Romance book club observation

I attended a romance book club at a small local library. This was the first time the club had met in several months because the librarian who runs it had been out for some time and was now back at work. We met in one of the small study rooms in the library, and there were donut holes and tea waiting for us, which was a nice touch. The first 15 minutes or so the women in the group spent some time getting caught up with each other. There were 5 of us all together, and they happily allowed me to crash their party.

It was a pretty loosely formatted meeting, more of a leisurely chat instead of a structured meeting with “book club” questions. The librarian was the coordinator, but she did not lead the discussion in any formal way. Incidentally, I find this to be a really enjoyable way to have a conversation about a book. Just letting it unfold naturally as opposed to having to answer specific questions is much more within my personal comfort zone. However, I can certainly see the benefit of having leading questions within a book club setting, especially if not all of the members know each other. It can be a little more challenging to have a really meaningful conversation with someone you don't really know. I think having specific questions would also encourage those who are shy to contribute. In any case, not having an organized discussion for this group worked really well, as they all clearly knew each other and were very comfortable with one another. This is a great example of a “highly social” book club. (Starting a Book Club)

The club had been working their way through the Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day. I have not personally read this series, but from what I gather, it is essentially a very steamy yet tortured love story. Some had read all of them, some only part of it, but everyone was pretty engaged. Someone brought up the fact that this series of books was a lot like the 50 Shades series, and there was pretty much total agreement on that. In fact, one participant speculated that if this series had actually been written before 50 Shades, and if that was the case, then 50 Shades seemed almost like a copy in some ways, or at least highly derivative (and vice versa). The librarian in me needed to settle that matter, so I quickly checked and found that the Sylvia Day series was published in 2012, and 50 Shades was published in 2011. Even though E.L. James’ work came out prior, it was not likely enough time to be able to consider Sylvia Day a copycat. In any case, it was nice to be able to contribute to the conversation even though I had no idea what they were talking about!

As it turns out, this was a transitional meeting for the book club. They had been doing the romance genre for about a year, and the librarian and one other member if the group brought up the suggestion that they consider changing genres. They had previously had a conversation about exploring either mysteries or true crime. Anne Rule was discussed as a potential starting point, but one member wasn’t sure she would enjoy anything really brutal, especially if it involved children. The librarian/group leader suggested Devil in the White City as a possible alternative to Anne Rule’s style of writing. On the mystery side, a member suggested starting with Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series. I talked to them about Louisiana Longshot, the book I read for my mystery genre annotation. It’s a good mystery, funny, not gory, no children get hurt, etc. In the end, nothing was decided on by the end of the meeting, but they all stay in touch outside of the book club, so they are going to figure it out in the next few days.

I do not have a lot of experience with book clubs, but I would venture to guess that this is not totally the norm; that is, not really discussing the actual book for too long, and not deciding on a book (or even a genre!) for the next meeting. I am by no means passing judgement, though. I had a great time hanging out at this book club. The librarian/leader was funny and engaging and did seem to encourage the discussion after a fashion. Because while she didn’t have a format or stick to direct questions, there was rarely a lull in the conversation, and I think that was due in large part to her energy and enthusiasm. Anyone who desires a very structured book club might not be comfortable with how this one operates, but the participants all seemed to have a really good time.




Works cited

“Starting a Book Club.” I Love Libraries, www.ilovelibraries.org/booklovers/bookclub/.


Relevant links

https://www.goodreads.com/series/73778-crossfire

http://www.sylviaday.com