Book Groups: The Old Fashioned Social Network

I had to miss my book group meeting last month because I was out of town.  I read the book anyway, because I felt a responsibility to my fellow members (plus I’d already bought it and I needed something to read on the plane).

I felt privileged when I was invited to join this particular book group, because I already knew most of the members and respected their opinions about books.  If you’ve ever been part of a book group, walking group, or similar small club, you know that adding a new member can be touchy.  Members generally have to agree before inviting a new person, and there are questions to consider.  How will that person fit in with the others?  Did her kid and mine have a feud going back in elementary school? Will she read the book assigned for each session? By coincidence, this week’s New Yorker magazine includes a cartoon based on this dilemma.

Every book group has its norms, its culture, and its traditions, and if you’re a student of group behavior, book groups can be a terrific place to observe. Some concentrate in a particular genre, such as nonfiction or classics.  Some meet in the local bookstore or library, while others rotate among the members’ homes. I’m told that very few book groups include men, but I don’t have any hard data on that one.  A male friend recently theorized that men don’t like to talk about “soft stuff” and since many group meetings start with a few minutes of family and personal checking in, it just doesn’t appeal to men. (I do know men who participate in work-related or professional book groups.)

Selecting the books to read and managing the discussion are tasks that groups handle differently.  One friend belongs to a group that selects the next book at the end of each session, and she says it doesn’t work that well because people often don’t have time to read it.  To organize the discussions, some groups use the questions that are now included in many novels and on various websites, while some have free-flowing discussions and others assign questions in advance.

Our group selects all the books for the year at one session.  Each year, at the first meeting following our holiday potluck dinner, we all bring in books to recommend.  We talk about why we think they are good choices for our group and then vote with slips of paper, or poker chips, or whatever small thing the hostess provides, and tentatively schedule the books for monthly meetings.  The person who recommends each book leads the discussion that month, including background on the author and provocative questions to keep the discussion going. We have only a few rules, such as trying to avoid reading the same author again and letting the presenter talk for a few minutes before jumping in with our opinions.

Of course, like almost everything else these days, groups can also manage their selection process, schedule meetings, and communicate about their books on line.

If you are considering making the commitment to a book group, you have a variety of formats to explore. For example, the Orinda Library sponsors a mystery book club, as well as one for middle-schoolers. Orinda Books features reading lists from many of the nearly 100 local book groups registered with them, and their notice board recently included a flyer soliciting members for one of these groups.

If you’d rather not physically attend a group meeting, the Internet offers alternative ways to participate in reading with others.

• Book Glutton is a social community where you can read public domain books and discuss them with groups. Members can annotate books and make their comments public for discussions or keep them private. You can even upload your own books.
• The "Today" show’s Al Roker sponsors an online book group for children.  The show’s website  features links for teachers and videos of author interviews.
• The Atlantic magazine recently held an online poll, asking readers to nominate and then vote for favorite books, with the aim of selecting one that the followers would read (and tweet about, naturally) together. The winner was The Blind Assassin, and reading started on June 1, so you’ll need to catch up!
• Goodreads has a similar project, with Pulitzer Prize winner A Visit from the Goon Squad.
• Myriad book group websites offer advice about starting and managing groups, as well as what to read.  A quick Google search turned up Book Group Buzz, Book Club Girl,  and Reading Group Choices, which all look like good places to begin.

Finally, we can’t end this post on book groups without a few discussion questions.  One common theme I hear when friends discuss their book groups is that they often end up reading something they wouldn’t otherwise have read, and it’s usually rewarding.  So what’s your story?  Do you have a book group experience to share?  What’s the best book from your group that you never would have picked up otherwise?   Did you ever secretly skip to the end of a book when you hadn’t read it through, so you could discuss it intelligently?