Books

Rorifett · 22-04-2009, 10:09 AM

Just wanna say that first off I appreciate this is the AV forums however since we have a community which extends beyond just the A's and V's of life I wanted to ask this question and see what the response is from Mods and users

How would folks feel about/what's the possibility of getting a books section on the forums?

Maybe with a bunch of subcategories for the main genres and a review/preview section? There's probably a million and 1 websites already like this out there but just thought I'd ask what we could do to bring that world here

Cheers, Fett

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 10:32 AM

If there was enough support i'd like to see somewhere for books: reviews, recommendations, possibly even a way of swapping books with people etc.

kav · 22-04-2009, 10:55 AM

I'd support this.

The Job Opportunities section that Decadence mentioned has potential as well, but probably has a lot more red tape associated with setting it up.

dazza74 · 22-04-2009, 11:01 AM

Good idea certainly trading books, the only problem comes with the sheer cost of posting the things. I've got a stack of fairly recent paper backs sitting here and my only option is to give them away to charity be nice to trade one with somebody for another title

Hitby · 22-04-2009, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazza74

Good idea certainly trading books, the only problem comes with the sheer cost of posting the things. I've got a stack of fairly recent paper backs sitting here and my only option is to give them away to charity be nice to trade one with somebody for another title

I agree - sounds like a cracking idea to me! There's nothing worse than the feeling of coming towards the end of a good book. 'AARGGH! WHAT am I going to read tonight!!!'

WibXL · 22-04-2009, 11:08 AM

Would be nice to see a book forum

dazza74 · 22-04-2009, 11:13 AM

I pay about £4 out of Tesco's for a recent paperback. 1st class post would be around £2 for a paperback so you could get trade with somebody and read two book for about £3 each. I like the recycling idea most of all with this and we'd be able to explore lots more different authours. It's a great idea

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazza74

Good idea certainly trading books, the only problem comes with the sheer cost of posting the things. I've got a stack of fairly recent paper backs sitting here and my only option is to give them away to charity be nice to trade one with somebody for another title

Agreed, but people swap PS3/XBox games on here, which is what made me put the idea of a book swap/trade idea forward, I always find there are few books I can read more than once so it would be better to swap it straight than try sell it on ebay etc, the cost of postage generally won't be too bad, unless its a big heavy hardback or something, but even then it's not too pricey.
Some books are a lot more than the £4 in tesco etc, so it could work quite well for some books etc. All depends what the person can justify etc.

Rorifett · 22-04-2009, 11:16 AM

There, it's settled> Mods get to work *whi-tsh*

On a more serious note though, what would people like to see within that section of the forum if it gets implemented? I would like to see reviews split into the different genres so that it's easy to try and pick up a new book in the genre you're interested in but other than that not too sure what other sections we'd need

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

There, it's settled> Mods get to work *whi-tsh*

On a more serious note though, what would people like to see within that section of the forum if it gets implemented? I would like to see reviews split into the different genres so that it's easy to try and pick up a new book in the genre you're interested in but other than that not too sure what other sections we'd need

I'm not sure the board would be big enough to justify sub-boards, you could make a rule for the board that any review must have the genre in either the title or the first line of the post must be something like:

Title: Blah
Author: Blah
Genre: Blah

Because when you hover over a thread you can see the first few lines of the first post.

kav · 22-04-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Agreed, but people swap PS3/XBox games on here, which is what made me put the idea of a book swap/trade idea forward.

I run that trades group - it usually costs just over £1 to send a game by registered post (disc only), or £1.50 to send box and manual. If you wanted to exchange books by registered post, you'd probably be talking about maybe £2.00-2.50 for postage. Suppose it depends on how hard the book is to get hold of - if you can pick it up from Asda for £3.73 then it's hardly worth the hassle. On the other hand, it might cost £9.99 in Borders, making the trade idea more appealing.

One thing: due to the nature of the game trades group not being an "official" trading forum (eg no feedback etc), the best solution may be to set up a Social Group and run any book trades from there - that's how the game trades group runs (this was guidance given by Stuart/mods).

**IronGiant** · 22-04-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

There, it's settled> Mods get to work *whi-tsh*

I'll ask...

Dave

Rorifett · 22-04-2009, 11:32 AM

I always feel that leaves the problem of reviews getting lost in amongst general chat, you see how often new threads are created for non-specific topics in most of the forums and it's not always possible getting every new poster to follow the standardised Author, Title, Genre in the thread heading, whereas if there was a dedicated review sub-cat then at least we'd know that in that section alone it'll just be reviews?

kav · 22-04-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

I always feel that leaves the problem of reviews getting lost in amongst general chat, you see how often new threads are created for non-specific topics in most of the forums and it's not always possible getting every new poster to follow the standardised Author, Title, Genre in the thread heading, whereas if there was a dedicated review sub-cat then at least we'd know that in that section alone it'll just be reviews?

Or a Social Group?

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

I always feel that leaves the problem of reviews getting lost in amongst general chat, you see how often new threads are created for non-specific topics in most of the forums and it's not always possible getting every new poster to follow the standardised Author, Title, Genre in the thread heading, whereas if there was a dedicated review sub-cat then at least we'd know that in that section alone it'll just be reviews?

Fair point, a review sub-board maybe, but not genre specific ones, that could probably be put in the post title.
If you start a board out with a set trend to post titles the masses will generally follow suit.

For example:
Stephen King - Salem's Lot [Horror]
J.R.R Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings [Fantasy]

If someone sees all current threads like that they will post in a similar way.

Or as Kav says, a social group for them.

Rorifett · 22-04-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kavanf1

Or a Social Group?

Social Group Shmocial Group

lol how does the social group bit work? Only time I ever ventured there was after being chased outta the 'Sport' section here and told to take up the footie discussions in the social groups but I found them to be deader than a dead thing

Rorifett · 22-04-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

For example:
Stephen King - Salem's Lot [Horror]
J.R.R Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings [Fantasy]

If someone sees all current threads like that they will post in a similar way.

For sure

so anyone got any books to review?

kav · 22-04-2009, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

Social Group Shmocial Group

lol how does the social group bit work? Only time I ever ventured there was after being chased outta the 'Sport' section here and told to take up the footie discussions in the social groups but I found them to be deader than a dead thing

I didn't want it at the start either, but that's the guidance I was given. Main reason for using a Social Group is that moderation isn't needed in the same way as it is for the trading forums, which saves a lot of moderation difficulties. It's been running for about 8-9 months and I've only had to exclude one person from trading in that time, out of about 50 members.

The rules I posted in the game trading group are that the social group should be limited to one post per person detailing the games they have to trade, and the games they want. There is then a separate "discussion" thread in the gaming section, where you can have your random chats about whatever games you want. It keeps the social group clutter-free, and allows people to see at a glance who has what. I must admit it's died off in recent months due to the vast amount of new releases, but with the recent lull it may pick up again. Books probably wouldn't be subject to the same peaks and troughs.

I don't see how something similar couldn't work for books - if anyone could be arsed setting up and maintaining it!

EDIT: Interesting, just checked there, and we've got the most members of any social group at the moment (58), but only have 41 posts! Compared to the next-biggest group (Spurs with 52 members), they have 2,524 posts!

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 11:58 AM

It definitely sounds like the way to go for a trading system, and I think with enough support Stuart would agree to having a board for discussion and such, but you'd probably need the support of around 100 members.
Then if it were to get started it'd be a use it or lose it board, as the novelty might possibly wear off after the first few weeks of it being started.

It's worth raising though, then seeing if you can get the interest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kavanf1

EDIT: Interesting, just checked there, and we've got the most members of any social group at the moment (58), but only have 41 posts! Compared to the next-biggest group (Spurs with 52 members), they have 2,524 posts!

But how many of them posts are worth reading

WibXL · 22-04-2009, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rorifett

For sure

so anyone got any books to review?

Doubt I'll be posting any reviews over then general "I liked it comments" but my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has just arrived

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

Doubt I'll be posting any reviews over then general "I liked it comments" but my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has just arrived

Have been tempted to get that for a while, would be intereted in hearing your thoughts after you've read it.
Been going through a lot of zombie books myself and that one has been in my list for some time!

WibXL · 22-04-2009, 2:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Have been tempted to get that for a while, would be intereted in hearing your thoughts after you've read it.
Been going through a lot of zombie books myself and that one has been in my list for some time!

I'll be reading it once I've finished The Naked God but that'll probably take some time as I'm only just half way through it and it has more than 1200 pages

Don't think I've read a proper zombie novel but The Walking Dead graphic novels are very good.

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 2:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

I'll be reading it once I've finished The Naked God but that'll probably take some time as I'm only just half way through it and it has more than 1200 pages

Don't think I've read a proper zombie novel but The Walking Dead graphic novels are very good.

I'd definitely recommend "World War Z" by Max Brooks as a zombie book (he also wrote the Zombie Survival Guide), it's not your typical story of what happens, it's a look at what happened but in an interview type perspective of many people around the world at all different points of an outbreak and the aftermath, it goes into great detail, the movie is due out in 2010 I believe. Well worth a read if you're into zombies etc

I'm about to start reading "Dying to Live" by Kim Paffenroth which i've heard is also great!

The Night's Dawn Trilogy is also on my life of books to get/read

WibXL · 22-04-2009, 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

I'd definitely recommend "World War Z" by Max Brooks as a zombie book (he also wrote the Zombie Survival Guide), it's not your typical story of what happens, it's a look at what happened but in an interview type perspective of many people around the world at all different points of an outbreak and the aftermath, it goes into great detail, the movie is due out in 2010 I believe. Well worth a read if you're into zombies etc

I'm about to start reading "Dying to Live" by Kim Paffenroth which i've heard is also great!

The Night's Dawn Trilogy is also on my life of books to get/read

I'm tempted to get World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide but I'm trying not to buy any more books until I've finished the ones that I've already got as I tend to buy a few at a time and the pile is growing.

The Night's Dawn Trilogy is well worth reading but they're taking me ages to get through, good blend of sci-fi and horror though.

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 3:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

I'm tempted to get World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide but I'm trying not to buy any more books until I've finished the ones that I've already got as I tend to buy a few at a time and the pile is growing.

The Night's Dawn Trilogy is well worth reading but they're taking me ages to get through, good blend of sci-fi and horror though.

I have the same problem of buying books when i've already got a pile to get through, if the book swap thing gets going I have 2 copies of WWZ so i'd gladly swap one of them - currently lending one out to a friend, both WWZ and the Survival Guide are books i'd keep in my collection though.

**Hillskill** · 22-04-2009, 4:57 PM

I have the most amazing book about Glue you should all read. I simply couldn't put it down.

**Iccz** · 22-04-2009, 5:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hillskill

I have the most amazing book about Glue you should all read. I simply couldn't put it down.

This isn't the crap joke thread

WibXL · 23-04-2009, 7:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

I have the same problem of buying books when i've already got a pile to get through, if the book swap thing gets going I have 2 copies of WWZ so i'd gladly swap one of them - currently lending one out to a friend, both WWZ and the Survival Guide are books i'd keep in my collection though.

I'm too much of a hoarder to even contemplate swapping books even though I'll probably never read the majority of them again.

dBrowne · 23-04-2009, 8:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

I'll be reading it once I've finished The Naked God but that'll probably take some time as I'm only just half way through it and it has more than 1200 pages

I'd like to know your thoughts on that as the first two books had me riveted. The Naked God, on the other hand, seemed to deteriorate into such a shaggy dog story (resurrecting Al Capone and making him a central plot character - I mean, come on, is that out left field or what?) that I lost interest half way through. Please let me know if you find that it is worth finishing.

WibXL · 23-04-2009, 9:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dBrowne

I'd like to know your thoughts on that as the first two books had me riveted. The Naked God, on the other hand, seemed to deteriorate into such a shaggy dog story that I lost interest half way through. Please let me know if you find that it is worth finishing.

I'll let you know when I'm done but I am enjoying it so far and it seems to carry on in the same vein as the first two books. The character that you mentioned first appeared in the second book so if you enjoyed that what put you off the third?