book club experience

For my book club experience, I attended the Novel Neighbor’s Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club. I’ve been going to the Novel Neighbor for years, it’s one of my favorite local bookstores, but never previously thought about sitting in on a book club until my roommate decided to join one. Knowing that she would be in attendance helped me feel better about popping into an existing book club for this assignment. Plus, luckily for me, the book chosen for the upcoming meeting was Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, a novella I’d already been eager to read. Even if I hadn’t been familiar with the book, I would have greatly appreciated the choice of a novella for a sci-fi/fantasy club. Books in these genres can be intimidating to me, primarily because many are epic in scope and, therefore, quite lengthy. Having a considerably shorter book to read for that month made it more appealing and overall easier for me to feel comfortable joining. Based on the club’s previous selections, this book club does a solid job of alternating the lengths of their selections, as well as rotating between the two genres and choosing both YA and adult novels.

This book club meeting took place in a partially unfinished room beneath the bookstore. Folding chairs were arranged in a circle, and additional chairs were folded against a wall for new arrivals when all the seats were taken. It was clear almost immediately that more people were in attendance for this meeting than anticipated, and unfortunately the room wasn’t quite big enough/shaped properly to fit the number of chairs required, so from my spot I wasn’t able to see everyone in the “circle” we formed.

The host, Kassie, started by introducing herself, then asked participants to share their name, pronouns, and if they were new to the book club. While many of us were young (20s/30s) women, there were a few older (40s/50s) women and two young men (one of whom brought their dog!). About half of the attendants had been to a Novel Neighbor book club before, with the other half new to the club (myself and my roommate included).

Kassie kicked off the conversation by asking what people thought of the book, opening the floor for anyone to begin. After the conversation picked up, it was quite clear who the regulars were, as they clearly felt comfortable talking to and sharing inside jokes with the host and each other. This occasionally caused discomfort for the newcomers, as it made it clearer that we were outsiders, although Kassie did a pretty good job of steering conversation back to the book when things strayed too far.

Kassie primarily asked the questions, all of which were fairly open-ended and sparked insightful comments. She ranged from broad questions about genre and the book’s themes/tropes to more specific questions about characters and plot points. There were rarely any uncomfortable silences, as the regulars responded to Kassie’s questions quickly, although occasionally Kassie would contextualize her questions with her own thoughts first. Some attendees also posed questions to the group, usually to see if others agreed with their opinions or had different interpretations. After the event, my roommate noted to me that she was impressed by how easily book club members were able to speak about literature and reference/make connections to other books. To her, it almost felt like they were speaking another language, not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that made it clear that this group was full of true literature lovers.

By the end of the hour-long meeting, most people had gotten the opportunity to speak at least once or twice, although there was one regular who I personally felt interrupted, interjected, and spoke over others a bit too often. For a book of its length (about 130 pages), I had been concerned that there wouldn’t be much to talk about, but the novella was so fascinating and most of the attendees loved it so much that when 8:00 rolled around, it still felt like we all had a lot more to say. As Kassie dismissed us, she told us about what next month’s title would be and promoted the bookstore’s many other book clubs (they have eight!). One participant had also made cookies and welcomed us to grab one on the way out.

A final element of the book club meeting that I loved was that, although the store was technically closed, book club members were welcome to shop around a bit while staff handled closing tasks. They also offered a 20% discount on next month’s book if we bought it that night.

Altogether, it was a much better experience than I expected. I hadn’t been part of an in-person book club in a long time, and certainly never one that was primarily comprised of strangers. However, Kassie did an excellent job of making us feel welcome and was an incredible host: friendly, knowledgeable, and a great discussion leader. Most attendees were kind, respectful, insightful, and emotionally invested in the book, and our conversation reminded me of why it is so fun to discuss books in the first place. Working at the library, I don’t really get to share my literary opinions too often, so this book club was a fun diversion for me. I’ll likely continue to monitor their book club picks and pop in when they choose a title I’m interested in.