Happy Friday, everyone! As you saw from my Wednesday reviews, I’ve been in a reading slump and rather than post more reviews of ‘meh’ books today I wanted to end the week on a positive note. The best way to do that is to talk about a new site I’m involved in, The Socratic Salon.
Earlier this year there was a lot controversy in the book blogging world. Things got very nasty and negative, to the point where even within a like-minded community the drama outweighed the reason why so many of us were blogging—a love of books. It was fortunate then, that through an insane amount of late night messages about everything and nothing, I got to know April (The Steadfast Reader), Shannon (River City Reading), Jennifer (The Relentless Reader) and Monika (Lovely Bookshelf) beyond the scope of their blogs. When we did talk about books we felt that, because of the drama, we were seeing less about books and more about being right and silencing anyone who disagreed, so at some point, one of these brilliant women came up with the concept for The Socratic Salon.
Books are a subjective experience and the best part of that experience is sharing and learning with and from others and even agreeing to disagree. The Socratic Salon is a kind of online book club and unlike our individual blogs where we’re very careful to stay away from spoilers or plot points that may reveal too much at TSS we discuss it all. We don’t review books; we break them down and then open the floor to comments—lots and lots of comments. And guess what? Comments that disagree with everything we said, comments that provide an alternative viewpoint to a book: Comments that become discussion. We don’t just talk about new books, we go back to older books and look at topics that impact the book world, like apps that remove content that might be offensive or not liking a character in a book.
The Socratic Salon is a place for anyone who loves books and has opinions. Even if you belong to a book club it’s a great place to visit because the conversation never ends and you can participate in your jammies with a glass of wine. Each time you come back the discussion has grown and new voices have chimed in. It’s a labor of love, a collaborative effort, and something we hope all readers will enjoy. Please stop by; we’d love to hear from you!
I’ve been loving Socratic Salon so far – it’s so nice not to have to “watch what you say” there!
The Socratic Salon has been so fun! I don’t know anyone in my non-internet life who reads like I do, so it’s SO GREAT to be able to find those people in book blogging land.
I just entered the scene in January of this year, so luckily (I think) missed out on all the drama… or at least really had no idea it was really even going on. I have found the book blogging community, as a whole, to be extremely welcoming and supportive, and FUN!
These days, I’m re-arranging my reading based around what’s coming up at TSS, and I’m a-okay with that! Hope you find a slump-buster soon 🙂
I am so happy you ladies started the Socratic Salon! I had been craving a place to talk about books — spoilers and all — and I’ve been loving all of the discussions so far.
I’m loving Socratic Salon! I like seeing the different points…even when I disagree. April made a counterpoint to my point the other day and I could kinda see what she was saying. So it’s cool to be able to freely talk without fear of spoilers!
I’m loving The Socratic Salon – it’s such a great idea! And, the setup is great, too!
Enjoying your new group website, Catherine – keep going! And I hope you find a book that blows your socks off soon. It’s out there somewhere. 🙂
Cynthia, I think I have! Reading The Sympathizer and the writing is so sharp it makes me very happy.