u/Downtown-Can-6844

I’ve spent the last several weeks building a side project called The Unassigned Reading Group (TURG).

I’m not a developer. I just had an idea and wanted to see if I could bring it to life.

The concept is simple: a reading community where people can discover books, read at their own pace or alongside others, and participate in meaningful discussions without the pressure of traditional book clubs.

I’ve built four interconnected automated systems that handle book discovery, reading groups, discussions, and community operations.

The biggest challenge has been making everything work together reliably. I’ve learned a lot about automation, troubleshooting, and how fixing one thing can somehow break three others.

I’m currently testing everything ahead of the October 15 launch, and I’m learning that sometimes you have to stop building and actually let people use what you’ve created.

For those who’ve launched side projects: How did you decide yours was ready? Did you launch with the essentials or wait until everything felt polished?

Would love to hear your experiences!

I’ve been thinking about starting a free Discord reading community because I like the idea of a book club, but I don’t love the part where everyone has to read the same book on the same schedule.

The idea would be more flexible:
- multiple books/read-alongs happening at once
- you choose which book you want to join
- simple weekly reading goals
- dedicated discussion spaces for each book
- spoiler-friendly discussions
- general spaces for recommendations, TBRs, and currently reading
- resources for finding books through libraries, Libby, Hoopla, and other free options
- no membership fee or paid Discord

You could join a book when it interests you and skip the ones that don’t.

I’d probably start with a mix of genres like historical fiction, horror/supernatural, folklore, thrillers, literary fiction, fantasy, cultural/identity-focused stories, and emotional reads.

I’m thinking about launching something like this around November, but I want to see if people would actually participate before I build the whole thing.

Would you join something like this?

If yes, what would make it worth participating in for you?

And what book would you want to see as one of the first read-alongs?