We might not wear feather boas or
glittery tiaras when we meet (though I am thinking of suggesting such at the
next meeting), but we have the best time when we get together to discuss our
latest chosen tome.
Our group formed one afternoon in
the spring of 2011 and though some of the original members have dropped out or
moved away, the rest of us have persisted. We have read over twenty-three books
in the last three years though meeting on a consistent basis depends on a
myriad of facts. We all have two lives –
our daytime filled with family, jobs, and other obligations, and our writing
life with all its deadlines, some self-imposed and others dictated by legal
contracts.
Though we can bake and hostess with
the best, we meet in the evenings at a cool, local coffee shop. This way we don’t have to worry about adding
more stress to our complicated lives and we don’t overstay our welcome. Our book talks usually end when the employees
start turning off lights and stacking chairs onto the empty tables.
We choose a book, pencil it into
our calendars, and decide when to meet next.
We give ourselves six to eight weeks because of our other obligations
and remind each other as the deadline approaches. Some read old school – in paperback or
hardcover copy, but others read on their iPads, iPhones, or by audio book.
We look at each book from two
perspectives. We study plot, characters,
and themes, but because we are writers, we also look at the biz of book writing
– studying the craft, the market, and targeted audience. We dig up what we can about how it sold, its
book reviews, and anything we can about the author.
We have purposely covered all
genres – YA, classics, and current best sellers, but because the six of us are
avid readers and constantly on the lookout for hidden gems, we have read some
works that didn’t sell well or ended up in the published slush pile. (Most
often, we end up agreeing with the bad reviews.)
In the last twelve months, we
read The Double Bind by Chris
Bohjalian (because of its references to Gatsby), Into the Free by Julie Cantrell (because of its stellar reviews),
and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Divergent by Veronica Roth (because of
their lucrative movie deals). Over a busy summer we each read a book of our own
choice and shared it with the group, and in the fall we each read a different
Jane Austen. It was an interesting experiment, but we didn’t get as much out of
it as we do when we all read and analyze the same novel. Our next book is
non-fiction, a first for us since most of us specialize in fiction.
What makes this the best book
club in the whole wide world is not what I have learned about the craft and
business of writing. It is not about the
bound books. It is deeper than that. It
is about the bonds we six have formed while commiserating over what we liked
and disliked in the books we have read. It’s the discussions that have led to
sharing of personal experiences. It is
the friendship shared over a cup of coffee (or a smoothie) and a book, a simple
book.
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