BENEFITS OF JOINING A BOOK CLUB

I was just checking to see how long we have been writing this blog, and it's already been 5 years! Not too shabby :)

How are you enjoying the book club experience this year? I love the format we are following, discussing the book half-way through and then meeting again once we finish the novel. Thanks for proposing the idea, I think it is enriching and it adds more to the reading experience. It's hard to stop at a certain point, but it builds suspense too, it helps create some expectations, and it keeps us guessing! I think it has definitely been an improvement.

I have been thinking and reading some articles about the benefits of joining a book club, like this one or this other one. I am going to write the ones I share and some of my own:

1. The people factor. Some of you are regulars of our book club, and I love that. We have moved from a teacher gathering with students to discuss a book to a group of friends exchanging impressions about a text. Love that dimension!

2. An enriched reading experience. It seems you always notice some details that have escaped me, some lines, some aspect of the character, or a different interpretation of some aspects of the plot.

3. A wonderful linguistic workout. I can't but feel proud of all the processes that come together each time you express your opinion, summarize an extract or judge a character. And it fills me with joy to see your fluency, the variety of structures and vocabulary you have, and how you seem to enjoy the reading experience more and more without being so concerned about understanding every single word.

4. A path intersecting with so many others. I am thinking of the connections books have led us to make: with other books, movies, songs, personal experiences. 

5. It has forced me to read slowly. Let me bring in this quotation by Sir Francis Bacon, which I love: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention". It felt like lately I was kind of gulping down books. I got so excited I tended to read in bouts until I finished it! Book club has forced me to take it slowly, to "taste" and "digest" again.

6. Let's not forget the sheer enjoyment and the nerdiness of just being able to get together with a group to discuss books, drink tea and eat cake. Love Tuesdays at 8pm in Room 101! :) 

What about you all? What have the benefits of our book club been for you? Feel free to comment!

Finally, what do you think of the idea of having a rotating roster of leaders in our book club, maybe next year?