Sunday, March 12, 2017

Book Clubs!

I have always, always wanted to be in a book club. Nerd goals.

I joined a book club through my church's mom group. The assigned book was Little Bee by Chris Cleve. I was so excited to be in the club. I dove into the book. If you haven't read Little Bee it is very emotionally intense and there is a lot to unpack. I was eager to dig in and really analyze the meaning of the story and the author's intent. Well... no one else read it and I was disappointed. Then they decided not to meet for that month. There was another book choice and again I read it, but no one else did. After that the book club was no more. I was sad, but I still hoped my dreams of being a part of a book club would come to fruition.

Last year I got to chat with a lovely young woman I met through one of my Library Science courses. We hit it off and enjoyed chatting with one another. She told me she was in a couple of book clubs and I told her of my book club dream! She kindly invited me to be a part of the book club she started with some people she knew and I was tentative (because...introvert) but thrilled! I did three meetings with the book club which was a private book club by invitation only. We met virtually, which prior to the meeting I thought meant we would chat over Facebook messenger or something similar, but instead we met on Google Hangouts. A virtual bookclub is perfect for readers like me who have transportation issues or logistical issues, or even if the group just contains people from all different locations, which is the case for this book club! I was nervous at first because I felt more comfortable thinking I would be typing, rather than video chatting. I felt like video chatting with people I didn't know very well required me to have makeup on and brushed hair.

Most of the members of this particular book club are female. In the meetings I joined, there was only one guy who chatted with us. All the members were well spoken and intelligent and normally they had all read the book or at least started it. The meetings all stayed on topic and though they were social, the focus was definitely on what we had read, not just shooting the breeze. I preferred that because discussing the books was the main reason I wanted to join.

The first book I read with the book club was Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. I had absolutely no interest in this book or graphic novels at all. I loved the fact that everyone in the book club was able to see likable and less likable aspects of the book. We all felt it was a little indulgent but we varied in our willingness to accept the author's self-indulgence. We all were able to see the merits of the writing, the creativity of the presentation, and the poignancy of the story.

The second book I read with the book club was Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. This book was especially meaningful to me because it is a memoir about living on the Autism Spectrum, and I have two sons on the Autism Spectrum. Through the course of the discussion, one of the group members disclosed that he was Autistic also and we had a really great chat about some aspects of living with Autism.

The structure of the book club was neat. The facilitator was the young woman who started the book club. Each month a different member would choose the book and that person would sort of guide the discussion during the book club. No one was particularly dominant and the discussion was allowed to meander of its own accord. I really enjoyed the vibe of this book club and chatting with the people involved. If someone hadn't read the book they would either not be present for the discussion or they would say upfront that they had read only part or not read the book, and then they would either observe or chime in if they had something relevant to add.

I would love to still be a part of this book club, but I haven't had much time to do the extra reading at this time. Hopefully there will be a spot waiting for me when I am ready, and maybe someday i can try another (or several more) book clubs. I know, for me though, it is important that a book club revolves at least to a large extent around discussing the book or else I would feel like I was wasting my time.

What are your thoughts on book clubs? How do you find and join them? What is your preferred format?

2 comments:

  1. That is a really neat way to join a book club. Did the other members know each other, or did everyone sort of come together by chance? I feel like everyone's experience has either been all book club talk or all social hour. I guess there is a different fit for each person. I am not sure what I would prefer yet. I would like to find people I feel comfortable with, but none of my friends are really big readers. Plus, my to-read list is so long already. Do people who regularly do book clubs ever read books for themselves? I don't think that I could juggle reading more than one book at a time. I like to give each book my undivided focus. I am glad you have had a good experience!

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  2. Fantastic observations and write up! I'm glad you had such a pleasant experience!

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