Not About Books

Book clubs are a fad. Everyone I know belongs to at least one book club. Why? Reading is more something you do because it's a habit, but it's also something that you need to stimulate your mind - or should be. Books inspire people and teach people, they don't simply entertain. So often, I hear a book clubber say, all I want is to be entertained when I read a book; I am not, after all, taking a course. Very well, but what is meant by that because "entertainment" means something different to each person? Some like mysteries, others, adventure, yet others, to read the latest best sellers and so on down the shelf. Book clubs who study books in detail with lists of questions and on-line bios of the authors, struggle to find books that their patrons will enjoy. Not an easy job. Like running a book store, the leader can't, as they do, depend entirely upon what commercial sales gurus tell them. They have to rely entirely on their own judgement of their audiences of readership. In a book club with which I enjoy the privilege of having begun, the members comprise, other than the ever-present popular mystery/detective/spy kinds of fans,  those who like non-fiction, western, fantasy and horror tales. To select one book for study, that excites all of them alike, is impossible. That is why, I don't choose to sacrifice one particular book for discussion at our sessions. And that leads me to wonder why these dear people come month after month. The answer is, to socialize, to debate and discuss, not really what the book is about, but what their ideas, stimulated by the book subject, become. Book clubs are just another, what we used to call "coffee klatches". They are opportunities to have contact with other people who read and want to say something about what they read. The coffee becomes noisy wine therapy, not whining, although that occurs, too. But there are times when one wonders if interest will flag, and members will simply become bored having to listen to themselves and each other, blabbing on and on about what they read. The saving grace, is that authors continue to pump out books at alarming rates and not all of them are ho-hum series stuff with big name jackets and recycled plots using current events as the basis. Some books are fresh and new, and delve into human nature in such a way, that we find ourselves buried somewhere in the middle.  It's not about books but about seeking  treasure from an author's brain and throwing it into the pot to mix with ours at book clubs. Long may book clubs thrive. It's not all about books.