Book Club Experience

     I don't have any real structured book club experience myself. I enjoy reading and enjoy writing about what I've read. I like reading about what other people write about what they've read. I'm just not much of a conversationalist, and so I haven't ever really sought out a group to participate in book clubbing with.

    Occasionally, if a book passage is sitting particularly heavy in my mind for whatever reason, I'll make a post about it on socials like Reddit, mostly just to have somewhere to write my thoughts and have a little feedback. It usually isn't exactly the most fulfilling, obviously, a lot of internet dialogue tends to be polarized and not very nuanced. Comments either boil down to "it was good" or "it sucked".

    I find that to be a problem with a lot of online or published review or discussion media in the digital space. "The pacing dragged but that felt purposeful for the mood the author was intending, and the drab descriptions and flat colors the author describes the world to be are necessary as set up to heighten the strangeness of the other realm the character travels to," isn't the most click-baity headline. Being polarizing is how clicks happen. Which I suppose turns discussions more into forms of entertainment themselves rather than moderated constructive discussions. Maybe I'm feeding my own problems. Maybe real life book clubs are better spaces for more nuanced discussion and I should maybe try one out sometime.

Comments

  1. Maddie HessMarch 10, 2024 at 8:44 PM

    Hi Corey! After this week I've only been to one IRL book club meeting so far, but I would recommend you give it a shot! When it comes to unfamiliar settings or groups I'm not as much of a conversationalist myself (preferring to listen first) but I think there can be room for that in a book club, especially if you can find one with more than a handful of people so some of the social pressure is off. It can also be great practice to get a feel for what readers will notice or call attention to in a book, which I imagine is helpful for readers' advisory interactions!

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  2. SarahApril 28, 2024 at 11:03 AM

    Corey,

    I really did not expect to enjoy attending a book club for the assignment, and I ended up discussing three! One of them was not my cup of tea, due to the book choices, but the two meetings I attended of the club a coworker was running were a lot of fun, and I've been to every meeting since. That coworker left, and I may be taking over the club when we restart after a summer break, which is exciting.

    The in-person conversation is definitely different. I thought I didn't like to discuss what I've read, but I do - if it's the type of book I would choose to read anyway and I enjoy the company of the other members.

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