Declining Interest in Book of the Month

[mehastings]

For some time, I've noticed a declining interest in Book of the Month. It isn't a tremendous effort to run it, but it does take some work, and the lack of interest from the membership is making me lose interest as well.

I'm looking for some suggestions as to how we can get BOTM back on track. I've thought of a few, including changes in the selection process (perhaps each member could get a chance to choose a book for the month or put forth a selection to vote on), changes in the frequency (perhaps we should be doing three, four or six books a year instead of twelve) or just putting it on hiatus for a while.

I'd love some suggestions from folks with their own ideas, or discussion of the ideas that I've put forth. I think it will help the moderation team decide what to do.

 

[Occlith]

Hi mehastings,

Perhaps you can tell the forum the purpose of BOTM.

Under the Book of the Month header it states: "Each month we choose a book to discuss as a group read."

Maybe some members don't know what to expect in a discussion.

Do readers feel intimidated offering their own interpretations of what they have read; is the atmosphere welcoming to varying levels of readers?
Are readers to say what they dislike/like about a book; talk about the author's writing style?
Dissect a book or skim over the subject matter, the plot?
Discuss the book chapter by chapter, or read the entire book and then comment?
Does the moderator promote questions on the BOTM thread?
Do participants drop out of a discussion if "their" book isn't chosen for BOTM?

Perhaps a more satisfying discussion could take place if some books had more time to be read, such as two months or three, depending on the book's size.

 

[SFG75]

I've participated in two BOTMs now where I've been the only participant, with a post or two from other people scattered in between. I find it very aggravating that folks participate in the polls but then don't show when the selection has been made. I can see someone suggesting a book and then declining when "theirs" isn't chosen. However, if a book carries over others with a good number of votes, where are the 8 or 10 people who voted for that given book? Seriously, it's annoying.

I would recommend a "super majority" of votes needed. A book has to win by 10 or even 15 votes. No 6-5 or 8-7 decisions. If a book can't muster 10 votes over what any other book gets, voting is scrapped and starts again. I'm not certain if 10 or 15 would be good numbers, but we need to make it a clear and resounding number that differentiates it from other selections.

Another possibility would be to have run-off elections where if 8 books are selected, then we put them in brackets and vote on each pairing. It would require more voting of course, but if folks could see what the potential second or third choice of theirs would previal, perhaps they would be more vested in it. I don't know.

We have had some wonderful discussions here in the past. The Lolita thread was just outstanding. Perhaps it spoiled me. I've been looking forward to another discussion that would rival that mammoth success. I'll keep soldiering on in the mean time. The more I think about it, the more I like the bracket voting idea-what say the rest of you?

 

[SevenWritez]

I have an idea. Drop "Book of the Month," all together. It's stinky. So are the books selected.

 

[jaybe]

Surely it's not just BOM which lacks support? Don't you think it's become frighteningly lonely anywhere on this site?

 

[Shade]

Most book discussion sites suffer from fatigue in the Book of the Month discussions after a time. The following may not work for everyone, but on Palimpsest we have breathed some new life into our monthly book choice by removing the democratic element and the admins selecting a list of books for the subsequent six months. Obviously if these are opposed by the members it wouldn't work, but they've been widely supported.

We also recognised that there is a particular type of book which works for book groups. Strong narrative, not too fussy linguistically, with 'real' characters and some social issues. And reasonably short. We've had good success recently with the likes of Brian Moore's The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Colm Toibin's The Blackwater Lightship, and Patrick McGrath's Dr Haggard's Disease.

But as I say, such a top-down approach might not work everywhere.

 

[mehastings]

However, if a book carries over others with a good number of votes, where are the 8 or 10 people who voted for that given book? Seriously, it's annoying.

This is why voting is public now. I was starting to suspect that there might be people voting who aren't actually participants in the forum. I don't think I would be interested in run-off elections though. I think making the process less complicated would be better than more complicated.

It's stinky. So are the books selected.

This seems to be a huge part of the problem. I know I'm not interested in a lot of the books that have been chosen lately. When I first joined, the books felt more accessible and interesting to a larger group of people and there seemed to be more discussion as a result of it.

...on Palimpsest we have breathed some new life into our monthly book choice by removing the democratic element and the admins selecting a list of books for the subsequent six months.

I like parts of this idea. I love that you know what the books are for six months at a time. For me, getting the Book of the Month can be difficult as I'm not really buying books these days, but rather working hard to downsize my collection. All summer long I've been reading things I thought I could pass off at a Yard Sale (little did I know that my historical non-fiction would be the top seller). If I had a list of six months worth of books, I could probably rationalize buying one or two of them. I don't know that I would be interested in laying down the list though. I'm really not up on what is going on in the book world these days. What about my suggestion to allow members to chose books. Would anybody be interested in that idea? We could do something similar to Palimpsest, but allow the active members to do the choosing.

 

[Fantasy Moon]

Surely it's not just BOM which lacks support? Don't you think it's become frighteningly lonely anywhere on this site?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Rien]

I'm not really all that big on forums, so the only other forum I go to is the JV board, which is basically a ghost town. The important people come onto the IRC channel, and when a newbie comes along, it is either accepted into the fold, and then joins IRC and ignores the board, or it is driven away for being annoying. So this forum doesn't seem the least bit desolate or lonely to me.

I've never really had much interest in the book of the month thing, though. There are already discussions for certain books here and there, so it seems a bit redundant. If enough people had interest in the book chosen, there would be a thread for it anyway.

 

[Ronny]

I like parts of this idea. I love that you know what the books are for six months at a time. For me, getting the Book of the Month can be difficult as I'm not really buying books these days, but rather working hard to downsize my collection. All summer long I've been reading things I thought I could pass off at a Yard Sale (little did I know that my historical non-fiction would be the top seller). If I had a list of six months worth of books, I could probably rationalize buying one or two of them. I don't know that I would be interested in laying down the list though. I'm really not up on what is going on in the book world these days. What about my suggestion to allow members to chose books. Would anybody be interested in that idea? We could do something similar to Palimpsest, but allow the active members to do the choosing.

The only BOTM that's really caught my interest lately has been the author of the month and I've already got my John Irving books out and ready, but I've not seen any other books mentioned that drew my interest as much.

I think that you could let the top/most currently active members choose a book (or maybe they could suggest 3 and then those voted on) and as also mentioned let that member lead the discussion, they could come up with questions or comments to keep the topic going, that might make perk up the BOTM a bit. I like the idea of knowing for 6 months too, as it can be harder for me to get books on short notice as I usually have to order them from the states.

 

[mehastings]

The only BOTM that's really caught my interest lately has been the author of the month and I've already got my John Irving books out and ready, but I've not seen any other books mentioned that drew my interest as much.

I feel exactly the same. I have my Irvings ready to go too, I just keep forgetting to pick them up. I will though!

I think that you could let the top/most currently active members choose a book (or maybe they could suggest 3 and then those voted on) and as also mentioned let that member lead the discussion, they could come up with questions or comments to keep the topic going, that might make perk up the BOTM a bit. I like the idea of knowing for 6 months too, as it can be harder for me to get books on short notice as I usually have to order them from the states.

This is the kind of thing that I envisioned. By allowing long standing members to choose the books we don't have to worry about members suggesting books and vanishing before they are chosen. I also like the idea of the member who suggests the book running the discussion.

Would others be interested in trying this? If so, who would be interested in having a month?

 

[nomadic myth]

I feel exactly the same. I have my Irvings ready to go too, I just keep forgetting to pick them up. I will though!

I'm ready for Irving, too. I think it's that he's well known, but not someone I've read yet, so I took it as an opportunity to get into him.

I think that often the book suggestions, although probably good books, are just not books or authors I've heard of, so they just look like a list of random names and titles to me. I think people should link to Amazon when they suggest a book (I'm so lazy) and then I can learn about new books from the Book of the Month. Or, at least the post for the final voting could have links to each of the books on the voting list.

 

[SFG75]

there might be people voting who aren't actually participants in the forum

A great remedy for that would be to click on the option that would show the moniker of each and every voter and how they voted. We should do that from now on.

 

[steffee]

I've participated in two BOTMs now where I've been the only participant, with a post or two from other people scattered in between. I find it very aggravating that folks participate in the polls but then don't show when the selection has been made. I can see someone suggesting a book and then declining when "theirs" isn't chosen. However, if a book carries over others with a good number of votes, where are the 8 or 10 people who voted for that given book? Seriously, it's annoying.

Another possibility would be to have run-off elections where if 8 books are selected, then we put them in brackets and vote on each pairing. It would require more voting of course, but if folks could see what the potential second or third choice of theirs would previal, perhaps they would be more vested in it. I don't know.

We have had some wonderful discussions here in the past. The Lolita thread was just outstanding. Perhaps it spoiled me. I've been looking forward to another discussion that would rival that mammoth success. I'll keep soldiering on in the mean time. The more I think about it, the more I like the bracket voting idea-what say the rest of you?

I basically agree with everything SFG has said (though am not quite sure what this "bracket-voting" idea entails).

I joined the forum when the Lolita discussion was just starting, being in the middle of reading Lolita anyway, so I too, was probably "spoilt" by the strength of that discussion. In the following months I did participate in BOTM and, like SFG, found it disheartening that many people who would vote on books, and even suggest them, would not participate in the discussions.

I think the BOTM falls down in several areas: firstly, there's obviously the variety of book choices. Readers are never going to all be interested in the same books, so we can't expect every member who ever contributes to a discussion, to actively participate in every BOTM discussion. That's fine. But also, some members who might nominate a book, or vote for it, and actually read it, may still then not participate in its discussion. They are just not into discussions, generally. So there are maybe only a handful of members who regularly join in with BOTM discussions. And possibly, it just so happened that with discussions like the Lolita one, it happened to draw together those members who do 'discuss'.

The decline of BOTM activity is really sad, as I genuinely enjoy the BOTM concept, so I hope you find whatever is needed to pick it up again, mehastings.

 

[Occlith]

I'm really not up on what is going on in the book world these days.

Perhaps choose from the Booker Prize list or from reviewed book sites.
Those members who write reviews can make suggestions for possible titles (you know who you are )

 

[giddieon]

I think I would try it more if it we less books a year... maybe 6 or 4...

I am not the sharpest tool in the shed... it takes while for me to read a book... I also need a break between books... or sometimes I mix stuff up...
Names and Places as such... I would be more interested if we could vote on the books or vote in stages...

The other thing that can be done is a book for each genre...

 

[Loveridden]

I am a newbie and interested in BOTM. I just joined today. I am not familar with John Irving however. Not sure if that selection is one I would really be interested in...

I suggest that the books picked are not brand new books so they are more easily accesible. If it's a brand new book it is expensive to buy and if you don't have to get on a waiting list at the library you still can't keep it as long (maybe only 3 days) because it is new. But maybe you guys already do that.

 

[Maizara]

Yes maybe less books a year for BOTM as suggested by giddieon. Or I think we should have the Author of the Month more often. I think it's a good idea to let members explore authors who are established or whose work they don't usually read. But maybe give members 2 months to explore.

 

[Occlith]

I suggest that the books picked are not brand new books so they are more easily accesible.

Good point. If we stick to books that have been in print for at least a year then there is a better chance that our local library will have it in circulation or that a lower priced paperback version is available is we wish to purchase it.

 

[BeerWench13]

I am also new here and have yet to participate in a BOTM discussion. However, I have a difficult time reading books that are dictated to me instead of reading something that interests me. It feels a lot like Lit class in college. I hated having to read something that was not necessarily my cup of tea and even more to have to report on it. It became work instead of a hobby.

My tastes in genres varies widely, but there are many things that just won't hold my interest. Also, the library in my area is very small and has a very limited selection of books. Therefore, anything I read I have to buy. I don't think I'm going to go to the bookstore (the nearest is 35 miles from my home) to purchase a book in which I have little interest in reading.

I like the idea of author of the month. This gives each member a little more freedom to select a work that may interest them. For instance, I'm a big Stephen King fan, but, unlike most other fans of his works, I did not enjoy The Stand. I much prefer many of his works that are not as popular to a lot of other readers.

I have a huge list on Amazon right now and every Christmas I usually get about 20-30 books (last year I got 32). If I knew in advance, I could add them to my wish list. Then, it would be in the stack under the tree in December and I would be able to contribute to the BOTM or AOTM discussions.