SCOPE & TOPIC OF THE COMMUNITY:

Books! Other than that, anything goes. Young adult, chick-lit, non-fiction, biographies, true crime, fantasy, and the classics are all welcome. I want people to post about what they read. I read the literary classics, but I also read a ton of chick-lit, young adult, and fantasy books. I want to know what you like and what you dislike. I want to know what chick-lit books have an interesting plot, and I want to know which ones I should avoid because they author can't write to save his or her life.

Book recommendations, book reviews, and book critiques are all welcome. If someone recommends a book that you absolutely hated, let us know. People like different things. Different strokes for different folks. No two people are ever going to agree on everything, and dissenting opinions are more than welcome—just don't be an asshat. If you happen to be the person that gets dissent, remember. It’s not personal. The world is not ending because someone on Dreamwidth didn't like a book. Act accordingly.

MEMBERSHIP & COMMENTS:

Membership is open—anyone with a Dreamwidth account may join the community. Anonymous comments are turned on (which obviously means that you do not have to be a member of the community in order to comment). If this feature gets abused, I will contemplate changing the comment policy.

POSTING:

Posting will start out moderated.

Posts re: other community recommendations, website recommendations, announcements about book signings, etc., will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

SPOILERS:

All posts that substantively discuss a book should have a spoiler cut. A "book-jacket" synopsis can be included in the post, outside of the cut, but details about the book should be behind a cut so people can decide for themselves whether or not they want to be spoiled for the content.

You should assume that the "Guilty Pleasures" and/or "Book Club" admin posts (see below) will include spoilers in the comments, even if there are no spoilers in the main part of the post.

TAGS:

Tag creation will be controlled by the admin/moderator, but members can (and are encouraged) to mark their posts with pre-made tags. Tag creation is limited in order to facilitate and optimize their search functionality. I believe that tags are only as useful as the system that manages them, and I want people to be able to find past-posts with regards to a particular genre easily.

Tags will be made on a post-by-post basis.

ADMIN POSTINGS:

Guilty Pleasures: Once a month, I will make a "Guilty Pleasures" post. Anonymous comments will be turned on (even if they are later turned off for the regular posts), and the IP function will be turned off. I'm hoping that people will jump in the water without being embarrassed or shy about their book recommendations, but even if you are embarrassed, I still want to know what you're reading. This let's us have the best of both worlds.

Suggested Reading List: A suggested reading list will be maintained by the ~~benevolent dictator~~ admin, listing, in alphabetical order, all of the books that have been suggested by members of the community. The list will provide links to popular websites where books can be purchased or found for free (if they are in the public domain).

Book Club: If I can garner enough interest, we'll start a monthly book club. Members will select the month's book from a poll post, and at the end of the month, we'll discuss the book in a post created by the admin.

The FAQ and the Suggested Reading List will be linked in the profile of the community.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Bueller?

FAQ