For my book club experience, I visited a local book club that I founded a number of years ago but had not been to in quite some time. This book club started as a library program where I work. The name of the group was Books & Brews, and we met at the local brewery once a month to discuss the selected monthly read, as well as anything new and exciting we had been reading. The hope was that the outside-the-library book club meeting at a bar would attract a wider range of participants, both in age and gender. Though a library staff member would be “hosting” the book club, the idea was that everything would be participant-led, from selecting the books to the discussions. As moderator, I was ready with some questions to spur conversation on if needed, but I found that it was rarely, if ever, needed. The members of the group really got involved with taking ownership of the group. The program was very successful, and after about 3 or so years I ended the program so the group could operate on their own without have to stick to the library’s early planning and rigid scheduling structure. I continued to attend meetings for a while, but had stopped going because life had just gotten too busy. I decided this group would be a great book club to attend to see how it had progressed since leaving the library, and to see some friends that I had met during my hosting time.
I attended the March meeting of the book club at a local pub
called The Terminal. The book selection for the month was The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. Fortunately, I was able to read the
book before attending so I could feel like I was participating instead of just
observing. When I arrived at the location, it was nice to see some familiar
faces, indicating that the core group that had formed several years ago was
still integral to the group. But it was also refreshing to see some new faces
had joined the group. The participants were mixed genders and of a wide age
range, from about early 30s to somewhere around late 50s/early 60s. As we
settled around the large dining table, I was worried that the volume of a pub
would be too much for the group to communicate over. Fortunately, the music was
kept fairly low and there was enough space that other guests at the venue were
not right on top of us, so it was actually very easy to have a conversation
where everyone can hear. The group ordered food and drinks and caught up on
what has been happening since the last meeting. After catching up and receiving
food and drink, talk moved towards the selected book. About 20 minutes was
spent discussing the book. The discussion was not led by anyone in particular.
Someone would speak up with a comment or question about the book and others
would discuss back and forth for a few minutes. This repeated a few times until
everyone had something to say about the book. The overall consensus was that
the book was enjoyable, but there were divided thoughts about the ending. In a
group like this, everyone felt comfortable enough to disagree and state their
opinions rather frankly. It was very refreshing to see the friendships at play
among members of the group that allowed for fairly strong disagreements at
times.
After everyone had their say about The Paradox Hotel, talk digressed to other books everyone had been
reading or had recently added to their to-read list. At this point, a few
smaller groups formed around shared interest in genres. There was a group
discussing fantasy, one discussing fairly steamy romance, and another group discussing
general YA fiction. Each person offered options for the next book, and the
group as a whole decided on an historical fiction/western book, News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I
hope I am able to attend the April meeting, as I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the
group form into its own group of similarly-inclined literary folks from all
walks of life gathering to enjoy good food, drinks, and books.
