A while back, I wrote a column in which I dithered about joining a book club. I belonged to a book club about 20 years ago, which I found both inspiring and annoying, and I wasn't sure if I should try again. I asked readers what they thought.
Readers had plenty of thoughts — nearly 200 people responded. So many that I am dividing the responses into two columns — this week, arguments for book clubs. Next week, the opposite point of view.
I loved the way some of you play with the concept of a book club: One group sends out synopses of the discussion to those who miss the meeting. Some clubs are run with an iron fist; others are casual.
One woman said that she and her friend started a book club as a way to meet other women — in hopes that some of them would set them up with their brothers. (It worked! But the book club endures.)
Some have a moderator who leads the discussion; one uses a "talking stick" so that the person speaking is not interrupted.
An amazing number wrote about book clubs still going strong after 25, 30 and even 50 years. Lots of you are in more than one book club. One woman is in both the original book club and the rogue book club that splintered off from it. (There's diplomacy!)
Nancy Norman of Plymouth laid out the rules that keep her book club sailing smoothly after 30 years: "Whoever hosts picks the book — the best discussions often arise from books that are both liked and disliked," she wrote. "The date of the next meeting is negotiated — for example, we added an extra month for 'Anna Karenina.' "
Debbie Lenzen of Brooklyn Park has been in her book club for 20 years. Each July, they take a book-themed trip together. "One year we read 'Moon Over Madeline Island' and stayed in Bayfield," she said. "Another time we drove to the Driftless Area in Wisconsin after reading 'Driftless' by David Rhodes."