If someone told me that in late 2023 or early 2024 I would be a part of a bunch of book clubs, and that by the end of 2025 I’d be down to just a few, I’d laugh at them.
Okay, maybe not laugh, but I wouldn’t believe them all that much. And honestly, I have personal history to back that up.
For the vast majority of my life, I have detested being told what to read or when to discuss it, how to read something in a particular way and how to “engage with the text.” Even though I have an English degree and love reading, it’s always been difficult for me to read assigned books. Sure, some ended up becoming books I liked or loved or fought for, but in the end, that was like four out of fifty.
I also don’t particularly like discussing books down to the most minute detail. When I read, I want to enjoy books, not analyze them.
But then… well… the pandemic finally eased and I needed to get out of the house.
Without going through the entire history, I ended up joining book clubs at two different used bookstores and through my local library. Each one had a different mix of choices and types of discussions and in general everything seemed to be working out great.
I have read books that were so out of my comfort zone that it was unbelievable, and yet I ended up liking several of them. (Even the one that still gives me the occasional nightmare because it was so well written and vivid.) I’ve also read books that I thought I would enjoy, and discovered that I didn’t. I’ve found new auto-buy authors and whole genres I’ll give a second shot.
Over the past few months, things have changed a bit. I’ve made the decision to cut out all but two of the book clubs. Past of the reason is that I didn’t feel heard anymore. My suggestions weren’t being taken seriously. My points were being ignored in conversations, or were being somewhat manipulated to mean something else. It felt like anything I had to contribute was just… a waste of my time. But more over, it was becoming a waste of anyone else’s time but the core group.
So, I cut down from five or six book clubs (there was one that we only held sporadically) to just firmly two. One is fiction that feels very open to all conversation (and suggestions and picks are welcomed with open arms) and the other is queer, with subjects and genres galore.
Technically there is one more within that store, I just don’t go to it, as the theme just doesn’t click with me (and that’s fine!). I also have an open invitation to book clubs at any of the other locations, as well as one of the Barnes and Noble locations near me (though they have cancelled the YA Book Club, but that’s a conversation for another day).
As for now, i have two book clubs in two weeks in December, reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (for this coming Saturday) and The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (on the following Sunday). I’m slightly behind in my reading, so I’m off to jump in.
Happy reading!
