How many times have you been so excited by a book you have read that you could not wait to find someone to talk with about it? You pass it along to a friend with the hope that they will read it quickly so you can share your enthusiasm and discover whether it impacted them as well.
Book clubs are the perfect solution to this dilemma with everyone reading the same novel at the same time and with a scheduled time for discussion. Clubs are as varied as their members are creative. Everything from choosing titles and the structure of their gatherings is negotiated. Rules can be rigid or flexible; don’t attend if you haven’t finished the book, meet at restaurants instead of members’ homes, dress with a nod to the era or characters in the recent read, etc. One group I know of took the last idea to the extreme by attending the club meeting in full Victorian dress for afternoon tea.
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It’s the journey, not the destination—I keep reminding myself. And it’s a long journey, or at least I’m making it one. It was about a year ago that I decided to re-write the novel that I’d already written seven times. I was going back to scratch. I’d hoped it would take me three months, but now I’m hoping I’ll be done before the end of this year.