I joined a book club last year. I’d love it even if we didn’t read any books since it provides a night of vino and chat with friends. But the extracurricular reading has been really fun too, especially since I’ve read less books since becoming an author.
Seems counterintuitive doesn’t it? Write more = Read less? Unfortunately, when you only have so much time where your brain can process words in a day, you end up using your word ration on books that need to be written rather than books you’d like to read.
But book club has helped me to make time for reading. There’s something about the social obligation of it—like working out with a friend—that makes me feel accountable for each month’s book. And of course, reading is no chore for me! I really love those hours spent with a book, and book club helps me to feel like they’re more justified.
We talk about many aspects of our book of the month at our meetings. The characters’ choices and backstories, the surprises in the plot, the resonant meaning we found in the work as applied to our own lives. And once the conversation devolves into the personal, I know the real meat of our book talk has concluded. But much of the fun—and the wine—has only just begun.
What about you? Have you ever belonged to a book club? What kinds of books did you read and how did you enjoy the experience?
***Join Joanne on the boards this week to discuss book clubs and one random poster will win a signed copy of Joanne’s new Blaze, Just One Look, along with a recent book club pick—Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
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Good Morning!
No I have never belonged to a book club.
I love to read contemp romance and sometimes western historical and rom suspense.
Have a wonderful weekend.
by Pat L
on March 2nd, 2007 at 7:28 am
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I have never joined a book club. My schedule just doesn’t fit with any that I’ve known about so far. It sounds like fun though.
by Maureen
on March 2nd, 2007 at 8:52 am
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Hello,
Actually my friends at work and I just started a small book club. We call it the Book Eaters Club because it involves discussing the book over dinner. After our last dinner and the conversation we had on politics and welfare we decided we needed something else to drive the converstation 
Our first book is John Adams by David McCullough. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Best,
Mary
by Mary Gilbert
on March 2nd, 2007 at 8:52 am
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Have not had the pleasure of belonging to a book club; I am, however, an avid reader of various genres of romance books. I seem to manage to find time to read almost daily, and,especially now, being in Minnesota with snow, snow and more snow falling. I love staying inside where it is warm and dry with my nice hot cup of coffee, my cuddly afghan and a wonderful book to read. I have enjoyed many happy hours over the past years reading your books in the Blaze line and also from the Temptation books when they were published.
by Shari C
on March 2nd, 2007 at 9:08 am
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I have never belonged to a book club but do end up discussing books with several people. I agree with Shari C - with all this snow in MN it’s a good excuse to hibernate and read (while someone else plows/shovels me out!) 
by Karen B
on March 2nd, 2007 at 9:37 am
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I have never belonged to a book club but I have been reading every book I could get my hands on since I first learned to read. :)
by Carol
on March 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 am
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Yes I belong to a very small book club with some of my coworkers. Sometimes we get into heated discussions on how some storyline endings should of been different. Maybe its because we work with women who live in despite situations. Its sad knowing that many of the women we work with have never had the love or support of another, usually its violent. Ummm I’m another Minnesotan stuck home today–great day for curling up and finishing, Don’t Look Back! I love reading the historical best. Keep up the great work and looking forward to reading the next Night Eye ministries.
by Toni R
on March 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
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I have never belonged to a book club either. I love to read and discuss the books so it really doesn’t make sense that I haven’t joined one. :???:
by Susan
on March 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
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Hi Joanne!
I belong to two book clubs that are held at the bookstore I go to. One is called “Shadow Pages” which is our paranormal books and the other is called “I’ll Take Romance”. I love going to the book club meetings and discussing the book pick for that month. It gives me a chance to socialize with my friends and hear their views on the books. My husband will watch our son and take care of him so I can go and enjoy myself. That’s how I originally got started going to book clubs. I needed a few hours out of the house. I hope everyone has a great weekend!
by Janet
on March 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 am
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This is interesting! Janet, I’m with you on needing the time out of the house. :grin: And discussing books is such a fun way to spend that time. Susan, I highly recommend it! I’m always intrigued to see the different perspectives brought to our meetings and as I read I find myself looking forward to what some of our members will say about various aspects of the story.
Shari and Toni thank you for the kind words about my books! I still miss Temptation 
, but I’ve been working to incorporate some of my best loved Temptation aspects into some of my Blazes. I loved working on the Wrong Bed in Blaze… Up All Night… and I’m writing another Wrong Bed this year for 2008. That helps me feel like I’m getting my Temptation fix!
It’s snowy here today too. My current read is calling to me from my couch but I’m trying hard to get my writing accomplished before I give in!
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I belong to a book club and we exchange books more than get together to discuss because of the distance. We are called SPARR - Sask. People Are Romance Readers. The letters also are the first letter of each of our names. Unfortunately one of the R’s has passed away. I enjoy it very much and get to read a great variety of books coming from 4 members.
by RobynL
on March 2nd, 2007 at 11:57 am
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Hi my dear friend,
I am so excited you have a blog. I started one in January as well. It was one of my goals for 2007. I belong to two bookclubs. One I have been in for eight years and the other for almost two years. I looove my bookclubs. For me. it is really more about socializing with my friends and if I do happen to read one of the books, then discussing it is a bonus. We are not serious discussors (is that a word?) in either one. I just hosted one of my bookclubs last Tuesday. We read “We are the Mulvaneys”, an Oprah book from way back. I actually read it five years ago, so I didn’t reread it. There were just a handful of people on that cold, snowy Utah night. But, with creamy Potato Soup, fresh Tuscan Bread, homemade Coconut Cake, and ample Gin and Tonics, it was perfect.
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Hi Joanne,
Never belonged to a book club before, though the experiment sounds great. I imagine it’s great discussing books with others, get to know their opinion about various things in books and other aspects of life.
Mostly I love romantic suspense, contemporary romance and just a little bit of historical.
by Mona
on March 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
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No officially, I never belong to a book club. However I do tend to discuss the books that I read at blogs or boards. I love reading any kind of romance however my favorite ones are the spicy reads.
by Barbara
on March 2nd, 2007 at 2:16 pm
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Hi Joanne,
Not a member of a bookclub, but it sounds like a fun idea. I love pretty much all kinds of romance.
by Lis
on March 2nd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
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I also do not belong to a book club. I’m trying to stick to my New Years Resolution of reading atleast one book a week. I’ve stuck to it so far which is good since my TBR pile only seems to get bigger.
by Teresa W.
on March 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pm
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No I haven’t belonged to any book clubs before but this makes them sounds interesting!! I read all romance genres … I tend to get bored if I stick to only one at a time. As my TBR pile can attest too :mrgreen:
by Stephanie
on March 2nd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
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I would love to belong to a bookclub but I just can’t find the time
by Mary J
on March 2nd, 2007 at 5:56 pm
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Kim! What a treat to see you. :grin: Your book club menu has mine trumped… how can I be satisfied with cheese and crackers after hearing about this spread?! It sounds so fun.
Teresa, good for you on the reading goals! Book club aside, a new book devoured on a regular basis leaves me feeling richer for the experience. I love movies too, and I think both those loves are rooted in the basic human need for stories. Isn’t it on that pyramid of needs somewhere?? If not, it should be! I’m sure there have been stories as long as there have been campfires. The light up the insides. :grin:
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Darn it… I would edit the typo in my last post but I don’t see an edit button!
Sorry :oops:
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Hi,
I belong to an online book club that send over a few pages from a selected book 5 days a week. I always make it a point to find the books that I like. I have never belonged to a book club where people meet every now and then and discuss books and have fun, though I would love it if it happened here where I live. I love the idea of being able to talk about my love of books.
I love to read contemporary romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, children and YA books.
Great blog idea, Joanne. 
by Mahaira
on March 2nd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
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I have never belonged to a book club. I have always thought it would be fun to do especially now that I find it harder to find time to read. A book club would help with that like Joanne mentioned in her post.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
by Stephanie S.
on March 2nd, 2007 at 7:48 pm
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I am currently thinking about joining an online bookclub for romance. There are bookclubs where I live but they only read ’serious’ books
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I don’t belong to any official book club, but I have done informal book clubs with a friend or two where we would share books and discuss them informally. And I did discover a couple of books through Oprah’s Book club reccomenations which I otherwise would never of thought to read. And recently I joined in on the fun at Sylvia Day’s blog Book Club.
I think book clubs are great for getting you to broaden your taste in books.
by Sue A.
on March 2nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
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I have never been in a book club. They have recently started a monthly poolside book discussion group here at the condo where I live but so far the book selections have been non fiction biographies and a historical about WWII. I haven’t been interested.
Book clubs are really catching on! My daughter belongs to one with fellow HS teachers which meets after school for a dinner discussion once a month.
The book store where I purchase books in the summer, in Wisconsin, also has started an evening a month discussion group with snacks and beverages . They cover the whole range of books so you can pick and choose which month you want to attend and they get the books at a discount.
by Laurie G
on March 3rd, 2007 at 5:36 am
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I’ve never belonged to a book club. I tend to read for pleasure and don’t dig very deep into the books I read. I’m not sure that’s something I would enjoy.
by Kim
on March 3rd, 2007 at 11:46 am
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I don’t belong to a book club but I do blog about books.
by Joyce
on March 3rd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
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have not been to a book club or belong.
by kim h
on March 3rd, 2007 at 8:19 pm
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I was in 3 book clubs at one time for about 3 years. I absolutely loved it! I was in a mystery book club, chic lit book club and a cinema lit book club. I enjoyed making friends, the discussion of the books, reading outside of my comfort zone, and getting together with other ladies. I think what we all enjoyed the most was the part of all of us reading the same book and finding what each others insights into the book were. We all had a different favorite scene in the book. We would envision different actors playing the parts. I enjoyed the intellectual part of it very much! It really helped me to look at the stories in a whole new way.
by Michele L.
on March 4th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
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I was in a bookclub for a few years and enjoyed it greatly. The friendships that I made will be an everlasting source of joy. We chose wonderful books and had extremely interesting discussions. It became an event to look forward to and I loved it.
by alissa
on March 4th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
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I haven’t been a member of a book club. I think it would be fun to get together with other book lovers and chat about books.
by Crystal B.
on March 6th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
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*** Winner!*** Congratulations to Toni R, winner of the thread prize. Toni, I’ve sent you a private email and thank you to everyone for chatting!
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Great post, Michele. I found myself nodding more than once… like the idea of reading outside the comfort zone… yes! :idea: That’s it exactly. And I think it’s a great opportunity for people who love the reading experience to really extend and expand it.
And Laurie, they started doing this at our local hs recently, too. Am hoping to sit in with the kids and teachers before too long. There are a lot of great young adult books I wouldn’t mind reading myself, and there are also a lot of great other books that I’d be interested to hear discussed through the perspectives of younger readers. It’s a neat idea. Um… for the kids’ sake too. ;-)
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Thank you so much!! I am looking forward sharing these with my coworkers! Thank you again!
by Toni R
on March 6th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
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wtg toni r
by kim h
on March 6th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
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I am sorry but no I have never been a member of a book club. I do enjoy reading though, very much. I love romance, paranormal romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. You are also one of my favorites. Thank you for writing such great books for us readers. :grin:
by Sharon Bryan
on March 7th, 2007 at 12:06 am
