Thank God you guys are here!

[imoan]

I was just told to check out the new book club board. I was told that a lot of the old NBC members didn't migrate to ProBoards, and due to that- there is a lack of entire pages of threads about the latest YA book (my biggest pet peeve about the old board). Don't get me wrong, I LOVED The Hunger Games and stuff like that... but after awhile, it felt like that entire board was devoted to the most trendy YA book at that time. The ladies there were very sweet and wonderful, but I love that it looks like this group will be focusing on more classic literature.

I'm so happy to see you guys! I was getting sad that I had nowhere to go to really discuss what I was reading.

[amyb2332]

Hello! I'm so glad you are here! I'm not sure you know me so this will sound weird but I love your blog and consider you a great source for classic information.

[imoan]

Awwww... THANKS! I'm a compliment whore (I love that I can type "whore" here), so... not weird at all! I'm having a REALLY tough time making my way through my current book (Don Quixote). I'm not sure what it is about it. The language in the book isn't difficult or anything... I'm just having a hard time concentrating on this one for some reason. I think I still have vacation brain. I just have to force myself to finish this one.

[lemondrop]

We really want to make this board a place for all book lovers regardless of genre. I hope we can make it take off!

[Deleted]

So does this mean TIP will ask BC if they'd like to hurry up and read The Great Gatsby and discuss it with us?

[imoan]

LOL Habs... they have 2 days. But Gatsby is short, so totally doable!

[lemondrop]

Damn! Maybe I need to whip through a reread.

[imoan]

May 16, 2012 10:46:10 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

We really want to make this board a place for all book lovers regardless of genre. I hope we can make it take off!

GOOOOD! That's what I was hoping the old NBC would be like... and it never really went in that direction.

[Deleted]

I haven't finished it but I totally can and will.

[angnshaun]

May 16, 2012 10:46:10 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

We really want to make this board a place for all book lovers regardless of genre. I hope we can make it take off!

:Y:

[imoan]

You know me habs... I haven't started it yet, but I'm confident I'll have it finished by Friday. I just need to turn off Supernatural for a few hours

[amyb2332]

May 16, 2012 10:46:35 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

So does this mean TIP will ask BC if they'd like to hurry up and read The Great Gatsby and discuss it with us?

You guys are reading The Great Gatsby? I have heard really good things about the audibook and it is actually on my ipod but I'm listening to something else right now. Maybe I'll pause my other book and see if I can't finish it up!

When is the discussion?

[Deleted]

Friday night at 8pm.

[EllieArroway]

May 16, 2012 10:46:35 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

So does this mean TIP will ask BC if they'd like to hurry up and read The Great Gatsby and discuss it with us?

Gatsby is one of my faves! I will probably butt in when you guys discuss it.

[lemondrop]

May 16, 2012 10:48:31 GMT -5 imoan said:

May 16, 2012 10:46:10 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

We really want to make this board a place for all book lovers regardless of genre. I hope we can make it take off!

GOOOOD! That's what I was hoping the old NBC would be like... and it never really went in that direction.

We just need to have a lot of people willing to talk about a variety of books and not give up if some threads don't have a lot of participation.

I'm completely OK with other boards having a book club or talking about books, but it would be awesome if this could be a place people can feel comfortable coming to for the first time.

[imoan]

We'll make sure we post the chat url Friday afternoon on this board so anyone who wants to join in can. Even if you haven't reread it recently, don't hesitate to join us!

[PinkSquirrel]

May 16, 2012 10:46:10 GMT -5 lemondrop said:

We really want to make this board a place for all book lovers regardless of genre. I hope we can make it take off!

Yes this 100%.

[bluelikejazz]

Yay! I love your blog imoan (I found it lurking in TIP one day).

[Deleted]

If there's no one in it, we could use the proboards chat.

[PinkSquirrel]

May 16, 2012 10:50:57 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

Friday night at 8pm.

Well that gives me three days of reading during work to get it done. Totally doable

[chicacocodrilo]

May 16, 2012 10:45:11 GMT -5 imoan said:

Awwww... THANKS! I'm a compliment whore (I love that I can type "whore" here), so... not weird at all! I'm having a REALLY tough time making my way through my current book (Don Quixote). I'm not sure what it is about it. The language in the book isn't difficult or anything... I'm just having a hard time concentrating on this one for some reason. I think I still have vacation brain. I just have to force myself to finish this one.

Another person who you don't know but who loves your blog, too. And Don Quixote? It's been on my currently reading list for six years now, so I understand where you're coming from. My husband loved it, though, and is willing to re-read The Iliad if I tackle Don Quixote again. We'll see!

[imoan]

May 16, 2012 10:54:16 GMT -5 bluelikejazz said:

Yay! I love your blog imoan (I found it lurking in TIP one day).

THANK YOU! I'm thoroughly enjoying writing it! Now if I could just get past Don Quixote! :N:

[EllieArroway]

I irrationally hate Don Quixote because I was forced to read it in Spanish. Honestly, I don't even remember what it was about, just that I hated it.

[imoan]

May 16, 2012 10:57:46 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

I irrationally hate Don Quixote because I was forced to read it in Spanish. Honestly, I don't even remember what it was about, just that I hated it.

It's killing me because it's like "Here's a story about how Don Quixote is a dumb ass, almost gets killed but lives. Oh wait... and here's ANOTHER story about how he's a dumb ass, almost gets killed, but lives". Occasionally, his dumbass-ness is amusing (like when he's fighting windmills), but when he's trying to fight something else stupid (like sheep) for the 30th time... I'm sooooooo over it.

[msmerymac]

Welcome, imoan! It's great to see you.

Thanks to you, I really do think I'll read War and Peace this year. Hopefully. The tough part is that I have a 112 book goal for 2012. Which means it really behooves me to read things like short YA novels, right? Therefore it really cuts down on my classic reading, or getting into some good stuff.

Next year I think my goals will be more in line with reading 1 book I already own in a physical copy a month, at least one I already own on my kindle a month, classics, working on the Modern Library Association list of best novels of the 20th century, etc.

So... I will have to look at your blog more for ideas for must-reads. :-)

[imoan]

MrsMeryMac- that's the hard thing with the quantity book goals. I could read 112 children's book... and technically I met my goal. I definitely believe that it's quality over quantity. Yeah, I might not have as many books read on my monthly list when they used to post them on the old NBC, but I felt they were worth taking the extra time. Maybe start having a goal where you'll read 112 books, but X number of those will be a difficult classic that you feel you should read.

You TOTALLY should read War and Peace. Like I said, I was terrified by it and at the end was SO glad I had read it. It's honestly not a difficult read... it's just the length that intimidates people. But you don't need to read it BY a certain time... so who cares how long it takes. I gave myself a goal of reading 10% of the book a day and that personally really helped me.

[imoan]

May 16, 2012 10:56:05 GMT -5 chicacocodrilo said:

May 16, 2012 10:45:11 GMT -5 imoan said:

Awwww... THANKS! I'm a compliment whore (I love that I can type "whore" here), so... not weird at all! I'm having a REALLY tough time making my way through my current book (Don Quixote). I'm not sure what it is about it. The language in the book isn't difficult or anything... I'm just having a hard time concentrating on this one for some reason. I think I still have vacation brain. I just have to force myself to finish this one.

Another person who you don't know but who loves your blog, too. And Don Quixote? It's been on my currently reading list for six years now, so I understand where you're coming from. My husband loved it, though, and is willing to re-read The Iliad if I tackle Don Quixote again. We'll see!

THANK YOU! It means a lot!

And yeah, if finishing Don Quixote meant I had to watch my H suffer through The Iliad, I would TOTALLY make it happen!

[sparrowsong]

May 16, 2012 11:11:11 GMT -5 imoan said:

MrsMeryMac- that's the hard thing with the quantity book goals. I could read 112 children's book... and technically I met my goal. I definitely believe that it's quality over quantity. Yeah, I might not have as many books read on my monthly list when they used to post them on the old NBC, but I felt they were worth taking the extra time. Maybe start having a goal where you'll read 112 books, but X number of those will be a difficult classic that you feel you should read.

You TOTALLY should read War and Peace. Like I said, I was terrified by it and at the end was SO glad I had read it. It's honestly not a difficult read... it's just the length that intimidates people. But you don't need to read it BY a certain time... so who cares how long it takes. I gave myself a goal of reading 10% of the book a day and that personally really helped me.

That's why I could never get into all the challenges either. I don't see the point when I really do believe in quality over quantity. Maybe if they challenges were by # of pages instead of # of books. I have an uncanny ability to gravitate towards books that are 400 pages or more, often lots more. But then reading on kindle it's hard to keep track of pages too.

I just read, and read what I want when I want. I don't feel the need to prove I read a lot by reaching 100 books a year. I really don't mean to be snarky on that - I understand and respect the fun of having a goal, I really do. Those who are into it, read on soldier! I assume most aren't purposely choosing short books, but reading stuff they'd want to read anyway. I hope anyway. Life is too short to read anything you don't really want to read.

[angnshaun]

May 16, 2012 11:25:16 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

May 16, 2012 11:11:11 GMT -5 imoan said:

MrsMeryMac- that's the hard thing with the quantity book goals. I could read 112 children's book... and technically I met my goal. I definitely believe that it's quality over quantity. Yeah, I might not have as many books read on my monthly list when they used to post them on the old NBC, but I felt they were worth taking the extra time. Maybe start having a goal where you'll read 112 books, but X number of those will be a difficult classic that you feel you should read.

You TOTALLY should read War and Peace. Like I said, I was terrified by it and at the end was SO glad I had read it. It's honestly not a difficult read... it's just the length that intimidates people. But you don't need to read it BY a certain time... so who cares how long it takes. I gave myself a goal of reading 10% of the book a day and that personally really helped me.

That's why I could never get into all the challenges either. I don't see the point when I really do believe in quality over quantity. Maybe if they challenges were by # of pages instead of # of books. I have an uncanny ability to gravitate towards books that are 400 pages or more, often lots more. But then reading on kindle it's hard to keep track of pages too.

Same here.. i set 111 for last year... i only got to 92 or 93. The Manson, JFK & J. Edgar Hoover books took me a long time to read. So it totally screwd me... but they ended up being some of my favorite books i read last year.

[imoan]

Already I love this board over the old NBC. You guys actually understand the quality over quantity thing. I was starting to feel like I was alone on that board and that's why I stopped participating. It looks like there were plenty of other people who were keeping silent about the same issues.

And I don't think anyone was necessarily picking shorter books to make their goal... but I do think that a lot of the people with those goals have tastes that tend to run towards the shorter (YA) books... so it made it easier for them to reach 200 books per year than it would some of the rest of us.

And I have the EXACT same problem sparrowsong... like I gravitate towards expensive shit without realizing it's expensive, I too gravitate towards large ass books!