For years, my mother has been part of a regularly-meeting book club. She and a dedicated group of other women get together every couple of months to discuss a recent read.
Honestly, this is the sort of thing I would love to find for myself. I love to read, and I like branching out enough that I would be thrilled to read and discuss books picked by others.
Is it something I'm willing to work on? I think so. I have interest in growing the kinds of deep relationships that are fostered by discussion of important ideas. Here are some thoughts I've had reagarding this goal:
Finding a group of people with whom to read is difficult. First, there's the matter of finding other people interested in reading. (I've found a few of them, but they aren't exactly coming out of the woodwork.) Then there's the matter of personality jibing—can I find poeple that would make a good book group together?
A book group would blend well with a regular dinner night—having people over for dinner as part of the book club discussion would be a good combination. We love to entertain, so it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, even.
Demographics are somewhat against me in this regard. Most of the book groups I have encountered are directed toward middle-aged women. While this is not an insurmountable hurdle, it does incline me toward starting my own group rather than relying on finding an existing one.
Do you have any thoughts on finding or organizing a book group? I'd love to hear them.
If only we lived closer. I think between Pete, you and me, we could have a pretty good book club. Or a barbershop club. Or both.
ReplyDeleteHmm, a barbershop book club? Intriguing... :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem here. We were in a book club in Orem and loved it, but now that we're in Texas, the only people we know who enjoy reading enough to be in a book club live far away.
ReplyDeleteYou could try a cyber-book club... They aren't nearly as satisfying, but you can start a blog with a group of friends and use it to write about the books you read. It's an inferior substitute, and definitely doesn't allow combining dinner group, but it can be fun if you can't get the other kind going. That's what some of my friends and I are doing as we live in different states.