Something Old, Something New discussion

If anyone has any general suggestions or comments on what we could do to make this group a little bit more active and/or interesting I'd love to hear them!

So I am trying to think up some ways to make this group a little bit more interesting and active and was hoping to get some feedback and/or suggestions on some of the following ideas:

1) Formatting the monthly reads a bit differently, ie. nominating a bit earlier, say a couple of months in advance to get everyone a chance to plan out their reads, or having people pick a genre one month then nominate on books that fit that category the month after??
We could also have more than one member's choice a month if you like. The other monthly reads are usually just chosen at random from a list I have been collating from articles I read, other discussions, etc. I would love to somehow get more participation in the book discussion threads.

2) Starting some threads for games? If yes, what ones would everyone like?

3) Starting any other types of discussion threads? I'm open to any member starting a thread on a discussion topic if they like. They don't have to always be started by me :-)

4) Creating some reading challenges, either seasonal or yearly ones, etc?

5) Having a pool from where a member is chosen each month at random to select a book for the group to read from their own TBR?

6) Pairing members who are interested with a reading buddy where they can each pick a book to read or discuss during the month?

Please don't be shy. I really want this group to work for all members but don't want to overwhelm everyone by starting too many different things at once.

All suggestions will be very welcome!

Thank you for asking questions, Michelle.

1. I think more focused member requests as we are getting to know each other, would be a huge benefit.

2. Games are very popular. I like word games myself: hangman, anagrams, etc.

3. I will think more about other discussion type threads...

4. I love reading challenges, but I find the ones I am most likely to join are competitive via a point system. (I will be happy to help set something like this up starting in April).

5. Sounds interesting.

6. Setting up a thread to request buddy reads and see how it takes off would probably be a good idea.

Kate S wrote: "Thank you for asking questions, Michelle.

1. I think more focused member requests as we are getting to know each other, would be a huge benefit.

2. Games are very popular. I like word games myse..."

Thanks so much for your response Kate!

I'm not really clear what you mean by more focused member requests though. Do you mean to have some boundaries set for how the books are nominated kind of like how I did this month?

I would love some help in setting up some point challenges. I'm starting to wonder whether I need to put a call out for a co-moderator because I feel terrible when I don't have enough time sometimes to dedicate to developing this group.

By the way, there is a buddy read thread already set up here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Michelle wrote: "Kate S wrote: "Thank you for asking questions, Michelle.

1. I think more focused member requests as we are getting to know each other, would be a huge benefit.

2. Games are very popular. I like ..."

More focused requests like when you asked for books off the 1001 books to read before you die list (February?) Or maybe alternating themes; so April=Books published before 1950 (old) May=Books published in the last 12 months (new) June=Non-fiction: biography July=Books published before 1950, etc.

I will start looking at April and shoot some challenge thoughts/ideas to you before the 15th.

Thank you for pointing out the buddy read thread, I am sorry I missed that.

Kate S wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Kate S wrote: "Thank you for asking questions, Michelle.

1. I think more focused member requests as we are getting to know each other, would be a huge benefit.

2. Games are very ..."

I'm not surprised you missed the buddy read thread :-) I even struggled to find it because it became hidden due to not being used for a while. I thought I was going mad because I knew it was there somewhere!
Awesome idea re the BOM requests. I've started to keep a list of themes to put forward each month and these are great ideas!

I thinks starting a games thread might be a good idea as they do seem popular in other groups.

I also like the idea of seasonal and yearly challenges as I really enjoy doing these.

And perhaps it's not a bad idea to put a co mod on in the group seeing as you're quite busy.

These are just my thoughts not sure if they're helpful :)

So I was wondering what everyone thinks about us starting to choose our group reads two months in advance instead of just the month before?
I'm thinking this might give everyone a bit more time to get organised and also to get the book by whatever means before the month it is to be read.
Is this a good idea or should we just keep it as is by nominating and voting in the month before?

Michelle wrote: "So I was wondering what everyone thinks about us starting to choose our group reads two months in advance instead of just the month before?
I'm thinking this might give everyone a bit more time to ..."

I think giving it a shot for the new year would be fantastic timing! Let's do nominating for December and January and see how our participation levels look.

Michelle wrote: "So I was wondering what everyone thinks about us starting to choose our group reads two months in advance instead of just the month before?
I'm thinking this might give everyone a bit more time to ..."

Great idea! Sometimes it takes my library system a long time to get books from one branch to another so this would give THEM more time LOL

Michelle wrote: "So I was wondering what everyone thinks about us starting to choose our group reads two months in advance instead of just the month before?
I'm thinking this might give everyone a bit more time to ..."
great idea

So I thought I would start opening up the suggestions for our Something Old and Something New group reads each month to members.

I thought we could try it in the format where anyone can just post a suggestion in the relevant thread when they have an idea for a good 'Old' or 'New' read and I will start to collate them all and start adding them onto the bookshelf to be our future monthly reads.

If you would prefer a system where we nominate and vote each month instead, please just let me know.

This will give all of you a chance to be a bit more involved in the books that are read in this group and hopefully spur on a bit more discussion than what we get currently.

You will see I have now set up separate threads under 'Group Read Suggestions' for 'Old' and 'New' books so if everyone can start to go there and add some books that would be great!

Hi, I was not sure where to post this but am very interested in hearing if anyone's read/their opinion on "All the Light We Cannot See." I was briefly in the U.S. and made the mistake of buying The Windup Girl instead of this book (I LOVED the Oryx and Crake series by Margaret Atwood and thought it would be as good as those three incredible books). Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

Hi Michelle
My New Year's Resolution is to read a good book regularly - I know quality time reading is good for a person in so many ways. I have always wanted to, but a full life gets in the way. So I looked around for a Book Club nearby. They are either full or I'm not interested in their lists. Then I looked online and found your Club. Your lists appeal to me the most and are just what I was looking for. I am really looking forward to being apart of this Club. Thank you.

I ended up reading All the Light and really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it!

Keeley wrote: "Hi Michelle
My New Year's Resolution is to read a good book regularly - I know quality time reading is good for a person in so many ways. I have always wanted to, but a full life gets in the way. S..."

Hi Keeley, thank you for joining us here! I hope you enjoy our group reads and have fun participating.

Todd wrote: "I ended up reading All the Light and really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it!"

Todd, I haven't read that one yet but keep seeing it get really good reviews. I may need to try and get to it one day....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I'm writing today to tell you all that I am waving my white flag in defeat and finally admitting that I just can't keep this group going with the current participation (or lack of) levels that it is at.
Even though we have had over 100 members for over a year and a half, only 2-3 members seem to be interested in regularly participating or commenting and I just can't keep having conversations with myself.
It actually takes a fair bit of effort to put up all the posts for the monthly reads, design challenges and monitor all of the threads and if there was a bit more participation I wouldn't feel like all my efforts were for nothing.
Originally I had such grand plans for this group but have to admit that with the turns my life has taken I just don't have the spare time to put toward maintaining it in the way I would like on my own and although it greatly saddens me I don't feel that anyone would really miss this group anyway.
I am totally open to any members who may wish to put their hand up and assist as a moderator in the hope that we might be able to revive this group and make it a bit more exciting otherwise I don't really see what other option I have than to step aside and let it be.
I'd love to hear of any other suggestions that anyone might have as I feel like we have a great idea going with the mixture of classic and newer books this group has been reading and I really don't want it to end

Sorry to hear Michelle, but I totally understand. It must take a lot of effort at these things, and I am no expert. Maybe, hopefully, someone would be interested to help out and keep it going.

I've been meaning to respond to your post for weeks!! I wish I could be more involved but like you, am just too busy! I enjoyed reading posts when I could get online and appreciate you keeping this going but I have not even added all the books I FINALLY got to read recently. Anyway, you did a fantastic job keeping this going. It is NOT a one person job! Thanks for working so hard.