Well, last Thursday was the third meeting of my library book group, and to be honest, I was pretty much ready to give up. Plus, I wasn't so in love with the book, The City and the City by China Mieville. (Review to follow; the post just got too long so I decided to split it into two). If you haven't read this post from a few weeks ago, I've started a book group at my library, and last month nobody showed up.
So, last week, a few copies of the book had been checked out, but I knew that one of the two people who'd shown up in January wouldn't make it, as she was attending the American Crossword Tournament in Brooklyn (how cool is that??). And there had been a new development at work. Last week one of our part-time library assistants left for a full-time librarian job in another library system, leaving the Monday evening book group without a coordinator, so this was assigned to me. Since the Thursday group was floundering, my supervisor suggested that I put the Thursday group out of its misery and concentrate on the Monday group, which had been meeting steadily for more than five years. I had only chosen books for the Thursday group through April -- it's already been published in the library newsletter, so I figured that would be the end of that. (Plus I have a teen book group of sorts once a month during Teen Time, but that's another story).
Well, lo and behold, Thursday rolled around. I halfheartedly bought cookies and iced tea on my lunch break, and searched online for some discussion questions. And FIVE PEOPLE SHOWED UP FOR THE GROUP. One was my intrepid co-worker; one was Eva from A Striped Armchair, and three ladies from the Friends of the Library group!
To be fair, two of the women from the Friends hadn't read the book, but they all checked out books for the April meeting, and when I came back to work on Monday from my long weekend off, every single book for the April book group had been checked out! Apparently there was a meeting for our branch's Friends of the Library last Saturday, and the ladies all talked it up. There may even have been mild complaints that there weren't enough copies of the book! (Zeitoun by Dave Eggers). I had no idea I would have that much response, otherwise I would have chosen a book with more copies in the library system. I was flabbergasted. And now I have THREE book groups to coordinate every month. I guess I am just a victim of my own success.
Well, if it gets to be too much I can just repeat books between the groups, or choose books I've already read. I'm pretty determined to try and choose book off my own personal TBR list. It's challenging to find books that fit the criteria:
- there must to be at least ten copies in the library, preferably more. Those with large print and audio are a plus.
- they can't been too popular because I can't choose books with too many existing holds.
- they must be thought-provoking books that will be good for discussion.
- preferably books under 500 pages, though occasionally exceptions will be made, especially if the book is a fast read.
and finally:
- books that aren't too cheesy and contrived. Honestly, this is the hardest one. A lot of the typical books chosen by book discussion groups I find to be just bleah. I admit, there are definitely great books that are popular for discussion groups for a reason, but a lot of them are honestly just the worst crap ever. There, I've said it. (Feel free to crucify me in the comments, but don't be personal).
So, bloggers, what do you recommend? Any book group selections that are just amazing and great for discussion? Any surprises? And which books are the absolute worst and are to be avoided like the plague? I have a few ideas for the next couple of months, including a couple of short classics and some historical fiction, but I'd love some ideas!
I'd love to know what you guys are doing for the Monday group. You know I can't make it to the other because of the schedule conflict with school, but I've been to the Monday group before. I didn't get the impression that the leader really did much for it, you know? Maybe I was just there for the wrong book. But if you're leading it, I know you'll have lots of discussion picked out. Since i'm pretty much only attending the classics group now, it might be nice to have another. Send me a message with when you guys meet (I can't remember which week?) and what you're reading. I might not be able to read the book for the first month, but perhaps the next.
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck with coordination! :) That's a lot of book clubs to handle. Which is your third, or are you referring to the classics?
The third group is the teen book group! I have a stack of books and let the teens pick. So far we've only had a little bit of discussion then they end up doing other stuff, but that's fine.
ReplyDeleteI'll email you about the other group -- I've got a good one picked out for May that I think you might like.
No crucifying here... I have yet to find my ideal book group planned reading list. I wish, oh wish, someone would start a classics book club at my library. I am so glad it is all going well for you and wishes for your continued success:)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was lucky enough to find a classics book group here in town at a library branch not too far away. It's been going for more than five years now and it's really fun. Sometimes it's just a few people, but we always have a good discussion. And I've made some great friends in the group.
DeleteI think Cranford is a good classic for a book group. It's quite short, so as not to scare people who are easily daunted by length. Plus it's both hilarious and heartwarming.
ReplyDeleteMy book club pet peeve is when an adult group chooses one YA novel after another. I don't mind the odd teen book here and there, but I feel an adult book group that isn't dedicated to the purpose should choose more thought-provoking fiction.
This isn't to say there isn't some great YA literature circulating, but so much of it seems based on tired love triangles and cliched supernatural figures (e.g., vampires, fallen angels, etc.).
Cranford, great idea! I love Wives & Daughters but it's on the longish side.
DeleteI agree about the YA books -- some of them are pretty good, but I couldn't exist on a steady diet of them. I'm reading some because I also coordinate teen time and they've started a book group. So far there's been some supernatural but I'm avoiding vampires and werewolves. I don't think these teens are into the cliched stuff, thank goodness! Of course, the last book was about this horrible monster hunter and the current book is about the ghost of Jack the Ripper. . . I think the next one is a dystopia.
I've had a book club for almost two years and these were some of the books that generated the best discussions: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, Persuasion by Jane Austen. Tonight were doing Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and I'm sure it will generate a lot of discussion.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Ethan Frome! House of Mirth is another of my favorites, I'm considering it for a future read. I'd love to discuss Sarah Waters but I don't think we have enough copies of any one title, which is so annoying. And I'm passing out The Book Thief on World Book Night. And I think Persuasion is my very favorite Jane Austen.
DeleteYay! I'm so glad your Thursday book group got some people. How nice of Eva to attend!
ReplyDeleteI used to belong to a book group through my church and most of the stuff we read was horrible (I eventually quit). However, there were two gems that REALLY cultivated great discussion. They were: The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.
Good luck with all of your book groups!
Thanks for the suggestions, sorry to hear your group was so dire. I belonged to a book group a few years ago and one month we read Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin which is one of the worst books I've ever read. One of the members thought we should read her books every month, one after another. I didn't stay in that group long.
DeleteI haven't heard of Parable of the Sower but I thought Kindred by Octavia Butler was really good. It would be another good one for discussion if we had enough copies!
I'm glad your book group is picking up steam! How fun that you and Eva get to be in a book group together!
ReplyDeleteI hope Eva can come back! And she was one of the ones who'd read the book, which was great. She had a lot of really good ideas about the book so I look forward to her thoughts on the next selection.
DeleteI'll definitely be coming back, as long as my fibro doesn't get cranky that week! :) I just got the ebook of Zeitoun from library, so I should be starting it soon.
DeleteI hope you're feeling up to it! It was so nice to have the perspective of someone who's more familiar with sci-fi -- and someone who'd finished the book! :-)
DeleteHow about Penelope Lively? The Photograph is good for discussion, and also Consequences. I really liked her latest, How It All Began. I can also recommend Jeanne Ray, though not her last book - but Eat Cake is just wonderful. I've gotten book groups to read both authors & they went over well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion! I'll have to check the library catalog and see if we have enough copies. I think her books are fairly short, so that's always a plus.
DeleteSo glad to hear that the book group is picking up steam. I guess that a group just takes time to find its members. Good luck going forward! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the announcement to the library Friends group really helped -- a lot of them are retired and would prefer a daytime book group. I had another patron today ask about the book group -- she thought the meeting was today and was ready to discuss next month's book. Luckily she'd read it already because we've run out of copies. Hopefully she'll come back in April.
DeleteIt was so fun to meet you Karen, and some of those ladies were a hoot! I'll try to get Zeitoun read quickly so I can return the ebook in case another potential participant has an ereader. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming! It was so fun to finally meet another blogger in person. I was shocked that so many people are looking for the book now. I finished the book in a couple of days, it's a really fast read. Hope to see you again for the next discussion!
DeleteI'm having fun imagining you and Eva and Amanda in the same vicinity, able to meet in person! Here's a "book group" book that I liked--Lorna Landvik's Welcome to the Great Mysterious.
ReplyDelete