Group Read Organization

Several of our folks are interested in organizing group reads. This space is just the place!

I love doing paired/group reads - it's fun to add a social aspect to what's usually such a solitary, individual activity! Here's my current to-read pile if anybody would feel inspired to jump into one of these with me over the course of a week or two sometime:

Fiction:
The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
The Woman Destroyed - Simone de Beauvoir
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Magus - John Fowles
Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
Obasan - Joy Kogawa
State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
The Last Man - Mary Shelley
On Beauty - Zadie Smith
Saving Fish from Drowning - Amy Tan

Nonfiction/Memoir:
Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt - TJ Stiles
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography - Laura Ingalls Wilder

>2 okrysmastree: Oh! The Master and Margarita! I read the Burgin/O'Connor translation last year and adored it! I've been considering reading a different translation this year for comparison.

I might join a read-along of The Master and the Margarita later in the year. Don't have time right now.

ETA: I would also try to participate in a group read of The Name of the Rose or To Kill a Mockingbird

I love The Master and Margarita but don't think I'd take part in a group read of it - I have too many unread books to get through first.

Out of the books that have been mentioned so far, I'd be interested in group read of:

The Magus
The Last Man
The Name of the Rose
To Kill a Mockingbird
and possibly
Notes on a Scandal and
State of Wonder (I don't know if I can get hold of them).

I'm not in this group, but I would join for The Master and Margarita if allowed.

The Name of the Rose is a book that I've often thought about reading.

If we scheduled a The Master and Margarita read for a couple of weeks in late March or early April would that interest folks? Maybe Sunday March 20 - Monday April 4, or Friday April 1 - Saturday April 16? (The book is 32 shorter chapters so 2/day over 16 days seems leisurely)

I'd love to do The Magus as a group read as well, as it's a longer book and a bit daunting!

I'm actually reading The Name of the Rose right now, if anyone is interested in turning that into a paired/mini group read immediately! I'm just beginning Day Two (of seven; the book takes place over a week and each day is its own section) and am tentatively planning to finish it by the end of the week, or at least mid-next week, taking roughly a section per day.

>8 okrysmastree: I can't read In the Name of the Rose right now, I'm a bit swamped, and I'm currently not a very fast reader so I'd probably need a whole month for a group read, no matter what the book.

>8 okrysmastree: >9 PawsforThought: I just checked The Name of the Rose out of the library. However, looking at it, it's not realistic to think I could read it right now, certainly not by the end of the week. Too much to do with work, school, church (it's Lent) plus I'm in the middle of 4 other books.

>4 The_Hibernator:, >9 PawsforThought: Maybe we could work out a shared read of Name of the Rose later, or at least at a more leisurely pace? Anyone who has already finished it would certainly be welcome to chime in with their thoughts.

Understandable, I think my goals may be a little unrealistic on this one myself - the prose is surprisingly easy to get lost in though, especially if you enjoy loving superdetailed descriptions of old monasteries! It keeps reminding me of the Redwall books I read as a child, of all things (fused with Sherlock Holmes of course).

Maybe a full month to read The Master and Margarita would be a good idea then, too - anyone interested in doing that over the month of April?

As I said before, I'm not going to join in a group read of M&M, but I'll definitely follow along the discussion whenever a group read of it is scheduled. It'll be interesting to see what everyone's thoughts on it are.

// I just realised I'm wearing a The Master & Margarita t-shirt. I'm such a nerd.

Well, I think I could squeeze in The Master and the Margarita in April. It's Autism Awareness month and I plan on reading a couple of new non-fiction books on the subject (Neurotribes & In a Different Key), so it'll be tight.

As for reading The Name of the Rose I could potentially squeeze it in during March - though I suggest a whole month and not two weeks. That is, if other people would want to read it that early. Otherwise, I'm cool with another month.

I'm good with Master and Margarita in April and The Name of the Rose in March, but whatever works for the most people is fine with me.

April for M&M is good.

>12 PawsforThought: It's a sign.

I just looked at my reading schedule. I'd rather do Name of the Rose later in the year...it's pretty long. Maybe May? But if people want March, I'll do my best.

>13 The_Hibernator: Glad to see you thinking of Autism Awareness month. I plan to put up my annual Autism Awareness thread again this April.

I could probably do Name of the Rose in March if I had all month. May would work too. From what I can see, it would actually fit with May Murder & Mayhem, if we have that theme again this year.

Yay, I'll set a reminder for myself to create a M&M groupread thread a week or so before April so people have time to procure a copy!

See post 20 down below from @The_Hibernator.

May for The Name of the Rose works for me.

Started a thread for Master and the Margarita so that people would have time to get their books. https://www.librarything.com/topic/219712

Are we going with May for The Name of the Rose??

>21 tymfos: I'm in for The Name of the Rose in May. Hopefully more people will join, too.

I'm so glad it was suggested - I've been meaning to read Eco for a few years now and never got around to it, this is the perfect kick up the bum!

May for Name of the Rose

Doing another Bowie top 100 later this month with IreadthereforIam (Megan): Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. You can find the thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219758#5496819

Come join us!!

>22 PawsforThought: I'm in for The Name of the Rose in May. Hopefully more people will join, too.
>23 The_Hibernator: May for Name of the Rose

Good!

The Category Challenge group also organizes group reads now and then, and they accept non-group members joining in, so if anyone is interested in their reads check out the group read thread and the group page with the group reads listed at the top.

The list currently states the following reads:

First Quarter: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
February: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Second Quarter: Robertson Davies Author Read
July: The Round House by Louise Erdrich
August: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
September: The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
November: Barbara Pym Author Read
Year-Long Group Reads: The Vorkosigan Saga; Fables by Bill Willingham

I wish I'd had time to join in on the War and Peace group read (I just started watching the BBC mini-series) but January and February have been hectic (Mars and April don't look much better, sadly) so it would've been an impossible task. It's definitely on my TBR list, though.

Hello, I'm new here - I've just today joined the group and April's Master and Margarita group read. I haven't yet set up a thread for myself but I will!

If later in the year there's a group read for either Notes On A Scandal or On Beauty I'd definitely be interested in joining. Also maybe The Woman Destroyed.

>27 MsLdnReads: On Beauty might be a good read for one of the summer months!

>27 MsLdnReads: Welcome!

This isn't exactly a group read, but I don't think we have a thread for Monthly Themes this year.

I've started my annual April Autism Awareness thread.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/220532

The thread is not meant to compete with any other monthly theme or group read for the month. It's just here for folks who want to share reading on the topic.

Is anyone interested in planning another group read for later in the year? The group read for The Master and Margarita has just kicked off and some of use are reading The Name of the Rose in May but there's nothing planned after that. Maybe a summer read would be fun? Either a lighter, more leisurely read to fit the summertime weather (at least for most of us in the northern hemisphere) or a really long one (not necessarily dense or difficult, though) to really last the summer long. Anyone?

The books that have been suggested for group reads but not yet picked up are as follows:

(Parentheses are number of people who have expressed interest so far.)

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1)
The Magus by John Fowles (3)
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (3)
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (3)
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
On Beauty by Zadie Smith (3)
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1)
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee (1)
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan (1)
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (Year long) (2)
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (3)
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (2)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (3)
The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir (2)

Any other ideas are warmly welcome. If you have any suggestions, speak up and I'll add them to the list.

Also, these are the group reads planned over in the Category Challenge group, if anyone is interested in any of those.
* Second Quarter: Robertson Davies Author Read
* July: The Round House by Louise Erdrich
* August: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
* September: The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
* November: Barbara Pym Author Read
* Year-Long Group Reads: The Vorkosigan Saga; Fables by Bill Willingham

>31 PawsforThought: I have the following on my shelf and would interested in doing a group read with any of them:

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
Thunderstruck
State of Wonder
Saving Fish from Drowning

I ended up reading Pioneer Girl last month - it's actually kind of an afternoon read despite its textbook size, a lot of it is maps and picture inserts or footnotes! The actual manuscript is tiny.

I'd be up for State of Wonder or (if nonfiction is interesting) Thunderstruck!

I'd be up for To Kill a Mockingbird

I'd be interested in Notes On A Scandal, On Beauty, and/or The Woman Destroyed, as I've all of those on my shelves. Also The Magus, although I'd have to borrow/buy that one.

>32 Tara1Reads: >33 KLmesoftly: >34 The_Hibernator: >35 MsLdnReads: Great, thanks! Numbers have been updated.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a book not currently on the list? Just because these have been suggested before doesn't mean anything is set in stone and a brand new suggestion could sweep away the "competition".

I'm looking for an excuse to pick up a copy of Alexander Chee's new release, The Queen of the Night - it has a lot of early possible-best-of-2016 literary buzz right now!

Year long Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series?

>37 KLmesoftly: >38 The_Hibernator: Adding them

>38 The_Hibernator: I've been meaning to pick up A Storm of Swords for a while so I might just join in on that, though it'll probably be later in the year as I've started Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind and I can't read two fantasy epics at the same time.

I've updated the list with the new suggestions.

I've been wanting to read The Name of The Wind

>41 The_Hibernator: Should I add that to the list? I've only just started reading it so I could put it off until later if people want to do a group read.

You could add it, though it's a lot of reading! Let's see who else would be interested

>43 The_Hibernator: Could be a summer read, June-August. Plenty of reading time. But we'll see if anyone's interested first.

:) I meant the whole series! Three months is surely pushing it!

>45 The_Hibernator: Well, that's probably a bit too much for most of us (myself included). And reading the whole series might be a bit off-putting for people who've never read any of the books. But the first book, or just a theme read (reading whatever part you're currently at) might be more enticing.

>41 The_Hibernator: I have The Name of the Wind on the TBR pile so would be interested in joining in a group read of that.

>47 souloftherose: Sure, that would be fun if we can find others who are interested. Anyone interested in The Name of the Wind?

>47 souloftherose: >48 The_Hibernator: Well, there's three of us now. Hopefully more people will be up for it. What do you think of having it be a summer long read?

Okay, so far these books have the most people with an expressed interest (three people each). That doesn't mean anything is settled yet so please speak up if you want a group read of any of the other mentioned books (or an unmentioned one). There are many months left in the year yet.

The Magus by John Fowles
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I suggested making possibly making The Name of the Wind a summer long group read (so June-July-August). If we do that, there's still room for "regular" group reads during June, July and August whether people want to join the Rothfuss read or not.

For those possibly interested in reading The Magus, would May be too soon for you? I'm thinking about taking it with me when I do some travelling in early May since it's my longest owned book and would probably give me enough material to take up an international flight. ;)

>51 KLmesoftly: I can't do may for The Magus as we're planning on reading The Name of the Rose then and I can't do two group reads at once of they're both month-long.
I don't know how others interested in The Magus feel, though.

May is mental illness month. I'm already behind on The Master and Margarita, and still hope to read The Name of the Rose, but I'm also planning on squeezing in a teensie-tinsie little book 10 days in a Madhouse, by Nellie Bly, as well as throwing in some audiobooks like Sliver Linings Playbook, and maybe a nonfiction book like Furiously Happy, or My Age of Anxiety. Anybody interested in a group read or a mental illness theme month? I think May is also Mark's mystery month (I could be wrong - but if so The Name of the Rose fits!), and I don't want anyone to feel like I'm competing with that.

>53 The_Hibernator: I would be interested in a mental illness theme for May, Rachel. I plan to read two relevant books from this year's Wellcome Book Prize next month, Playthings by Alex Pheby, a novel about the last years of the German judge Daniel Paul Scherber, author of Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, his account of his experiences as a schizophrenic, and Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss, the sequel to her novel Bodies of Light, in which the newly minted Dr. Ally Cavendish begins her medical career by working in a mid 19th century English asylum.

>53 The_Hibernator: I am a maybe for mental illness month. I periodically read so much with a mental illness theme that I make myself sick of reading about it. I am not sure how I will feel in May, but I do own a lot of books that would fit this theme and there's a lot on my library wish list that fit.

>53 The_Hibernator: We've had multiple themes in a month before. These two themes are far apart, so won't compete with each other except for those interested in both that may not have as much reading time as they like. Go for it!

*discovers thread via mentions on book page* I'm actually reading Shelley's Last Man right now. If you wind up doing a group read of it sometime, drop me a line and I can swing by. :)

>57 .Monkey.: What do you think of it so far? I'm hoping to read it in the next month or two!

>57 .Monkey.: I'd love to read The Last Man someday. I loved Frankenstein and bought The Last Man a few years ago at a book sale but never got around to reading it.

Calling all group read interested LTers!

The books with the most people are, as I stated in >50 PawsforThought:, as follows:
The Magus by John Fowles
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Is there anyone out there who hasn't declared an interest but would like to do so? (You can of course say you want to vote any of the books mentioned so far - see >31 PawsforThought: for a complete list - or any book NOT mentioned yet.)

A few of us are going to read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose in May, and anyone is of course welcome to join. If you're not interested in that one but would like to do another group read in May, there's nothing stopping that, but please remember that there might be people interested in both that read and the Eco and doing two group reads at the same time could be a bit too much. I know it would be for me.

KLmesoftly suggested reading The Magus in May, but I was wondering if June could work better.
Also, TheHibernator, souloftherose and I have discussed reading The Name of the Wind - possibly as a summer long read.

What do you all think?

>59 PawsforThought: Yeah, I bought it a few years back but hadn't gotten to it so I put it on my TBR Challenge for this year. :)

>58 KLmesoftly: To be perfectly honest, I'm currently not especially thrilled, hahaha. That's why I went looking to see if it had any discussions that would maybe sway my perceptions otherwise. I mean the writing is very well done, but it's incredibly melancholy. I don't want to go into detail here, but I'd not recommend it for anyone depressed! I am fully invested though, and will let you know if my view changes when I've read the end. :P The actual subject of the book has only barely started now, so I'm curious to see how things shape up, it's entirely possible that I will find the end thoroughly rewarding!

>60 PawsforThought: A summer long group read for The Name of the Wind would work for me. I would probably read the book in one go rather than spread it out over 3 months though - is that ok?

>62 souloftherose: Of course! It just means that people who want to join can do it any time during June, July and/or August. You decide the speed you read at.

>60 PawsforThought: I'll be bringing The Magus with me when I go traveling in early May, since it's my longest (pagecount-wise) and one of my oldest TBRs and I need a good airport/airplane read, but if you do a June groupread I'll try to check in and participate in discussion a bit!

I'm doing a paired read of State of Wonder with a friend next week, so pull my vote off that one too for down the line ;)

>62 souloftherose: I probably wouldn't go for a three month period, either. But I'd like to read Name of the Wind. A group read would be fun.

The group read for The Name of the Rose starts in just over a week. Unless someone beats me to it, I'll get a thread up over the weekend.

Hi all! We're going to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens starting September 1. Here's the group read thread.

Great Expectations Group Read

Everybody welcome!

With October only a few weeks away, my mind is turning towards the annual Halloween thread. I'd be more than happy to start it up if no else has volunteered for it.

Go for it!

Year-long read of the Bible next year anyone?

>70 The_Hibernator: Sounds daunting, but rewarding. I'd be interested.

Yeah, Amanda, it's daunting. That's why I thought a group read would be nice to keep me in line and on-track. I'd love if some people would join, it would be so much fun!

I found a Bible as Literature course on MIT's open courseware, and I suggest following a schedule similar to that in the course, where one session would be 2 weeks of next year - that would get the whole Bible read in 50 weeks. The nice thing about the course is it also gives some essay questions, might spark some discussion in a group read, too. :)

I've read the Bible from cover to cover only once in my life, and I'd like the opportunity to do it again more meticulously - this time interpreting from a literary perspective. I'm going to dedicate 2017 to reading the Bible and related nonfiction. I will read and post throughout the year regardless of whether anyone joins me, but I'd love it if I had company. If you'd like to join, let me know.

Here's the idea: MIT Open Courseware has an outline for Bible course. I'll follow this basic outline, though, for the sake of completeness, I added sections of the Bible skipped by this course. The nice thing about this course is that it provides some interesting discussion questions. If you want to join you can simply read along with me, or you can go all-out and delve into MIT's course. Also, you can read some sections and not others, or you can read at a different pace. All that is cool! What is not cool is being rude or confrontational - this is meant to be a literary reading of the Bible for people of all beliefs.

Below is an outline of when we'll be covering the material:



I was going to embark upon this journey this year, but the group I was reading it with fell apart before the year began. That's why this year I'm going to do it regardless of whether I have company, but hopefully some of you will join me!

In preparation I purchased a few different translations of the Bible:



For this project, I will focus mainly on the Literary Study Bible, but I'm hoping to have time to compare to the other translations and let you all know which translations are the most moving to me.

>73 The_Hibernator: I will join you in your Bible in a year reading. I've done this at least three times before, but I think before I've always had an Old Testament and New Testament reading every day. I haven't read it in order from Genesis to Revelation. I just signed up for the start to finish reading plan at BibleGateway.com with my start date set at January 1. I'll get an email reminder when it's time to start! I have an ESV app on my iPad that I usually read, but I think I will try the New Living Translation this time since I know one of the translators.

Great! I'm so excited to have people join me!

Hi Rachel!

I've never read the Bible cover to cover. I'm intrigued with the idea and want to mull it over a bit more before trying to commit. I have quite a few different translations of the Bible on my shelves but of course am intrigued with The Literary Study Bible and would consider purchasing it.

Just wanted to say that I'll have the Halloween thread up in the next day or two.

Yay!

I've setup the Halloween thread earlier than planned because my internet has been kind of wonky today and I wanted to get it done in case I lose service. Happy reading!

Hey everyone! This might be a far stretch, but I wanted to (in addition to the bible group read >73 The_Hibernator: which is totally on) add one more suggestion for a 2017 theme read. I've been trying to better understand the populist movement that led to Trump's victory, and I discovered this article in the New York Times listing 6 books to help understand Trump's win. I'm hoping to read all 6 of these next year in this order:

January - February: THE UNWINDING: An Inner History of the New America, by George Packer

March - April: STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

*May - June: HILLBILLY ELEGY: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

July - August: LISTEN, LIBERAL: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank

September - October: THE POPULIST EXPLOSION: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics by John B. Judis

*November - December: WHITE TRASH: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Would anybody care to join me for one or more of these books? I'd be happy for Trump supporters as well as non-Trump supporters to join as long as the conversation stayed polite.

ETA: I added a star by those that at least one other person has expressed interest in.

Hillbilly Elegy is high on my wishlist, and White Trash is on my library TBR list. I'll try to join you for both of them.

A similar book I would also recommend is The Inheritance: How Three Families and the American Political Majority Moved from Left to Right by Samuel G. Freedman. It was a 1997 Pulitzer finalist.

Thanks Carrie, I'll put that on my to-read list, though I doubt I'll get to it next year with all the other stuff I'm reading. :)

That sounds interesting. There are some real issues that need to be looked at. I wasn't a Trump supporter but I do understand why rural voters are frustrated and it's not all a racial thing as some pundits have suggested.

Like I said on your thread, I'm in. I'm a reluctant Republican who's really a swing voter - voted for Reagan, both Bushes, both Clintons and Obama. I'm also not a Trump supporter, but have a background in rural, white, working class Louisiana.

And yeah, civility is key, and this group has a long history of that - I'd never try this anywhere else. :)

>81 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! I've just added those 6 books to my wishlist and, more important, my Bookmooch wishlist, just in case any copies come available between now and their scheduled reading date. I just might join you on one or more of them. Heading off to read the article.....

>81 The_Hibernator: I'm really excited for this group read! I probably won't manage to read all the books, but it will be very interesting to follow along to the best of my ability. I can definitely participate in the discussion of Hillbilly Elegy (to the extent that I remember it after hopefully finishing it this year), and The Populist Explosion is only 184 pages long, and I should be able to read Listen, Liberal as well (July-August is generally a good time for me, and the book isn't too long, and it was already on my wishlist).

I'll at least commit to starting all the others, but I suspect I won't manage to finish them all, given my generally slow reading speed.

There are some rumblings here and over in the Category Challenge to read The New Jim Crow in July, so I thought I'd let y'all know. Don't know if the thread will end up here or there, though.

I've also noticed a few people who are planning on reading Evicted next year, does anyone want to make a group read of that one too?

I'm over-booking myself this year, but these are all important reads that I plan on squeezing in somehow. Group reads will help me to be held accountable. :)

>88 The_Hibernator: Yup, I'm interested in doing a group read of Evicted as well, even though I'm also overbooking.

Two thoughts about timing:
I tend to have more time in the summer, so May/June would probably work well for me (especially since I should be done with Hillbilly Elegy in advance). Alternatively, there's something to be said for striking while the iron is hot, so adding another book to January/February would also make sense.

Carrie cbl_tn said she'll be reading Evicted in Jan, and there is something to say for striking when the iron is hot...I hadn't thought about that.

>81 The_Hibernator: I just took The Unwinding out of the library today so I'll be happy to join you for a group read on that book! I'd also like to see if I can find the other books as well, but I'd better work my way through one at a time.

I am really trying to calm myself down as a result of our US elections. I'm hoping that by a better understanding of what's going on, I'll be less afraid.

Would anybody care to join me for one or more of these books? I'd be happy for Trump supporters as well as non-Trump supporters to join as long as the conversation stayed polite.

We totally need to talk to one another to see where we can agree.

Great Madeline! I'm looking forward to the discussion. The group read might go a little slowly for the first month because a couple of us are also reading Evicted in January. But hopefully we'll have a good discussion in the end!

>92 The_Hibernator: I'll try to take notes so I don't forget everything by the time you get to your discussion! :)

>93 SqueakyChu: Honestly, I borrowed the book from my library and started it today. I need to be ahead of the game because I'm also leading a discussion of it on my blog, so I can't wait till February to read it. So you'll have at least some company for the first half if the group read. ☺️

>94 The_Hibernator: Great!