Since my almost complete retirement from work (I continue to work two mornings a week), I find I need to get out more and talk to people during the day. My long hours of poring over books, while completely gratifying and absorbing, do leave me somewhat isolated.
Should I join a book group?
I talked to two friends of similar age and background about this subject.
One has been in a book group for several years, but often complains about the poor choices of the other members.
"I do find it a pain, to read some of the books," she said. ""And sometimes I feel that they feel the same about my choice of book. I feel a bit paranoid about that."
My other friend is not in a book group, but told me that she imagined that it would be a bore having to read other people's choices. Much the same response, in fact, although envisaged rather than experienced.
My second friend (who has a degree in English Literature), also said that she worried that she would take too highbrow an approach, and that this might be a problem if she wanted to bond with other members.
I agreed that it might, and thought that possibly it could be resolved by saying as little as possible.
The obvious consequence of that tactic would be to negate the purpose of joining the group! ie to talk about books with other book addicts.
What do other people think about book groups?
Love to read and to chat about it. Hate to be made to read anything - was SO glad I'd read Austen before I was made to study P&P for O level, so many of my friends loathed it!
ReplyDeleteI think it would probably depend on who was in the group - what reading tastes they have and whether they correspond to yours. If you find a group you could always ask for the list of books from the last year and see if they appeal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for interesting viewpoints.
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