MidCoast Libraries Better Reading Bookclub discussion

Right, so here's something to set your sites on.
Goodreads has an individual challenge for 2016, which is great and do think about joining that, but how about a Great Lakes Library Better Reading Bookclub challenge?
I'm not sure if this has ever been done before, but that's never been a barrier - more like a temptation.
So, what I'm proposing is that we set a goal, for the whole group of reading 500 books in a year. how does that sound?
Goodreads doesn't have a great framework/tool for doing this but if you do put the books you read this year onto our bookshelf I can track these from now and tally them. I think that should work, even if it is clunky (I have suggested to the Goodreads support that maybe this is a feature they could set up in the future).
I'd also appreciate any feedback on this.

That would indeed be a fun feature. My goal for the year is only 11 books. I'm a bit of an underachiever.

I only went for 18, so I can empathise. 11 months sounds like you've figured December could be a challenge.
Anyway, with 500 titles as a goal we'll need every title you contribute.
Cheers.

i've encouraged my boyfriend to join this group. his goal is 52 though i doubt he'll get anywhere close. lol

I share your scepticism but I admire his ambition. I seriously hopes he proves us both wrong and gets bragging rights. Cheers Chris

If we had fifty members, 500 books would only mean reading 10 each. I think the challenge is a great idea because it will not only motivate us to read more, but to also invite our friends to join :)

Totally agree Tracey and our numbers are trending upwards in a very healthy fashion. I think we must already be the biggest bookclub in Great Lakes. Having said that, the more the merrier so please don't hesitate to invite as many people as you like.

I hope to read 12 books, so that is 1 every month. Hopefully I will achieve this. I was an avid reader years ago but got out the habit with bringing up 3 kids, now they have all left home I now have an incentive.

That's great news Gaye. My boys have left home now and much as I love seeing them again there's a certain freedom to being empty nesters though that's never an ongoing given these days :). And a good idea to set a realistic target. Everyone counts to that 500 total. Cheers.

Twelve fiction books a year is probably a realistic goal for me, too, as I have a bias towards non-fiction, particularly history.

John Kennedy

John, you are most welcome to read non-fiction if you like. We're very eclectic in our tastes, I'm sure. And twelve non-fiction books maybe (maybe) more of a challenge.

Muffin wrote: "i've encouraged my boyfriend to join this group. his goal is 52 though i doubt he'll get anywhere close. lol"

*Scoffs at how little faith you have in me Muffin, throws scarf over shoulder, walks away with a i will prove you wrong determination while shouting i have books to explore*

i have four read so far this year.

Well played moonshine Murphy, well played.

I hope Audible.com books count! I probably "read" a big minority of my books that way.

I reckon if a library can "lend" it then it counts Elaine. All good for the cause. Cheers Chris

Good READS?

Sue, you raise a valid point. Reading by it's very definition is to look and comprehend written matter. So, no Elaine shouldn't count them.
But here's the dilemma. What if a person cannot read anymore? We certainly have patrons who have to use the audiobooks. Certainly they listen to the book, but isn't it also reasonable to say they were reading it in the only way they can.
So, I would argue that Elaine can read an audiobook, but here's the stinger. That argument is only predicated on listening to the book being the only option available. Which means that Elaine may not qualify, using my logic.
However, there is an even deeper motivation to consider audiobooks as reads - it helps us get to our target. Perhaps a tad mercenary, but there you have it. So Elaine can read the audiobook.
And, of course, it encourages participation in general.
Thank you, Sue. I do like a good DEBATE.

I hope to read 26 books by the end of the year. So 1 every 2 weeks. So far I am in front on my reading challenge. I haven't sat down and read in a good 3 years. And have just started getting back into it. Used to own more than 500 books, now I am down to owning 99. I have read 9/26 books since the year has started.

That's great news Megan and an excellent target. I totally understand how easy it is to fall out of the habit of reading. Life can be so hectic. For at least a decade, maybe even two, I just put active reading aside. It wasn't until I joined a book club that made me read a book a month that I got back in the habit.
I'm still time poor but now reading is no longer just cast aside. Room is made for it.
Congrats on your goal achievement. Every one helps towards the total for the group. Don't forget to let us know if there's any one you'd particularly recommend (or avoid).
How are you finding your titles? Buying, borrowing from friends, borrowing from library, reading books over other people's shoulders?
And are you going to build up your collection again, or are you happy to be lean (I have significantly culled my collection too, though not down to your levels yet)?
Cheers

I love all the ones that I have read so far. In saying that I rarely dislike a book, each Author has their own way of writing. and definitely getting my collection up again. I have around 30 titles that I need to pick up to complete collection so I can start reading them. The books I buy are either recommnedations from others, or I follow a lot of Book Box Subscriptions, and when they put out pictures of their current box or older boxes, I put it on my Wish List. That way I am getting a whole range of Genres. The ones I steer away from are True Stories. As they don't really interest me. I do read Self written Bibliographies though, but only occasion and if the person interests me.

Hi Megan,
I'm curious about Book Box. can you tell me a little more about it?
Cheers

A Subscription book box. Owlcrate and The YA chronicles are the larger ones. they mainly do Young Adult box and they send them out monthly with usually 1 book, sweets, satchets and other bookish items. there may be some to cater to older audiences but i have only really heard of these two. owlcrate is american and the ya chronicles are australian.

Hi Megan, Sorry I've been off the radar for a few days. I'd be very interested in talking to you more about how this works for you. I've visited the website and it does look interesting. I'm not sure if this fits in with anything I can do regarding the library but I'm always interested in what programs/services are out that that encourage reading.

Here's something I should have realised but didn't. The bookshelf only takes on new titles, which means that even though I've read "Secret Chord" Jenny beat me to it.
This means it's 500 unique titles, which raises the bar a bit.
Oh, the joys of a healthy challenge.

In that case I guess it's lucky my reading list is somewhat eclectic - with a few old, and probably obscure, titles thrown in:)

Lol. Absolutely. It's made me think about some older ones and even a re-read. Good for diversity of experience hey?

Sorry Chris, The Secret Chord was a Christmas present, I love Geraldine Brooks' work so couldn't wait to read it :)
I am checking my 'want to read' shelf off against the library catalogue and slowly working my way through it.

Good on you Jenny. We were always going to discover this fact the hard way anyway. How did you find The Secret Chord?

Chris how do I add books to the Club shelf? I have created a new shelf called by the book club name but am unsure if that is going to work. Thanks, Louise.

Hi Louise,

Here goes. There might be another way, but this works:

From home page go to the bottom of the book covers shown and select Add Books. Search for a book by title.

When to book displays click Add to Group button.

Fill out the fields in the new screen (you don’t need to select a folder)

Click Save to Group.

Thanks Chris will give that a go. Louise

I have found that you can only add a book to the group bookshelf when on the website, not if you are using the Goodreads App on phone or android

Wow - I didn't realise that. Thanks for the tip Jenny. Maybe that's something worth suggesting to Goodreads as a feature. I've also asked them if in future they could set a Group book challenge so that we didn't have to create an artificial system looking the bookshelf (which I like, by the way, but it does make keeping count of the titles read tricky).

NOTE: I decided this was such a good point that I've sent this through to a contact I have at Goodreads as a design suggestion for the App. Thanks Jenny.

Thanks Chris, I usually use the app so that would be really helpful.
I was a bit disappointed by "the secret chord" I could not empathise with any of the characters, I found them a bit two dimensional and even though the historical aspect was interesting it did not leave any lasting impression with me, the way Caleb's Crossing and People of the Book did.

Thanks Chris, I usually use the app so that would be really helpful.
I was a bit disappointed by "the secret chord" I could not empathise with any of the characters, I found them a bit two dimensional and even though the historical aspect was interesting it did not leave any lasting impression with me, the way Caleb's Crossing and People of the Book did.

Totally agree with you about Secret Chord. I felt I had a better appreciation of the history but that was about it. I reckon her best book is Year Of Wonders.

Totally agree with you about Secret Chord. I felt I had a better appreciation of the history but that was about it. I reckon her best book is Year Of Wonders.

It is 9 April, and collectively this year we have read 100 books. That is kind of exciting. Not that it is about how much we read, but more about how much we enjoy what we read.

I am really enjoying seeing the range of books we are all reading, and am adding some of the titles to my "to be read" list. Thanks for the suggestions.

Totally agree Ellen. It's actually made me lift my reading game. I was mortified to discover a book I'd read wasn't on Goodreads. I might have to investigate adding a whole new review.
The diversity is certainly fascinating.
And we've now got 50 members. How cool is that? Maybe the 500 book challenge is a challenge (though that's what challenges should be about I guess), but having new members adding books to the group bookshelf can only make it more achievable.

Although the target of 500 seems a bit remote at this stage, I note that we have passed the 200 mark. Maybe we could aim for somewhere between 250 - 300?

Passing 200 books is great news.

Yeah, I have to agree 500 was a tad optimistic :). Still, it's always good to have an ambition and as Ellen says 200 books is great, especially as these are unique titles (e.g. our group reads only get counted once).
300 is probably a bit our of reach based on what we've achieved so far,
250 might be more realistic and is has synergies with the 500 figure.

I haven't been contributing lately but I'll be reading a lot of early Australian children's literature books this month for my fellowship! So far I have read some fascinating books - though the 'telling' style can get a bit monotonous after a while. Anyway, I think most will be unique titles so that'll add a few books to the tally :)

Hi new to the group, and new to the area. (May new)

Quick question. Does the count have to be for a specific genre? Or is just any book you've read so far this year? I've read around 90 books this year. My goal was 300 but that is not going to happen at the pace I'm currently going at. So because I've set up the yearly goodreads challenge it keeps count of my books that I've read. But say if is Australian genre only I'd have a great big zero going on.

Hi Ash and welcome! No set genre for the list just any you have read this year.

Definitely welcome Ash. That's great news. You'll give our reading list a huge boost (and congrats on such an impressive total). The only thing you will find is that if someone has already added the title you won't be able too. It only takes new titles. Even so, there's a fair old chance that nearly all of your 90 books will be unique.
Once again welcome and thanks.

I'm not sure how to go about adding books. A couple of years ago I did something called tower teams. We created a folder called tower teams and added books to said folder, you can look at each other's folders. I won't have the internet until Wednesday (fingers crossed, it is Telstra after all). Once I get the Internet set up I will try and see about the add to group thingy, may need a little help if I can't figure it out.
I'm sure my books are unique ;)

Looks like we may make the 400 read titles mark - impressive!

We are now at 401 books read. We are going well.

Thanks Louise and Ellen,
I've w got another to add, though my current book is Barkskins by Annie Proulx and at over 700 p (1,826 pages on my mobile