Your Feelings About Book Clubs?

[ER Eddie]

As I move towards retirement, I'm looking for new stuff to occupy my time. I've got a lot of possibilities, and I'm experimenting. One of the things I'm trying out is book clubs. I'm referring to in-person book clubs, where you meet once a month or so to discuss a particular book.

I've joined two local book clubs so far, and my experience has been sort of meh. Neither of the books appealed to me, and I didn't read much of either. I felt like they were wasting my time, like I had better things to be reading. Maybe it's just been bad luck with the first two books. Maybe things will get better.

A bit about my reading tastes. I'm generally a non-fiction reader. Book clubs are focused on fiction, of course. I occasionally read fiction, but when I do, it tends to be light and diversionary (e.g., fantasy), as a balance to my more serious reading. Book club selections tend to be serious fiction. Not that I'm against that. Maybe it would be good for me to stretch myself and be exposed to more of that. It's just that so far, it's been underwhelming.

I'm going to stick with it and see if things click, but my initial experiences haven't been very rewarding. Maybe I just ran into a couple of duds right off the bat.

So... Have you joined book clubs? If so, what has your experience been like? Have you enjoyed them or not? Have you stuck with them? Any advice?

 

[Scuba]

I haven’t, because I don’t want to feel pressure to read a book I didn’t select and am not really interested in.

 

[Marita40]

I belong to two and often enjoy reading things I wouldn't normally pick up. I go as well for the camaraderie, probably, more so than the book.

 

[Carpediem]

After Ms. Manager at Megacorp forced her team into a monthly book club to read and discuss corporate rah rah b.s. books, I will NEVER EVER be a part of another book club. Call it "book club ptsd".

 

[Moemg]

I love the book club I belong to . I have read some duds that people selected but I have also read some great books that I would have never touched.Plus I enjoy the friendships and discussions.

 

[Silver]

I belong to two book clubs that meet monthly, both within my community. One has more of a formal organization with limited members included by invitation only, and a set process of presenting and selecting books for the group to read. It's more of a serious, intellectual group.

The other is basically a social group, lots of food and wine served, lots of people (men and woman) and anyone is welcome to come. Very casual way of selecting books, and the discussion about the book can be lively, loud, and very funny.

I enjoy both equally. I have read books I never would have considered and I'm grateful for that. There have certainly been some books from both groups I didn't enjoy, but overall I love being a part of these book clubs.

 

[Sojourner]

I love the book club I belong to. I have read some duds that people selected but I have also read some great books that I would have never touched. Plus I enjoy the friendships and discussions.

+1

The book club I joined meets every other month, and the books are all non-fiction (which I really enjoy). I find myself eagerly looking forward to each meetup where we discuss the book and pick the next one. I've even led a few of the discussions. Have I liked every single book? Definitely not, but our club is very "liberal" so you're never under any obligation to read each book from start to finish. Some people come just for the stimulating discussions and social aspects without even having read a word of the book.

If you don't like your current club(s), keep looking around until you find a good one. They're out there!

 

[ER Eddie]

I haven’t, because I don’t want to feel pressure to read a book I didn’t select and am not really interested in.

Yeah, I have a little of that feeling. Like I'm in English class, being assigned reading.

I belong to two and often enjoy reading things I wouldn't normally pick up. I go as well for the camaraderie, probably, more so than the book.

The cameraderie aspect sounds nice, and I agree it can be nice to be introduced to stuff you wouldn't normally go for.

One of the things I've noticed is that most of the members are women, at least around here. Maybe 80%? I'm wondering whether that is because the selections appeal more to women than men, or whether women are just more likely to join book clubs in general, or maybe both. I guess we'll see.

After Ms. Manager at Megacorp forced her team into a monthly book club to read and discuss corporate rah rah b.s. books, I will NEVER EVER be a part of another book club. Call it "book club ptsd".

lol, I don't blame you.

I love the book club I belong to . I have read some duds that people selected but I have also read some great books that I would have never touched.Plus I enjoy the friendships and discussions.

That's cool. I hope that becomes the case for me as well.

I belong to two book clubs that meet monthly, both within my community. One has more of a formal organization with limited members included by invitation only, and a set process of presenting and selecting books for the group to read. It's more of a serious, intellectual group.

The other is basically a social group, lots of food and wine served, lots of people (men and woman) and anyone is welcome to come. Very casual way of selecting books, and the discussion about the book can be lively, loud, and very funny.

I enjoy both equally. I have read books I never would have considered and I'm grateful for that. There have certainly been some books from both groups I didn't enjoy, but overall I love being a part of these book clubs.

That's great. I like the second type you describe.

I'm trying to get a feel for the group norms. I'm sure groups vary in the amount of divergence or disagreement they allow. I'm in the south, where people tend to suppress negativity, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd also like to be able to express myself openly and have a free-wheeling discussion. So I'm trying to get a sense of how much of that is "allowed."

The group size also seems to be a significant variable. One of the groups I attend is about 6 to 8 people, which feels right-sized to me. People have time to explore and express ideas at some length. The second group is about 20 to 25 people, which seems a bit too large.

+1

The book club I joined meets every other month, and the books are all non-fiction (which I really enjoy). I find myself eagerly looking forward to each meetup where we discuss the book and pick the next one. I've even led a few of the discussions. Have I liked every single book? Definitely not, but our club is very "liberal" so you're never under any obligation to read each book from start to finish. Some people come just for the stimulating discussions and social aspects without even having read a word of the book.

If you don't like your current club(s), keep looking around until you find a good one. They're out there!

Thanks, I will.

I'd love to find a non-fiction book club, since that's usually what I read. I live in a small city, where the only non-fiction book club I'm aware of is one that is focused on war. That's not a subject I'm interested in. I'll keep looking, though. There are still a couple of rocks I haven't turned over.

 

[Scuba]

Yeah, I have a little of that feeling. Like I'm in English class, being assigned reading.



The cameraderie aspect sounds nice, and I agree it can be nice to be introduced to stuff you wouldn't normally go for.

One of the things I've noticed is that most of the members are women, at least around here. Maybe 80%? I'm wondering whether that is because the selections appeal more to women than men, or whether women are just more likely to join book clubs in general, or maybe both. I guess we'll see.



lol, I don't blame you.



That's cool. I hope that becomes the case for me as well.



That's great. I like the second type you describe.

I'm trying to get a feel for the group norms. I'm sure groups vary in the amount of divergence or disagreement they allow. I'm in the south, where people tend to suppress negativity, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd also like to be able to express myself openly and have a free-wheeling discussion. So I'm trying to get a sense of how much of that is "allowed."

The group size also seems to be a significant variable. One of the groups I attend is about 6 to 8 people, which feels right-sized to me. People have time to explore and express ideas at some length. The second group is about 20 to 25 people, which seems a bit too large.



Thanks, I will.

I'd love to find a non-fiction book club, since that's usually what I read. I live in a small city, where the only non-fiction book club I'm aware of is one that is focused on war. That's not a subject I'm interested in. I'll keep looking, though. There are still a couple of rocks I haven't turned over.

Eddie, you could start a non-fiction book club. I’m sure there must be others who’d enjoy that. You could use Meetup or Next Door to publicize it and assess interest.

 

[HFWR]

A wine club, you say?

 

[Sanstar]

Our small town library has a different type book club. It meets monthly, you bring a book and share why you enjoyed it and why you recommend it. No requirements for type of book, genre, ect... Course, it is in the of the Bible Belt so reasonable good taste and manners must prevail.

 

[ER Eddie]

Eddie, you could start a non-fiction book club. I’m sure there must be others who’d enjoy that. You could use Meetup or Next Door to publicize it and assess interest.

Yeah, that's a possibility...

Our small town library has a different type book club. It meets monthly, you bring a book and share why you enjoyed it and why you recommend it. No requirements for type of book, genre, ect... Course, it is in the of the Bible Belt so reasonable good taste and manners must prevail.

That sounds like a nice alternative.

 

[W2R]

As I move towards retirement, I'm looking for new stuff to occupy my time.

Before I retired, I thought that for sure I would join a book club once I had retired.

However, once retired I found out that for me, retirement has been so busy and fun that I have had zero need for yet another activity to occupy my time. Plus, I am kind of an INTJ and prefer staying at home alone or with F.

So no, I haven't joined a book club. I have no desire to meet more people although if I did, a book club would probably be a great way to do so.

 

[Nemo2]

A wine club, you say?

Groucho Marx:

Q: "Do you believe in clubs for women?"

A: "Only if all else fails."

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^ I did not know about the above.

The following, I have seen often.

"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member" -- Groucho Marx

 

[pjm-7]

If a university near you has OLLI courses (Osher Life-long Learning Institute) you might want to look into them. I enjoying reading history and have taken a number of classes on the subject. Some classes have required reading and others have a suggested bibliography.

 

[Crewer]

I travel too much to attend a book group regularly but I am a "member" of two very different ones. One reads mostly nonfiction even though they say they want more fiction on the list (one month a year people pitch possible reads and we vote to get them on the list so it's our own fault). I find the discussions to be intellectually stimulating and it's interesting to have a history with the group so people can say things like "it reminds me of an argument in that E. O. Wilson book we read 15 years ago..." I've only been in the other group one year and it seems to read more fiction and be more social.

I used to do life-long learning classes and loved several of them. I still remember the one on jazz that I took 30 or so years ago. Great instructor and a great instructor makes for a great class.

I love both book groups if only for the reading recommendations.

 

[Osprey]

I’m a member of 2 book clubs. One started on line by a woman using meetup; the initial meetings were at the local Panera Breads and then moved into someone’s house. That one has been going strong for 5+ years. The second one was started as an offshoot from a local Facebook group last fall and it meets monthly for dinner at a local restaurant. Both are fun. If I don’t enjoy the book, I don’t finish it.

 

[mystang52]

Libraries near me have a sort-of book club. They pick the book, you read it, and then attend a scheduled group discussion. Twice the subject book seemed interesting to me, but in each case I didn't like the writing style so never finished either book and of course didn't attend the discussion. But I'd still like to give this a try if I ever successfully finish a chosen book.

 

[ER Eddie]

If a university near you has OLLI courses (Osher Life-long Learning Institute) you might want to look into them. I enjoying reading history and have taken a number of classes on the subject. Some classes have required reading and others have a suggested bibliography.

Yes, I'm fortunate that I live in a city with an OLLI. I've just started to get involved with it. Very nice people so far and a few good classes. My city is fairly small, so the OLLI doesn't have the range of classes that a larger city would have, but I can still find one or two classes of interest each semester. And they have a book club as well.

 

[Moemg]

Most book clubs are mainly women .Women tend to read slightly different books than men . I could just imagine a male book club instead of wine and cheese it would be beer and nachos .The books would all be about history , science fiction or how to books.They would probably meet at a local pub but never admit it was a book club just guys talking .

 

[ER Eddie]

Most book clubs are mainly women .Women tend to read slightly different books than men . I could just imagine a male book club instead of wine and cheese it would be beer and nachos .The books would all be about history , science fiction or how to books.They would probably meet at a local pub but never admit it was a book club just guys talking .

lol, sign me up. Well, except for the beer and the nachos and the history books...

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I wouldn't want to read a book I wasn't interested in. I already have a big stack of books to read of my own choosing.

The closest thing we do is go to astronomy lectures. Our local club gets speakers from organizations like NASA and SETI so those are usually pretty interesting. For socializing we're in a couple of retirement clubs and each one has sub activity groups like bocce ball, hiking, walking, dancing, mah-jong, dining out, wine tasting, etc. Those kind of activities don't require any advance prep work, and most of the activities are drop in or sign up for each event so they don't require any ongoing commitments.

 

[zinger1457]

One of the things I've noticed is that most of the members are women, at least around here. Maybe 80%? I'm wondering whether that is because the selections appeal more to women than men, or whether women are just more likely to join book clubs in general, or maybe both. I guess we'll see.

Seems a lot higher than 80% around here, a couple people that I know that take part are women and they make it sound like only women are in their club. Seems to be as much of a social club as it is a book club which is fine, they enjoy it.

 

[HFWR]

Seems to be as much of a social club as it is a book club which is fine, they enjoy it.

A wine club with a reading problem...