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How Our Group Works

We currently have four group reads every month. One old classic (pre 1900), one new classic (1900-1999), one re-read from our bookshelves and a short story (under 130 pages). We also read a longer classic (600+ pages) every quarter, which gives us more time to read and discuss those monster books. We have several book selections at any one time, but hopefully this gives everyone a chance to pick what interests them most. To see what we've read before, you can browse the group bookshelves, or you can take a look and vote for your favourites on our Listopia list. You’re not obliged to read any of our group choices, though of course we love it when you join in and tell us what you think.

We nominate books two months in advance (which gives everyone plenty of time to find a copy and plan their reads). Nominations open on the 1st of each month and you have two weeks to suggest OR second a book. Polls open on the 16th and run for two weeks, until the end of each month. Winning books will be declared in the Books we're Reading announcements thread and a reminder of current reads, polls and upcoming reads will be sent by group message once a month.

In addition to group reads we have a thread for buddy reads and several challenges, such as our Old and New Classics challenge, Women Authors Challenge, Classics Bingo, personal challenges, A-Z challenges, as well as our Never-ending Country Challenge! These can be joined at any time.

We have several chat threads, to discuss all things book related, such as our favourite classics, film adaptations, or lists of classics that we should have read! We also have a general chat thread, for non-book related posts.

We are a friendly group, all here because we like reading classics, but without any pressure. There are no requirements from anyone to participate in group reads, or to make regular posts. This isn’t the sort of place where you’ll be kicked out for inactivity, though again, we love it when you join in and comment. It makes for a much livelier discussion each month and helps us all get to know one another.

If you are a new member and need help navigating our group, or want to ask a question, then please post below and we’ll be happy to answer. Or if you have a suggestion for our group, something you’d like to see, improvements you think could be made, don’t be afraid of commenting. All opinions are important, so we can make our group run as smoothly and enjoyably for everyone involved :)

Thanks Pink this is great information, wish I had thought of it.

Thanks Bob :) Update to the above information, now including our monthly short story category.

I am delighted to have found this group. But why isn't there a section for newer books? Just a thought.

Hi Veronica, we've debated timescales in the past and after much discussion and voting we agreed on a cut off date of 1999. As we're a classic book group, we like to concentrate on books that qualify for this status. It's hard to assess which modern books will be future classics, plus we have to cut off somewhere to prevent nominations and polls steering away from classics, which after all is what our group is all about. Besides there are plenty of other book groups that concentrate on more recent literature.

If you just want a place to discuss other non classic books that you're reading then we have a general chit chat folder here /topic/group... or a book chatter folder for non-group reads here /topic/group...

Hope that helps. Any more questions just ask :)

Thank you, Pink.

Hi. I was googling a list of books that I could use for this group's Classics Bingo challenge. I ran across this site which might be helpful to everyone. There are all kinds of lists of books by decade, genre, etc.

I didn't know the appropriate place to post it. If this is the wrong spot, feel free to move it or delete it. I don't want to clutter up your feed with unnecessary information. Thanks!

Hi Dawn, that looks a great list! Could come in very hand for lots of our challenges. It's okay posted in this thread. I don't think I can move individual comments anyway, just the whole topic, but if you'd like to repost in a more suitable place we do have a book list thread. It hasn't been used in a while, so you probably didn't notice it. Anyway here's the link to that topic if you'd like to take a look :) /topic/show/...

Will do. Thanks!

DO we have some kind of folder where you can put your individual challenges (if you create your own)? For some reason I remember something like that but can´t find it. I was planning some kind of (classic) fantasy challenge for myself but not sure where to put it...

Desertorum wrote: "DO we have some kind of folder where you can put your individual challenges (if you create your own)? For some reason I remember something like that but can´t find it. I was planning some kind of (..."

There is a thread under challenges & games called 'Personal Classics Challenge' or something like that, think that might be what you're looking for (It's were I had my personal Nobel Laureate Challenge this year)...

Julie wrote: "Desertorum wrote: "DO we have some kind of folder where you can put your individual challenges (if you create your own)? For some reason I remember something like that but can´t find it. I was plan..."

Thanks, that was it! I thought I saw it the other day but now I just didn´t find it because I didn´t understand to click the thread open!

Pink wrote: "How Our Group Works

We currently have three group reads every month. One old classic (pre 1900), one
new classic (1900-1999) and one re-read from our bookshelves. We also read a longer classic (60..."

Bob wrote: "Thanks Pink this is great information, wish I had thought of it."

I can't find our 2016 Personal challenge thread. I posted a personal challenge yeasterday to the 2015 personal challenge thread by mistate.

Dave wrote: "Pink wrote: "How Our Group Works

We currently have three group reads every month. One old classic (pre 1900), one
new classic (1900-1999) and one re-read from our bookshelves. We also read a longe..."

We didn't set up Personal Challenge 2016 -- You can just use the 2015 one, or you can use your discussion thread for Bingo or Old & New Challenges to do that.

Are we allowed to provide a brief summary of why we are nominating a book. If so, should that go on the nomination page or some other page?

If we would like to invite other to a buddy read, where should we post that info? Are their any rules or guidance in how buddy reads should be conducted?

Dave wrote: "Are we allowed to provide a brief summary of why we are nominating a book. If so, should that go on the nomination page or some other page?"

It goes with your nomination -- and please yes, that gives us a better idea of why we should vote for your nomination.

Dave wrote: "If we would like to invite other to a buddy read, where should we post that info? Are their any rules or guidance in how buddy reads should be conducted?"

Solicit for buddy reads here: /topic/show/...

If you can get someone to read with you, ask any moderator and we can set up the threads for the read. We ask that you keep buddy reads to one thread, and follow the rules listed in message #1.

Thanks Cathy for your help.

Dave, I think Kathy has answered all your questions, but if there's anything else just ask.

I'll update the first post slightly with relevant links to our new challenges.

If anyone notices anything else that needs changing, just let me know!

Could someone point me to the official definition of a classic used by the group? I see "classic, according to the groups definition" in some of the trivia rules etc. I understand the pre/post 1900 boundary.

Or perhaps the group uses Mark Twain's servicable definition: A book everybody wants to read but nobody has read.

Also I saw somebody using a map that could be filled in as you go for geographic reading. where is that at please? I could use that for my personal challenge.

Dave, these is no real definition here of what counts as a classic. For older books, I think the fact they're still around proves their worthiness. The lines get a lot more blurry from the 60s/70s/80s onwards. For our purposes if you think a book is worthy of being considered a classic, then it's good enough to get nominated and discussed here.

The map you're looking for can be found in our 'Never ending Country Challenge' Link here to the challenge

We use a site called where you can custom tailor your map to different geographical regions, or the whole world. Hope that helps :)

Thanks Pink!

Update to message 1: Group rules for monthly nominations have changed to only 1 nomination OR second for each book category.

Hiii. I'm new to the group and was wondering how to turn off notifications. I am currently receiving them for new messages on every single thread there is here, and I'd like to keep them only for the ones I'm actively participating in and have commented. How can I fix this? Thanks in advance! (I'm aware this isn't exactly a group-specific question but I never quite figured out how to do it)

You have to be in the website, not the app.
Hover over your avatar in the upper right hand corner, then choose "Account Settings" out of the drop down menu that appears.

Then click on the third tab "Emails". This shows all of your email settings, with group discussion emails down towards the bottom and group read emails on the right hand side.

Melanti wrote: "You have to be in the website, not the app.
Hover over your avatar in the upper right hand corner, then choose "Account Settings" out of the drop down menu that appears.

Then click on the third t..."

I meant goodreads notifications, not emails, but that helped regardless, thank you very much! Think I've got it figured.

This is a great page and easy to follower thank you

Karen wrote: "This is a great page and easy to follower thank you"

I'm glad you found it useful :)

Do we have to sign up for buddy reads etc. or can we just jump in? I've seen interesting discussions about books that I've read once upon a time, but am not currently reading, is participating in that moment still ok, or would you prefer for people to be actively reading the books right now?

Olivia wrote: "Do we have to sign up for buddy reads etc. or can we just jump in? I've seen interesting discussions about books that I've read once upon a time, but am not currently reading, is participating in t..."

No you don't have to sign up for anything, just jump in to whatever interests you, you don't have to be currently reading the book :)

Thank you :)

Hello Pink, I just finished reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and I wrote a comment in the book review section. I was wondering how I can or if I can share my observations with more people. I know this book doesn't exactly fit in to fiction or even non-fiction but it is the author's classic and I thought it significant enough to write about. I'm working on reading more these days and I want to be able to share my thoughts and insights with more people. Do you have any advise on these matters?

Hi Gary
There are a couple of places that you can share about other books with the group:

What's everyone reading right now?
This discussion is the place to discuss books you are reading or have just read.

Book Chatter - non-group Reads
This folder is for buddy reads and other classic books that have not been a group read.

Hi, I have just joined the group and I have a few questions.
In the group reads, I see that a one month time period is given for Far From the Madding Crowd which I want to read. Do you read along at a certain pace or at your own pace and then make comments as you read or make comments at the end? I did a read with another group and we were to read 2 chapters a week and then discuss those chapters. I had a hard time not reading ahead and so I just went ahead and finished the book and then went back to make some comments at the end.
Is there a thread which explains the process for these reads? Thanks so much.

Bobbie wrote: "Hi, I have just joined the group and I have a few questions.
In the group reads, I see that a one month time period is given for Far From the Madding Crowd which I want to read. Do you read along a..."

We usually have a Nonspoiler & Spoiler thread for each monthly read -- and members read the book at their own pace. So if you have not finished a book, beware of the Spoiler thread.

Kathy wrote: "Bobbie wrote: "Hi, I have just joined the group and I have a few questions.
In the group reads, I see that a one month time period is given for Far From the Madding Crowd which I want to read. Do y..."

Thanks, that sounds good to me.

Question for the mods: fairly certain I know the answer, but I'm kind of a boy scout about rules...so just to be sure I'm not breaking any...

I'm on an self-imposed reading schedule, meaning I can rarely join in on monthly group reads. However, many of the monthly reads are classics I've read, so...even though I am not currently reading in the particular month...any issues if I join the discussion?

Joseph wrote: "Question for the mods: fairly certain I know the answer, but I'm kind of a boy scout about rules...so just to be sure I'm not breaking any...

I'm on an self-imposed reading schedule, meaning I can..."

Joseph! Jump right in to all of them or some of them! I look forward to your thoughts! :)

Thanks Loretta!

Joseph wrote: "Thanks Loretta!"

No problem Joseph! :)

Joseph, Loretta is correct. Our book discussions are always open for comment. Comment on any book on our shelf any time you want too.

What Bob said. Yes, do join in!

Joseph wrote: "Question for the mods: fairly certain I know the answer, but I'm kind of a boy scout about rules...so just to be sure I'm not breaking any...

I'm on an self-imposed reading schedule, meaning I can..."

That's what I'm doing. I'm reading for another group and also trying read some of the many unread books I already own. But I've joined in discussing those classics I've read.

Pink wrote: "How Our Group Works..."

I wish every GR group had a post like this. Great info!

Glad it helps :)

hey, are we allowed to change our nominations and seconds say within a day?

Anytime up til when the polls close.

Though, of course, if you withdraw a nomination that someone else has already seconded, that might cause a couple of issues.

Melanti wrote: "Anytime up til when the polls close.

Though, of course, if you withdraw a nomination that someone else has already seconded, that might cause a couple of issues."

thanks :)