I have a weird relationship with book clubs. I think it stems from my weird relationship with schedules. I’m really bad at keeping time, and lists, and track….of anything. Those are all pretty fundamental things that make up being a regular member of a book club. My time with every bookclub I’ve been a part of has always been brief. As much as I would love to stick around and become a regular member, something always happens that pulls me away and onto something else. Any hope of returning is usually met with some sort of guilt that I’m imposing on this intimate conversation between people that are more dedicated and loyal to that particular book club.
The thing is, I love talking about books. I love hearing the stories that other people tell about their own reading experiences. The myriad of ways people reach the same, and at different times the complete opposite resolution of a particular event absolutely blows my mind. I want to be in a bookclub, but I’d like it to be flexible. Not just for the absolute narcissist of I, but also for every other person in the club.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about ways I think a 21st century book club can operate successfully, by examining the pitfalls that I feel the current structure of book clubs fall into:
Frequency of meet-ups: Book clubs usually meet once a month. Thats pretty frequent for busy individuals. Instead how about we bring that down to a quarterly meet-up?
Book selection: Instead of picking one book, how about we pick one topic or theme? In the months leading up to our next meet-up, we select books that tackle a particular theme or idea to give readers more freedom.
Having nothing to add to the conversation: We’ve all been here right? Sometimes people will be speaking about a subject that you didn’t really relate to, or have nothing to really add to the conversation. For me, this feels imposing and intimidating. Lets widen the user base and record the meet-ups and release them as podcasts for everyone to experience at their leisure. It’s also a way to allow the more shy readers to participate without feeling like they have to speak.
My idea is something that I am calling The Reader’s Arcade: a quarterly book club/podcast. It’s a book club that can be flexible and malleable for anyone that wants to be a part of it. If you’re interested in something like this or if you have any ideas about how I can improve on the base model please let me know. Stop by the bookstore, find me on Twitter. (@_andtheuniverse) or email me directly (andre@lemuriabooks.com).
I’m interested to know what you all think.
Written by Andre
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