Pattern for a Book Review Group
Posted by Jeff February 20, 2008
I’ve been thinking about books a lot lately.. I’m awash in them, and it’s hard to know which are worth the time. LibraryThing is my source for promising veins of content from like minds. Now all that remains is…well, reading. Put the browser down. Something I’m finding tough in the age of NADD.
A book review group, meeting in person, would help. The Oxford Extremists are a good model. They meet once a month/two months to discuss a book.
The mechanics are pretty simple:
- participants vote via blog blog comments.
- A scribe summarizes and posts the discussion. This must be a lot of work but it’s quite valuable.
- A list of books is kept at LibraryThing. This enables a blog widget.
More background on how this came to be:
- Poster - done as a comic, quite entertaining
- Knowledge Hydrant: a Pattern Language for Study Groups
The Pattern Language paper is full of terrific ideas on the structure and vibe of a healthy group.
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Jeff, glad to see the Oxtremists group is giving you some inspiration. Let us know how you get on if you take the plunge…
I’ve found it great to spur me on to read more books, but also to share ideas and meet people. Not to mention that I got taken out to dinner by the authors of one the books!
(http://www.oxtremists.co.uk/?p=36)
Chris