The Benefit of Book Clubs

Earlier this year, our fiction book club discussed “Trust” by Hernan Diaz, one of this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners. At the beginning of our meeting, most people indicated they didn’t like the book. But after an hour of talking about it together, we made a remarkable discovery. Reflecting on that final scene, and synthesizing what we’d talked about so far, the truth of what Diaz had done was illuminated. It’s brilliant, and most of us had completely missed a hidden message until we talked it through. (I won’t spoil it for you here, but the discovery was about theme, not character!) We walked out of the meeting a little stunned, and once again grateful for the opportunity to discuss a book together.

Book clubs are a great way to get more out of a book you’ve read. Credit: Courtesy Roundabout Books

Something like this happens in almost every book club meeting I’ve ever attended. The simple act of talking about a book with others changes my understanding of it. You share different life experiences and points of view. You share “aha” moments and quotes that stood out to you. You wonder aloud. You ask why. You share insights on character motives. You find connections between theme and character and names and titles and scenes and symbols and more. You discover a buried clue, a hidden image, a veiled secret. You finally see it from another point of view.

Reading a book is a gloriously intimate, intensely personal experience. We can contemplate a story, connect with a character, deepen our understanding of the subject, grow from it, shift our perspective and revel in the very great enjoyment of our own thoughts for several precious hours alone. But discussing a book with others gives us the opportunity to open ourselves up to an entirely new perspective, recognizing that the lens of a different life lived is just as valid as our own.

Discussing a book doesn’t just create the opportunity for better understanding, it also creates a space that fosters connections and intimacy. You can’t help but know someone better when you’re sharing stories from your lives relevant to the book you both just read. In a world where our connections are shrinking and divisions are growing, any opportunity to foster personal interactions in a safe space is not just welcome, it’s essential. Book clubs are one way to create lasting connections, and they have helped nurture some of my longest friendships through the busiest times of life.

Yann Martel said, “Books are something social – a writer speaking to a reader – so I think making the reading of a book the center of a social event, the meeting of a book club, is a brilliant idea.”

More than 5 million people in the U.S. participate in book clubs. Book clubs offer many benefits in addition to enhancing our understanding and fostering connections. They can:

Bring people together who may have never met before, and they often include people from different generations and life stages.
Encourage us to read books outside our comfort zone and help us out of a reading rut.
Create a setting to discuss other forms of media and culture. So many times, I’ve come away from a book club meeting with a newly recommended movie or show to watch, news article to look up, a restaurant to try and a new title to read in comparison.
Be a fun social event, a time to cultivate friendships and a way to do something just for you. Book Clubs and wine pair nicely.
Help you be more accountable to yourself in finishing books you’ve started.
Connect you to your local indie bookstore or library and create a reason to wander the stacks, browsing in anticipation of your next great read.

If you aren’t sure where to start, Central Oregon has several book clubs that you can join just by reading the book and showing up for the discussion.

Deschutes County Library Book Clubs offers book clubs for kids, teens, and adults.
Roundabout Books in Bend offers a middle grade book club for kids as well as several options for adults: nonfiction, mystery, sci-fi, fiction and a classics book club.
Paulina Springs Books in Sisters offers a fiction book club.
Meetup.com offers lots of book club options.
Start your own book club – pick a book, invite some friends or acquaintances over and let the discussions begin.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll: “‘And what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversation.'”