An idea to experiment with: Book AMAs.

EDIT: This idea took off much faster than I expected, so I've gone ahead and started a new reddit, to keep book AMAs from swamping r/books. When you're done here, check out BooksAMA.

You're probably thinking, "Hey, AMAs with authors aren't a bad idea, but doesn't r/IAMA already do stuff like that?" But that's not what I'm talking about! What I'm talking about is so clever that you're going to think it's stupid. So I'll tell you what I have in mind, but then you've gotta hear me out as to why it's a good idea.

"Alright," you say, warily. "So what's your idea?"

AMAs conducted by people that have just finished reading a book.

"What?!" you're saying to yourself. "Why would we want to do that?" I'm glad you asked.

There's two perspectives to look at this from: that of the person who read the book and is giving the AMA, and that of the people asking the anything. That's right: asking the anything. Looks like bad grammar, but reddit has made that phrase coherent. As it turns out, book AMAs have something to offer from both perspectives.

First the people asking the anything. And, yes, I do intend to keep using that phrase until it catches on. This group gets two things out of participating in a book AMA. For one thing, it helps them gauge their interest in the book. They get to find out something of the content, and how well the book addresses the topics that interest them. It's not perfect, of course, since they're getting that information filtered through the consciousness of the person conducting the AMA, but that's true of any recommendation or review.

Secondly, the book AMA functions as a kind of interactive TIL. For example, right now, I'm reading a book about the affect WWI and the peace conferences that followed it had on the geopolitics of the Middle East. I won't be done for a while, so it's not really ready for prime time, but if I were to run an AMA on it, you could ask about particular points of interest -- for example, what I learned from it that helps me understand the plight of the Kurds. Then I'd whip out some spiffy fact from the book, and BANZAI: you've learned something new. Now imagine a whole thread of that, where I'm whipping out factoids and dropping knowledge like Chuck D., and you're like, wow.

Okay, so what's in it from the person giving the AMA? Well, I read a lot, and one thing I've found is that the info I find in books sticks with me better if I turn right around and use it. An AMA would allow the reader to turn right around and use that info in a discussion. It also give them a reason to spend an afternoon or two reviewing what they've read. Think of it as an open-book quiz if you like, or, if you're not some kinda test-loving nerd, think of it like the scene in Karate Kid where Ralph Macchio realizes that all this time he's been waxing Mr. Miyagi's car, he's actually been learning how to snatch a punch straight out of the damn air. From then on, whenever someone attempts to bluff their way through a dispute, you'll be able to whip out a can full of factual whoop-ass, instead of just thinking to yourself, "didn't I read something about that once?"

Some thoughts on structure:

• Kick it off just like an AMA, with a title like, "/r/books, I just finished reading 'The Communist Manifesto' -- ask me anything." It probably wouldn't hurt to put a capsule description in the text box either. The first couple of people to try conducting a book AMA might want to include a link back to this, so I can take the heat if everyone thinks it's a lame idea.
• Don't be afraid to ask stupid or simple questions. "What made you decide to read it," is a perfectly reasonable question, as is, "Did you like it?" Just like in a standard AMA, the point is to find out about the subject from someone who knows. All you have to bring to the table is some curiosity about the book or the subject.
• If you're conducting the AMA, it's a good idea to have the book handy. If you're not sure about the answer to a question, refer back to the book. This isn't a test to find out how much you memorized; like a reviewer, you're the medium through which the participants are testing the book.
• Only conduct an AMA once you've finished the book. While there might be some interest for following along as a person reads a book, reddit's format won't really support that sort of discussion. If that's how you want to handle your reading, I'd suggest finding a good BBS or starting a reading blog or tweet feed -- some format where the thread can be kept from falling off of the front page without constantly resubmitting a self post for discussion.
• There might be a way to work this using fiction books, too, but I think we'll probably find that book AMAs are mostly good for non-fiction. People don't like spoilers when it comes to fiction books, and that's going to be a major hurdle, but if anyone can think of a way to make fiction AMAs useful, I'm all ears.
• If there's a blitzkrieg of book AMAs, we can always move that discussion into a new reddit, so as to keep them from taking over r/books, but as long as the idea is still in the experimental stages, I think we should keep it here, just to make sure it actually has legs.

Okay, so that's the basic idea. Any thoughts? Ideas for making it work better?