Reading the Detectives discussion

Susan and I have been having a rethink on posting spoilers. Since the group started a few months ago, we've had a system of posting spoilers in tags after the 15th of the month - but unfortunately this seems to be leading to discussions fizzling out in the first half of the month, when people are worried about saying too much. It can also be difficult using the tags if you are posting on a phone or tablet.

So we are thinking that from April we'll try a different system, of having an additional spoiler thread for each book where people can post spoilers at any stage during the month. Here's hoping this is OK with everyone and that it leads to even more good discussions!

I agree with this! And I would also suggest that within a thread which is clearly labelled "spoilers" no one should need to posy within spoiler tags. It's belt and braces and I think inhibits discussions too because it's fiddly.

Good idea. I sometimes avoid discussions of group reads altogether while I'm reading the book because I think I might inadvertently stumble across a spoiler.

I think it's worth trying out different solutions until we settle on something the group is happy with.

Sounds like a great idea. I find it very hard to say anything but the most general comments without fearing its a spoiler.

Sounds good. I usually just stop visiting until I have finished the book.

Great idea! Spoiling is often in the eye of the beholder, so we can going forward post in the spoiler thread whenever we are in doubt.

Excellent idea! As Abigail said, spoiling is in the eye of the beholder.

Jan C wrote: "Sounds good. I usually just stop visiting until I have finished the book."

That is what I have been doing as well. But then there are so many comments by the time I finish that it can be hard to go through them all!

Another group uses this organization: they open a new discussion per book and have a thread per chapter. In each chapter-thread you are allowed to discuss things that happened up until then only. Automatically spoiler free.
And those who've reached the last chapters are free to discuss amongst themselves.

Simone wrote: "Another group uses this organization: they open a new discussion per book and have a thread per chapter. In each chapter-thread you are allowed to discuss things that happened up until then only. A..."

That can be a lot of threads if the book has 25 or 30 chapters!

That would be too many threads.

Well, there are various ways of tackling this issue. Let's try a separate thread for now and, if it doesn't work out, we can all try to come up with something else. I am sure that we will find something that works for us.

It's one strategy for dealing with group-reads and spoilers, but I agree the number of threads can get too high at times, also discussions in the earlier chapter-threads fizzle out easily.

Leslie wrote: "Simone wrote: "Another group uses this organization: they open a new discussion per book and have a thread per chapter. In each chapter-thread you are allowed to discuss things that happened up unt..."

A few threads would suffice -- doesn't need to be one for each chapter.