Book Club

I love my book club. For years I tried to find a good one, but every time I joined a new one I would once again be disappointed. Each time I quickly discovered that “book club” was mom code for “get out of the house and hang out with people.” Which is great except, I didn’t know those people well enough to want to talk about their kids for 30 minutes, I wanted to talk about the book! We rarely even got around it, which is just not cool.

So time and time again, I realized that every book club made up of 20 and 30-somethings was not for me. Believe me, I have nothing against sitting around and drinking wine or coffee and chatting. It’s just I’d just rather do that with my friends than with a group of people I don’t know well.

In 2009 a woman I'd met in the United We Read program I used to participate in invited me to her book club. I've been a member ever since. During my first meeting they showed me a list of books they’d read and rated over the past decade and the vast majority were ones that I either loved or had on my TBR list.

I’m the youngest member in the group by about 30 years and it’s perfect. It’s a small group, but one that’s very committed to reading the book and showing up for the meetings. If someone can't make it we normally move the meeting around. They are almost all retired and have wonderful stories about places they've traveled to and things they've experienced. Our difference in age and personalities allows for a diverse reaction to books and great discussions. Each year we try to read at least one mystery, nonfiction and classic in addition to various fiction.

Tell me about your book clubs? What do you love about them or what would you change?