
To Book Club or Not to Book Club?
This Sunday, my book club is meeting to discuss A Good American by Alex George over brunch and mimosas. It’s only our third meeting ever, really only the second that involves a book discussion. We started with a simple tweet. One woman said that she wished she were part of a book club, and after a chorus of like-minded tweets, #bookbroads was born. (Yes, we have a hashtag.) We read mostly fiction, though our first book choice was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It generated a good – if not a little over-zealous – conversation, and in the span between that meeting and the next on Sunday, we’ve picked up a few more members.
This is the first book club I’ve really been a part of, not counting one I ran professionally when I worked as a bookseller. It’s not that I never wanted to, but they can be a huge commitment depending on the club and the books. I’ve already got a ton of commitments – full-time job and full-time school, plus several other extracurriculars – and taking part in a book club is one more thing. But is it worth it?
Because I’m a Virgo, i.e. anal retentive as all hell, I’ve put together this handy dandy Pro/Con list to decide if I want to stick with it. But as I’ve only got a meeting or two under my belt, please feel free to add to my lists or dispute any of my assertions. I’m sure some of you are much bigger book club professionals.
Pros (or potential benefits):
- Just as with read-a-longs, there’s safety in numbers. Having a group of people that you’re committed to for a book discussion is a little like scheduling workouts with a buddy – it keeps you accountable. Especially if you’re not enjoying a book, or the group chooses something you might not otherwise read, the club can push you beyond your comfort level. Also, if you’re not a prolific reader or you’re going through a reading slump, you at least have one book a month you have to read.
- With great power comes great responsibility. If your group functions like mine, everyone brings a few suggestions for the next club choice and we all vote. When your choice gets picked, its both thrilling and a little scary, but it also gives you a great sense of inclusion and participation in the club. Plus its nice to feel like people like your taste.
- What if no one likes the book? Yeah this is a problem. If a book is universally liked, or universally disliked, or there are extreme reactions on both sides of the spectrum, the discussion is usually pretty good and animated. But if everyone is kind of meh about a book, the conversation is DOA. (But then there’s wine, right?)