BBC's Big Read

[Scheherazade]

I've never heard of them until this thread but I just checked their website and I find their pictures kinda annoying.

I am not a fan of them either but how does it affect us that they might be running some kind of book club? More importantly how does the fact that they run a book club affect the books? (Yes, sales might be going up etc etc but all said and done, do books lose their value because they are endorsed by R&J Book Club?)

[papayahed]

I am not a fan of them either but how does it affect us that they might be running some kind of book club? More importantly how does the fact that they run a book club affect the books? (Yes, sales might be going up etc etc but all said and done, do books lose their value because they are endorsed by R&J Book Club?)

I dunno. Ya'll know my views on book covers (I don't by books with any hint of book clubedness or tie in to movies. For example, if it says Oprah book club on the cover I'm not buying it even if it was the last one in the store and it was made of gold), I think it's the same principle I feel annoyed that otherwise nonreaders read because Oprah said so and I fear I will be mistaken for one of those types.

[Hank Stamper]

Isn't this what statistics about?

The assumption that a sample group would be representative of the larger population?

Why is everyone against R&J? I don't watch their show, didn't even know that they had a book club but why are you against them?

Yes. That is why statistics are always ambiguous and never truly representative. 99% of statistics are usually wrong. FACT

and re. Richard and Judy. Apart from being the most cringeworthy couple on TV, I just think if people need to watch Richard and Judy to be motivated to pick up a book, then we have real problems... But at least it is motivating people to read I suppose. Even if they need an irritating wotsit-tinged sock-puppet and his gormless wife to encourage them.

Does it affect our enjoyment of the books they choose - absolutely not. However, I bought Moondust from Amazon the other week and it has a Richard and Judy sticker on the front that you can't even remove. In other words, it's not a sticker - they've actually printed the cover with Richard and Judy's name on it!

I dunno. Ya'll know my views on book covers (I don't by books with any hint of book clubedness or tie in to movies. For example, if it says Oprah book club on the cover I'm not buying it even if it was the last one in the store and it was made of gold), I think it's the same principle I feel annoyed that otherwise nonreaders read because Oprah said so and I fear I will be mistaken for one of those types.

It's because we are all existentialists and don't like people telling us what to read

I think there is also some smugness involved as well - sometimes you feel good (superior ) because you've read a book that you know not many other people have read. If it has been popularised by Richard and Judy, and by association it is in the Top 10 in WHSmith's, then anybody who commutes by train will have read it

[Scheherazade]

if it says Oprah book club on the cover I'm not buying it even if it was the last one in the store and it was made of gold)

it has a Richard and Judy sticker on the front that you can't even remove. In other words, it's not a sticker - they've actually printed the cover with Richard and Judy's name on it!

So much for not judging a book by its cover, eh?

[Hank Stamper]

I have to say I would have looked for another copy if I had bought it from a shop... I don't know if that makes me a massive pedant, but it spoils the cover more than anything

[kasie]

Why is everyone against R&J?

They are patronising, smug, self-satisfied, think they are so bright, intelligent and with it and ask questions that reveal appalling ignorance...will that do to be going on with?

No, I don't watch their show, I tune in when the book list is on and keep the sound off until they start on the books and turn off straight afterwards!

I think there is also some smugness involved as well - sometimes you feel good (superior ) because you've read a book that you know not many other people have read. If it has been popularised by Richard and Judy, and by association it is in the Top 10 in WHSmith's, then anybody who commutes by train will have read it

No intellectual snobbery on this site then.

[Scheherazade]

I don't know if that makes me a massive pedant,

Yes, but we will overlook it

but it spoils the cover more than anything

Still, so much for not judging a book by its cover, eh?

They are patronising, smug, self-satisfied, think they are so bright, intelligent and with it and ask questions that reveal appalling ignorance...will that do to be going on with?

I rephrased my question somewhere above.

I don't care about R&J... this way or that. However, I don't see why we should have an attitude against the books that they endorse... Or any other celebrity/presenter etc etc.

[papayahed]

I don't care about R&J... this way or that. However, I don't see why we should have an attitude against the books that they endorse... Or any other celebrity/presenter etc etc.

My name is Papayahed and I judge a book by it's cover.

It's partially about people telling me what to do, to me it's the same as those movie stars talking about world issues at awards shows. It drives me bonkers. And partially it's about someone coming into my world and telling me what I should read and worse yet what will make me a better person if I read it.

[kelby_lake]

i'm influenced by who tells me to read something. i'm not taking the opinion of some middle-aged couple to tell me what i'd like. and i intend to read tess of the d'ubervilles but was put off it for ages by my annoying english teacher who loves
it and spent an entire lesson telling us most of the plot

[Scheherazade]

My name is Papayahed and I judge a book by it's cover.

I knew it!



How about our Book Club???

[Niamh]

Good question.

I can seee why Niamh might have a grudge , I do sort of. Because suddenly everyione wants the same book now and we only have a limited number of one book so people can get quite irrated.

But then again I want to know why a mobile and choclate companies are concidered experts in jududging what is a good book too.

thats what annoys me about the book club too. Some books just suddenly become in demand and when we run out of stock and there is a delay in getting the orders in, people get cranky and start giving out. (this mainly happens in the high st. In the airport its different. They take up too much space and hardly budge, sitting there for a good while when other more in demand books or bigger sellers could have been stocked in its place. )

But i must admit, they do sometimes have a gem on their list. A quiet Belief in Angels being one.

[papayahed]

How about our Book Club???

The book club is only annoying when my picks don't win and even moreso when my pick doesn't win and none of the winnings book voters read it. OH! or when new people think they need to pick the "intellectual" book.

[JBI]

The book club is only annoying when my picks don't win and even moreso when my pick doesn't win and none of the winnings book voters read it. OH! or when new people think they need to pick the "intellectual" book.

Or when people decide to pick the cliché book, and then I don't feel like re-reading.

[Kafka's Crow]

Thank God I don't watch television. That list shamelessly displays a large number of books enjoying the marketing campaigns by movie-makers and television 'crouch and cleavage' dramas. Year 2005 and the "LOTR" films recently released and the marketing campaign still raging on to promote DVD release etc, guess what would the sheeple vote for? Expect me to go to a list created by 'popular vote' to decide what books I invest my precious little leisure-time in? You must be having a laugh! BBC are one of the more decent broadcasters but still a popular vote is all that it is. I love Radio 4 whereas BBC television is gone down the pan trying to compete with privately owned 'commercial' channels.

About book clubs. I find them shallow and unpalatable, just my subjective opinions, nobody has to agree with them. My copy of The Shadow of the Wind has some sort of sticker on it about Richard and Judy, I thought it was something like Punch & Judy. Never seen them, have no desire to see them either.

[Scheherazade]

Interesting. I do not consider myself a separate entity: I am part of the public and hence, my vote is part of the popular vote.

Oh, and Kafka's Crow, I do not agree with your opinion on book clubs... I could even say that I actually find your view shallow and unpalatable but I won't do that.

Guess everyone expectations are different. To me, the Book Club is nothing but fun and a way to enrich my reading regimen. I also enjoy the process of nominating/voting/campaigning.