Reading the Chunksters discussion

I noticed that the group no longer has any moderators, so I volunteered to step in mostly because the only recent comment was spam which needed to be deleted.

The group has now been more or less dormant for some time, but at least we can now create discussions and folders if there is any interest in reviving it, and I am happy to share moderator duties with anyone who is interested. I am already a moderator for two larger and more active groups, so I can't promise to devote a large amount of time to this one.

So this is the space to discuss any ideas you have for how we might revive interest in it.

Thanks, Hugh! I didn't notice that Dianne and Lorna had left the group.

This was the first group on GR that I joined, so there is some nostalgia here for me. I haven't been very active here lately, though, and my attempt at reading Vanity Fair didn't pan out. But I still have some interest in this group if it becomes active again.

If you need help moderating, Hugh, I'm willing. But, most of my time tends to be devoted to one other group that I help moderate, so like you, I can't promise that I have a lot of time for this one.

I think the first thing that needs to be decided is a set schedule of how group reads are decided, how many, which genres, etc. I believe the group most recently was alternating between classic and contemporary books, reading just one book at a time at a pace of ~50-75 pages a week. Does that approach still appeal to everyone, or do we want to adjust those parameters?

I’d love to see it keep going as well! I have so many chuncksters on my list, and having people to read/talk is helpful for those loooonnnggggg books.

If mod is needed, I volunteer as tribute (bonus— name the trilogy that came from).

*k

Kim wrote: "If mod is needed, I volunteer as tribute (bonus— name the trilogy that came from). "

Lol. You're going to need to come up with tougher questions. ;)

--> Hunger Games

The Trilogy mentioned by Kim was The Hunger Games!

Linda wrote: "Kim wrote: "If mod is needed, I volunteer as tribute (bonus— name the trilogy that came from). "

Lol. You're going to need to come up with tougher questions. ;)

--> Hunger Games"

Hahahaha I've been working 15 hour days for 3 solid weeks now... it's all I could come up with in a pinch :P

Also, the ~50-75pgs a week would be good for me (your question from message 2).

Joseph wrote: "The Trilogy mentioned by Kim was The Hunger Games!"

One of my favorite trilogies! I even have a Hunger Games tattoo :)

Like others, this is one of the first groups I joined, back when Zulfiya was a moderator (she was excellent]. Then later, Dianne became moderator, who also was excellent.

I have since found that good moderators who post engaging, insightful, and thought-provoking questions spawn the same in responses…and a discussion really takes off. Hugh, I already know that you and Linda have those talents in abundance, and I would love for this group to be resurrected - and to be active in this group again.

My experience on here is with more than the 50 to 75 page range for a weekly read. I participated in 2 reads Kristin Lavransdatter which worked well and A Fine Balance which did not..
The "Kristin" group read worked well because we did 3 books of the trilogy in 3 months. I checked the discussion thread and the first thread started August 1st and the last post was October 31, and that was in a thread started earlier in October. Essentially we read about 1100 pages in 12 to 13 weeks or over 80 pages a week. I also participated in another group’s successful read of Trollope novels where we averaged about 80 pages per week.
While I would personally prefer to average more than 100 pages a week, I understand most prefer a much slower pace. So I suggest the parameters to be the following:

"The weekly range will be 70 to 90 pages per week."

This allows for a discussion leader to average a 70 page a week read if felt appropriate. This is a group for people who are willing to tackle Chunksters. I think a weekly range of 50 to 69 pages a week is too small a portion of that chunk for such a group.

Thanks for all of the comments - there is plenty to think about and I think it might be better to spend a little more time doing that before rushing into anything.

The pages per week argument is one I have tended to stay out of, because once I start a book, I like to finish it without interrupting to read anything else, but I can generally remember enough to contribute a little to the later stages of the discussions.

No. I tried. No one ever responded to my comments. BUT, best to all.

Greg wrote: "No. I tried. No one ever responded to my comments. BUT, best to all."

I presume that is a response to the title of the thread. I still think there is some potential for reviving the group, but it has lost a lot of momentum since Dianne became too busy to organise it.

I'd love this group to continue. I think it's possible to report these kind of problems to GoodReads and they can help to reorganize the group and let new moderators get access. I would love to myself but due to chronical conditions that most often prevent me from doing even the easiest tasks I don't want to take on that kind of responsiblity. I never know from day to day how my energies and functions are. But this was one of the first groups I joined and I would be sad watching it die completely,

I'm still here. I love big books. But I like to spread them out over several months, so ~80 pages a week would be the most I could keep up with. I'm in several real-life book clubs and tend to read multiple things at the same time. One in the car. One big book spread out. And then 2-3 books a month for my book clubs...

I'm with Laurel. 80 is the most I would be willing to do in any one week, as well.

I see that an 80 page max would be the consensus and also reflects what is typical of most GR Group reads with weekly discussion threads. I bow to this and withdraw my request for a 60 to 90 page range and suggest either a 60 to 80 page range or 50 to 80 page range.

My desire for a higher page amount per week was a totally self-centered one. I am now reading about 500 pages a week. If I participate in several GR Group book discussions at a time, I find I need to have at least 5 or 6 books going at a time to feed my reading habit,
My problem is that, unlike Laurel, I'm not skilled at juggling so many. Since joining GR in 2014, I have been proud that I now always have 3 books going at a time and can successfully juggle 4 at a time. Unfortunately, that is not good enough if I want to join several GR groups at a time. I have to either become a better juggler, read less, or read less with GR groups.

Hi I just joined this group, and am brand new to Goodreads groups. I’d like to commit to reading some big books, especially some maximalist classics. I just started Miss Macintosh, My Darling, and have my eye on The Making of Americans, JR, Against the Day, and The Book of Disquiet. Anyway, that’s not what you asked on this thread, but just thought I’d introduce myself n the most recent thread and say that I of course would love to see some activity in the group, since I just joined!

Welcome, Manuel! I'm currently doing a slow read of Wolf Hall and then on to the rest of the trilogy.

Thanks for all of your replies. I have been rather distracted by other things, but I will try and get things moving soon.

I think we should start a fresh round of nominations soon , and it is quite tempting to make it open to both classics and contemporary books. I will also think about what I can do to tidy up the folder structure and the bookshelf. I can't see any point in reviving the abortive spring 2020 nominations round because I suspect people's plans will have changed since then and some of the nominators may no longer be in the group.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. =)

Hello, i have just joined the group after reading the discussion on keeping it going. I hope so. Look forward to seeing what books are nominated and sharing thoughts on the books read. I like the mix of books that have been chosen in the past. Cheers.

I still live in hope of this group becoming active again. I am not always great at keeping up with the long reads but love being involved and try to keep on track. I'm also a vote for the 50-80 pages per week as I tend to have a number of books on the go at once. I'd be up for reading both classics and contemporary.

Bron wrote: "I still live in hope of this group becoming active again. I am not always great at keeping up with the long reads but love being involved and try to keep on track. I'm also a vote for the 50-80 pag..."
I am trying - if you haven't already seen it we are taking nominations for the next group read here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...