Joined: 01 Oct 2008 Posts: 853 Birthday: 25 September
Location: Bristol
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject:
I think some people can be a bit wary of reading groups and making suggestions because they worry that the books that they enjoy are not literary enough. It sounds as though you have some ideas to get things started and to keep things going if you need to. I honestly think that once you get talking it will just snowball.
At my last reading group not everyone finished the book, sometimes they did not even start but that did not matter to us as a group and we still encouraged everyone to come along. I think if you get the feeling that some will not come because they have not had time to finish reading, still encourage them to come.
An idea for picking the next book might be for you to pick a selection of books over a decent range and have everyone vote - if you're worried people might not want to stick their hands up you could always do a quick tick a box on a sheet and then count up the votes during a tea break. If you take the lead on the choices for the first few times (or pass it to one of the others who are keen next time) you might find the more reluctant ones feel more comfortable in making a suggestion?
After reading your posts I had a wander down to the library this morning and found out about one of their reading groups. I'm going along tonight, they have just read a book I read a few years ago so I should be able to join in a bit. Lots of people left over the summer as they moved on so they are pretty light on members at the moment and my timing was perfect!
Let me know how your group goes tonight Karen-enjoy!
Thank you too for your comments, I am hoping it will fall into place and turn out ok! _________________ Books 01.09- 18 (5)
Books 02.09- 12 (4)
Books 03.09- 9 (1)
Books 04.09- 3 (0)
Books 05.09- 3(0)
Books 06.09- 8(1)
Books 07.09- 9(0)
Books 08.09- 10(1)
Books 09.09- 3(1)
Books 10.09- 9(1)
Books 11.09- 8 (0)
Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 2516 Birthday: 19th July
Location: Dorset, UK
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:
How exciting Karen, hope you are enjoying it (since I suspect you will be there as I'm typing now!). Will look forward to hearing all about it.
And good luck to you too Katey. I'm sure things will go well, although people may have been reluctant to suggest books up front it should get easier once you start meeting and people know what kinds of things everyone else is suggesting (even though obviously you want everyone to come up with different books) as people may be afraid to impose their tastes on other people and, like Karen said, may worry their preferences aren't literary enough.
I think the idea of discussing people's Top 10's is a good one, it's something I always love asking other readers as it gives you a feel for what people enjoy. You could also ask people to suggest a book that "everyone should read" and give their reasons why, just as a discussion idea.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
