Book Club | Book Chatter

I’ve mentioned it a few times here on the blog but I’ve been a member of a book club for 14+ years. Wow. How can that be? Anyway, the club has been around forever and for years and years I’ve enjoyed it but recently, say within the past year it’s been a struggle. I can’t really say it’s due to any one thing but the biggest issue is probably just new people and how some of them just rub me the wrong way. I read the books but I am not attending the meetings. I haven’t really decided what to do long-term.

I considered starting another club but conflicting schedules are always an issue and I know if I do not have a set date and time it will get bumped and I would hate for that to happen. Plus, the new people component. I am a friendly type for the most part but stupid people piss me off. I’ve no patience for stupidity or rudeness and it’s impossible to keep them out when you create a public group.

So then I considered an online club but do they work? Are they fun? I’ve been IN a few and although I loved the hosts and we talked on the side about the book, the conversation piece of the group (between all of the members) was challenging. To really get in on the conversation you have to turn notifications on and when you get dozens of emails dumped into your inbox you suddenly get resentful. The online clubs I am referring to were setup in Goodreads. If you use another venue that works better, let me know.

I think that is why I enjoy blogging so much. I love to talk about books with all of you and although there are many of you that I haven’t met in person, I’ve gotten to know you pretty well. These days, interactions span several days (if not weeks) and flit across social media platforms such at Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. There is not a day that goes by where I am not connecting with readers in some way and I love it! No time constraints either. I can wake at 4am and know that someone is out there talking about books. It’s like a dream to me.

So my question for you is this:

Do you think traditional (face to face) book clubs are as popular as they were three years ago? Why, or why not?

My book club has been meeting for over thirteen years. That’s a really long time and we’ve read plenty of good books, a few great ones, and a few stinkers. What book club hasn’t? On January 19th, we choose our books for the year. Yep, the year. We each come up with 1-2 choices, pitch it to the group, and then take a vote. This works extremely well for us because when it comes down to it, we whittle it down to a near perfect list and having the entire list before us, allows us to move books around to balance it out a bit.

This year, three titles continue to pop-up in my mind even though I’ve only read one of them. I’m not sure which two I will pitch and let’s be honest, I could completely change my mind come the 19th. For now though, these are the three I am considering:

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Booker Prize winner)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (It’s been on my shelf for far too long)
Lamb by Bonnie Nadzam (Loved it, reviewed it here)

The other book that caught my eye, is Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney. There’s been a lot of buzz about it. Sounds interesting, but I’ve no idea if it’s discussion worthy. That’s the thing, I don’t really care if the group “likes” a book. It’s nice when that happens, but to me, it’s not a requirement. I’d rather have a book stir you up emotionally and create a lot of discussion rather than it being a “nice” read.

If you’ve read any of these, what do you think? Will these stir people up and create discussion?

Or… if you have another book that you think might fit the bill, please share it. As always, I will post the final list under my Book Club tab.

Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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