Category: book Nook
Hey guys, As many of you on here are my friends and intelligent people at that, I thought to generate my new idea here first. I want to start a virtual book club. It would all be done remotely--and maybe, if there was enough interest--there could be phone or TT conferences to discuss the books... or just virtual text discussions. I don't know yet, but what I do know is this:
The books which would be read would be voted in by the members of the club
My goal is to explore a variety of genres so that we're more familiar with what everyone is into and we can gain an appreciation for well-rounded reading,
None of the books would cost anything--I'd make sure that all of the selections would be accessible to blind people via the various media we can tap into
And this would be for fun. it wouldnt' be super time consuming for anyone, just a way to enjoy the same books and bond with friends and forge new friendships.
So? Who's in?
You can comment below if you're interested,and feel free to let us know your favorite author, book or genre, just to give me an idea of what the club would be comprised of.
Oh. By the way, I have some really cool writer contacts, so down the road if we were really into a book or series, I could possibly get an author or at least a PR person to chime into the discussion or answer some questions. Just throwing that out there. :)
hi, i'm interested. Just a thought, why not using goodreads instead? It seems like you are reinventing something that is already exist and fairly accessible. You can start up a specific group/club if that is what you want.
I'm in, bernadetta. Lol I'm not into twilight or 50 shades of gray, thanks! Just
throwing that out there! I love the idea!
Meeeee!
I like nonfiction psychology, romance, and suspense.
Goodreads is too impersonal for me. I want to start something more original--on a smaller scale.
Thanks guys for your interest. Keep em coming, people.
I'm interested. And I'm right there with Dolce, no Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey!
Mostly mystery, romance, humor for me.
Sounds interesting.
Bob
Yay!! Thanks guys. I must officially state, this book club will, under no circumstances, be reading fifty shades of shit or any sparkly vampire love stories. lol. thank you, and sorry to disappoint.
hahahaha
LOL I am in!
I enjoy literary fiction, biographies, histories... almost anything but hardcore romance, scifi or fantasy.
Kate
I don't care for scifi either, but getting humor recommendations would be nice.
Hi, if I was to say yes, would you make sure the books are available in all countries? What I mean by that is, America has access to quite a lot more books than Australia sadly; it's got to do with copyright stuff etc. I could be interested. :)
Yeah. I could make it happen. I know how to get you access to the books. :)
Hi,
I want to get into reading more, and this book club idea sounds great!! Currently, I'm reading the King and Maxwell series and have read the first and sixth books. I like mysteries, especially that involve murder or some specific type of drama, nonfiction, fiction, biographies, romance, but not those vampire things lol:). Let me know when this goes live!! If you need help with a sort-of website or something, I can create a basic set-up.
Nathan.
This sounds fun, and I'm interested. Virtually speaking, where would the book club meet for discussions? Would this be a zone forum group, private Facebook group? I like reading outside my comfort zone, and I'm totally in with the "No 50 Shades" crowd. I like urban fantasy stuff, dystopian post apocalyptic novels, and a romance now and then. I'll read anything as long as the plot is decent.
Yeah, was wondering what happen with this.
I'm in. I like mysteries, no issue with sci fi/fantasy stuff if it manages to be engaging. I also like comedies, authors like Terry Pratchett are especially good I think.
It's still on guys, just trying to generate a bit more interest. I'll be back with more details about virtual meetings, etc. on Friday. K? So glad you guys like the idea and I'm excited to get started.
Count me in, belatedly. And let me just throw out that I like classics, and
thrillers, and the odd nonfiction work now and then.
Yay, cody. sure thing.
Now, I think the only other question I'd have is, how long would we have to read each book? I've never been in a book club before.
I do read a couple of hours a day eg while I travel to and from work and sometimes in bed etc.
I remember in primary school when we use to have to read a book in two weeks and i had trouble keeping to that time; now of course I think it'd be different but reading to a time limit will be something I'd need to get use to again. :)
ah, wel, that particular factor could be decided amongst us all. It all depends on how much time we all have to dedicate to this. I mean for this club to be for leisure, friendship and fun, not to stress or overwhelm anyone.
Plus, I found a free venue for us to use for discussions and such. actually, I have a few ideas. But we'll decide what's best as a group. I'll update you with more details tomorrow.
Sounds grand! :)
Alright, today's the day. Can't wait! I love reading, so... :)
Ok guys, I've come up with two options for our virtual venue.
1. we can use Team Talk. Not everyone has team talk (including me), but everyone on the zone can get it and though I've never used it myself, I assume its pretty simple and accessible. This would give us the opportunity to meet in real-time, more like a traditional book club. The downside is, not everyone has a stable internet connection, some people may prefer to text-chat instead of participating in a verbal discussion, and not everyone in the group can conform to the same schedule for the meetings.
So the second option is:
2. Trello.
You guys may not be familiar with this, but trello is a site where organizations and groups can work and interact together via an organized system.
I was introduced to trello recently, since I'm working in a writing team which conducts its business via this virtual venue. It's very accessible and it could meet our needs perfectly.
The downsides to trello are: you may not get the hang of it at first, though the system is fairly easy to grasp, even to a person with a limited understanding of technology. We wouldn't be able to meet virtually and speak verbally--we'd instead discuss our books, etc. via the board using these threads known on trellow as cards--so if someone is more interested in a live, verbal discussion, this may be a downside.
on the other hand, trello allows a group to be very well organized and we could conduct discussions on our own separate schedules.
So now, this is a democracy; let's vote. who prefers team-talk, and who would like us to try out trello.
You could also chime in with suggestions of your own which we can all consider.
If we go with Trello, you'll each have to sign up on
www.trello.com
It's really simple; you just register your email and a password, and you're in. Totally free (literally) and hassle-free as well. Then, once you've signed up, you let me know the email address you're listed under and I'll add you to the book club group. and we'd take it from there. I'm pretty sure that trello is completely accessible with all screen readers, and you can easily navigate the group's info by headings and links.
So let's go. Ready, set, vote!!
I'm shy and introverted-like, so my vote would be for some sort of compromise. Maybe to hold the main group discussion over Trello or other text media, and potentially have teamtalk meets for something particularly interesting to the group, such as a viral topic. Audio discussions flow better as far as conversation goes, but on the other hand, I'm better at organizing my thoughts in writing. I could make Teamtalk work, but you're right in that it may be hard to find a good schedule for such a scattered group.
I almost suggested ZBP, but remembered, there's a limit on the conferences.
My computer can't handle TT, so I go with text.
I can't do ZBP either, and I'm not crazy about teamtalk, so personally, I prefer trello. I already made a demo group board for the book club for you guys to check out. lol. But it's up to the majority. the rest of the group has yet to speak, so we shall see. :)
My vote is for text. I think it would be easier than all of us trying to talk over
each other on TT.
I'm with text/trello
Ok. awesome. So PM me your email addresses after you sign up for trello and we can get started this weekend or early next week if all are on board.
One member, @haunted Revery, already messaged me her user email and is already a member of the trello board. Who's next?
I agree with text, right? But I think either way we'd still have to get together as
a group when we can all find the time. I'm not voting for anything in particular,
but I think we're old enough to hold decent voice conversations. Text would be
good to have an archive, but in my opinion not to interact. but ok most vted for
text so I guess text it is
Well, with trello, you have comments from each person listed in chronological order just like you do on these boards, so discussing a book would be similar to contributing to, say, a zone board. So we wouldnt' all have to be present at the same exact time to participate. And Let's say we all really wanted to discuss a particular book in person. For those occasions when everyone might want to get together for a discussion, we can get on Skype or teamTalk. So maybe let's use text as the default mode of communication and plan on Skype or teamTalk get togethers if there's enough interest at a particular time. :)
Bernadetta I agree. I was just putting it out there because yes we do have
online groups, but if someone's shy or something these discussions would help
them let some conversation out or the like. I like the text idea. However I think
the reasons not to have one are a bit out, except for the low internet we
sometimes get. lol! but text sounds good to me
The majority is against my opinion, but I like voice chat way better than text communication. If this book club is supposed to help persons make friends, it seems that voice chat helps a lot more. With text, it's kind of an impersonal method of communicating, just like text messages are. But, again, I'm a minority:) I'll figure this site out tomorrow, this trello thing.
I'm with trello. :)
I'll set it up tonight and let you know. :)
Ok guys. So, out of those who have expressed interest in the book club, only six have signed up for trello and I've registered most of you--adding the rest of you who have signed up right now. I've been preoccupied with family stuff in the last week so I havent' updated, but I assure you, the book club is still going on. Looking forward to officially starting it up soon... especially now that I have a brand-spankin'-new braille display on which to read. lol. Anyway, whoever else is joining, please just sign up at
www.trello.com
and then send me your username, which is also your email address. For those of you who aren't keen on giving out your email addresses to the likes of me (I'm sure you all know--I'm a major online stalker.), you can easily create a secondary email account just for this--via gmail or something. lol.
Anyway, that's all for now.
I'd love to join, please.
I'm more in favor of voice chat, Skype or a phone chat thing, but I'll go along with whatever is decided on. Perhaps we can arrange a voice discussion sometime in the future, though. It does add much, if part of the aim is to find new friends, and that's certainly one thing I look forward to.
My reading taste runs to literary fiction, occasional mystery, 19th century books, and not much romance or Scifi.
Thanks for doing this!
Bernadetta I signed up for trello and downloaded the app. This thing doesn't
allow me to send me messages so for reasons that are unknown to me. I'll
provide my e-mail address when you log on
Mili, since I keep missing your messages when we're logged on at the same time, feel free to send me a facebook message with the email you use for trello. lol. I'll be sure to get it there. :)
Violet Blue, thanks for your interest. Down the road, once everyone's signed up and able to follow a discussion via the Trello site where everyone will be able to participate, I think we'll figure out a voice chat solution for those who would like to participate in that. Maybe we can do that biweekly or something. We'll see--but for now, we'll start with the text chat.
Thank you so much for your interest and I sincerely hope you join us. We'd love to have you.
A bit late to the party, but would you guys mind one more? I've been completely overloaded with school work for the last eight months and now I'm one week into a three and a half month break and I'm bored out of my mind. This sounds like something fun to occupy my time. And as for tastes, I'll pretty much read anything.
Sure. Please join. To tell you the truth, we haven't really kicked things off yet, but we will. I was hit with a few illnesses in my immediate family, plus I started a new job and I'm in the process of organizing my new writing team, so the book club has taken a backseat for a while. But I'm not abandoning the idea or the people who have shown interest; Please stay tuned. And for those of you who havent' signed up for trello, if you're still interested, please do.
www.trello.com
And send me a note to add you to the group.
Thank you.