Thursday, June 12, 2008

Clubbing

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

A combo of two suggestions by: Heidi and by litlove

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (or, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?

Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?


I haven't belonged to a local book group in years, but in the three that I was involved in at one time, individual members would choose the book for the month which she'd be leading. Sometimes a member would let the others vote between two or three titles she was considering, but this certainly wasn't necessary.

Unfortunately, the first group I was involved in was really just a bunch of women who wanted a coffee klatsch--best sellers reigned and my selections always revealed what an odd duck I was in that group. I was actually told that only a "strong" person like myself could enjoy reading Anne Tyler!

The second group was much better. I read my first Anne Bronte with that group and the trashiest book we read was by Rebecca Wells. But Oprah's bookclub happened and the members got lazy and wanted to read her selections instead of coming up with ones of their own. It wasn't worth the drive out to Huntersville to keep attending.

The third was a group with my friends at the library. I enjoyed this group the most--we read Orhan Pamuk together--but now we get together to play cards or go out to eat instead of discussing books.

These days I prefer online reading groups with other obsessive readers who share similar tastes. I've been much more appreciative of the new authors I've encountered this way.

Booking Through Thursday

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:30 AM

    Bookblogging is as good as book clubs as for as I am concerned. I don't wish for a bad experience I had in one!

    Booking through clubbing

    ReplyDelete
  2. The only and best book club I've been in was when I started a mother/daughter book club with girls my daughters age (10-11yrs). The girls picked the books on their turn and hosted the get-together. We learned more about our girls and their outlooks than you can imagine. Wish I could start one up in our new location!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have never done an online bookclub, but they do sound so interesting. I agree that sometimes people just want to talk about everything else but the book, although my bookclub seems like something in the middle of the range.

    ReplyDelete

A bang, not a whimper

  Two months into L.'s retirement, and I'm finished with the stockpiling of books. No more book purchases! Or at least, no purcha...