Your experiences with in person book clubs?

[Anonymous]

I have only joined two in person book clubs before. Don't laugh. One was for Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I joined when Oprah was reading it, and there was a local book store reading it in person. The other I joined a Meet Up and we were going to read the classics. The first book the Meet Up organizer chose was Uncle Tom's Cabin. There were only four of who ended up meeting at a pizza place to discuss the book.

I'm wondering how your experiences have been with in person book clubs. Do they work better with women only of a certain age who might share the same taste in books or might be open to more contemporary authors?

I used to attend live book signings and reading by authors through a small bookstore. I've met some interesting authors that way. I get a picture and signed autograph of the book.

[Anonymous]

I finally have a decent one going. It works because its women in my neighborhood so we can all walk to each other's houses and we are all flexible if we have to reschedule

[Anonymous]

I have tried twice. The key to a good book club is not having one dominant personality who bulldozes everyone with their opinion and doesn't let anyone else speak. I experienced this twice and it's permanently put me off trying again.

[Anonymous]

I really want an in person book club but am too chicken to try and start one. I was in one in grad school that was awesome! It probably helped manifest us were friends before hand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have tried twice. The key to a good book club is not having one dominant personality who bulldozes everyone with their opinion and doesn't let anyone else speak. I experienced this twice and it's permanently put me off trying again.

THIS. There must be a leader, and a good one!

[Anonymous]

I like mixed ages, but all women, and I prefer contemporary fiction.

[Anonymous]

I was in one with a group of friends, but half the time we got derailed with other conversations or people wouldn’t read the book.

I love discussing books but am very much a mood reader. Hard to commit to a book club where books are pre-chosen.

[Anonymous]

I once enjoyed being in a "reverse book club." Instead of all reading the same book and discussing it, when we met each person spoke for 2-3 minutes about a book they recently read, and whether or not the recommended it. This was a great way to get exposure to both books you might like and ones you would never read yourself. It also minimized opportunity for disagreement, because not everyone had read or formed opinions about the books being discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once enjoyed being in a "reverse book club." Instead of all reading the same book and discussing it, when we met each person spoke for 2-3 minutes about a book they recently read, and whether or not the recommended it. This was a great way to get exposure to both books you might like and ones you would never read yourself. It also minimized opportunity for disagreement, because not everyone had read or formed opinions about the books being discussed.

We used to do this with friends-- agree it was fun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really want an in person book club but am too chicken to try and start one. I was in one in grad school that was awesome! It probably helped manifest us were friends before hand

DCPL has book clubs! So do Politics and Prose, Solid State, East City, and I'm sure others. I've heard good things about the ones at East City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have tried twice. The key to a good book club is not having one dominant personality who bulldozes everyone with their opinion and doesn't let anyone else speak. I experienced this twice and it's permanently put me off trying again.

THIS. There must be a leader, and a good one!

Yes.

Another consideration are book clubs where people only discuss the book for a couple of minutes or not at all because some didn't read the book. Heck, I'm all for socialization but I do WANT to discuss the book! And not just "hey did you like it, yes or no" but have an interesting conversation about the characters, storyline, plot twists, or what made it worthwhile or not. If someone hasn't read it, they will understand....don't cave to the non-readers, it's book club after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in one with a group of friends, but half the time we got derailed with other conversations or people wouldn’t read the book.

I love discussing books but am very much a mood reader. Hard to commit to a book club where books are pre-chosen.

Same! Having assigned reading makes me feel like I'm back in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once enjoyed being in a "reverse book club." Instead of all reading the same book and discussing it, when we met each person spoke for 2-3 minutes about a book they recently read, and whether or not the recommended it. This was a great way to get exposure to both books you might like and ones you would never read yourself. It also minimized opportunity for disagreement, because not everyone had read or formed opinions about the books being discussed.

I love this idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in one with a group of friends, but half the time we got derailed with other conversations or people wouldn’t read the book.

I love discussing books but am very much a mood reader. Hard to commit to a book club where books are pre-chosen.

Same! Having assigned reading makes me feel like I'm back in school.

Glad I’m not alone! I would love to find a book club format that works for me because I adore discussing books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want an in person book club but am too chicken to try and start one. I was in one in grad school that was awesome! It probably helped manifest us were friends before hand

DCPL has book clubs! So do Politics and Prose, Solid State, East City, and I'm sure others. I've heard good things about the ones at East City.

Old Town Books in Alexandria has book clubs too.