Tuesday 7 April 2015

Buddy Reads

With work going a thousand miles a minute, a book blog that I'm trying to get going, a bachelorette party for baby sis that I'm trying to work on, house chores that are just piling up, blah, blah blah... there really isn't enough time in a day sometimes, but hey, there always is, or should I say, there always should be, for things that give you me pleasure. Riiight??? Riiight!!!...

Ever since I joined Goodreads, I had the pleasure of joining a group within the website. And within this group, we regularly buddy-read books.


The mechanics is quite simple. There is a start date. Once you start reading, you post what percentage,or page, you're at. You can talk about a particular scene, or what you're feeling at that point, or anything you think noteworthy. You use spoiler tags if you think what you're about to write may spoil the experience for those who haven't reached that point. And when you're done, you write about how you feel about it. Opinions can differ, obviously, but that is the beauty of it. And the whole process is quite organic, I thought. Because depending on what's being posted, the discussion can veer off the book itself but I think it just enhances the experience.

When friends outside my online world ask what it is, I always say it's the online equivalent of a book club. But I think it's much more than that. Book club meetings tend to happen once a book is read. Buddy reads happen from the time you pick up the book to the time you finish reading and possibly even past that. And the beauty of it is you can talk about the book right from the start. If there's a part you're not understanding, you have your "buddies" to ask for clarification. If you're struggling with certain parts, your "buddies" can hold your hand, so to speak, to get you through it or at least help to make sense of things. If you're feeling particularly sad about a certain scene, you know you're not alone. And whether you enjoyed it or not, there is an immediacy to the response as there's always someone online.

Best part of all, you're not limited by geography. The buddy reads I've joined tend to have readers from North America and Europe, for the most part. Can't get any cooler than that, no?...

... Like I said, things that can give you me pleasure... Riiight??? Riiight!!!



Have you ever done buddy reads? Do you like it?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...