Paula’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2025)

Paula’s comments from the Reading the Chunksters group.

Brian, your comment brought up some good points on how different moderators approach things, well, differently. And then it becomes something the participant has to mull over and decide if that style is going to work for them.

With respect to your two examples, if a moderator opens a section thread and posts nothing but some good discussion questions that show they have done the reading and gleaned some interesting and/or thought-provoking impressions…I will definitely participate if it’s the book I voted for, and I may even be enticed into reading the selected book as opposed to the one I voted for - because I see a really cool discussion going on. I love when that happens!

However, if a moderator does nothing but open a thread, I’ll pass. It’s just not a style I enjoy. I’ll just read the book on my own.

Different strokes…🙂

Maybe I don’t place emphasis on them because, for group reads, I don’t read ahead and, if I’m behind, I don’t read entries for an assigned section I haven’t yet read. Since I coordinate my reading with that specific assignment, it’s still fresh in my mind.

But it’s great that Hugh’s hard work is not only appreciated (by all of us) but utilized by many. 🙂

So would Roman Clodia. I can tell because the reviews from you both are not book reports. They are insightful and embrace the work as a whole.

You would be great at it, Hugh.

Yes, starter questions are always more difficult…but they are well worth doing.

This brings up an interesting point I have mulled over on occasion. Why should a moderator have to put time into summarizing the assigned reading section? I mean, we have either read it already (in which case we don’t need a summary) or we haven’t - in which case, we should do the reading and come back after we have.

From a moderator, I would prefer 3 or 4 interesting questions or points as a jumping off point for discussion. The moderator may be just as “at sea” as the rest of us, but, to me, it makes the discussion fresher and more dynamic.

Does that make sense or am I just tired from an evening of hospice volunteering?

There are two I’m not in for. One I’ve read. The other author…I’ve really tried 🙂. But life is too short and there are so many books…

Good stuff here…

I second Ducks and Children of Time

I like both of the nominations and will throw A Girl Is a Body of Water into the mix.

I will second Bleak House

Midnight’s Children is a far better book. Although, in all honesty, I have generally found Rushdie’s ideas to be far superior to his actual execution.

So are we ditching the classics read?

I also will second No Name.

Actually, scrap my nomination for Villette.

I would like to nominate The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. I have always wanted to read it, but somehow never have.

I nominate Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Page count varies depending upon the edition; however, on Goodreads, it defaults me to an edition with page count of 500 +.

Hugh wrote: "If nobody else wants to moderate, I don’t mind giving it a go, but the poll has another 3 days to run and could still change."

I would enjoy you being the moderator.

So it looks like Our Mutual Friend will be the upcoming read. Who will be the Moderator?

It would be fun to put together a curated list. We wouldn’t have to commit to a random generator if people felt too locked in by that. But it would get the creative juices going and would also shed light on the tastes of our members. Thoughts?

Amanda wrote: "I definitely think Ducks would be a difficult group read. Linda and I buddy read it and it was hard just with 2 of us because there are no chapters I don’t even think there were paragraphs. It’s al..."

Hey Amanda, we could do a buddy read in January for TBOFE. It’s a book that seems rich in discussion topics, which is why I nominated it.

I love Our Mutual Friend, so I would participate in that, but I’ll be honest, it might be hard to keep the group going if all we do is revisit the same books or authors over and over. We are all very well read, and who wants to read a book for the 5th time, for example? Especially a chunkster that will take a long time to discuss.

Hi Hugh, do you have some ideas as to what we could do to keep the group fresh and vital. Maybe we lower the page count a little to allow for additional books? For example, A Gentleman in Moscow is a gem of a novel, but is slightly under 500 pages. Or…maybe we only nominate books that are available in paperback so as not to place hardship on our members. I don’t know…I’m open to anything…except reading the same books over and over. 🙁

I was so tempted to vote for Ducks; however, I was concerned that people would fall by the wayside. It’s not an easy read. And I believe Amanda and Linda have already read it and might not want to reread.