SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

For some reason I seem unable to convert my enthusiasm for GR into a convincing argument for friends to try it out. Sometimes I managed to get them to join, but none of them use the site regularly.

Is it just me?

Same here.

It just doesn't make any sense to me. I only tell the ones who love books and spend time on the internet that they should join. I spend more time on GR than I do on any other site and I find it bizarre that none of my friends who share my passion for books make use of this brilliant tool. I can't explain it.

Yeah, it's very weird. I use GR primarily as a database (oh to get a reliable, free version for comics). I get so many good ideas from what my friends read and generally love their reviews. I wish they used it more.

It's an exclusive club. Only the awesome are in.

Trike wrote: "It's an exclusive club. Only the awesome are in."

:D

Trike wrote: "It's an exclusive club. Only the awesome are in."

Do we get to use a secret handshake? ;)

What is GR?

Humberto wrote: "What is GR?"

Acronym for Goodreads.

I'm the same, few of my RL friends that I have introduced to GR use it regularly. Which just means I get to make more friends on here :)

People who read books are getting increasingly rare these days, and even among those who read them, those who want to discuss them in text seems to be a small subset. It's kind of an English Lit/Crit mindset, and people have it or don't. In short, I don't think you can get people hooked on GR who are not already inclined to participate. It's kind of like golf. It's in your DNA or it's not.

You can, however, direct people to the site, and occasionally they'll hop on board. In that sense, it's a kind of litmus test. I've asked several people in the last week if their on goodreads. It's not a bad thing if they are not... but it does mean a certain avenue of conversation just isn't really going to exist between me and that person.

People tell me they want to join a book club but when I tell them about GR their eyes glaze over. Maybe they don't like being "on the computer" to take part?

I actually found GR by mistake. :P
A beautiful, amazing mistake...

It's the same for me. Most of my friends in real life either don't care about it or become inactive a few weeks after they register.

It took me a long time to become active on GR.

This is where having no friends comes in handy. I don't have this problem at all :)

Quick! Everyone friend Jon

I meant in real life :-\

I don't have friends either but I do have a lot of people I tell dirty jokes to

Some of my friends who I was able to get them to join have 0 books or log in a couple of times a year :)

I'm just thrilled to know it isn't just me! I only recommend GR to friends who love to read a lot AND spend a lot of time on the internet AND spend time on social networks like facebook AND like to discuss books. And yet they aren't on GR. So weird!

When I first discovered GR (also a lovely mistake) I used it only to find more books and read reviews. I didn't add any friends for the first few weeks or months but I did use the site a lot. Then I started writing reviews, then made friends, then got into discussions. My point is that I don't think it's an overnight process to join and jump into the thick of things, so I think it can take time to get active. But I think I would have jumped in sooner had a close RL friend been active on the site. Doesn't seem to apply to the people I know though.

I just love this place and the community and discussions and I want my friends who I have similar conversations with to be involved. Maybe I should start offering them cash incentives :P (I'm kidding)

3 of my co-workers joined in with reading Cloud Atlas for Sword & Laser last Fall, and we planned to go see the movie together, but that never worked out.

We did all discuss it in the break room though.

I think I have maybe 20 real life friends out of the 40 or so on my to read list, and almost none of them post anything. A few at least rate books they've read.

I'd guess nearly 10 of them joined Sword & Laser, but most haven't made a single post to the group.

The same with me. I have many friends who reads books, some Science Fiction and Fantasy, but none of them feel like they have the time to join Goodreads, if they do they are never active.

Everyone who has time for facebook and twitter and 9gag and imgur and reddit and so on has time for goodreads. Although now that I think of it, the difference is that GR isn't all about fun all the time. We spend more time thinking here. That's not to say it doesn't happen on other social media, but it can be easier to avoid elsewhere. I'd never thought of it like that.

Am I making sense? I mean that when I'm on GR I tend to write thoughtfully and get involved in discussions about topics I think are interesting. On the other sites I mentioned above, I tend to laugh and play and generally take a break. It's not 100% true all the time (I follow a lot of science feeds on facebook) but I think more on GR than most other social media.

What are your thoughts? (Reddit might be an exception but I only use it to visit aww when I'm having a bad day)

I don't really post on those other sites myself. Most of my Facebook page is nothing but good read spam these days. ^_^

If I post anything on facebook it's usually in response to something someone else has posted.

I do use the Facebook/GR ap that posts reviews and updates. A couple of people have commented on them on the FB side, but it doesn't seem to have enticed any over to the GR side.

I turned off the FB link as I kept having people moaning that I must have too much time on my hands to read all these books, it used to annoy the **** out of me

Chris wrote: "I turned off the FB link as I kept having people moaning that I must have too much time on my hands to read all these books, it used to annoy the **** out of me"

Oh, man. That's grounds for defriending with extreme prejudice. Those people can take their cat pictures and shove 'em.

Gary wrote: "I do use the Facebook/GR ap that posts reviews and updates. A couple of people have commented on them on the FB side, but it doesn't seem to have enticed any over to the GR side."

I have people on FB comment on my books/ratings/reviews thanks to the GR APP. My friends seem to approve but then many are writers/wanna be writers and it also lets them know I'm still alive and around.

Gary wrote: "Chris wrote: "I turned off the FB link as I kept having people moaning that I must have too much time on my hands to read all these books, it used to annoy the **** out of me"

Oh, man. That's grounds for defriending with extreme prejudice."

Agreed!

I've been giving this more thought since I started this thread and maybe it's not really a bad thing that I can't get my friends on GR. This has become a world slightly apart from the one I live in and maybe that's part of the appeal. Rather than have discussions with people who already know my views on most topics, here we get to discuss things without the bias that comes with a history of long friendships and drunken ramblings about the meaning of life.

That said I do like to share things that I enjoy with like-minded people which is why I recommend GR to friends.

Chris wrote: "I turned off the FB link as I kept having people moaning that I must have too much time on my hands to read all these books, it used to annoy the **** out of me"

Ask them how many hours a day they waste watching TV shows like Real Housewives or Dancing with the Has-Beens.

That's right. I barely use my tv lately. Prefer to put my headphones on and play some music while reading. Seems weird to just sit on the couch watching tv and feeling your brain cells slowly dying.

Chris wrote: "That's right. I barely use my tv lately. Prefer to put my headphones on and play some music while reading. Seems weird to just sit on the couch watching tv and feeling your brain cells slowly dying."

Well, not if you're watching PBS or Orphan Black.

Did you see the hummingbird show on Nature? Amazing stuff.

I am in New Zealand, we don't get that channel

Some of the stuff on NatGeo is pretty awesome tho

Penny wrote: "This has become a world slightly apart from the one I live in and maybe that's part of the appeal. "

Although if I lived in Cape Town, I might not ever read a book again. Well, that's not true. I'd buy a season pass to Kirstenbosch and read on the lawn. Man, that place is gorgeous. Like Middle Earth, or Jurassic Park.

Trike wrote:
Although if I lived in Cape Town, I might not ever read a book again...Man, that place is gorgeous. Like Middle Earth, or Jurassic Park. "

I'm not sure I'd want to live in a place where there is a high likelihood of being eaten.

Lara Amber wrote: "Trike wrote:
Although if I lived in Cape Town, I might not ever read a book again...Man, that place is gorgeous. Like Middle Earth, or Jurassic Park. "

I'm not sure I'd want to live in a place where there is a high likelihood of being eaten. "

Live a little!

Penny wrote: "For some reason I seem unable to convert my enthusiasm for GR into a convincing argument for friends to try it out. Sometimes I managed to get them to join, but none of them use the site regularly...."

I've had a few friends join and then they stopped using it after they initially signed up. My daughter uses it mostly for rating her books and looking for new series to read but since she's only 15 years old, I've asked her not to read my reviews because I do read erotic. That's it though. Even avid readers aren't interested. I love GR and only go on Facebook for birthdays and family stuff.

Trike wrote: "Live a little! "

Literally.

Chris wrote: "That's right. I barely use my tv lately. Prefer to put my headphones on and play some music while reading. Seems weird to just sit on the couch watching tv and feeling your brain cells slowly dying."

I recently cancelled my DSTV subscription (that's our version of cable) because I had stopped watching TV. I still keep up with a couple of shows, but I've lost interest in most. One of the main reasons is that I find my mind wanders back to my thesis when I'm watching TV, but if I'm reading I'm fully immersed and it's a proper escape from work for me. It seems a bit counter intuitive that the more mind-intensive exercise is a better form of relaxation.

Trike wrote: "Did you see the hummingbird show on Nature? Amazing stuff."

I love nature shows, but since my work is earth system science it reminds me too much of thesis stuff and I think of all the things I need to do and all the bits that don't make sense yet and so on.

Trike wrote: "Although if I lived in Cape Town, I might not ever read a book again. Well, that's not true. I'd buy a season pass to Kirstenbosch and read on the lawn. Man, that place is gorgeous. Like Middle Earth, or Jurassic Park."

Kirstenbosch is seriously gorgeous, but we get used to living among beauty here :) I'm happy to hear you've visited my lovely country! I'm moving back to Joburg as soon as I'm done thesising and the only thing I'll really miss about Cape Town is how pretty it is here.

Lara Amber wrote: "I'm not sure I'd want to live in a place where there is a high likelihood of being eaten."

If being eaten means seeing a dinosaur first, I'm all for it! :)

Carolyn F. wrote: "I've had a few friends join and then they stopped using it after they initially signed up. My daughter uses it mostly for rating her books and looking for new series to read but since she's only 15 years old, I've asked her not to read my reviews because I do read erotic. That's it though. Even avid readers aren't interested. I love GR and only go on Facebook for birthdays and family stuff."

It seems we all tell the same tale. Tell friends about the awesome that is GR, they sign up, then they basically never use the site again. Maybe it's something you have to discover for yourself rather than have a friend recommend.

Did you find GR on your own or did a friend tell you about it?

I found it on my own.

Penny wrote: "Did you find GR on your own or did a friend tell you about it?"

Not sure if that was directed at Carolyn or to the group in general, but I'm going to answer anyways :)

I found Good reads because of Sword & Laser's video show on Geek & Sundry last year.

The video show is on hiatus but they have a great podcast with some excellent interviews from time to time. They asked Jim Butcher my question last year, which is almost as good as meeting him to me. I wish I had found it and good reads much sooner.

I actually used to use a Facebook app from Living Social (I think) called "Virtual Bookshelf".

I didn't put as much time into tracking my books or writing reviews there as I did here, but it did let me export my reviews and ratings before shutting down, so I'm imported them to good reads.

So if you're bored and going through my reviews and come on one that is only a sentence or two, that's likely why. lol.

I think GR translates quite differently for a lot of people. You can be a voracious reader but have no interest in discussing a book, which doesn't make you a Philistine.

GR seems to be frequented by two kinds of people. Collectors and book clubbers. I probably fall into the prior group.

For me, it's nice to keep a record of things that I've read/done. That might bore the hell out of some people, but then others find discussing a book equally as tiring.

Rarely will I read a book complex enough to feel the need to discuss, but I like reading other people's reviews.

Maybe that's the key barrier to GR?

Guy, I think you have a good point. People who are drawn to Good Reads are willing to devote some non-reading time to the hobby, whether it's book reviews, finding out more about their favorite authors, online book clubs, planning their reading, or just discussion.

I will say Good Reads can be intimidating for a newbie and the groups page is poorly organized. Hopefully this is something Amazon will fix. Since all the groups are self created and there isn't much of an organization method beyond "what's in your area" and "recently active" it can be hard to find the right group. I mean for me a group shouldn't be using the term "book club" as a tag unless they are regularly doing group reads with discussion questions. If you look at the popular tags and GR looks like it might be nothing but paranormal teen romances and that can put off readers looking for discussions of non-fiction or westerns. Some paid staff guided book group and some rules on how groups are organized might help bring in more people. (Before you freak out about staff guided, think about how teens and preteens could benefit from an online book group led by a paid librarian. Kids doing AP prep summer reading, homeschool kids, etc.)

Rob wrote: "Not sure if that was directed at Carolyn or to the group in general, but I'm going to answer anyways :)"

That was for the group in general :)

Guy wrote: "You can be a voracious reader but have no interest in discussing a book, which doesn't make you a Philistine."

I 100% agree! I know not everyone wants to discuss books or films and I don't think less of them. However you take your pleasure from either is fine with me.

However, this is something I consider when I invite friends to check out goodreads. There are two types of people I recommend the site to, those who read a lot and like to talk books, and those who are looking for more books to read or a place to find a range of reviews. The thing that surprises me is that even those who love to talk books don't seem to get hooked on GR the way I am.

Lara Amber wrote: "I will say Good Reads can be intimidating for a newbie"

I can see how this is true and I think I was on GR for at least a few weeks (it may even have been months) before I started reviewing or commenting on anything. I've never been part of an online community before so it took some time to get used to the idea of exchanging ideas with strangers over the internet. I found it took some getting used to and even now I find myself intimidated from time to time in some contexts.

I like that the site is user-driven and when I tell people this is a great resource to find new books and reviews I do warn them that the young adult genre is slightly over-represented but listopia or groups are a good way to find books in other genres.

Gary didn't say that.

Guy wrote: "Gary didn't say that."

Ack! My bad! I hadn't had my coffee yet! Sorry Guy.

Penny wrote: "I'm just thrilled to know it isn't just me! I only recommend GR to friends who love to read a lot AND spend a lot of time on the internet AND spend time on social networks like facebook AND like to..."

I've been on here for like a year now and still don't spam participate in things. I hate writing reviews. But I do love reading them. I use the lists and shelf labels from others and have expanded my to-read list by 200% lol. I read a ton and I do have friends that read but I don't think it's as much as I do which could explain their lack of enthusiasm about the site.

I was just kidding Penny.

Agreed on all your other points.

One of the things I like is how friendly people are here. I am on other sites which most decidedly are not friendly