So, I've wanted to join a book club FOREVER, but my being out of school for so long, paired with the large amount of books I already have sitting on my shelf (some of them still waiting to be opened after 5+ years), has prevented me from doing so.
Are any of you in a book club? What would you recommend for the someone like me who is craving bookish socialization, but who also likes to follow her own reading agenda?
If this one has like a "beginner level," I think I could get into it -- I think I've even brought it up before...
http://www.lkwdpl.org/bookclubs/knitlit.htm
Anybody out there in Lakewood who wants to do this with me (pending, of course, that my work schedule can be rearranged on Tuesdays)?
Lemme know! :)
Sadly, I've mostly been annoyed by my book club experiences. There are so many books out there, and like you, I have a huge stack that I've been trying to get to for years. So to have to read books chosen by others kind of feels like homework.
ReplyDeleteI've also found that the discussions don't flow naturally -- maybe my book club people just aren't very chatty or opinionated. Instead, the person who chose the book comes prepared with "discussion questions" to kind of fire things up, but that also feels like homework.
I think if you want to do an in-real-life book club, it's critical to keep it to a small group (no more than six people); make sure everyone in the group likes the same kind of books, otherwise you'll get resentful of that person who keeps pushing sci-fi on you; and make sure you are all friends in other aspects of life, so you can chat about the book for half an hour and then chat about life over pie and coffee for another two hours.
Turtlehead, I'm so happy you're still reading my blog!
ReplyDeleteAll good advice, and much appreciated. My colleague at work started a book club with a few of her friends, and I think they do the discussion question thing. Who knows what the conversation is like, but I may ask her if I can join one day, as opposed to the library-sponsored club. I'm a social person, but this always seems like the one activity where I'd really prefer it to be so exclusive it's just me. :)