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Buddy Reads:
Are of the Informal kind.
If you are reading something and someone else (or multiple someone elses) want to join you then you have yourself a BR.
Set yourself up a thread in this folder if you would like or ask Ireney or myself to do it for you. It is no problem.

Group Reads:
Are the Formal kind.
These appear as an event within the group and you will receive notifications of the start dates etc. Generally, Group Reads will be voted upon and this is how they are selected as a group read. But sometimes, if enough of the group elect the book within discussions, then this is enough to make it a group read.

PLEASE listen up about spoilers.
The first rule of spoilers.
Always use a spoiler when speaking of certain parts of the book.
The 'well I thought it was obvious' defence (which seems to be a common one in every GR group I've been in) does not cut it. What is obvious to you, may not be obvious to someone else.
Spoilers can ruin books for people and that is no fun at all. So take a little bit of time to hide things within a spoiler out of respect for others.
Second rule of spoilers.
Try and title your spoiler with a chapter number or name. If this is not possible use an approx page count. Even when using different editions, page counts are usually within 100 pages of each other. So an 'approx page 302' for example, is acceptable. Then put in your spoiler html.

If you don't know what I am talking about when I say hide in behind a spoiler.
We have a thread to explain what I mean. :)
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

So, those are the spoiler rules. Please adhere to them, because in the name of keeping it fun for everyone, if I see a spoiler in a post that could ruin things, I will (nicely) delete the post and repost it for you with the spoiler hidden.
Please do not be offended if this happens. I mean no disrespect.

That's it! :)

Enjoy your buddy reads and group reads! Buddy Reads and Group Reads are fun and can add an extra layer to your reading pleasure.

How do you pick your group reads? Do you vote on it or just choose a book? Just curious!

Hi Michelle, :)

Our first three reads have come up in discussions as buddy reads.
One of those situations where someone mentions they want to read a book, eg Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead, and another person says they would like to read it too...and before you know it...buddy read!
I then invite the group to join in.

The next read I am thinking about selecting the book based on the tastes and personalities of our active members. No-one has mentioned any Buddy Reads recently and so I was thinking about trying something new for June. Picking the book myself. Seeing if this method is successful.

Usually I send a notification out to the group in the last 10 days of the month to let people know what the book is and that they are welcome to join in.

HI everyone,

I am trying something new this coming June in regards to the Group Read.

As those who have been around for the first three group reads know, the group read has been selected as a result of a few members in the group mentioning in the threads that they would like to read a certain book together.
I would then send out the invite via a broadcast, inviting the group to join in.

For June, we haven't had this happen. No buddy reads have cropped up so I decided to try something new.

Most people on GR who are familiar with group read book selection understand that while nominating a book and then hvaing a poll to vote on is fun and democratic, a large majority of the people who vote aren't going to read the book.
They are voting for the book for something to do (cause it's fun) and have no intention of reading it, or it looks interesting and have no intention of reading it with the group, or they've read it before and liked it and have no intention of reading it.
This means that the people who actually do the group read don't have much of a say.

This is why, I am thinking, that perhaps we should do it like a Book Club, a Terri's Book Club if I may. :)
I investigate different books. Do the leg work, look at previous group reads and involvement, check people's tbrs to see what they have on their lists and choose a book each month for the group based on all this information....as I did with this June book, Rome: The Emperor's Spy.
Do our Group Read in a Book Club style.

I think the big thing is that you all have to trust me. That I will pick something that more than one or two people will want to read.

Just like a nominated group read book, you can't guarantee that the book will be something that you will want to read. You have to give up control to others anyway when voting on books.
And just like a nominated group read book, the moderators can't guarantee that the book is going to be a 5 star or 4 star book. There are too many variables at play to guarantee this.


Any thoughts people?

That sounds reasonable to me.

Incidentally, if you want a Roman read there's always

Eagle in the Snow


Or (oldie but goodie):

Andivius Hedulio: Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire (published in the 1920's, a heck of a good read, and now free on kindle.

I came *pinches fingers together* THAT close to selecting Eagle in the Snow. In the end two factors made me shift to Manda Scott's Rome book....YOU hadn't read it. lol.
So I figured you may be more tempted to join in. But don't feel obliged to join in the Manda Scott book, it was just that when I went to Eagle in the Snow I saw your rating there and I wanted to pick something that active members hadn't read.

The other reason I veered to The Emperor's Spy was because it seemed more gender neutral than Eagle in the Snow. I was thinking that for some women, it may be too masculine if this is their first foray into the HF (non romance/love story related) Rome era.

Well, it's been twenty-odd years since I read it... I was disappointed to see that Wallace Breem died having written only two books. Sigh.

Do give Andivius Hedulio a look. It's a huge tome (on kindle) and quite a romp. In Commodus' time, it is.

I did not know he'd died. :(