Realized I was picking books nobody actually wanted to read

I run a small book club with 4 other people from my neighborhood. For like 18 months I was picking all these award winners and deep literary novels thinking it made us look smart. Then last month after slogging through a 500 page historical fiction novel, my friend Megan finally said "I haven't finished a single book you picked in 6 months because they're boring." I was shocked but she was right. I went back and looked at our discussion threads and people barely posted. Now I pick stuff that's actually fun to talk about like thrillers or memoirs with weird twists. How do you guys balance challenging reads with keeping everyone engaged?

2 comments

2 Comments

wadeyoung5d ago

That Megan line about "boring" hits hard because she's right. Award winners can feel like homework when you're just trying to have a good time with friends. Pick stuff that makes people actually excited to show up.

hugo_craig4d ago

Oh man, exactly. Nobody wants to sit through a 3 hour movie about a guy slowly realizing his marriage is over when you could watch something like Mad Max Fury Road. That's a movie night. That's people yelling at the screen and having fun.