So, I sometimes write feature requests for work and just on github. I didn't want to create a new feature request for this, so I just wrote it out like I normally would:

I. Summary / The Vision

Currently, managing a book club is a scattered mess of group chats, scheduling polls, and different tracking apps. This proposal outlines a vision for an integrated Intelligent Book Club Hub directly within Hardcover, transforming the app from a personal tracking tool into the central nervous system for community reading.

The goal is to go beyond a simple forum and create a seamless, automated "relationship dashboard" for a club's entire lifecycle—from choosing a book to immortalizing the discussion—all while making it fun and effortless for every member to contribute.

II. Core Philosophy / Guiding Principles

Low-Cost, High-Impact: All suggestions are made with the volunteer nature of the project in mind, focusing on leveraging existing data and lean implementations.

"Just Add an Egg": The design philosophy is to empower every member through "micro-contributions." By providing simple, low-effort ways for everyone to add their "egg" to the recipe (a vote, a discussion question), we distribute the organizational workload and foster a powerful sense of shared ownership.

III. Proposed Feature Set

A) The Foundation: The "Club Hub"

A private, dedicated space for each book club that acts as the container for all features below. It would have a member list and a central dashboard.

B) The Lifecycle: Managing a Book from Start to Finish

Choosing the Book: The Two-Stage "Book Gauntlet"

This makes choosing the next book a collaborative and engaging process.

Stage 1: Nominations: An open period where any member can nominate a book, providing a single sentence on why the club would enjoy it. Other members can "second" or comment on nominations.

Stage 2: The Run-off Poll: The top 3-5 most-seconded nominations automatically graduate to a final, simple poll for the vote.

Preparing for Discussion: The Collaborative "Discussion Kit"

This empowers the group to co-create the meeting experience.

The "Prompt Jar": A shared list where any member can add a potential discussion question they thought of while reading.

The "Vibe Check": Simple fields where members can suggest a snack/drink pairing or drop a link to a music playlist that fits the book's mood.

Capturing the Experience: The "Post-Book Read-Cap" & Social Artifacts

After a book is finished, the Hub auto-generates a shareable summary page to act as a digital trophy of the shared experience.

The "Read-Cap" Page Includes:

The club's Average Rating.

A Rating Distribution chart (e.g., how many 5-star vs 4-star ratings).

A Word Cloud generated from the discussion comments.

Other "Experience Capture" Tools:

"Golden Quote" Submission: Members can submit the one quote that best defined the book for them, with the most popular being featured.

"Fan Cast" Roster: A fun, simple tool to let members suggest actors for the main characters.

C) The "Magic": Automation & Lean Integrations

Automated Workflow: When a poll ends, the Hub automatically sets the winner as the "Club's Current Read."

Calendar Integration (.ics files): When a meeting time is chosen, the app auto-generates a universal .ics calendar file for one-click import into any calendar app.

Virtual Meeting Links: The calendar event could optionally auto-generate a video meeting link.

Smart Reminders: Automated notifications for key events like "Voting ends in 24 hours!" or "Your meeting is tomorrow!"

IV. Lean Implementation & FOSS Tooling Suggestions

Calendar Integration (.ics files): Use backend libraries like ical-generator (Node.js) or ics.py (Python) to create static calendar files.

Data Visualization (Charts & Word Clouds): Use client-side JavaScript libraries like Chart.js for charts and d3-cloud for word clouds to avoid server load.

Scheduled Reminders: Use standard backend tools like a cron job or a job queue library like Celery (Python).

Virtual Meetings & Why Jitsi Meet Over Discord:

Tooling: Jitsi Meet is a powerful, open-source video conferencing platform.

The Rationale: The key is to reduce friction. With Jitsi, the app simply generates a URL (https://meet.jit.si/UniqueClubID). Members click the link, and it opens in their browser. There is no sign-up, no app to download, and no server to configure. This keeps the entire experience feeling native to Hardcover. In contrast, Discord would require every member to create a separate account, join a specific server, and navigate an entirely different app, fragmenting the experience and creating a barrier to entry for less tech-savvy users.

V. UX Psychology & Layout Design: Fostering Connection

The layout of the Club Hub should be intentionally designed using a "Three-Act Structure":

Top: The Dashboard - "What's Happening Now?" (Active Tasks): This section leverages the Zeigarnik Effect by prominently displaying the single most important active group task, creating a gentle motivation to participate.

Middle: The Bookshelf - "Where We Are & Where We've Been" (Context & History): This visual timeline of past and present books uses the Goal Gradient Effect to create a tangible sense of accomplishment and shared history.

Bottom: The Roster - "Who We Are" (Community): This is the list of club members.

This design uses principles of Social Proof (showing avatars of participating members) and Endowed Progress (pre-populating prompts) to make participation feel natural, rewarding, and less intimidating.

VI. Enhancing Long-Term Stickiness & Connection

To keep a club vibrant between books and over the years, these features build on the core hub:

The "Club Shelf": A Curated & Collaborative Library

Beyond just "Past Reads," the Hub could feature permanent, member-curated shelves.

The "On Deck" Shelf: A persistent list where members can add and upvote potential future reads at any time. This becomes the primary source for the "Book Gauntlet" nominations and keeps the conversation going even when a book isn't being actively read.

The "Club Classics" Shelf: After a year, members can vote to add a few of their favorite past reads to a permanent "Club Classics" shelf. This builds a unique identity and a "hall of fame" that represents the club's specific taste.

The "Club Wrapped": An Annual Celebration

At the end of each calendar year, the Hub could automatically generate a special, shareable "Wrapped" page, an extension of the "Read-Cap" concept.

It would show: Total books read, total pages turned as a group, the highest-rated book of the year, the most-read genre, a "superlative" for the most active member, etc.

The Stickiness: This creates an annual tradition and a powerful, nostalgic artifact. It gives the club a moment to reflect on their shared journey and encourages them to continue into the next year.

Member Milestones & Anniversaries

A small, subtle notification on the Hub dashboard could celebrate group-specific milestones.

Examples: "Happy 1-Year Anniversary to Jane in the club!" or "This month marks the club's 25th book read together!"

The Connection: These small acknowledgements reinforce the value of long-term membership and make individuals feel seen and appreciated within the group context, strengthening personal and communal bonds.

By integrating these elements, the Book Club Hub evolves beyond a simple feature into the core social layer of the Hard-tapestry. It becomes the primary driver for transforming a solitary reading experience into a connected, communal journey.

The entire system is designed as a virtuous cycle:

Ease of Use Attracts Users: The frictionless setup (via Jitsi, .ics files) and automated logistics lower the barrier to entry, making it the easiest way to run a book club.

Micro-contributions Foster Ownership: The "Just Add an Egg" philosophy ensures members are immediately invested, turning passive participants into active co-creators of their club's culture.

Social Artifacts Create Stickiness: The "Read-Caps," "Club Shelves," and annual "Wrapped" summaries generate a rich, tangible history. This history becomes a powerful emotional anchor, creating a high switching cost—no one wants to abandon the library and memories their club has built together.

Milestones Reinforce Community: Celebrating anniversaries and group achievements strengthens interpersonal bonds, ensuring the community remains healthy and active over the long term.

Final Vision Statement

Ultimately, this isn't just about managing logistics; it's about building a home for reading communities. It’s about creating a space where the conversation that starts on the page can seamlessly continue among friends. By implementing this hub, Hardcover wouldn't just be offering a feature competitive with other platforms; it would be offering a fundamentally better, more integrated, and more human way to experience books together. It becomes an indispensable tool for anyone who believes reading is an activity meant to be shared.

I know this was some months ago, but I'm begging please on this as well.

I'm a member of a Goodreads book group that is actively looking for a new site other than Goodreads and having a lot of problems finding any viable options.

This would be different from just Discussions connected to a book or a buddy read. There are nominations and polls for monthly reads, multiple discussion threads on the books as we read them, multiple books a month (2 different genres plus a series read), as well as just general discussion threads not necessarily related to any specific books.

This sounds like how we were planning our discussions, just within a private group. I think we could use the same functionality, since general discussions also only show up until the point you're read.
Sharing our discussions prototype here for reference: https://www.figma.com/proto/HOFBvDZTIlO459eLVYBDMs/App-%26-Web-Designs?page-id=5286%3A13738&node-id=5330-15063&node-type=frame&viewport=567%2C450%2C0.2&t=YovrWCxOZ22ChJtJ-1&scaling=min-zoom&content-scaling=fixed (pass: jules)

Pretty please