21st Century Literature discussion

In the discussion of absentee voters, a few people said they would like more time to obtain and read books before starting the discussion. A similar discussion actually came up in 2011, the questions asked and resulting consensus were as follows:

q1. How much time for the nominations?
a. One week.

q2 How much time for the voting?
a. One week.

q3. How long between the announcement of the book and the start of the discussion?
a. Two weeks.

q4. How long for the read?
a. One month

q5. Do people want to stagger the monthly reads by two weeks?
a. No. This last one was actually done as a poll, and there was a 21 to 18 vote to NOT stagger the reads.

Since the membership has changed a little in 2 1/2 years, I'm okay with revisiting question 3. The other decisions all seem seem to working fine, unless people would like to revisit them as well.

So, how long would people like to see between the decision / announcement of the book to be read, and the start of the discussion?

P.S. This may end up as a poll. A poll that would likely only be linked to from this thread. So check back in if you care :-)

Whitney wrote: "q3. How long between the announcement of the book and the start of the discussion?
a. Two weeks."

Given that the discussions usually open for all parts of a book at the same time (whereas other groups might discuss 1/4 of the book the first week, the second fourth of the book the second week, etc.), I think I'd like to see more like a month between the announcement and the beginning of the discussion. I know I don't *have* to have read the whole book right when the discussion opens, but like we said in the other thread, when everyone finishes the book so much sooner than I do, I feel like I don't have anything to add to the discussion. So a month would (should. might.) give me more time to get the book and get a good portion--or all--read before the monthly discussion opens.

I would like it to increase from 2 to 4 weeks as well. I am also a library person, plus I always seem to have issues with planning around my other reading (and might want to get a head start since I read slowly). More time would help me coordinate everything better. Also regarding question 5, I would think staggering would work better. I have never considered doing both the member's pick and mod pick, since they start at the same time.

Whitney,thanks for being open to revisiting the leadtime question.

I'm right in line with the others who have commented before me. 4 weeks sounds ideal for those of us who use the library. If it's something really popular this would give us as much as 6 weeks to get the book and read it in the first half of the month.

Julie wrote: "...plus I always seem to have issues with planning around my other reading ..."

Oh, that too! So many times I've not voted or not read the selected book (either the voted-on book or the moderator's pick) because I couldn't fit it in with the rest of my reading! Having more lead time would give me a better chance to scoot the group's read in to the pile of books :)

I'm with those who already responded. I need longer than 2 weeks-not only do I have to obtain the book, but I need to finish the book I'm currently reading as well. And I prefer not to read the discussions unless I'm nearly done for fear of *spoilers*. Thanks!

4 weeks sounds great! Thanks so much for considering a change. Maybe a reminder email at the two week mark would still be helpful for the members used to the established timeline?

same here. living outside an english-speaking country i need to buy english books over the internet and the cheaper options take 2-3 weeks to arrive. slightly longer lead times would definitely help me as well.

Add my 2 cents to the others -- one month.

So, looks like everyone wants to keep it at two weeks.

Just kidding. Since a month seems to be so popular, we'll start moving up the dates for nominations and polls. The moderators are working on getting the Mod Pick announcement out, and the Open Pick nominations thread for August will go up momentarily. We won't quite get 4 weeks for the August pick, but we should at least get 3, and then in the future things will be timed to aim for a full 4 weeks from announcement to start of discussion.

Thanks for all the input!

I recently joined the group and look forward to participating, but I get my books from the library and a month isn't always enough time. If I have to reserve a book which takes two weeks to get, I can't always read a book in two weeks. Personally, I don't like discussing a part of a book, and always wait until I finish the book. If I can't participate, I am always glad to get the recommendations. Many are books that I've not been aware of. Hope I can participate more.

Welcome Anita.