Book Clubs – Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em?

Introducing my new supervisor: Killian! He loves being present for the podcast, this blog, and morning wordcount, though he has a tendency to fall asleep on the job. Still, I have high expectations and the Cuteness Quotient™ is off the charts.

This week at the SFF Seven we’re talking book clubs. We’re asking each other what bookish groups we belong to and what do they provide?

Like KAK, my answer is: none.

Oh, I have belonged to book clubs in the past. I was in one for a while back when we lived in Wyoming – though it was, in part, a thinly veiled subterfuge to get people to read MY newly published book. Which they did! And discussed, which was fun. Mission accomplished.

Otherwise… I don’t love being in a book club. It’s fun to chat with people and I love to talk about books. Book clubs are, however, rather noteworthy for not actually discussing the books (or reading them) and devolving into gossip instead. I’m also a steady reader, finishing a book every two-three days, so I don’t need incentive to read. I find I don’t like “required reading” either. One cool thing about book clubs is they get you to read books you otherwise wouldn’t; they also get you to read books you otherwise wouldn’t because you don’t want to. While I know there are genre book clubs out there, most tend toward the erudite and fashionable books, and not the kind of thing I love to read.

Besides which, I can always find people to discuss the books I *do* love to read. Or there’s always the cats. Killian’s reading comprehension needs work still, but he’s an excellent listener.

4 Replies to “Book Clubs – Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em?”

  1. Eh. I have been in them in the past but they didn’t work for one reason or the other. That being said, I just joined one on line with the thought that it will help with my year long reading ennui. Or not.

  2. I’m in a couple. One is a networking group where I work (for a large corporation). We rotate through different fiction genres each month. I read a lot of books for this group that I don’t enjoy, but it gets me out of my comfort zone and the mission is less about books and more about networking. The other is a romance bookclub sponsored by a local indie bookstore. There are a few that are not to my taste but I have discovered some authors I love and introduce the rest of the club to some of my favorites. It’s less gossipy because most of us don’t really know each other outside of the club.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *