50 books to read before you die discussion

We have over 7,000 members in this group but the participation in book discussions is very very low. I know not everyone likes to comment on the books we read and only uses the list as a guideline, however, I have decided to gradually delete members who haven't made any comments within the last five years. If you want to remain in the group please make a comment at least once a year even if it's only to tell us what book you are currently reading or a book recommendation.

Many thanks.

I've really enjoyed the interaction I've had in this group. I still pop in to see what's going on, but life has gotten too busy to participate much.

Christine wrote: "We have over 7,000 members in this group but the participation in book discussions is very very low. I know not everyone likes to comment on the books we read and only uses the list as a guideline,..."
As you know, Christine, I have whined privately about this before. I support your notion of doing a little house cleaning.

Longhare wrote: "I've really enjoyed the interaction I've had in this group. I still pop in to see what's going on, but life has gotten too busy to participate much."

Your moniker is familiar to me, Longhare. I expect you are not at risk for expulsion.

Buck wrote: "Christine wrote: "We have over 7,000 members in this group but the participation in book discussions is very very low. I know not everyone likes to comment on the books we read and only uses the li..."

Longhare wrote: "I've really enjoyed the interaction I've had in this group. I still pop in to see what's going on, but life has gotten too busy to participate much."

Your comments are too good to remove you from the list Longhare.

I’m going to give it a couple of days to see what kind of response I get to this post and then maybe send a broadcast post to the whole group.

Ouch! I'm one of the guilty ones I'm afraid!
Apologies, I just saw this post: I haven't checked in for a while but have just commented on a number of books - not in the discussions though.... As others have said, life gets so busy that you forget to join in even though you're still reading.
Hope I'm not expelled (though I probably deserve to be)...

Marina wrote: "Ouch! I'm one of the guilty ones I'm afraid!
Apologies, I just saw this post: I haven't checked in for a while but have just commented on a number of books - not in the discussions though.... As ot..."

No, it’s only people who have never made one single comment in the last five years that I’m thinking of deleting.

Well then, here's my obligatory post.

Now I'm crawling back under my rock, hidden beneath a bridge in some countryside to lurk another 5 years.

Oh guilty! I enjoy your group but I don't really make comments. AnywayI'll be more active in the future☺️

Would love to be able to stay in this group - I'm a "lurker" I'm afraid! I'll try to be more active.

Ana wrote: "Would love to be able to stay in this group - I'm a "lurker" I'm afraid! I'll try to be more active."

Ioanna wrote: "Oh guilty! I enjoy your group but I don't really make comments. AnywayI'll be more active in the future☺️"

Charlotte wrote: "I’ve only just joined this group and already think it’s great ☺️"

Peter wrote: "Well then, here's my obligatory post.

Now I'm crawling back under my rock, hidden beneath a bridge in some countryside to lurk another 5 years."

We moderators were getting quite disheartened by the lack of support in the group. However, thank you all for making a comment, it's much appreciated. If anyone can recommend a book to the group or a nomination for the 'open' books poll, so much the better.

If not, just say 'happy new year' in January to let us know you are still with us.

Many thanks

Christine

Guilty as charged. Its time to get back into the books.

It's difficult to comment on books when I can't really find the books you're reading in my country.

I'm guilty as well about not commenting. I enjoy the group & reads. I always vote on the monthly books. I'll try to comment & participate more in the future.

Deena wrote: "I'm guilty as well about not commenting. I enjoy the group & reads. I always vote on the monthly books. I'll try to comment & participate more in the future."

Belgrada wrote: "It's difficult to comment on books when I can't really find the books you're reading in my country."

Michael wrote: "Guilty as charged. Its time to get back into the books."

Please see my previous comment, also I am only going to delete members who joined in 2013 and have never made a comment.

Belgrada, please feel free to tell us about any book you are reading or could recommend. It doesn't have to be on the list.

Christine

Hiya, guilty as charged in terms of commenting, I do try to vote on the poles though, haven’t had time to read recently as I am doing a house clean out!

Hi I am guilty as charged as well. I normally don't comment a lot..not only in this group but a lot of others as well... but I do read comments and do also try to vote on polls :)

Emma wrote: "Hiya, guilty as charged in terms of commenting, I do try to vote on the poles though, haven’t had time to read recently as I am doing a house clean out!"

A great opportunity for audio books.

It's been awhile since I've participated in this group, a consequence of too many groups/books, too little time. But when I do read the monthly books then I always comment. I think it's been a couple of years or more, though. Lately I've been attempting to hop around to my different groups and participate every so often now, so I'll add this group to my rotation! :) I'll need to go back to my 50 books list and see what I still have to check off, although I noticed you guys have added additional books to the monthly reads as well, so that's cool there are more options now.

Linda wrote: "It's been awhile since I've participated in this group, a consequence of too many groups/books, too little time. But when I do read the monthly books then I always comment. I think it's been a coup..."

I know what you mean, I'm in 4 groups but I try and comment at least once year in each of them. I joined a 'free Kindle books' group last year only to realise, when I had joined, that nobody had made a comment in 4 years. It so easy for a group to die a slow death.

Christine wrote: "It so easy for a group to die a slow death."

Yes, two of the groups I belong to have recently made efforts to increase participation. I then realized how long it had been since participating in each and how my reading had been taken over by one particular group! Hence my current efforts to spread the book love. :D

I think we should only vote on the polls for a book we are willing to read for the month. If not there might not be any readers or commentators for the winning book of the month which would be a pity.
Even a one word comment on whether it's good or bad is great in my opinion.

Annie wrote: "I think we should only vote on the polls for a book we are willing to read for the month. If not there might not be any readers or commentators for the winning book of the month which would be a pity."

I agree, and I think a lot of groups go through a phase of dealing with this. I just looked at the leading book so far in the Sept Open Noms poll (Woman in White). Of the 24 votes so far, 15 are from members with zero comments made in the group, 4 votes from members with one comment, and 1 vote from a member who's made more than 50 comments. Four votes come from people with private profiles, so I couldn't find that info quickly for them.

One quick remedy for this would be not to send out a broadcast message when the polls are open, so then only people who are following discussions and are interested in discussions within the group know when the polls are up.

Linda wrote: "Annie wrote: "I think we should only vote on the polls for a book we are willing to read for the month. If not there might not be any readers or commentators for the winning book of the month which..."

Annie wrote: "I think we should only vote on the polls for a book we are willing to read for the month. If not there might not be any readers or commentators for the winning book of the month which would be a pi..."

Linda - That's a good idea about not sending out a broadcast message, I think I will try that for the rest of the year.

Annie - I agree, a one word comment would be better than nothing.

I don't participate much, but I do enjoy lurking.

John wrote: "I don't participate much, but I do enjoy lurking."

Have you read any of the books?

Yes I have. If you want to purge me, I would understand, but I do value folks' thoughts on the books as I decide what to read.

You won't be purged as you have now made two comments, yeah! ha!ha!

Christine wrote: "You won't be purged as you have now made two comments, yeah! ha!ha!"

Lol Christine. :D

Christine wrote: "We have over 7,000 members in this group but the participation in book discussions is very very low. I know not everyone likes to comment on the books we read and only uses the list as a guideline,..."

I think this is reasonable. For me, I look at the groups I belong to and make an effort to participate even if it means just saying what I'm currently reading or whether I liked a book or not. Sometimes a comment from another reader prompts people to chime in. Sometimes not. I enjoy catching up with other readers and it's only through the comments that I can do that.

Peter wrote: "Well then, here's my obligatory post.

Now I'm crawling back under my rock, hidden beneath a bridge in some countryside to lurk another 5 years."

"Lurk."
Great word. Thanks for chiming in.

Annie wrote: "I think we should only vote on the polls for a book we are willing to read for the month. If not there might not be any readers or commentators for the winning book of the month which would be a pi..."

I agree with you on the "one word" type of comment. Not hard to do and it lets us know you're still out there breathing. ;>)

Follow the group but you're right, don't post much (if ever). Will do my best to post more... do much more reading than talking 😅

Hi Christine,

I taught a course on F. Scott Fitzgerald 3 times. I missed an opportunity to open up Gatsby in way that made sense to me. So I wrote an essay and stuck it in a novel. I'm not pushing the novel. I could extract the ideas if anyone is interested the subject.

Incidentally, in every class there were students who said nothing until the final essay, which showed the wheels were turning all along. One reason people don't speak up is they don't hook up to comments. They don't feel their thoughts are polite.

Sorry, I'm a member of several classic book groups and cannot read them all in the same month. However, at the times when the group is reading a book on my TBR and I'm not struggling to finish something I already started, I do want to participate. Many of the books on your list are ones I've been meaning to read for a while. I'm getting better at reading faster and prioritising it; so I hope this means I will be able to cover more books from more groups.

Elizabeth wrote: "Sorry, I'm a member of several classic book groups and cannot read them all in the same month. However, at the times when the group is reading a book on my TBR and I'm not struggling to finish some..."

Jennifer wrote: "Hi Christine,

I taught a course on F. Scott Fitzgerald 3 times. I missed an opportunity to open up Gatsby in way that made sense to me. So I wrote an essay and stuck it in a novel. I'm not pushing..."

I don't want people to change their reading habits, we would just like the occasional comment - once a year is fine. We moderators find a lack of participation a bit disheartening.

My goal next month is to actually read one of the selected books and comment instead of listening to the audio version. I’m a wife, and a working mother with 2 active kiddos (my youngest just started kindergarten)and my time is limited on reading actual books. However, i hope to be more active going forward!

Jennifer wrote: "Hi Christine,

I taught a course on F. Scott Fitzgerald 3 times. I missed an opportunity to open up Gatsby in way that made sense to me. So I wrote an essay and stuck it in a novel. I'm not pushing..."

I would be interested, if you could share! Thanks

Hi Nancy,

As I was making a point about Carraway a warning sign appeared about spoilers. I don't want to spoil Gatsby for anybody, So. This question will be ok. I don't remember Hemingway's remark exactly. The gist of his criticism (applied to Gatsby) would be that Gatsby couldn't come from where Fitzgerald said he came from. Fitzgerald told Max Perkins (his editor at Scribners) that he wanted to use the material of his short story, Absolution, for Gatsby's background. That would fit a remark at the end of the book. Fitzgerald dropped the idea. I don't think he seriously entertained the idea. I recommend Absolution to anybody. It's a horrifying situation for a young boy. It gets at the powerful impulses to be released in Gatsby. A lot of class discussion can open up on the story.

Depending even on a minor degree of interest in Gatsby, I would recommend, at a minimum, the short stories: Absolution, The Rich Boy, The Last of the Belles. Now you spark thoughts on Zelda, and where, really, does Daisy come from. Etc.

I have only just joined this group and haven't participated in any discussions yet, but soon will (hope to) be!

I joined this group because I did a search on one of the books I’m reading. I’m not currently reading what the group is reading , and I don’t know if resurrecting old threads is mocked in this group.

Atlanta wrote: "I joined this group because I did a search on one of the books I’m reading. I’m not currently reading what the group is reading , and I don’t know if resurrecting old threads is mocked in this group."

Hi Atlanta, resurrect as many old threads as you like, we are always interested in any thoughts on the books we read.

I'm here but haven't been able to participate as much as I'd like...kids back in school so working on scheduling personal time to catch up on my readings.

Hi! I like to stick around if you don't mind even dough I have not been active when it comes to comments. I read comments if it is a book I'm interested in or reading. I revisit comments when I'm reading the book.
Commenting is hard especially since English is not my native language and my spelling is horrible. It also takes me forever to find the right words. (Speaking is so much easier.)
I'm focusing on the original 50 books and I'm only voting in polls if I know I have the book or can borough it from my local library and most importantly that I have the time to read it. I'm a slow reader and need to plan and prepare to be able to participate i group reads. Everyday life sometimes gets in the way and needs to be first priority. Reading for me is a way to relax and not something I like to stress about.

Not to worry, Erika. We'd love to have you participate, but we're glad to have you lurking.

Hello! I would like to stay. I have just re-downloaded the app now that I have better stability in my phone. I hope to be able to read more when I finish school this coming spring.
Thanks for letting me lurk!

Treasure wrote: "Hello! I would like to stay. I have just re-downloaded the app now that I have better stability in my phone. I hope to be able to read more when I finish school this coming spring.
Thanks for lett..."

Your safe, I have finished my purge for the year 😄😄😄

I will be picking up the Count of Monte Cristo starting October 1st. Once I’ve finished I will have read 15 books from the original list for this group.

Hi Eko,
Under members progress, you can make a list of those you have read and just keep updating it as you work your way through the 50.

Hello! Im here! 👋
Just making two points, saying keep me, if the deleting members thing still happens. I am still new though, and these threads are extremely old. Brings me to point 2

If bringing up old posts is normal or ok, then that is what i will do. Finally taking the time to look through some today 👍

I'm wondering why any member should be deleted. Why not just let them be here, and maybe they'll comment at some point. Is there a Goodreads rule that applies?