Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Book Clubs???
Do you belong to a book club????
I always thought doing one would be so so fun!! I love to read and if I found the right group of people to read the kind of books I like to read, it could be really great. But these days, my time for reading is really unpredictable...some days I can read a lot, others not at all. And now that I do Zumba for cardio instead of the elliptical and crossramp at the gym, I lost my reading time there. I'm not sure if I could read a book within the time requirement. A once a month club though...I could probably handle that.
But on the downside, I'm not sure I could read much else aside from the book club books. And I have a lot of books I want to read..and what if the book club did not want to read them??? I have friends who are authors and I want to read their books. I'm sure I could add the books to the idea pile for the book club. But who knows how long it would take to get to my picks. And what if they want to read a genre I really don't like? I'm really not into vampire type stuff and it would be a real chore for me to get through it. I know...."have an open mind" and I do...but I also know what I like and I've tried certain genres before and they're just not my thing.
I am on Goodreads and I thoroughly enjoy it. I rarely read book reviews there before reading a book....I hate the spoilers. But I love reading other people's thoughts after I read the book...and replying to the comments made. It's sorta like being in a book club...but with a lot more people.
So, tell me about your book club. Pros, cons...do you enjoy it???
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Book clubs are rarely reading anything I want to read. I've thought about them and researched local and online clubs... even joined a few but dropped out when book after book after book is being read that I just don't care about.
ReplyDeleteI read pretty quickly, so I'd read and then forget the story among everything else I've read... by the time we get together the next month I've forgotten.
Dang. I've been in 2 book clubs since moving back to Colorado. *sigh* In the first, it seemed like one person always made the selections, and they were almost always nonfiction--often on topics I had no desire to explore. Also, I frequently did not finish (or sometimes even start!) the books.
ReplyDeleteSo then my bff got together with some mommies and they set up a new club. They've picked books I'm more likely to read (in fact, we did Water for Elephants our first month and I loved it. Probably never would've picked that one up on my own)... but. I honestly don't have time some months to read things for pleasure. Between reading submissions for LPI, submissions from my roster authors, and all the editing I do--yes, I am an avid reader. Just don't often get to pick what it is I'm reading. So it really, really grated when one of the book clubbers scoffed at me and said, "Oh please, don't tell me you haven't had time to read the book. I have 3 little kids and work full time and I read it."
No, I didn't bitchslap her. At least not outside the confines of my imagination. :)
But it really made my mental lip curl, and I tell ya what. When I do have some downtime between submissions and I can choose what I'll be reading at bedtime, I damn well choose what I want to read.
So there. I'm done ranting now. LOL
I think an online book club, with perhaps several different groups (maybe a yahoo group with several different discussion threads going), where each month there are like 4 books to choose from--then once you're done reading you can start participating in the discussion. That would be kinda cool, and allow for different "tastes".
Not that I'm volunteering to get the group going. LOL
From an author's viewpoint--it would be fantastic to get "in" with some book clubs and convince them to give our books a spin. It was on my original marketing plan. Haven't ever followed through, though...
OMG Piper!!! Did she not realize you have a full time job just reading other people's work...repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's my one reason for not joining one...I like to read what I like to read. And yeah, you might read something you may have not chosen yourself and it could be really good. But how often will that happen?? People have such diverse tastes in books. I have a hard time reading non-fiction, even if it is about something I enjoy.
Miss M, I'd have the opposite problem....not sure I could read the book in time!!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting ladies!!
I was in a book club for a while and decided it wasn't for me. I liked the people in the club but the books that were chosen were often uninteresting and I didn't like having to put my own reading tastes on hold to read the books that were chosen. When the group fell apart, I was glad because I didn't want to quit on my friends but it was really getting to be a chore.
ReplyDeletedang it all....I just had a long post that was pro book club and it has been devoured by the internet.
ReplyDeleteI have a great one that I belong to. One of the key points that helps our run so well is that each member is assigned a month and when it is your turn you offer up 3-5 books to the entire membership for a vote. So even if it is not your month you always have a vote/say in what you read.
also wanted to mention that goodreads is a great place to organize your in person or online group.
ReplyDeleteI've never been in a formal book club before, but I have a friend who reads similar kinds of books as me and often we'll read the same one at the same time and chat about it over the phone - or she'll read it then pass it on to me and then we'll talk about them. Very informal, but fun.
ReplyDeleteShe also started her own book club with some friends (they live in CA, where I used to live), and they take turns each month picking a book. So every five or six months she gets to pick the book they read. I know she's read some great books she otherwise wouldn't have read, but she's also had a month or two where she really didn't care for the book. I think that's inevitable in any kind of club though - even if you are the one picking all the books!!
I don't think the Goodreads/online thing is bad though. I've had some great back and forths with people who have read the same books as me through there. And it sounds like the informality of that is working well for you at the moment.
Thanks for the comments ladies!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not in any book clubs, and though the idea intrigues me, I don't know if I would enjoy the actual process. My ideal book club would turn into a thirty minute discussion of the main, bird's eye plot points followed by food. Not sure if it gets any deeper than that. Plus, like you said, time would be a concern too. :)
ReplyDeleteGood post.
Marie at the Cheetah