Is there any point in continuing the Book Club?

[Culhwch]

Well...?

The Book Club was reinstated at the start of this year after a flurry of interest at the end of last, but so far there has been little in the way of participation (notably from most of those said interested parties) except from a few good-intentioned members.

I was going to call for nominations for the next three months, but I'm not sure there's much point... So I thought I'd just put it out there. Who wants it to continue, and, more importantly, who will actually paticipate? And please be honest...

 

[dwndrgn]

I have a feeling that you just ought to let it fade away as we did before. There was certainly no outrage when it was gone and other than a scattering of inquiries since.

Perhaps we can institute something else to put in its place. Something like 'the battle of the books' where we randomly select two titles from books that are well established (ie, most people will have either read them or heard about them at the least, perhaps the Fantasy Masterworks or somesuch) and pit them against each other, head to head. Post the titles and their respective synopsises (is that a word?) and have people duke it out - give reasons why they believe so and so should defeat so and so and have the members debate it, voting their choice in a poll but actively trying to recruit other votes by their defense of their choice title. Then the winner is declared after a suitable period of time to allow discussion back and forth. Once the winner is declared, another two titles go at it. And so on.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'd like to see the Book Club continue, if it could do so as a hale and strong Chronicles institution, but watching it crawl along on its belly gasping for water is depressing.

The Battle of the Books idea, I like. I'm not sure how many people would participate, but I most certainly would.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well I understand and appreciate the purpose behind the book club but I'll be honest and admit that I have not participated mainly because the books/authors mentioned are not those I've come across and can be hard to track down sometimes. It's not a great reason to give in the Internet Age, I admit.
I am happy to try and put more into the book club but I think it's main "failing" if that's the word is that because not many people put forth suggestions/vote, we get a very small response from the rest of our members - a lot of whom tend not to stray far from the tea room
The 'battle of the books' sounds interesting as, I presume, they'll be very much established books that most if not all have read or are aware of to some degree so we may encourage more participation.
It may be interesting to do it in a 'tourney' style and have about 10-16 books get whittled down but, having said that, people will have to realise that invariably the most popular rather than the best books will win.

 

[mosaix]

To be honest I was interested in the idea but, with all my other reading commitments, one month wasn't enough time.

 

[dustinzgirl]

I like to read what you guys are reading and what you say about reading what you are reading, but I don't have the time to commit to a specific book like this idea so that's why I never joined.


If that makes any sense.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

But we chose some of the books three months in advance, mosaix.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone had perfectly good reasons for not participating in the discussions -- but are any of those reasons likely to change for a significant number of our members in the near future? I'm guessing not.

The main sticking point, so far as I see it, is that only a small number of members are eager to read books by authors they don't already know or that haven't already been recommended by their friends. But if we choose only high profile books ... well, those are the ones that are already under discussion in other threads, and why would people visit the Book Club discussion just to say what they are already saying elsewhere comfortably surrounded by like-minded people? Besides, a lot of that conversation is of the "what do you think will happen next," "when is the next book coming out," and "who is your favorite character" variety -- which hardly lends itself to a Book Club type discussion.

But there is, I think, another reason as well. One undesirable result of the (otherwise desirable) compulsive niceness around here is that people seem reluctant to argue their opinions, particularly if they're unpopular ones. I don't mean the people who turn up just to say something provocative like "J. K. Rowling is a hack" -- they're no use in a discussion, either. But we've weeded out most of the people willing to state their opinions boldly and back them up with examples and concrete reasoning. Most of the time, people seem to avoid giving any response more vigorous than "well, I liked it," or "I couldn't finish it because I didn't like the style" -- either because they are afraid of appearing rude and combatitive, or afraid of being made to look stupid by someone who is able to present their opinions more convincingly.

Which is all very pleasant, but it tends to stifle the more lively type of discussion.

 

[Connavar]

I like the idea of the club, i just havent been around long enough to vote and join the reading of book of the month.

I would like the join this month or next month if there is a book of the month.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

This month's book is short, easy to read, and widely available. There are twenty-six days left in the month.

It seems to me that people who would like the Book Club to continue and who actually have the time to participate still have a very good opportunity to present a convincing demonstration of their interest.

 

[Lenny]

I think that one of the problems is the actual discussion part. I mean, it's only 60p to ask the Library to find the book, and they usually have it done in a week, which leaves three weeks to read - enough time for most. Yet once it's been read, unless it is a really thought provoking book in which the author has actually set out to tackle certain issues, then it might be hard to discuss the book once it has been read.

Would it be worth those who submit a book for voting, also submit maybe a few points for discussion should the book be chosen?

 

[mosaix]

But we chose some of the books three months in advance, mosaix.

The decision for the Scar Night as the January title, as I remember, was finalised in November. And this was despite some of us explaining that it was difficult to get hold of. My copy arrived mid-January and there was no way, given the size of the book, that I could keep up.

In my view one month per book isn't long enough.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

But you had several months for some of the other books, mosaix, so that explanation doesn't really explain very much. Was Scar Night the only one of the books chosen that you were willing to read? Or was the difficulty that you had in the first month enough to put you off the Book Club altogether?

And why does everyone feel that they have to give excuses why they can't or don't participate? Aren't these pretty much beside the point? Either people want it enough to go out of their way to participate, or they don't. If enough people do, it will continue, if not ... it won't take a moderatorial decree to kill it, it will die on it's own, just as it seems to be doing now.

 

[GOLLUM]

I certainly want to see it continue but not if it dies an agonising death.

 

[mosaix]

But you had several months for some of the other books, mosaix, so that explanation doesn't really explain very much. Was Scar Night the only one of the books chosen that you were willing to read? Or was the difficulty that you had in the first month enough to put you off the Book Club altogether?

I was wrong in thinking I'd got my copy in January I actually got it at the end of December. But because of other reading commitments (I belong to a reading club here in Bridgnorth) I didn't start it until well into January. I'm not the quickest of readers and it was a large book, by the time I had finished it was half way through February and everyone was onto the next book.

Naturally, I lost interest. This is the first time I have looked at a book club thread in months.

And why does everyone feel that they have to give excuses why they can't or don't participate? Aren't these pretty much beside the point? Either people want it enough to go out of their way to participate, or they don't. If enough people do, it will continue, if not ... it won't take a moderatorial decree to kill it, it will die on it's own, just as it seems to be doing now.

The thread is asking if there was any point continuing because of lack of support. I was giving genuine reasons why I hadn't been able to participate. If you call those 'excuses' and reject them as being 'beside the point' instead of considering them as reasons then the club will inevitably die.

You seem to think that "only a small number of members are eager to read books by authors they don't already know or that haven't already been recommended by their friends." is the reason, yet when given a genuine reason by someone else reject it as an excuse.

For me, one month wasn't and isn't enough - good enough excuse?

 

[Culhwch]

Looks like the tribe has spoken.... And I certainly meant no ill feeling to be generated from this thread - I was just genuinely asking to see if there was any point in devoting time to this, not to seek excuses or reasons for a lack of participation. God knows I was 0-5 going into this month, for no better reasons than I couldn't get the book, or I just couldn't get into the book.

 

[Connavar]

So does it live? I wonder cause i can prolly get this months book but only if the club lives on to the next months too.

No reason to start if this is last month.

 

[Culhwch]

Looks like it's the last month, I'm afraid.

 

[mosaix]

Looks like the tribe has spoken.... And I certainly meant no ill feeling to be generated from this thread - I was just genuinely asking to see if there was any point in devoting time to this, not to seek excuses or reasons for a lack of participation. God knows I was 0-5 going into this month, for no better reasons than I couldn't get the book, or I just couldn't get into the book.

Culhwch - no ill feeling.

The structure of the club didn't seem to be defined. For instance was the January book meant to be read in January or discussed in January? I was put off to see that discussion starting almost as January began when I was nowhere near starting the book.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You seem to think that "only a small number of members are eager to read books by authors they don't already know or that haven't already been recommended by their friends." is the reason, yet when given a genuine reason by someone else reject it as an excuse.

For me, one month wasn't and isn't enough - good enough excuse?

But your reason doesn't apply to most of the months when few people have participated, so, no, I don't see that it's particularly applicable. It tells us why at least one person -- and by extension probably other people -- didn't participate in January, but not much else. What about the other months? What about the last Book Club where we were giving every book a three month lead time there at the end? I'm sure that your reason was good for you -- one month -- and I'm sure that it applied to some of our other members also -- that month. I don't discount it, but it still leaves us looking for the reasons why other people in other months didn't participate. Obviously, there has to be more than one explanation. I offered several possible explanations. I'm not advancing one as the one true explanation. It's sure to be a combination of factors, and most of them, I believe, quite out of our control.

You seem to think that I am attacking you. I'm not. (If I was, I would have called you on the mid-January thing, because I went back and looked at the thread and saw what you said about getting the book for Christmas. I didn't bring that up, because that would have made the discussion too personal.) The reason why I think that the explanations people have given for their own lack of participation are largely irrelevant is because they mostly come down to this: we didn't have the time or interest. And I don't see that changing. The time issue, especially, is a matter of outside factors, and that's something we can never control -- therefore, not useful to the discussion, except to the extent that it applies to the January book.

 

[jackokent]

I have to hold my hands up and say I was really pro this idea and then I didn't participate. I did actually read one of the books but by the time I'd got to the dicussions I couldn't think of anything origional to say about it.

I love the idea of a book club and would try to particiate in the next one but given my lack of involvement in Chronicles for a while I don't know if I actually would.

Well done to all who did participate however. Is this the end of it then or not?