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Based on Member feed back I'm planning to start a Monthly Short Story reading folder.
My plan for how it will function is:

1. To read single Stories and Small Novellas up to 130 pages maximum. If a story slightly exceeds this number of pages the moderator will decide if the story will pass through to the poll, (probably a coin toss)

2. Stories will go through the normal monthly nominating process. The stories nominator will need to check that the story is reasonability available for other members. Amazon, Project Gutenberg, or other on line sources.

3. The nominated stories will have there own monthly poll. Only the winning story will be read.

4. A Short Story thread will be set up in the Short Story folder so the monthly winners can be discussed (no individual folders for short stories). Only one thread per story, readers beware spoilers will be present.


Please let me know if this new book read is of interest and let me know your thoughts about how the process might work.

Thanks

Great idea. Thanks, Bob.

I'm interested.

Looking forward to this, I think short stories are a good idea for our group Bob :)

Oh yay! I love novellas and have been getting more into short stories lately, so this is great. Also, it's much easier for me to get around to actually reading a groupread when it's a short one :)

This is a wonderful idea!

I love short stories, though I've only read them in collections. It sounds like this idea doesn't include short story collections though. Is that correct? I'm wondering if short stories are actually distributed singly or if we'll need to purchase (or check out) a full collection in order to read one story.

I'm looking forward to this! I think many older classic short stories might be available for free online, but otherwise I suppose the most likely place to find them might be within a collection or anthology.

Great! I love short stories so much, and don't read enough of them. Looking forward to this feature!

Great idea - I really need to read more short stories :-)

Really excited about this wonderful idea! I can finally check off a lot in my TBR list with this. :)

I’m glad to see this idea has positive support. I’ve been thinking for months that there might be a place in our group for shorter reads.

Yes- You are correct this is going to be a single short story read, with a maximum of 130 pages. More pages than that and the book should be nominated in either New or Old School. That is why I’m asking that the nominator of a story do a quick check to see if it is easily available. It may be part of a bigger collection of stories as long as that collection can be found via Amazon, Library, or some other low cost or no cost source.

Sounds good. I'm up for it!

I think this is a great idea.

Will the nominees be limited to fiction or will short plays like Death of a Salesman, The Cherry Orchard, or Antigone be eligible?

What about poetry? Books like The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems, Howl and Other Poems, and Ariel would fit into this category if there is no restriction on form.

I kind of like the idea of all of those being included.

This sounds great...I'm sure I'll join in.

Personally I think adding short plays and poetry to the mix would be terrific. I read A Doll's House a short time ago, it was great. At 122 pages its a perfect fit for this new read.

As for poetry, put the dunce cap on and set me in the corner, I'm lost. Books meeting the requirements would certainly be eligible, but as to great individual poems, I wouldn't know about them or know how readily available they may be for group reading.

All ideas are welcome. I plan on starting this July 1st.

This looks just great :) i think i'll be in :)

This idea just keeps getting better and better.

I think poetry is a totally unique animal. Hahaha! I enjoy some of it, but I don't think it fits well with the short story topic.

that is good idea

Nea I feel your discomfort, poetry is a genre I have zero experience with, however, if a book of poetry meeting the requirements is nominated, and then wins in the poll, I’ll give it a try. Hopefully I’ll like it and I'll have another genre to enjoy.

Poetry is hit and miss for me but I'm always willing to try it. There's a lot of times I'll think "Wow, that's beautiful" but then I have no idea what it means :) But I also have favorite poets that really move me.

I like plays and poetry, but don't read enough of each and I'm also very lacking in my understanding. While I acknowledge that they're not short stories, I think they'd fit well into this category for now. If we had a lot of interest in poetry or plays, we could consider making a group reading folder for these in the future, but I suspect they wouldn't generate enough monthly discussion on their own.

Pink wrote: "I like plays and poetry, but don't read enough of each and I'm also very lacking in my understanding. While I acknowledge that they're not short stories, I think they'd fit well into this category ..."

Agree, that sounds like a good idea :)

Pink wrote: "I like plays and poetry, but don't read enough of each and I'm also very lacking in my understanding. While I acknowledge that they're not short stories, I think they'd fit well into this category ..."

When or if, we select a book of poetry to read and discover some latent group desire for poetry, I agree we will have to find a way to broaden our reading focus. Since it appears that reading poetry may be problematic for many of us. We will also have to trust that with a group as large and diverse as ours, someone out there will be able to share and explain their love of this genre.

I think most of us hear the word poetry and panic. The reality is usually different I think :) There are a lot of things that panic me and then it's not a big deal.

Oh I've also panicked over a lot of poetry while reading it. On the whole, I think I just don't get it, especially the romantic period. I keep trying though!

I think I'll set up a poetry thread in the chit chat folder, so everyone can continue to give their thoughts about this and we'll see if we can generate some more discussion on our favourite poems. As Bob says above, I'm sure we must have some knowledgable poetry fans amongst our group!

Pink wrote: "I like plays and poetry, but don't read enough of each and I'm also very lacking in my understanding..."

I've read a lot of poetry. It's what I studied in college and what I've written for half my life, but I still feel the same way. I've realized there's going to be a good chunk of it that I feel like I don't get and it makes me feel stupid. Still, I keep going with poetry because when it works for me, it's a magical experience as a reader.

I hope we get to read more poetry together at some point. It's an area where I'd really like to challenge myself to expand as a reader. This group is a thoughtful, intelligent and open-minded bunch of people. I think we could have some great poetry discussions. This category seems like a good place to start for poetry reads, as anything more than 130 pages is a really big book of poems.

Nathan, I've opened a discussion thread for poetry if you want to discuss some of your favourites, or chat some more.

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I hope we can read some more poetry as a group too :)

I've never read short stories, but would be interested.

I just started reading short stories and last week I read Goodbye Mr Chips for a short story it had so much packed into it. It was just wonderful!!

Arlene wrote: "I just started reading short stories and last week I read Goodbye Mr Chips for a short story it had so much packed into it. It was just wonderful!!"

I remember the movie! Now I've got to read the story.

We have completed the nominations for our newest reading category. Fourteen short stories were nominated and all have moved forward to the poll. I am still hopeful that this new category will be well received and enjoyed. As with anything new I’m sure there will be some bugs that will need to be worked out. I hope you all will continue to use this thread to voice concerns and make suggestions to help make this category better.

Our new Short Story category starts this month with our first selection Candide and Other Stories, it won the poll with a decisive number of votes.

Link for: Our Short Story Folder

Our second winning book for this ne category will be At the Mountains of Madness and will start in October

Well we are on our 12th short story read the first year has pasted. The short story category appears to have enough group interest that we’ll continue it. Book posts have ranged between a low of 20 our first book to a high of 461 thanks to Dave, with three threads having over 100 posts.

What I would like is feedback and critiques positive and negative about what is liked or disliked and ideas to make this category better.

Thanks

Personally I think the short story has been a great addition to our monthly reads. I think it's nice to have a shorter option each month, as some of the other classics can get a bit long and seem daunting to take on when we don't always have the time. This is also a nice intro into classics for people who aren't used to reading them.

I can't think of any changes to make, I'd prefer books to be under 100 pages, but to cut off at that point would mean losing some great shorter reads, so 120 pages is probably better.

I'm with Pink Bob. I love the option of reading a shorter classic along with a longer classic if I choose. I wouldn't change a thing! :)

I agree that this shorter option is a great opportunity for all of us to have a better chance of taking part in discussions. I'd also love a short-shorts category, but this length allows for a wide range of options.

Just a personal comment, I don't have a habit of reading short stories, because I love getting engrossed in a novel. But it seems like it is so much easier to discuss a short story because you read it quick, your thoughts are fresh, discussion of the plot and characters is limited but possible digressions are endless. So I love this category!

I like the short story option.

Before we started adding short stories to our monthly reads, I hadn't read any since English class in school (many, many, years ago).

If left to my own devices, I don't think of short stories.

Now, with a short story option, my reading of classics is more well-rounded. I'm not neglecting a entire area of classic fiction!

Bob, I enjoy the short story option. I tend to read deeper books for various groups and not so much fluff. These short stories are quality and perfect for reading in between longer books. This has encouraged me to read short story classics that were nominated but did not win on my own outside of the group. They are easy to read and can be completed in around an hour and definitely improve my reading skills.

I love the short story category too. I know that no matter how busy I am, I'll always be able to at least do the short story. I plan to do all of them (as long as I can find a free copy) whether I'm interested or not if they are under the 120 page mark. If they go over, I'll read, but only if it interests me somewhat.

Like Kathleen, I wasn't a fan of reading short stories before, other than fable and parable type stories. I've already been pleasantly surprised by the great discussion they generate.

They are also a nice way to introduce those of us to authors we may not have otherwise tried.

FYI, we have shelved our 26th short story and are starting our 25th short story this month, two full years since we began. Time does indeed fly.

Bob wrote: "FYI, we have shelved our 25th short story and are starting our 24th short story this month, two full years since we began. Time does indeed fly."

And what a great addition to our group Bob!

Wow 2 years! It doesn't seem that long ago! I love the short story category, especially when I'm short on time, but still want to join in a group read.

I love it too! Thanks for this category :)

The monthly short story read was a great idea, Bob. Hard to believe it's been two years!

I think it's a fantastic option, and I read the suggestions as often as I can. Congrats on your 2nd anniversary!

Great idea! I have been reading Flannery O'Connor so I will be delighted to see a suggestion for her work

Please allow me to comment on
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I just spend more than an hour finding the name of the Danish translation (Jord. Jord!) and half an hour more in finding a collection with it. (Udvalgte Fortællinger) No reason others should spend time doing it too.