2010-02-23, 10:06 PM
Hello everyone!
After perusing through a number of threads here and knowing how much many of our users love to read, I felt this site would be a wonderfully place to form a unique, globally-diverse group of readers who wish to connect and discuss a novel every month here in The Shady Tree.
The format of this club will be simple: anyone can participate whenever they want, though I will ask for at least one user each month to pledge to read the book within the first week of the month and act as discussion leaders, creating that month's discussion thread with critical comments and questions to begin the conversation. Aside from monthly discussion threads, this thread will be used to choose the book for the upcoming month.
The process for choosing books will also be very straightforward: any time a user wishes to nominate a book they may do so by posting the book's full title, the author's full name, and a brief, book-jacket description of the book to inform others of the story. Users may also include a brief manifesto as to why they wish the book to be chosen for the upcoming month (this is especially encouraged if you have already read the book). Finally, users nominating books must definitively answer Yes or No to the question, "Will you pledge to be a discussion leader for this book if the novel is chosen?"
Starting one week before the first of the next month, I will pick 3-5 novels from the list submitted in this thread within the month (I will draw from older month nominations if not enough are nominated) as final nominees for the next month's book. Users will then have one (1) week in which to vote on which book they wish to read the next month. The book will be officially stated on the first of the month, at which point users will have the opportunity to participate in a separate discussion thread posted by discussion leader(s) within the first week of the month.
With that, have at it! If you wish to comment/amend the process please post your thoughts and ideas, as I'm open to suggestions as to how to make the processes easier for all. In the meantime, the first of March is coming up in only six days, so without further ado, nominations for March 2010's Book of the Month are officially open!
After perusing through a number of threads here and knowing how much many of our users love to read, I felt this site would be a wonderfully place to form a unique, globally-diverse group of readers who wish to connect and discuss a novel every month here in The Shady Tree.
The format of this club will be simple: anyone can participate whenever they want, though I will ask for at least one user each month to pledge to read the book within the first week of the month and act as discussion leaders, creating that month's discussion thread with critical comments and questions to begin the conversation. Aside from monthly discussion threads, this thread will be used to choose the book for the upcoming month.
The process for choosing books will also be very straightforward: any time a user wishes to nominate a book they may do so by posting the book's full title, the author's full name, and a brief, book-jacket description of the book to inform others of the story. Users may also include a brief manifesto as to why they wish the book to be chosen for the upcoming month (this is especially encouraged if you have already read the book). Finally, users nominating books must definitively answer Yes or No to the question, "Will you pledge to be a discussion leader for this book if the novel is chosen?"
Starting one week before the first of the next month, I will pick 3-5 novels from the list submitted in this thread within the month (I will draw from older month nominations if not enough are nominated) as final nominees for the next month's book. Users will then have one (1) week in which to vote on which book they wish to read the next month. The book will be officially stated on the first of the month, at which point users will have the opportunity to participate in a separate discussion thread posted by discussion leader(s) within the first week of the month.
With that, have at it! If you wish to comment/amend the process please post your thoughts and ideas, as I'm open to suggestions as to how to make the processes easier for all. In the meantime, the first of March is coming up in only six days, so without further ado, nominations for March 2010's Book of the Month are officially open!
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