some kind of easy system where before the spoiler you say what chapter you are on. Also, In regards to ASOIAF, I just started Clash Of Kings, and really my only goal is to finish Storm of Swords before season three starts. I hop in on the next book we pick, because I have plenty of time to get ahead of the tv show, and like some have suggested, I don't want to rush through and miss things.
Arkie Proud i think if you'd do one book a month it would make it a lot easier for more people to participate. that way you can catch up on some of the books if you didn't have time to read them, and it wouldn't be as much of a chore. i'd like to read most of the books chosen on here, but i read what i want to read first and foremost, and when you're choosing 3-4 books a month(granted it was only for one month), its easy to get to the point where you just don't care about reading them right away. another suggestion would be choosing one fiction book and one non fiction book a month. if you're not particularly interested in one of them, maybe you'll want to read the other, hopefully both. I'm eventually going to read 11/23/63, but i put it on the backburner once it seemed the discussion had come and gone. More people will be able to be on the same page if they have more time and more options to discuss something and it could keep the interest up.
It's definitely a time issue for me. I was already in the middle of 11/23/63 when it was suggested here (I am a King fanatic) and I still didn't have the time to finish it in the club's time frame. Never would have read Ready Player One on my own but downloaded it based on the club pick and blazed through it over a few days. Huge difference in the simplicity of the writing compared to King and I just ripped through it and enjoyed it a lot. I tried to read Catch22 several years ago and just never liked it and never finished it so I gave that one a pass. I'm currently trying to figure out what the fuss is over Clive Cussler. I'm 1/3 of the way into the first Dirk Pitt story "The Mediterranean Caper" and to be quite honest I want Dirk Pitt to die even though I know he adventures for several more books.
New guidelines posted in "Introduction" thread. One book a month with an open, spoilery thread for each book. Enter when you are done and start discussin'. Guidelines: 1. We start reading the selected book (see below) on the first of the month and will read it the entire month. 2. A thread will be started on the first day of the month for the selected book. At anytime, post in this thread about the selected book. This thread will stay open for the entire month (and beyond). Nothing need be placed in spoilers, discuss the book freely. That being said, only enter once you have finished (or do not care if you are 'spoiled'). 3. During the first two weeks of the month, PM me any suggestions you have for books to read. Once I get five suggestions, I'll put up the vote. If I don't not have five books by the end of week two (half way through the month), I will make up the difference with past books or books of my choosing. Voting will end at the end of week three and the winner will be announced. This will give everyone a week to find and procure the book. The vote will always be in this thread, at the top. I'll edit it regularly. Also, the current book we are reading as well as the tentative time frame will also be included here. 4. If you decide not to participate in one week (because you have no desire to read the chosen book, or read it already and did not like it, or whatever), that is no problem. Jump in and out as you like. All are welcome. 5. Try to keep the body of this post on point, discussing books. TMB has tons of posts that include random bullshit, which is great. There is even a post just for that: http://the-mainboard.com/index.php?...ve-that-dont-warrant-their-own-thread.102395/ 6. This thread will be for general bullshit we want to talk about as it pertains to the book club, but not for individual books.
there's really no need for rules...i don't know whats wrong with just putting stuff in spoilers so people can freely discuss the book up to the point where they are at
Not to make it difficult, but it would be cool to discuss as you read. There fore making some kind of naming convention with the spoiler so people that are behind you don't get spoiled ie: I have read through Chapter 7 Spoiler I think this is going to happen to character X....