I am THAT PERSON in a Book Club

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I have an interesting relationship with book clubs- and I think it mainly comes from my background in theatre and my college experiences.  Sure, I LOVE talking about books, but I’m a writer.  And, more than that, I’m a writer who used to perform plays- plays we had to analyze and pick apart and determine motivations within so we could put on a performance that made sense, and made the most of the playwright’s intentions. 

So… in other words, I can be a judgmental JERK when it comes to books.  Prior to this experience I have only participated in academic discussions about books- or book clubs with other authors.  And trust me, we were not there to have nice little discussions about how sweet the characters were and how much we love things.  We were there to talk about the good, the bad, the brutal, and passionately argue our points.  Yes- I am THAT PERSON. 

In our Silverton community there has been a book club off and on that was always open to anyone, and has recently been housed at the Silverton Public Library. It is not a library book club- and the organizer, Becky, is actually the head of our Public Health Department.  She sees it as a nice way of having a connection to other community members.  I agree- it is a nice and really wonderful way for people in the community to connect over books.  Until this January I had never attended mainly because it seemed to always conflict with my Writer’s Group in Durango as they tended to be on the same night.  My writer’s group regularly has book discussions, but that is not our focus- writing is.  And we read and critique each other’s’ writing so when we talk about books, it is from that perspective.

This January, I made an effort to attend the Silverton Book Club at our Library.  I found the list for 2020, and listened to the audiobook of the January title, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd in December.  I enjoyed it well enough, but throughout the book I found issues with characters, motivations, and that little nagging issue with Sue Monk Kidd, a white woman, writing YET ANOTHER book with black protagonists in situations where she is not actually an authority.  Still, I have to admit, The Invention of Wings was a perfect book-club book.  I would not hesitate to make this a book club pick at a library as it provides lots of discussion topics and meat in fully-flushed characters and its historical setting with a book-club discussion guide at the end of the book. 

There were a handful of women at the book club meeting in the Silverton Library.  The ladies were all of a variety of ages from their 30’s to 70’s.  Since Silverton is such a small town, with only about 450 people who live there in the winters a meeting of 6-7 people is a great turnout.  Our organizer, Becky, led the discussion and our Librarian, Jackie, attended, but took a backseat- though she did bring cookies. 

Becky began the evening asking if everyone had read the book and if they would give their impression on a scale of 1-5 and then tell why they gave the rating they gave.  Becky started to break the ice and gave the book a 4.5 describing what she liked about the book and why she found it interesting.  We went around in a circle and everyone followed Becky’s lead.  One person hadn’t finished the book yet, and one woman was new to town and just checking out the book club.  Everyone else participated most giving high ratings and some with really specific ratings like 4.65- etc.  It was a fun way to get into the book discussion. 

I was the difficult one and only gave the book a 3.5 which I then backed up with my feelings about how there were some questionable aspects to the racial issues in the book. See- I am THAT PERSON.  The discussion that followed was only loosely organized by Becky.  For the most part, it was an organic conversation that grew as people responded to each other, including me.  Many of the other ladies chimed in with their own thoughts, and everyone had a reasonable conversation.  But, of course, as everyone else was so positive on the lessons of the book and the characterizations in the book I couldn’t leave well enough alone.  I had to bring up the controversy around authors like Kidd- and Kidd’s other book The Secret Life of Bees and how there were some noticeable blind spots in the white protagonists’ characterization.

While, as Library Journal has noted, “many facilitators cite obstreperous members as their biggest concern,” Becky did not seem phased by my line of commentary or questions.  In fact, no one seemed offended by my comments, and they did lead to examinations of what people knew and didn’t know about Southern American History.  Most of the book club participants grew up in the West, and didn’t have the same sorts of history or connection to the South and so were unaware about aspects of Southern racial history.  It led to fruitful discussion, though no one actually seemed bothered by the book the way I was, and I let it drop instead of insisting a point.

I know, that if I were operating a book club in a professional capacity and not participating in one, I would not have spoken so freely.  I would have asked some questions regarding how people felt about certain things I brought up, but I would not have gone as far as I did while participating.  To me, I know the difference between leading and facilitating a discussion and participating openly in a group of friends.  Even though I would qualify my participating in the meeting as mild, it is a sign to me that I should really only participate in book clubs with people who aren’t easily offended.

Reference:

Hoffert, B. (2019, April 1). The Book Club Experience. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=lj190401bookclubs