A toast to book clubs!

October is National Reading Group Month, so I thought I’d use this opportunity to introduce you to mine and allow you to introduce yours.

How’s this going to work? You’ll notice a couple of pictures of my group, and I’m going to tell you a little about us in a bit. And, throughout the month, if you’ll send me a picture of your group (and answer a couple of the posed questions below) I’ll create a post on my blog about your group. This is all to honor our common love of books and the friendships that are created and fortified because of them. It is a way for us to get to know each other.

I’ve been a part of this group a little less than a year, though they’ve been together much longer. We are all educators – former or present – and most of us teach/taught the arts. We try to meet monthly and typically in someone’s home – rotating service. The hostess provides themed food dictated by the book. (Yes, our hostess for The Help served chocolate pie!) Occasionally when school schedules dictate, we skip a month of reading and meet at a restaurant so not to miss the fellowship.

Some of the group’s favorite discussions have been about Memoirs of a Geisha, Poisonwood Bible, One Thousand Women and Under the Banner of Heaven. (All of these were discussed pre-Babbette. Since I’ve come on board, I’d say the best books & discussions were about The Space Between Us and The Reader.)

Without question, our least favorite read was Tropic of Cancer. We chose it because we wanted to read a ‘banned book.’ There also may be a batch of sangria to blame… If you’re interested in why we disliked it, I summed it up here.

Another book that our group sets up as a ‘milestone’ read is Perfume. Some of us loved it – others hated it, but we all agree that it created for us a new standard of the grotesque and by it, we rate where other books stand.

We don’t have a strict method for picking books, and we pick them month to month. A couple of us have other friends or relatives who read, so often the recommendations come from them.

Finally, our gatherings wouldn’t be complete without wine.

So, how about you?

  • What is your group like? How did you form, and what do you have in common?
    Where are you from?
  • What are your best reads? What are the worst?
  • How long have you been together?
  • How do you chose books? How far in advance you pick them?
  • Are your discussions structured? Do you have an assigned ‘leader’ for discussion?
  • Do you rate your books or keep a list of members’ likes & dislikes?
  • What completes your group?

Send a picture of your group to ejs7291@gmail.com, and answer a few of the questions above (or make up a few of your own). I’ll create a post about you!
(If you’re wondering, pictured are Laura, CeCe, Elisabeth, Amy, Tiffany, Mandy & Judy. Amanda & Janet were AWOL for this meeting.)

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6 Replies to “A toast to book clubs!

  1. Great post! I think our "book choosing method" dictated our book club's name: The S.O.C. Sisters (stream of consciousness…). It might be fun to see if anyone else's group has a name too. Can't wait to see all of the sistas next month! My doggies are honorary sistas. 🙂

  2. Yes! I forgot to mention our name… and the bags that Laura made for us for carrying all the books we swap!

    And yes, we have lots of four-legged honorary sistas!

  3. Hey Rebecca…you're the one who knows Carol, right? Y'all need to start one! Put an ad on the Corkboard!

    Thanks, Bunny!

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