The Wednesday Afternoon book club

Several years ago I was asked to lead one of our Library’s book clubs because there previous leader was moving to Arizona.  I asked to attend several book club sessions to learn how the group worked together.  The librarian told me the group had many challenges in the past and that the leader moving out of state was an opportunity to make a few changes.

The first meeting I attended there were three members and the leader.  Rather than a discussion the leader gave a detailed review of the book based on multiple sources and then offered her own review.  The book club members sat and listened.

I attended a second session to learn if the same format was followed for every meeting.  It was.  My decision was easy.  I told the librarian that I would try on a trial basis but the format needed to change drastically.  I wanted true discussion.

The group welcomed me with some apprehension.  It took a lot to coax comments from them.  When I asked them to recommend books for the next year they were petrified.  They had never been given any choice.  They said they didn’t know how to choose a book to read.  I suggested it was easy – suggest a book you’ve read before that you enjoyed so much you would read it again.  The first year it didn’t work.  The second year there were a few more recommendations and a members that had dropped out of the group returned. This is the third year and we’ve grown to sixteen members and they selected half the books to read. 

Every author should either lead or be a member of a book club.  I learn something about every book we read from the club members.  Everyone brings a unique perspective and life history that allows for exciting discussion.  We often go beyond the hour allotted to us.
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If you want to write – join a book club.  How many of you reading this blog are in a book club?