EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

Hello all! Feel free to add any suggestions you have for the group on this thread - would love to hear everyone's input.

For book suggestions, please head on over to the current BOTM suggestions folder HERE. Thanks!

I would like to suggest that as moderator, you select only 3 or 4 books from the BOTM suggestions for voting so that the voting is less scattered.

Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for the suggestion! I totally agree, picking 7 books made the voting a little dispersed. Goal for next month will likely be 4 books. In terms of choosing books from the list of suggestions, I'll likely rank books by those who received second's and then by read count on GR. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

Best,
Kasey

Kaseadillla wrote: "Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for the suggestion! I totally agree, picking 7 books made the voting a little dispersed. Goal for next month will likely be 4 books. In terms of choosing books from the list of ..."

That seems like a neat way of doing it. That Read Count. Last year I read both the Great Gatsby and 50 Shades of Grey for a challenge, as well read as 50 Shades of Grey is Great Gatsby had it beat by a lot. I was pleasantly surprised.

Some books that were nominated, didn't win but came close to that in previous votings, could be brought back.

For instance, when Peter Pan was chosen with 15 votes, The Picture of Dorian Grey had 14. That means a large group would like to read that. At that moment, at least. :-)

So, perhaps, just as suggestion to be considered, when a book gets a lot of votes (say, 30 % or more) it could be considered automatically nominated for the next poll.

Now having a look at the BOTM poll for March 2017 / Modern Classic, this is an example of a voting almost split in exact four quarters.

So, I'm adjusting my suggestion above: when a book gets a second place with over 20% of the votes, it could be considered automatically nominated for the next poll.

Or re-nominated by one of us.

Hi Marcos. I think part of the fun is being able to nominate fresh books each month and knowing that we can come back and renominate books again if we miss out the first time. A lot of books we did last year were based on the season or festivities at that time, Christmas for example and Halloween. If 'A Christmas Carol' didn't win in December I wouldn't want it automatically nominated for January when Christmas is over but come back to it next year at Christmas time.

It's a nice idea though!

Very reasonable, Leesa. So, new adjustment: same sugestion as above, but seasonal readings aren't re-nominated even if they get second place. :-)

Plus, no restriction at all on nominating fresh books! :-)

This woud just be a chance for those who voted for the second place book to second that book once again. If it is seconded, it will mean that a lot of people still want to read it.

Even my suggestion is still in doubt between automatic re-nomination and re-nomination from one of us. :-)

For instance, as a test, I could re-nominate Brave New World. Some of the supporters for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings could re-nominate it if they feel like doing so.

After some additional thought on Leesa's comment, I'll withdraw the original suggestion.

Really, instead of re-nominating a book automatically, it is better if one of its supporters / voters re-nominates it on the following month.

I'll do that for Brave New World.

Efforts weren't in vain, thinking about this produced some additional comprehension, and may be a stymulus for some re-nominations from now on. (Like Dorian Grey's! :-)

Thanks for the suggestion, Marcos! I agree with Leesa here, I think it's important to refresh every month.

That being said... hopefully this helps. I have a nice big excel file that has all old recommendations and polls. Anytime a book is recommended, I look to the file - if it's shown up before, I consider it automatically having a second, therefore eligible for polls.
Essentially, if it's been recommended before, the book is more likely to make the month's polls.

Kasey, that's good administration, it's my suggestion already in effect in some way! :-)

Kaseadillla wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion, Marcos! I agree with Leesa here, I think it's important to refresh every month.

That being said... hopefully this helps. I have a nice big excel file that has all old re..."

Great idea, Kasey!

Hi, maybe we could do little games like quizzes or trivia on the group. Make it about classics but that way we could talk about what we read in a different way.

I love Victoria's idea ^^^^

Brady wrote: "I love Victoria's idea ^^^^"

Thanks! :)

I, too, second Victoria's idea.

And I love learning that we can re-nominate books that were out-voted. For example, I'll probably nom. Dorian Gray often until it wins. ;)

So, I'm assuming the bookshelf is good place to check if a book has been read and is therefore ineligible?

And am I correct to assume that we're welcome to post new thoughts on old threads, say for instance I could when I read Alice in Wonderland, which I have plans to do this fall?

Cheryl wrote: "And am I correct to assume that we're welcome to post new thoughts on old threads, say for instance I could when I read Alice in Wonderland, which I have plans to do this fall?"

I don't see why you couldn't do so and thanks for seconding my idea :)

Hi Cheryl - yes, please do comment on old threads! All old threads are open so people can continue to comment whenever!! Personally, still catching up on the book club books so I'll be commenting at a later date on a lot of them.

As for book poll nomination...
Books that have already been "read" by the book club can be found on the bookshelf as you said. As of right now, these are not eligible for polls, but as discussed above, all old threads are still open and active for commenting!
Any book that has not been read by the group, regardless of whether they have made polls before, can and should be nominated! We've had a lot of close votes so far so I know we have a lot of interest in those books!

Victoria - love the game idea. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for games/quizzes, etc.? Happy to set it up. Feel free to message me directly too with any ideas or examples.

I think it would be really interesting to maybe share our favorite quotes from the book being read and discuss what we like about it so much! It seems like a great way to see the different interpretations people have!

Kaseadillla wrote: "Victoria - love the game idea. Do you have any suggestions or ideas for games/quizzes, etc.? Happy to set it up. Feel free to message me directly too with any ideas or examples."

I don't really have any real ideas for games/quizzes, but I'll think about it!

I've got an idea, I don't know how to say it in English but in French it's called "un cadavre exquis". It's a drawing where everyone draws part of a character without seeing what the others did, here's the wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisi...
We could maybe do the same thing but with a story, and in this instance with seeing what the person before us wrote. We each write a sentence that has a relation with the previous one without necessarily having one with the rest of the others. I don't know if I'm being clear enough in my explanation! :p

I understand the idea, and like it. I've done it elsewhere. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. I think it's worth a try.

Definitely heard of the game! Though not in the context of reviewing a book, more just for fun someone starts a sentence and the story keeps going.
We could start a thread that's just devoted to that? Could be fun actually :)

Victoria, they play this game in our current classic read, Little Women! Thought it was funny it came up in the book right after you mentioned it here. It does sound fun as a little side game in the group! We could all test our creative writing skills.

That`s a nice idea.

I think there are two different ways for a collective work like this.

1. Everyone writes a part in continuation to the whole previous collection. That`s like some writers have written collective books.

A thread would work for this, Kasey.

2. In the "Exquisite Corpse" game, however, each one must see only the previous part, so a thread won't do.

This could work if;

2.1. There's a previously arranged list of the order of contributors.
2.2. Someone is the '"editor", gets all the contributions, sends only the last one to the next contributor. And publishes the result in the end.

These are the possibilities I can see, but there might be others. ;-)

Or we could just do by the honor system and have everyone only read the last comment?

I think everyone would respect the rules, it would be much more fun that way!

I`m afraid it is visually almost impossible to read only the last comment in a page. Notice that the original game (as described in Wikipedia) provided a folded sheet to each participant, so that he could only *see* the last part.

We can do it like the characters in Little Women do it. They all hear the story, and just continue off of it. A long story made up of different writing styles. People can read the whole story then add their part.

Yes, Sarah, that matches the first of the two possible ways I pointed. It's the way some famous authors of the golden age of crime fiction, among them Agatha Christie, G. K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers, wrote The Floating Admiral! :-)

I think it fits better the thread page model of Goodreads, but both ways would be fun.

Agree with Sarah that sounds fun.

We can also do it the other way too. Two different threads so people can do what they want. I think we're all adults here... enough to follow the rules anyways. As Victoria said, I'll think we'd all respect the rules.

Also speaking of things to celebrate... 1,000+ members. WOOHOO

That's nice, Kasey! I had an eye on that number, wanted to congrat you first! :-) But you were ahead of me! :-)
It's an achievement under any criteria, and you're to be congratulated! We're all happy about that!

thanks, Marcos! :)

We should make a month 'the second best' month. Select 5 books which were second and let the votes begin.

Second suggestion: We should have a part of the forum where we can make some threads for funs... Just some questions or to start a discussion. I think this would form a better bond in the group!

Simon wrote: "We should make a month 'the second best' month. Select 5 books which were second and let the votes begin."

I like the idea of the "return of Jedi". :-) I proposed something similar (see msg 6 above), but that didn't make it. Although it is considered indirectly.

However, having noticed that some of recent polls have been very divided, in about four fourths, roughly, I now have another suggestion to present, regarding the voting process.

When a result is too divided, the "winner" gets around 25 % or less of the votes, which may result in that particular book not being what the majority would prefer.

In political elections in many countries this has been solved by the second vote system, which is what I am suggesting to be adopted here.

1. Nominations will be open for three weeks, instead of four.
2. The last week of the month will be for the first vote among the four nominations (like it is now).
3. The two most voted books will go to a second poll on the fisrt week of the month.

So, the second vote will always end in a choice by a majority. Voters of books in third and fourth position (least voted, not chosen), will be able to have a say on the final choice.
Like this, the chosen book will always be the one most members prefer to read.

Well as to the very close races, I assumed both books had the potential to make it under one category, providing 3 books for the month. The group description says usually two books a month. I don't see why we couldn't include two books under the same category (Classic or Modern Classic) if the vote is ridiculously close.

That's not to say that I don't like the idea of a runoff vote. But if a book I've read wins the runoff vote, that affects whether I can complete my group goal for this year's reading.

I also like Simon's idea for a Chat Thread. Because I'm clearly a motormouth. ;)

Thanks for the suggestion, Simon!

Everyone - see the new for fun folder! Started a few threads to get us going, let me know here what else you'd like to add!
Also started Victoria's suggested sentence-by-sentence story game, see discussionUn Cadavre Exquis - May 2017. figured we could reset it every month? What does everyone think?

I like the idea of a run off vote. Someone will always have a goal or challenge affected by any book voted in. I haven't seen how voting works in this group yet because I'm new. Is it a blind vote or can we see how our vote is stacking up and change it near the end if we've voted for the 4th place book and do care between 1 and 2?

Lahni, I'm new too, and tx for the question - I do often want to change my vote near the end of the polling period so I do hope the polls are not blind!

Hi Cheryl and Lahni - polls are NOT blind. Once you vote, you can see the current poll results and where voting is falling. You have the ability to change your vote up to the close of the poll.

Right now, polls are open the first week of the month. If you click into "comments and details" for a particular poll, you can see when it is slotted to close and check back if you are interested in changing your vote. I also try to send out reminders to those who haven't yet voted on the last or second to last day of polls.

Hope that helps!

Thank you!!

We've received a lot of new members, so it's natural to have a lot of doubts arising.

But there's one thing about the group I like since I joined: it is very well organized, criteria are clear, there is a lot of information. Actually, there is so much info that it took myself some time until I found it all in the beginning. I really reccomend everyone to go around and do some clicking and exploring.

Finally, our Moderator is a good administrator and things run smotthly. :-)

Yes, smoothly indeed... ;)

The open polling helps eliminate the need for a run off poll since those who care can always change their votes.

Things do look very organized here.

Lahni wrote: "I like the idea of a run off vote. ...... can we see how our vote is stacking up and change it near the end if we've voted for the 4th place book and do care between 1 and 2?."

Yes, that's the way it is, like Kasey explained. I've done that.

Being able to change the vote is in a way close to having a second vote. However, it works only if the difference is too wide. But when the numbers are close, (like we've had 19, 18, 17, 16 votes), why would I change my vote, if the result may change at any moment? Better to stick to my preferred book and see what happens.

So, the second vote system is way better.