Of all the reasons to join a book club, one website gave the best reason – you might live longer. At least that’s what Scribd.com says in 5 reasons to join a book club. According to a study from the University of Queensland, belonging to a social group like a book club is associated with a longer life, particularly once you reach retirement age. The researchers found social groups reduce the risk of premature death and also foster a greater quality of life. To me, the link between the once-a-month socialization from a book club and extending your life is a bit of a stretch.
From Sixty and Me - You Are Never Too Old to Join a Book Club
My reason is much simpler. I love getting together with friends or acquittances and sharing everyone’s experience of a book.
I belong to 2.5 book clubs. If you are wondering about the .5, I only participate in one of the clubs ½ of the time.
I was a reader before book clubs, but book clubs have opened new worlds to me; genres I would have never picked up had it not been the book club choice. Historical fiction has become my new favorite genre. As the startsateight.com blog says, “Historical Fiction is Learning History through Literature.”1 I didn’t care much for history classes and memorization of names and dates. But books such as Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth were so engaging I lost sleep reading it through the night. (Note: that wasn’t a book club book. It’s too long for most book clubs, although I noticed the Great American Read Book Club of Arlington Heights, IL selected War and Peace, Vols 1&2 for their current read – quite ambitious!).
What if you don’t like this month’s book pick? I’ve found that many times a book I wasn’t initially enthused about reading was better than I expected. When a hostess picked Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens, my inner voice moaned. The thought of reading about a girl growing up in a North Carolina swamp didn’t pique my interest. But the struggles of the main character, Kya, kept me turning the pages. And our community’s April pick, Remarkably Bright Creatures, has become a new all-time favorite. Tova, the main character, cleans the Sowell Bay Aquarium at night and forms a relationship with the Giant Pacific Octopus, Marcellus McSquiddles. Marcellus ‘writes’ some of the chapters. When I described the book to my neighbor he asked, ‘Do they run off and get married at the end?” You’ll have to read it to find out.
This month, when our snowbirds book club was down to three people, I risked picking a somewhat more scholarly book – Oil and Marble, by Stephanie Storey – set in Florence in 1501-1504 when Michelangelo created the statue of David and DaVinci created the Mona Lisa. To my delight, the ladies loved the book and it was somewhat timely because two weeks later a Tallahassee, FL principal was told to resign or be fired after she showed a picture of the David statue to her students. In response, the mayor of Florence personally invited the principal to Florence to give her “recognition on behalf of the city.”2 Nude art has been a matter of controversy throughout history. Apparently Queen Victoria and Pope Benedict XVI at separate times commissioned a removable fig leaf to cover David’s naughty bits. (See Vatican Insists David Must Wear Fig Leaf – and hopefully laugh at the giant green fig leaf covering David).
Book clubs run the gamut of genres and meeting types. When our ‘up north’ neighbors formed a book club it quickly turned into a social gathering when for several months over half of the members didn’t read the book. After a year or two membership changed and the newer members were all readers and we got back to discussing the book.
There are book clubs for specific genres, e.g., sci-fi, mystery novels, non-fiction, Steven King novels, romance novels. Our snowbirds book club doesn’t have a theme or genre. In turn, each member picks whatever book they’d like to read. My part-time book club is an online book club that is part of my alumni group. The tagline is “Well-Being Book Club.” The current pick, The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, is somewhat applicable for book clubs.
If you start a book club, the group should establish guidelines. Book clubs can mushroom from just getting together to discuss the book into extravagant dinners. Most book clubs start out simply – a group gets together and discusses the book; usually guided by questions from the person who selected the book. 3 My ‘up north’ book club set group rules about keeping it simple – no food. But many times ‘something simple’ progresses into more elaborate meetings with hors d'oeuvres and wine. Our snowbirds book club has the husbands over for happy hour after the club meeting. In addition to reading and discussing books, my friend’s book club has a potluck once a month. Sometimes the theme is a dish related to the book, e.g., southern cooking for Gone With the Wind.
Two of our newer snowbirds members, thinking they weren’t sophisticated readers, were hesitant to join our club, but turned out to be avid readers and members. You form deeper bonds with the book club members because you discuss things that don’t pop up in everyday conversation. And one of the ground rules of successful book clubs is respecting everyone’s point of view.
Books come in many forms. Our community’s book club members are issued a hardback copy of the book. Some people say they love the way the book feels in their hands.
I am a devoted eBook reader. I do much of my reading in bed and paper books are clumsy. First, I need a light. Second, I have to expend a lot more energy turning the page than a simple swipe. And the eBook remembers my pages when I fall asleep while reading. And since I fall asleep reading, by the time I’ve finished a paper book it looks like I left it out in a hurricane. Finally, I love that I can highlight and even comment on passages and print the highlights and comments.
By the way, each book I read adds a little weight to my iPad, but don’t worry. I can put over 125,000 books on my iPad and it will only weigh 120 grams more than an empty iPad.3 So that’s another advantage of the iPad. When I travel, I can take 125,000 books with me and they all fit in my purse.
No matter what kind of books you read, you can find a group or start your own. You’ll deepen current friendships and find new friends, Through the books you’ll discover new worlds. And you’ll have fun, even if you don’t live longer because of the book club.
References
Clayton Hickman, Between Fact and Fable: Historical Fiction or Nonfictional Novel?, Lithhub.com, May 31, 2022.
Natalie Neysa Alund, Is the David statue porn? Come see yourself, Italian museum tells Florida school board, USAToday.com, March 27, 2023.
Google ‘discussion notes’ and the book name to find book club discussion questions or create your own. For example, here are the results of googling ‘discussion notes remarkably bright creatures.’
John Brownlee, An iPad filled with apps weighs more than one with nothing installed, cultofmac.com, October 8, 2014
To join find a book club, Google ‘ clubs near me’ or use Meetup.com and search for book which can point you to hundreds of online book clubs. To form your own book club, Google ‘start a book club.’
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