The Book Club Proposition

[ordinaryperson]

Hello
In the thread asking for predictions on the top 25, I suggested hosting a book club on this forum. Originally I had suggested going from 1-200 or 200-1, and this was met with some enthusiasm. In the results thread I had posted my idea for a schedule starting with 1984. BleuPanda responded to me by suggesting that I go by having people nominate books that were on the list. I didn't really like that idea because there may not be enough users to participate in. I suggested a different idea where I randomize a list and we go down that list. I thought about it for a couple days and decided to let the forum users decide.

Here are the choices:

1. Up 1-200, or Down 200-1
Starts with: 1984 or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Ends with: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or 1984
Pros: Easy to follow guide that allows users to prepare for the next book.
Cons: We'll have to go through all of the books, including some many have already read.

2. Voting
Starts with: ???
Ends with: ???
Pros: Lets the community decide which book we read, can add the 69 books that received more than 1 vote but didn't make it on to the list.
Cons: May not be enough users for it to work, may not give users enough time to prepare.

3. Random List
Starts with: Under the Volcano
Ends with: Dead Souls
Pros: Changes up the order of what we'll read and will add the 69 books that received more than 1 vote but didn't make it on to the list.
Cons: We'll have to go through all of the books, including some many have already read.

Which choice do you like the best? Do you have a better idea than what's presented? Please respond to this post with your thoughts.

[BleuPanda]

2. Voting
Starts with: ???
Ends with: ???
Pros: Lets the community decide which book we read, can add the 69 books that received more than 1 vote but didn't make it on to the list.
Cons: May not be enough users for it to work, may not give users enough time to prepare.

As for this con, we could hopefully be planning a book or two ahead of time - this should only be an issue for the very first book, so we could simply start with 1984/Alice in Wonderland. I'm also not sure what you mean by not having enough users for it to work. If there's only a handful of us participating, I think that would make this option even easier. I'm imagining anyone participating can suggest what to read next and then we come to a consensus. Alternatively, those planning to participate could each choose the one book they most want to read from the list and then we cycle through as long as there aren't any objections (which I think would only really be applicable in the case of a book being too long).

[ordinaryperson]

2. Voting
Starts with: ???
Ends with: ???
Pros: Lets the community decide which book we read, can add the 69 books that received more than 1 vote but didn't make it on to the list.
Cons: May not be enough users for it to work, may not give users enough time to prepare.

As for this con, we could hopefully be planning a book or two ahead of time - this should only be an issue for the very first book, so we could simply start with 1984/Alice in Wonderland. I'm also not sure what you mean by not having enough users for it to work. If there's only a handful of us participating, I think that would make this option even easier. I'm imagining anyone participating can suggest what to read next and then we come to a consensus. Alternatively, those planning to participate could each choose the one book they most want to read from the list and then we cycle through as long as there aren't any objections (which I think would only really be applicable in the case of a book being too long).

When I was writing this post I was starting to like the idea of voting more and more. I had imagined conducting it similar to how RateYourMusic's video game board does their game of the month voting, where there's one thread where people nominate and another to vote. Starting this method with 1984 or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland just doesn't feel right to me, same with planning out the books in advance. There'll be a buffer period after the vote has finished to allow users to gather their materials. I'm going to post the nominations thread later today, I'll allow some time to pass for anyone to get their opinion in on this thread. For now I'm going to go with the voting method.

Edit: Also if there aren't a lot of participants then I'll just stop the book club.