Book clubs and attendance issues 28/31 #SOL17

In recent nights, I've read a couple of posts about book clubs.  They had read the book, David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.  If this interests you, go read one example here.

These posts reminded me of a time when I tried to start up a book club with girls at school.  Many of the ladies at school are readers.  Currently, as in the past, we talk books while at lunch, while waiting for the bathroom, while roaming the gym on morning duty.  We read everything, all genres.  We recommend and review, it's a wandering book club...well, maybe more like book talks.  With these experiences, it only made sense to get us all together to talk books without the distractions of work.

I sent out a feeler email and had about a dozen interested participants.  It was exciting to be orchestrating this morale boosting, team builder activity!  We met after school one day to talk about plans and, of course, books.  Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed was chosen as our first book because there was high interest and a movie was in the making (indicating that we would all need to go see it together = book club bonus).  We had a month to read and would meet at my house on a Friday night in October.

There was some teaser talking during school as we spent our time together.  As the night approached, some scrambled to finish (or at least start and learn the characters names), a couple of ladies found the date had been filled with another commitment, and the rest just kind of avoided me.

On the night of the big book club meeting, only my friend Andrea, the school librarian showed up.  We drank cosmopolitans and talked all about and around that book.  It was wonderful, even if it was not well attended.  We had a fabulous time and left with high spirits about the next month's book.

The next month was better attended with four coming to book club, but many more reading the book and just talking at school.  And on it went with the second month having the highest attendance.  By month six, it was my turn to host again.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett was our selection, and I had LOVED it!  I couldn't wait for everyone to get there.  At least 8 were reading it and in high hopes of attending.  For this most anticipated occasion, I had made chocolate pie and some sweet tea.

Once again, Andrea was the only one to show, sporting a bottle of sweet tea vodka (if you have never heard of this, you must find it immediately).  We stood at my island countertop, never leaving the kitchen, in deep discussions about this wonderful work.

My husband, who was supposed to take the boys anywhere and do something, came home a bit earlier than planned.  As he came in the door after the boys, he said, "Well, I was afraid we would interupt something, but have instead discovered this book club ruse is more like the Ande and Emily club without kids."  We all had a good laugh about that true and telling comment.

That was the end of the book club.  We did go out to the movies a few times after its concluding meeting, but the organized meeting for discussing books was over.  We still talk books all the time, but coordinating time together outside of school is just not happening.