Book Club Drama

Did you guys see the NYT’s article about book club infighting? It was an interesting read, and I can see how a lot of what they reported may feel universal. I am counting myself lucky, though, as my book group has been spared most of this. Of course there tend to be people whose opinions or book selections more closely align with your own, or moments of exasperation when people veer off topic (since we have a lot of former coworkers in the group, I fear that this is actually more annoying for the few people who never worked at McGraw-Hill). All said, though, we’ve worked out a good system.

For each meeting, one member is the point person who organizes the date and time, spreads the word, and selects the book. Since we rotate, everyone gets the same opportunities to choose what we read, and we’re all equally exposed to everyone else’s whims. We’re lucky enough to all have similar inclinations in the types of books—we stick almost exclusively to fiction (Cold Blood was the only departure I can think of), and the books tend to be fairly literary. That said, I don’t think any of us complain when we’re entertained, too.

We certainly do disagree about books’ merits (I remain a loyal Sarah Waters fan, even though she took quite a drubbing when we read Night Watch), but we’re always respectful. I don’t think it hurts that we have a writers in our group, too, who offer a specific perspective and keep us all mindful of the work that goes into these books (even if we don’t like them).

The hardest thing about our book group seems to be getting people together. Schedules are always crazy, and it’s tough to find times when everyone can meet. Our group shrunk over the last few months as several people moved away, and I’m a little worried about how much I can attend once January arrives and I start grad school. This article reminds me to be happy for what we have, though.