Simon’s Comments (group member since Jun 08, 2017)

Simon’s comments from the UKCCWS group.

Not at all! I mean, if that's okay with others? We could always move it to the 27the -- a Sunday. Sundays are pretty good days for talking books.

Okey dokey, guys, it looks like there's no need for a poll this time. The Handmaid's Tale it is! Shall we say 2 weeks instead of three? If you need more time, just say. But let's aim to set the Discussion Date as Wednesday 23 of this month. I'll post a couple of days before, just to remind everyone. Until then, get reading!

Yeah, Jen suggested that. And congrats, Judith, that may well be the only nomination! I'm going to wait till the end of today and if no one else suggests a book, then we're reading The Handmaid's Tale 😉

Hello hello hello!

It's been a little while (a month, at least) since the last book and post, where we went on Facebook to talk about The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. We decided to move our discussion over to FB because, not only does messaging each other seem to be quicker than on GR, but we are all more frequently on FB than GR. (All the acronyms.) If you want to be added to the group, then please either let me know here, or send a request to 'CWS Reading Group' and I'll add you. You can look at the discussion for our first book too, if you're interested.

Now, to business! We need a new book to read, and we're going to have a poll to find it. When we've found it, we'll have 3 weeks to read it. Unlike last time, you get to nominate a book you would like to discuss (if you want to). It can be anything you like, but I do have one rule: that it does not exceed 350 pages. I hope this is fair. Remembering plots and recalling details can be hard work, especially with those weightier tomes to which we might commit a whole month reading.

Once all nominations have been submitted, there will be a poll. 1 vote per person. Anyone who nominates a book is not allowed to vote for their own book. Sorry. It's all in the interest of fairness.

You have until Monday evening (8pm) to nominate a book, and until Tuesday (8pm) to vote. Any questions, you know what to do.

Looking forward to all the suggestions.

Over to you...

Hey everyone! I think we need to pick the right space to chat about the book. Goodreads is not the best platform for 'chatting' because receiving messages isn't instant. Therefore I am going to create a chat group on Facebook. I'll add everyone who has posted in this thread so far. If you haven't posted but have read the book and want to join the chat, just message me before 6 and I'll add you on Facebook. Cheers guys. Talk later :)

Yes, English time. Sorry Judith, forgot you were back home.

Oh no! That's a shame, Matt -- would be good to have your thoughts. At any rate I hope you're getting on well with it. You know you can always join the discussion regardless, assuming you don't mind spoilers (depends how far along you are).

Well peeps, don't know about you but I'm looking forward to chatting about The Essex Serpent tomorrow. I say we start sometime in the evening and just chat for however long we want. Of course, not everyone will necessarily be free at the same time, so I think we'd better do this democratically and find out when's the best time for the majority. I say 6pm. Any advance on 6?

Well guys, it looks like we're going to be reading The Essex Serpent. I checked yesterday and there were three copies available in Templeman library. Hopefully that's still the case, if you are not inclined to buy the book. Don't forget, you can always try public libraries too, in case you aren't / won't be in Canterbury in the coming weeks. As I said, we'll be having our group talk on Wednesday 5 July.

As for The Handmaid's Tale, if other's are up for that too, I'd be up for making that our next read if this one goes well. After talking about the Essex Serpent, we should decide together what to read next. In the mean time, I hope everyone enjoys the book!

(P.s. Jen, you were right, I was wrong -- it is indeed set in late Victorian times.)

For those who did not see my post on the Facebook member's page yesterday, this is also for you. I thought it would be nice to start a reading group to get us talking about both the books we love and books we've come to discover for the first time. There may be a lot of creative writers among you, but writers are also readers, after all. So...

If you've never been part of a reading group before, the idea is straightforward: As a group, we pick a book each month, and then, on a certain day, we talk about it. As that Russian meerkat would say: "simples".

Now, because this is a trial, I would like to propose some options for you to decide on. First: about the book. Second: about when we talk about it. And third: where we talk about it.

The Book: everyone makes ONE suggestion (with a brief synopsis, if you like), and the group votes. OR, we can read The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry to get us started. Please could you let me know in your reply which option you would like, either by writing 'The Essex Serpent' or by providing your own suggestion, by the end of tomorrow (Tuesday 13 June). If more people give their own suggestions, then I'll make a poll and you'll have until the end of the next day (Wednesday 14 June) to vote on the book.

The Date: everyone reads at their own pace, but as this is the first session, I'm going to give us three weeks from the vote date to read the book (Wednesday 5 July). I will open a discussion on a new thread, where a couple of questions will be waiting to get things going. (Should you have a question(s) of your own about the book, ask away!)

The "Venue": if it turns out that discussions here do not work, we can move -- either to a Skype chat, or a Facebook group chat.

The idea for this group is to generate all sorts of discussion about the book, so I encourage EVERYONE to say something, no matter how insignificant you think it may be. What did you like about it? What did you dislike? What did you think about this or that character? If it's fiction, do they remind you of anyone in the real world? What did you make of the plot? Did you fall into any holes while reading?

We'll get to more of those questions when we come to talk about it. For now, we need a book to read. What's it going to be -- 'The Essex Serpent', or a reader's vote? You decide. Reply below by the end of tomorrow.

Cheers guys!