Booking Through Thursday
A combo of two suggestions by: Heidi and by litlove
Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?
Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?
I participate in two F2F book clubs. They each have a completely different way of choosing books.
It's very simple for one of them. Members take turns being in charge of a month, and that month they'll pick a pick, and then have the meeting at their house. The month before, they'll let us know what book we'll be reading. Sometimes they'll come to that meeting with library book club sets to pass out to us!
In my other group (the one I head up), it's a bit more random. We'll all throw out suggestions. Sometimes I can tell if a suggestion seems well received right off, so that goes right on our list. Sometimes everyone is too quiet to say how they are feeling about the suggestions, so lately I've been having them vote through email. Then the top vote getters go on the list. Often, we'll choose our books from what the library has available in their book club sets. Other times it's just what we've been hearing lots about and want to read. I like to get the list of upcoming books scheduled quite a bit in advance so everyone has a good long time to get a hold of the book. Also, if we are doing library book club sets, those need to be put on hold months in advance.
As for the second part of the question, for me, reading books for a book club doesn't really make me appreciate the book any differently. I may pay attention to the details more so I can throw things out in the discussion, but other than that, the overall reading experience is the same!
(An interesting observation, in reading a few answers so far this morning, I'm surprised at how many of my book bloggin' buddies don't participate in a book club. Hmmmm......)
I do not. I got a mind block after a bad experience. Maybe online, I might give it a try once more.
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I'm involved in apparently two similar book clubs with similar book selection processes. It's funny how each club kind of takes on a life of its own. I, too, noticed that a quite a few book bloggers don't have a face-to-face book club. Maybe that's what drives them to the web.
ReplyDeleteI used to participate in a book club at work, but I chose one book for my month and no one liked it and we all stopped reading it...and never discussed it. After that we never got together to choose books anymore.
ReplyDeleteSince then I've just been reading books I want to read and haven't seen any book clubs that have similar tastes near me, though Anna at Diary of an Eccentric and I were thinking about a small book club of just us. LOL
I notice that book clubs, unless I really want to read the book, make me less inclined to read the book. I don't have a whole lot of reading time, so the deadline nature of a book club often makes me leery. I guess I start to feel like its an obligation, rather than something fun to do.
Agree with the others in blogging, reviewing and with MEME actively engaged in discussing books without the distractions of a book club
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind being a part of a face to face book club, but it's never fit into my work schedule.
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