Okay, so here's the deal - Neither Gail nor I have ever belonged to a book club of any sort. We are constant readers, always have at least one book going at any given time, and a long queue waiting in various piles around the house and at the Public Library, but we've never done any organized group discussing of what we read since we were in college literature classes a thousand years ago. We feel a little resistance to reading something a book group chooses, rather than what we ourselves choose to read. On the other hand,
we like our neighbors, know this would be a good way to get to know some of them on a less-superficial level, and maybe read outside our comfort zone. Or not. So, here's my question to the women in this group blog and any readers who visit - have you ever belonged, or do you now belong to any sort of book club? What has your experience with this been? We can't be the only sixty-something year old women in America who've never belonged to a reading club, can we? Help us out here, I'm really asking for some indepth thoughts on this subject. (Photo: Our hall bookshelves.)
7 comments:
I belonged to a book club for almost a year several years ago and gave it up because my schedule got too hectic. The upside was getting to know new people. The downside was never getting a book I suggested read. It did push me out of my reading comfort zone. I loved the focus of discussing books on multiple levels, but I also didn't enjoy a fair number of the books we read. I'd still try it again, and I've wondered if my experience might have been better if I hadn't been the newbie in an established group.
This is very timely for me because I've just been invited by one of my best friends to join a book club to which she's belonged for years. I have some reticence about doing it for the reasons you've mentioned, but I've decided to give it a try, in part because as my friend pointed out, I'll certainly end up reading some things I otherwise would not have read. Dunno if this is any help to you or not. BTW, I'm 60, but I think that most of the women in this book club are in their early 40's.
BTW, I love your bookshelves! They look so inviting!
hey there! book clubs can be wonderful things! decide in the beginning what you want yours to focus on, the purpose or aim. that will give it some structure but not too much. just enough so that you don't spend every meeting saying, "well what do you wanna read?" "i dunno, what do YOU wanna read?" "oh anything" and so on and so forth. there are all kinds of google~able stuff on bookclubs, including questions and topics and formats and such. don't worry if the numbers of folks fluctuates, that happens with any sort of group. and expect some friction as various members either voice their feelings for the first time or tension as some are frustrated cuz they can't find their voices. some times friction is not a bad thing, ya know? just encourage each other and your own self. have fun, grins, debra
Thank you all for giving me just what I asked for, your experiential commentary on this subject. I'm still not sure that Gail and I are the kind of humans who would do well with this, we tend not to play so well with others. We are both bossy take-charge sorts of gals (makes for an interesting relationship at times) and so I think are the other women contemplating this neighborhood group. It's the tension and friction you mention, Debra, that I worry about. But we (or at least I) will give the initial meeting a go, see how it seems, then make a decision as to whether we really want to do this or not. Gail works fulltime at a very demanding job , has so little time for reading that she doesn't want to read books she doesn't care about. My teaching is part time only, and my reading is more eclectic than hers anyway. We'll play it as it lays to begin with. Again, thanks Cynthia, EmmapeelDallas and Debra for your voices. Emmapeel, let me know how your bookclub goes, if you do join.
I went to the first meeting tonight, with many misgivings, but it was great! A really interesting and diverse group of women. There were just 6 of us there tonight, but we may have 2 or 3 more join us. We'll meet every two months, which is all any of us can manage with our schedules. We selected six books to read, including one "challenging" book that we'll start now and finish and discuss in December (Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead). There are many things I liked right away about these women, but one of the more endearing things is that two of them (one of whom is the good friend who invited me) fessed up to having times where they showed up without having completed the books, because their lives just got too busy. I totally understand that, and love the fact that everyone could laugh about it. These are bright, interesting women, and if they didn't complete the readings, it's not because they were unable to do so. So I'm feeling good about this, in spite of the fact that I am so NOT a joiner. I hope you have good luck with your book club too.
Thanks for this report. I think tonight is our initial "ground rules" meeting, though not everyone has responded to the emails. I am afraid my Fountainhead days are way too far behind me to even contemplate looking at the book's cover, so I do hope no one suggests reading it. It's not that it's challenging, it's that it has influenced the philosophy of far too many people in our current society - I sometimes think the prevalent corporate greed in American life can be traced directly back to Ayn Rand's writing, which most boomers read and were influenced by in their youth. So, maybe this IS just the sort of book we should be reading at this point, and it's a great choice.
I have to admit, I successfully resisted reading Ayn Rand when I was young because she was so often recommended to me as an author I would love that I couldn't possibly read her. And I didn't much like the philosophy of the person who regularly recommended her to me. A couple of months ago I read in the NY Times that Alan Greenspan was a huge Rand fan, and she of him, and the influence she had had on a generation of Americans. So yes, I think reading Fountainhead will be interesting, and challenging for me, because I don't think Rand is my cup of tea at all. I guess I'll find out! :)
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