Mumsnet book club/readers' group

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello all,
We are going to start a more formal book club where we collectively choose books and set up discussion times/ invite authors to comment etc...

Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? Perhaps you're in a reading group already. If so, what do you like about it and what works well and not so well?

Let us know your thoughts.
Thanks
MNHQ

Bumping for the book club ..

Sounds great, love the idea about the authors, count me in

In our reading group like the fact that we drink coious amounts of wine while chatting.

Yep, I'd be interested.

Oooo yes please I'd really like that.

My main criteria would be no more than a book a month or I can't keep up and then the guilt kicks in ... But less frequent than one a month it gets boring fast, I think.

I'd also like to join. But good to do a mix of current books and older 'classics'.

DD2 just started full days at school, and I haven't yet pulled my finger out and found a job, so I have plenty of reading time.....count me in

Queen of Bleach, we share the same requirements of a book group - corkscrews are a neccesary compliment to literary discussion

They come in handy when someone disagrees with you, too......

Second the mix of classics and modern, plus a real range of stuff to avoid typical stereotypes i.e women don't read sci-fi. If its good sci-fi and its been recommended to me, then I bloody do...as well as all sorts of other things! (Wouldn't want anyone thinking I was some sort of sad, anoraky sci-fi geek {grin}

I would like to join but cannot read misery publishing or v long sentences.

Oh count me in, definitely! (Did someone mention wine )

I struggle to find new authors so would be delighted to get recommendations, and to discuss afterwards would be something new for me that I would like to try

Agree with RubberDuck though, any more than one book a month might be difficult to manage.

(Oh and btw I am a woman and a sci fi geek, and I happen to know that RubberDuck and BabiesEverywhere who I'm sure will be up for this when she sees it is too - there are more of us about than you might think!)

Ditto with slowreader, I reserve the right to drop out of any "My Sickeningly Abusive Childhood In Technicolour" reads.

And if we do Cloud Atlas I shall just drink myself into a state of deep unconsciousness for a whole month, so if you think it's worth risking my liver, go for it

Yep, I also avoid misery publishing like the plague. Very, very heartbreaking stories that would be best told to friends/therapists rather than being sold for profit. However, each to their own.

In our book club, the selection principle is that it must be in paperback, and I value this. Book a month is plenty.

My experience is that the discussion is less good when a non-fiction book is selected, but would bow to others on this (I say this as a confirmed non-fiction reader). I would imagine that the 'rules' may be different for an internet-based club though - quite interesting to see what the results would be.

Misery publishing nein danke, and preferably not too mumsy all round. There could be a principle that there has to be a parent in the book I suppose. That could keep it general. But really I'd rather it was possible to suggest anything at all.

Selection in our club is that people suggest things informally and we set up a list from which we select. In practice, people will suggest book after book until someone else latches on to one of the suggestions as a 'seconder', which will normally clinch the deal. We quite often select based on the reaction to the previous book - e.g. if the book was considered to be quite emotionally draining, we go for something a bit lighter next time, or if it was a bit girly we head for Hemingway, etc.

bump

I'd be interested too

Can I join please, would be informative.

Yes please!

That would be fab, I'm in too.

Bumpety.

i would love to join in - as long as the cirtea meets nothing like 'richard and judy's selection', i'd be happy.

would love to read more 'classics'...

i love horror, sci-fi, adventure, historical books.
fiction and non-fiction.

Count me in. My current craving is biography but will read pretty much anything .. agree that a mix of old and new would be good.

can I join I will read anything (well almost anything) But definatley no misery books

I'd definitely like to join! Great idea.

ideas from my amazon wish list:

The River Cottage Family Cookbook

The Politics of Birth

The Magic Faraway Tree

Pippi Longstocking Gift Edition by Astrid Lindgren, Lauren Child

Silent Spring

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening

The Farmer and the Obstetrician

obviously need more fiction/humour based novels there!