AvidReaderAmy’s Comments (group member since Jan 05, 2022)

AvidReaderAmy’s comments from the The Nerd Herd Book Club group.

Laurie wrote: "I may have a couple reader friends who may be interested in joining. Is there a way to invite them?"

More readers!! Awesome! Yes, you are more than welcome to invite as many friends as you'd like. ;) How you do this is... in the upper right hand corner of the group page.. (the place may vary, I'm looking at my laptop currently...) there is a group of links just under the "The Nerd Herd Book Club", in that list of links there is the "Invite People Link". From there you should be able to invite friends from your Goodreads list. If you'd like to just send an open invite link, you would click on that "Invite People Link" and then once on that page, you would click over on the "Manual" tab and you will be able to generate a link for the group to post where ever you'd like. The link will last for 30 days, so your friends have some time to respond.

If you have any issues, let me know and we'll figure it out together.

-Amy

Laurie wrote: "Oh!! Me, me, definitely, me! Lol. Congrats on the promotion! That is so awesome!"

Hiya Laurie! Glad to see you! I am working on updating my 2022 boos read list.. I read so many books that I never updated... whew.. And after that, I'll put up a January book. And then... I'll make a 2023 Challenge list....

Glad to have you along!

Oh my gosh... 2022 turned out to be a wild year! It has ended with a nice big promotion, with better pay and somewhat consistent hours. (Woot!!) Ok.. is there anyone left who'd like to read as a group still? I know it's been forever and I am truly sorry for all the craziness last year, but I am hoping that 2023 will be amazing.

I am setting a rather large TBR (To be read) challenge for myself and I'd love to have a few of those be group reads, if anyone is interested. If so, I'll post books for a group read for January and a list of challenge books for 2023. (I'll still make the list for myself, if no one comes along, but I'd love to have some company. ) I am hoping we can continue with the Discord chat, as well.

I hope you all have had a blessed year and I hope to connect with you soon!

-Amy

The May Group read is The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren. Why are we reading this book?
The group hasn't read a fun romance in a while, and I thought this book looked interesting. With romance with a nice dollop of nerdiness, that may just answer the questions.. Is it possible to be matched with the love of your life through DNA? Such that you will be soulmates in every way and that every facet of your relationship will be better than you ever could have imagined?... I loved this concept. I mean if you can find your ancestry through DNA...what if you could find your soul mate? Single mother, data and statistics wizard, Jess Davis goes about finding out if she can.
This one has some mixed reviews...but doesn't every book? I don't expect to love every book, but I figured the concept was intriguing enough to give it a shot.

The May challenge book is The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. Why are we reading this book?
The May challenge was to read the #1 book on my to be read list on Goodreads. The Red Pyramid is that book. I added this book way back in 2013... when I was really into reading YA books, and I forgot about it. Honestly, it still looks like a book that I would love to read. Reunited siblings that discover the Gods of Egypt are waking; bringing about a journey/quest to save their father and learn some hidden family secrets (secrets possibly as old as the Pharaohs?) Yep, still sounds like a good one.

I hope you enjoy the May books. Don't forget to let us know what you think.

Happy Reading!

Laurie, no... I have been sick. I am sorry that I didn't get them added. I am going to do that today.

Hey everyone ,

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of doing the things you love? Well, my life has been over-the-top busy with an unexpected workload. I am finally coming to the top of the mountain, but I feel as though I may have lost some of you in the silence and/or inactivity of this book club. I just wanted to apologize for not posting nor discussing much this last month.
In order to go forward in the right direction, I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions.

Are you enjoying the books that we have been reading?
Or is there a genre that you would enjoy trying?

Is there any suggestions or ideas to increase group involvement?
Or would you just like to be suggested books and then read them with little to no group discussion?

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Laurie, I'm so glad to hear that you liked them. This month's books were pretty fast reads.

Hey everyone, just checking in on how it's going with the April books. Have you read them?

Hey everyone. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to do a chat meeting tonight. Some family stuff came up, last minute. I hope you all have a great night!

That means....
It's Discord chatting/book club day! Everyone is welcome. Come chat with us! 7pm-9pm, tonight, April 12. It was nice to get to know some of you last Tuesday, and if you can't make it this Tuesday, or you'll be later than 7pm, that's okay. I'll just be hanging out in the server lobby if anyone shows up and wants to chat. It's a pretty flexible meet-up. I hope to see you there!

Hey everyone!
I was hoping to have a Discord book club meeting tonight from 7pm-9pm EST. (Please see the previous post for instructions on how to use Discord.)
I hope you all can make it!

If you need help getting connected, please let me know. I'm happy to help.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to send the direct link to the Discord group. You will still have to make an account with Discord, but I thought this might make things easier. Let me know if you are having any difficulties.

https://discord.gg/gnfFEmMV

Hello all!

I have created a Discord server for the Nerd Herd. Basically a server (for those of you who are unfamiliar with Discord), is a group. Here will be a basic how-to for joining.

Step 1: Download the Discord app. You can do this to a phone, tablet or your PC. All will work just about the same for our group meetings. If you download multiple places, you can choose later how you would like to connect with us. Your account with Discord will be exactly the same in all places. For your phone or tablet go to a "play store" and download the app. For your PC, go to https://discord.com and download the app for your PC.

Step 2: Create an account by choosing a username. You will also need to add an email associated with your new account. I believe then you will need to verify your account with said email. When you join the group server, there is an option to change your name within the server. For example, on Discord, my name is Brixsco, but within the server, I have chosen Amy (Group Mod) so there will be no confusions, in case another Amy joins the group.

Step 3: Add me as a friend. You will do this by adding the name and a number. Each Discord user has both. For example, my full Discord name is Brixsco #1110. You will use this combo to add me as a friend. After I accept your request, I will invite you to the server. Once you join the server, you will see there is text channels and voice channels on the side. I have labeled the text channel as "lobby". In this channel you can only text and post gifs or photos. Under that is the voice channels. For now, I have one channel I have labeled, "Let's Talk". In this channel, we can voice chat. On this channel, you can also turn on a camera to share video, but you don't have to. (We can also share screens, but more on that later.)

Step 4: Get your mic and give it a good test, then jump in and start chatting. 🎧

***The same rules will apply to the Discord server as they do on the Goodreads platform. For any questions on this, please see the Goodreads Rules for the Nerd Herd Book Club***

Q&A

When are the meetings?
The meetings will be (for now) Tuesday evenings Eastern Standard Time(EST) from 7pm-9pm.

Do I have to come to every meeting?
No. The meetings will be very fluid. Come to the meetings you can, but you don't have to come every week.

Do I have to stay the whole time?
No. If you just want to pop in and say hello or stay for the whole 2 hour block, that is for you to decide. Again, this meeting will be very fluid.

What will we talk about?
Books, books and more books (with the occasional not book conversations). 🙃
This will be a time for us to discuss the books of the month, and to talk about any thoughts about the books from the previous months. Things happen and we just have to talk about it. If that's the books, great. If it's not, that's okay too. Again, a fluid meeting....

Are we getting rid of the Goodreads platform and just using Discord?
No. We will still use the Goodreads platform. The Discord server will add new way for us to connect with each other and discuss the books. The Discord server will be completely optional for anyone who is now a part of the Goodreads book club.

I hope this covers everything. If you have any questions, just ask me. 👍

@everyone I'm thinking a Tuesday night or Friday night would work for me. Do either of these days work for you?

March books are now going to the Book Club book shelf. We can still talk about them, anytime. I will be leaving all posts open. I am just going to activate the new books for April. When we nail down a time and date for video/chat, I am open to talk about any book we have read in the club. 📖

Laurie wrote: "I wish this book had a sequel. I feel like I still need to know a bunch of things!"

I was thinking the same thing! .... I want to know the rest of the story. I mean does he stay? Does he go? What happened on Earth? I gathered that it righted itself, but.... but... what happened to everyone???

Laurie wrote: "I’m still here! Timing is usually tight for me since I work outside the home during the day and part-time in the evenings when my kid isn’t doing special Olympics or some other activity but I will ..."

I also work outside the home. I think timing for everyone could be the issue. I was just thinking that if a time was set up then people could make it or not make it; it could be very fluid and no pressure. Discord is really easy to navigate. You'd just have to download the Discord app to your computer or phone/tablet. Then you would make a name for yourself. If I made a group there, I would just invite you to join. You'd join, and you'd be in. Easy.👍

Nick wrote: "Hi Amy ! I’m still with you ! ☺️. Discord sounds great to me"

I was leaning toward Discord, as well. Setting up a group server would be easy. But I'll wait to see if I get a few more responses before I set something up there. Is there a good day/time for you?

Hey everyone....
Who's still with me? I was wondering if anyone would want to start meeting via chat or video chat at least once a month, maybe twice a month? Before, when this came up, I was unable to commit to the idea, but now I can. I figured we can talk about the books, see how everyone is doing, and just hang out a bit. I was thinking perhaps a 2 hour block of time? I am in the Eastern Standard Time (EST). Perhaps we could use something simple like Discord to chat (this has both video and voice chat options) or perhaps Zoom? I'm open to any ideas about meeting, or about any platforms to use.
What do you think of this idea?
-Amy

Laurie wrote: "I absolutely loved the audio book! I got very invested in the two “saviors”"
I am so glad you loved the book, too!