Joining a New Book Club

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

I'm the perfect candidate for a book club. I love any opportunity to discuss the books I consume. However, sometimes book clubs can be tricky. For years, I belonged to a book club that met an hour away from me in a northern suburb of Indianapolis. The hour long drive seemed worth it to me. I appreciated the books they selected. We conversed easily. At the beginning, I felt very welcome and involved. Over time, things shifted. The book selections failed to interest me. I wondered if I was truly a welcome contributor. Somehow, they left me off the reminder email list a time or two. Intentional? The drive became difficult as we were experiencing major transportation challenges. Thus, I abandoned that group.

For a while, I attempted book clubs at my local library. This was a bust, too. Most of the times, the books selected were not ones I felt worth the time investment. 

In January, I joined a new group established on Facebook. Their first selection was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I had listened to it in audio form when my oldest was much younger (perhaps when it first came out around 2003 - he would have been 7). My resounding memory is that the author nailed the voice (the autistic narrator is fascinating) and that the language was very foul (I could not listen when Bryce was in the car with me). Then, I read the book again with the afore-mentioned book group. I cannot remember their take on the book.

I didn't mind reading it again, but put it off until the last minute. Indeed, I skim-read the book in the hours before the book club meeting. There are many commendable attributes to this book club, so I'm hopeful. The others are true book enthusiasts, bursting with book recommendations for books that sound appealing (mostly historical fiction, but I'm okay with that). The others seem welcoming and vocal. Since the majority own dogs, we spent a good deal of time discussing the horror of the first moments of the book (off-putting to several), the curious and cruel incident. We discussed characteristics of individuals on the spectrum. We discussed whether character actions were realistic or believable. Mostly, we kept going back to book recommendations. I'm always up for those. 

Plus, I felt genuine interest in the February and March selections: Forty Autumns and The Women.  I attended the February meeting this past weekend. We had a lively and empathetic discussion. I felt comfortable enough to share more personally than I intended. The others were supportive and encouraging. I felt seen. I'm pleased that we're forming connections. Hopefully, the timing will work out so I can attend again in March. Perhaps this will provide an opportunity to bless others.