I think we can fairly say, and this ties into the subcommunities part of this discussion, that there are different thread cultures in different threads on this board. Bitches is different as a place to hang out in from Music. Literary is different, too.

I read this proposal as "The culture in the existing book thread isn't what I want it to be, so I want a new book thread." I will believe that the current Literary thread is inhospitable to a book club when I see the experiment tried and failed.

Good point, Hil. People can just throw in with observations that strike them as interesting instead of feeling confined to a particular topic. Leaves room for parallel discussions, too, and whichever topics take off are the ones that take off. Yep. Work it like the show threads. Good point.

I will believe that the current Literary thread is inhospitable to a book club when I see the experiment tried and failed.

While I agree with the supporters of the book thread, I also agree with Betsy, and have said something similar twice already to no response.

Or we could try the book club thread, and if that experiment fails we move it into Literary.

if that experiment fails we move it into Literary.

How would moving it to Literary fix anything? The idea is that a book club can work -- let's try incrementally implementing it.

Once whole hog fails, nothing else is a viable alternative, is it?

Unless there are denizens of Literary who are against that. Which I have not seen. I have seen Pro-Book Club folk worrying that there are Literary people who will be put out, and I share that worry, but if someone said 'Me! Me! A Book club would ruin Literary for me" I missed it.

While I wouldn't say it would ruin Literary, I still really want the book club to have its own thread, and here's why: if I wanted to talk about some other book in the middle of the book club discussion, it'd be like trying to talk cats or politics in Natter right after a new OC or Alias airs, only worse, because it'd go on longer. And I'm speaking as a denizen of Literary who's at least open to trying the book club to see if I'll like the style of reading and can fit an assigned book into my new busy, baby-enhanced lifestyle.

Of course, as long as we have the technical resources to handle it, I tend to be pro-proliferation in general. I'm most familiar with multiple-threaded boards like TT, and I like the topicality.

Or we could try the book club thread, and if that experiment fails we move it into Literary.

Right, but in the process, we've created a new thread, which has been argued as bad by people with valid points. There is a tangible risk there (I'm referring to the board strain, not the community-splintering), whereas the risks involved in trying it in Lit are intangible and unpredictable. I think we have less to lose by trying it in Literary. If it works, great; if it doesn't, we get our own thread. I know there have been arguments that the Lit atmosphere isn't right, but so far I haven't seen anyone in Lit say, "Please don't have a Book Club in my thread."

I read this proposal as "The culture in the existing book thread isn't what I want it to be, so I want a new book thread."

See, and for me, all this talk of Literary is weird, because I don't hang there, and my desire for a book club thread in no way touches on Literary. I just want a book club thread, and I prefer that it not be shoehorned in somewhere else. I'm just saying ... not everyone who wants a separate thread is coming from a "Literary isn't meeting my wants," perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with that perspective, in my opinion, but it's not the only motivation for being in favor of a book club thread. So, I read the proposal in a different way, that is, "A book club thread could be interesting and engaging, so I want a book club thread."

I pretty strongly feel that it will work better in a separate thread. Not that it couldn't work otherwise. But that it will be more likely to work and develop in its own thread. I also feel (and I'm not speaking for anyone but my own self here) that the lit thread as it stands works better (for me) with the sort of here-there-everywhere discussion that goes on there now.

I'm a little taken aback at (what seems to me to be) the voiciferous opposition to this idea. I really never expected it to be so contentious.

As to resource issues - are we really in such a bad state? And is a specialty thread really such a big deal? We've got spoiler threads for not just one but three shows that are no longer on the air. I'm not suggesting that those are a problem, or should be gone, or anything like that. I'm just saying, we're not exactly so lean and mean that one (probably smallish) new thread is the one that will put us over the top. At any rate, won't we be losing a thread soon when the Angel deathmatches finish?

I will believe that the current Literary thread is inhospitable to a book club when I see the experiment tried and failed.

This has been responded to over and over. My reasons against starting the club in literary include:

1) Discussions of other books during a book club discussion is extremely distracting and counterproductive. I see no way to make this compatible with the literary thread. It would be like holding deathmatches in Natter. This is my Main Objection to starting in Literary.

2) If this club were to repurpose literary into the book club thread there would be resentment from previous users of literary. What we've heard so far from many literary users is a) they want a separate book club thread so they can continue to use literary as they always have, for book recs and discussion of assorted books; b) they're not using literary anymore anyway so feel free to use it however you want; or c) nothing, because there was a recent kerfuffle in Literary and people just can't seem to separate the kerfuffle from this proposal.

A Book Club is not a conversation. It is a serious endeavor that requires participants, commitment, and focus. It cannot be made a part of an existing thread. So unless we turn Literary into Book Club and disallow discussion of other books, it just won't work.