By Linda Kim
Readerville is a website for booklovers--writers and/or readers--who
enjoy
discussing literature of all kinds. The Readerville website provides
venues
of communication between fellow bibliophiles primarily through message
boards,
but registered Readerville users can also contact each other through
email
once they meet in a Readerville forum.
The Readerville website is organized into five main sub-sites. Shortlist
is a
webpage with links to various literary and publishing-related articles
on the
web. It is updated daily and organized by date. Different articles
are featured
every day. With each article are links to the appropriate Readerville
forum
discussing that topic or a related one and links to sellers of that
particular
book or publication (if applicable).
The Readerville Forum is where registered users can read and contribute
to
hundreds of ongoing discussions or start their own discussion. (Guests
can
only read and cannot add their own messages.) Discussions are held
in the form
of message boards where registered users can post their messages,
expressing
their opinions. Current discussions are divided into different categories
like
"Being a Reader-Being a Writer," "Genres, Styles &
Other Categorizations,"
"Magazines, newspapers, periodicals," etc. The topic for
each discussion is
then listed under the categories, e.g. "George Eliot" and
"The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver" under "Genres, Styles & Other
Categorizations." The
Forum includes a link to Readerville Reviews, which are informal reviews
written by Forum regulars.
Readerville Events is a special part of the Forum. It features week-long
discussions with special guests, such as editors, famous writers,
Pulitzer
Prize winners, etc. The Event discussions focus on a specific topic,
like "Jane
Austen's Sense and Sensibility" and allows internet users to
communicate with
recognized individuals in the literary world.
The Web Guide is Readerville's directory of websites. It lists--and
for some,
endorses--other places on the internet where Readerville members can
find more
resources and sites of interest about books, publishers, booksellers,
and other
booklover organizations.
The books featured on the website are available for purchase at the
Readerville
Bookstore. Readerville members as well as internet users can financially
support Readerville by purchasing books at the Bookstore. Some books--new
releases, Book of the Moment features, Event-related books, books
to be
discussed, and books endorsed by the website's founder, Karen Templer--are
available at discount prices.
It is cost-free to become a regular member, therefore contributor,
of
Readerville. New links to articles and discussions of newly published
works
are constantly being added to keep the website's visitors coming often.
The
broad range of topics is likely to appeal to readers and writers of
all kinds
of literature. Initially, the usefulness of chat rooms as an addition
to this
site came to mind. The week-long Events, however, suffice and even
work out
better perhaps. Live chat rooms and live discussions may sound exciting,
but
the week-long Events allow Readerville visitors to tune in at their
leisure.
This is probably more conducive to deeper discussion and participation
by a
greater number of people.
One group of readers and writers that Readerville does not reach
out to is
children. With the already established site that it has, perhaps a
special
forum for youth would promote literacy and literary awareness to youngsters
who often surf the web more than adults.
Overall, Readerville is well organized and presented attractively
yet simply
for its target audience. The features are easy to use and the site
is easy to
navigate. Readerville provides a convenient and efficient way for
booklovers
to connect and come together to share ideas and opinions through the
internet.