So, where do we go from here?

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I've been the volunteer moderator for Literature by Women since May 2007, taking over during a discussion of AS Byatt's Possession.  In that time we have read many different books - books that were old friends and books I never would have found had they not been advocated by another BNBC user.  Assia Djebar, Edith Wharton, Keri Hulme, Joyce Carol Oates, Monica Ali, George Sand, all three Bronte sisters, Jane Austen.  I've met wonderful readers from all over the world.  We've had a good time.

Lately, I have been less sure about the future of this group.  The original group participants have dwindled to a devoted few - Danielle, Pepper, Dulcie, Kathy, Tigger, you're all wonderful  - but we don't have the discussions we used to.  Some of that fault is mine.  I've been busy, sometimes too busy to get threads posted on time, and for that I apologize.  But often, I feel like there are many people lurking, reading the books, and not posting.  It gets a little lonely then.

So...where do we go from here?

This group has a lot of competition.  Back when BNBC converted from BNU, there was little competition in the way of good online bookclubs.  Now, everybody and their brother has a discussion group.  It would be easy to let the group go, vanish into the ether, but I feel like we still have merit.  When I compare our reading list to others, I find very few groups that share our reading list.  We read established classics and contemporary, critically-acclaimed literature written by women.  We cut across genres, dipping into mystery and science fiction as necessary.  I think we still have value but I want to know what you think.

Where would you like to see the group go?

[dulcinea3]

Speaking of lurkers, I find it interesting that someone laureled your post, and yet did not respond!

I agree that this board has merit, and I've participated in many great discussions here.  I'd hate to see it end.  I have to admit that lately I have not been doing much in the way of keeping it going; I just kind of got burnt out from doing discussions every month (here and on Classics, mostly), and I have a huge backlog of TBR books, so with my unemployment I decided to read them rather than buy new books to discuss.  Many of the books I have discussed here have been books that I already had, and it was fun to reread and discuss them, but there were other books that I was interested in reading and bought, as well.  And everyone has their own tastes, so I tend to go for the classics and not the more modern or world books that have been very popular here, as well.  We have managed to keep a nice balance, so there is something for everyone.  We have lost so many of our 'regulars' over time; I don't know how much of it is due to the successive 'upgrades' on the site that generally seem to make it more difficult to use the boards, and a progressively greater lack of responsiveness to reported problems.

There has always seemed to be a dropping off in participation towards the end of a month, but these days if it even starts with two or three people, that's a feat in and of itself.  It seems like many people will say they will participate, and then say that they have bought the book, and then we never hear from them again!  I'm not sure why that happens, if they cared enough to acquire the book.

I've been doing my best to keep the Classics board going, too, since B&N let our wonderful moderator Connie go.  Since I wouldn't necessarily want to read every book that is selected, I've been asking the person who nominated a selection to moderate, and given them guidelines on how you and Connie moderate a novel (although they may or may not follow them).  When we do short stories, I ask each person who wants to discuss a particular one, to post the thread for that story.  I wonder if something like that would work here, and take some of the burden off of you?  I suppose it might make the person who nominated feel more invested in the discussion, but it could also scare off people who don't want to do it.  I know that on Paul's boards they seem to have multiple selections per month, so maybe people would find one out of the group appeals to them, but on the other hand, that might spread out the members more thinly.  I don't really know what the answer is, but I hope that this board does keep going!

I will say, though, that I feel that discussing a book with even only one other person can be more fun and more enlightening than reading it by yourself!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

LOL, it's Danielle (she already PM'd me so she's not really a lurker) but it's still funny.

You've been doing good work on Classics, Dulcie

[Peppermill]

I don't know what to say.  In general, I have loved this board and its selections.  I have deeply missed Melissa the past few months as I have watched what Debbie and Paul and Becke have been able to do with their boards.  Some of the strong B&N contributors have migrated to other places on the Web, I am sorry to say.  Others seem so wedded to the "First Look" and seem only willing to contribute on what -- a free book, an author's presence, a lot of contributors?

The current book is not one for which I voted and since my TBR topples over, I have chosen not to participate.  I have been guilty of trying to read too much at the same time the past several months and have sometimes dropped books where either they or the discussion in which I was engaged with on them did not hold my interest. 

Although there are many good and great female writers of fiction out there, perhaps the biggest online "hole" for me right now is a board that discusses good current (post Victorian, at least) literature, whether by men or by women. Still, I do think it might be desirable to select shorter (less than ~300 - 400 pp?) for awhile at least.  My f2f book club did that for awhile -- until we were willing to return to longer reads.

I know these thoughts aren't likely to be particularly helpful and I will think about the topic and try to return again, Melissa.  I do hope that this board, in one form or another, can continue to exist and hopefully to prosper again.  I have deeply valued the contributions of so many here through the years and all the efforts you have made and appear willing to continue, despite the demanding "other" lives you lead(?). 

Perhaps we should try selecting books for a shorter time frame ahead?  A chance that those who "vote" for a book might be around for its reading and discussion?  (I know and understand voting takes time, which makes that a tradeoff.)

[Fozzie]

I've really liked reading the current books with this group!

My favorite B&N board was New Reads with Rachel Kubie.  This board has been my second favorite.  The fiction board is very active, but generally read books that are not in my taste.  

I agree with Pepper that I would like a board that discusses high calibar current fiction, by men or women.

I find that I don't participate as much on the boards as I used to because there isn't really one that suits my reading taste.  I have been doing much more reading on my own.

I would hate to see this board become inactive, but am willing to go with the flow, so to speak.  

[chadadanielleKR]

Yes, it's funny!, I was deeply thinking about what to write on the board and I just posted a laurel.

As for me, I am willing to go along with new discoveries as I did on this board. Just recently I went to visit the town of Thiers where the main plot of "the Black City"by Georges Sand, took place. I wouldn't have gone otherwise. I liked the mixture of Classics and contemporary literature on this board which taught me so much about the wealth of English language and made me discover so many different voices. 

But just recently, I started a University degree on Teaching Languages methodology (icampus- Sorbonne3), so I really don't know how much time left I will have left

Best regards to all of you

If one day, you come to Paris, I will be pleased to meet you as I did  with Choisya (twice in England and once in Paris!)

Danielle

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Ooh, Sorbonne!! Good luck

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chadadanielleKR wrote:

Yes, it's funny!, I was deeply thinking about what to write on the board and I just posted a laurel.

As for me, I am willing to go along with new discoveries as I did on this board. Just recently I went to visit the town of Thiers where the main plot of "the Black City"by Georges Sand, took place. I wouldn't have gone otherwise. I liked the mixture of Classics and contemporary literature on this board which taught me so much about the wealth of English language and made me discover so many different voices. 

But just recently, I started a University degree on Teaching Languages methodology (icampus- Sorbonne3), so I really don't know how much time left I will have left

Best regards to all of you

If one day, you come to Paris, I will be pleased to meet you as I did  with Choisya (twice in England and once in Paris!)

Danielle

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[Melissa_W Moderator]

I wouldn't mind shifting focus but how would we keep it distinct from Classics?

[Peppermill]

Since 1910?  Since 1950?  Since 1960?

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Melissa_W wrote:

I wouldn't mind shifting focus but how would we keep it distinct from Classics?

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[dulcinea3]

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Peppermill wrote:

Since 1910?  Since 1950?  Since 1960?

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Melissa_W wrote:

I wouldn't mind shifting focus but how would we keep it distinct from Classics?

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The main differennce now is that we can read male authors on Classics, so that won't change.

20th and 21st Century?

Feminist Literature?

[Peppermill]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

Since 1910?  Since 1950?  Since 1960?

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Melissa_W wrote:

I wouldn't mind shifting focus but how would we keep it distinct from Classics?

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The main differennce now is that we can read male authors on Classics, so that won't change.

20th and 21st Century?

Feminist Literature?

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Sorry, Dulcinea.  I don't understand what you mean.  At least, what I intended to explore was another board that explored both men and women's literature, but literature that was perhaps more current than usually selected on the Classics board, recognizing that the boundaries are probably permeable.  But B&N seems to have no place for those of us interested in exploring the likes of Roth or James or Joyce or Richard Russo or McEwan or Llosa or ....

Personally, while I am okay with occasional "Feminist" literature, I am not particularly interested in reading regularly dedicated to it.  I also would be uncertain how to define it for selection purposes on a regular basis -- I would rather stay with "Literature by Women" with all the diversity that implies.  If we could sustain participation, I'd love to see "Literature by Women" continue -- I think it is a rich genre.  Have we gone astray with our selections?  Would it help if we selected only one or two at a time (one for now, one for next month sort of thing)  so those who vote haven't "left the country" or, probably more accurately, gotten involved in something else?

[Fozzie]

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Melissa_W wrote:

I wouldn't mind shifting focus but how would we keep it distinct from Classics?

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Maybe prize winners?

Pulitzer goes back a long way, but maybe some others don't.

National Book Award

National Book Critics Circle Award

Man Booker Prize

Etc.

[dulcinea3]

Sorry, Pepper, I thought that Melissa had asked for suggestions for a new focus for this board so that it wouldn't overlap so much with Classics, and that your response was in reference to that.  I was just kind of brainstorming and throwing out suggestions.  There would still be some overlap with the suggestions that I made, but not as much.  Personally, if either were chosen, I would probably not participate here as much, unfortunately, but I was thinking more in terms of what might work to get more participation from others on this board.  It had seemed to me that when feminist books were chosen, there seemed to be more interest from others, with more participation.

Sorry if I misunderstood your post!

[Peppermill]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

Sorry, Pepper, I thought that Melissa had asked for suggestions for a new focus for this board so that it wouldn't overlap so much with Classics, and that your response was in reference to that.  I was just kind of brainstorming and throwing out suggestions.  There would still be some overlap with the suggestions that I made, but not as much.  Personally, if either were chosen, I would probably not participate here as much, unfortunately, but I was thinking more in terms of what might work to get more participation from others on this board.  It had seemed to me that when feminist books were chosen, there seemed to be more interest from others, with more participation.

Sorry if I misunderstood your post!

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No sorry necessary!  I just realized our conversation somehow seemed to be on two different tracks or planes and the only way I could figure it out was to ask.

If I understand you, pre-1900's literature has the greater interest to you?  (The opposite happens to be  true for me, which is why the Classics board has never been a particularly good fit, even though both it and the Epics board opened up my reading world.)

[dulcinea3]

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Peppermill wrote:

If I understand you, pre-1900's literature has the greater interest to you?  (The opposite happens to be  true for me, which is why the Classics board has never been a particularly good fit, even though both it and the Epics board opened up my reading world.)

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The 19th century is generally my favorite period, although there are many earlier works that I also enjoy.  And more recent, as well.  I can think of the following 20th-century authors I have discussed here: Daphne du Maurier, Virginia Woolf, Shirley Jackson, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers (of course, the last two overlap with my other favorite genre - mystery!).  But the 19th century is really my favorite - Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, Thackeray, Hardy, Eliot, and on and on!

[Peppermill]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

If I understand you, pre-1900's literature has the greater interest to you?  (The opposite happens to be  true for me, which is why the Classics board has never been a particularly good fit, even though both it and the Epics board opened up my reading world.)

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The 19th century is generally my favorite period, although there are many earlier works that I also enjoy.  And more recent, as well.  I can think of the following 20th-century authors I have discussed here: Daphne du Maurier, Virginia Woolf, Shirley Jackson, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers (of course, the last two overlap with my other favorite genre - mystery!).  But the 19th century is really my favorite - Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, Thackeray, Hardy, Eliot, and on and on!

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Thanks for responding.  Although the classic writers you name always provide good reading and excellent discussions, my own two favorites here have probably been  The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer and Children of the New World by Assia Djebar.  Yet, when I look back on our list here, I see a wonderful sequence all the way back to 2007. Really not a "bad" choice on the list, even though I had to miss a few and had enough other things going on to not get interested in the current one.

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Literature-by-Women/LITERATURE-BY-WOMEN-Reading-Schedule/m-p/...

[chadadanielleKR]

If you asked me, I would prefer reading literature by women written in the 19th or 20 century. But I really think that in the 19th century, we should look for unusual and unknown Classics. As for the 2O th century, we should look for books written in English or translated in English from all over the world:  South Africa,  India, Australia... There are so many writers we have never heard about...

Regards

Danielle

[Peppermill]

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chadadanielleKR wrote:

If you asked me, I would prefer reading literature by women written in the 19th or 20 century. But I really think that in the 19th century, we should look for unusual and unknown Classics. As for the 2O th century, we should look for books written in English or translated in English from all over the world:  South Africa,  India, Australia... There are so many writers we have never heard about...

Regards

Danielle

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I'm okay with that for this board, so long as we don't totally rule out 21st century, e.g., a recent female Man-Booker or Neustadt winner or the like.  But, I do still want to find somewhere that includes male writers in this time period.

[chadadanielleKR]

Sure, I don't mind 21st century... Actually, I don't mind male writers, it's just that one of the interest of this board is that there is a special leading thread. I don't think there are many boards like ours entitled "literature by Woman". Most of the time, when there is a board about female writers, it considers only the Feminist writers which is not the case here.

Danielle

[chadadanielleKR]

I just looked in Wikipedia to found out what the Neustadt prize was. Never heard about it but the authors who got the prize are known to me although I didn't read most of them.  They are definitely going to be on my reading list!