The Value of Book Clubs...?

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Until recently, I've never belonged to a book club. All of the clubs I'd seen were primarily populated by women, not that that's a bad thing, I enjoy the company of women, however, the clubs I'd been aware of had concentrated primarily on female-slanted fiction, (read: chick lit). Oh, I'm probably being a bit harsh on that count. Not all of these clubs exclusively read things like Valerie Bertanelli's account of her trials and tribulations as Mrs. Van Halen, a lot of them actually centered around more literate fare - ie. thrillers from the likes of Patricia Cornwell and Jodi Picoult.

Okay. Fair enough. But what rubbed me the wrong way about these groups is how little they were concerned with the actual book they were reading and how much more they were concerned with what food and drink would be served at the meetings, and what gossip could be shared concerning the member or members that failed to show up that evening.

I'm being a blanket chauvinist and making extreme generalizations, I admit, but follow me anyhow. Suffice to say, what I personally had seen of book clubs, led me to believe that I wasn't all that interested in joining one...

...until a few months ago. I was approached by a book club - which shall remain nameless (even though it has a name) to limit the liability of those involved - to become a member. What struck me as different about this particular club was that it was made up of both sexes, - though it's primarily male - and it was open to reading just about anything. In the past they've read fiction and nonfiction, and even graphic novels - other than what the choosing member decides upon, there's no limitation as to what can be chosen to read. The members are made up of different cultural and political views, and everyone seems to be firm in their beliefs, yet no one is disagreeable. There is a stern desire to discuss things beyond the normal chitchat of what I might term as a socializing club. There are discussions - sparked by the books - on everything from religion, to politics, to story structures, to generalized anthropology. There is no food. Everyone usually brings a six-pack or so of their favorite beverage, and that serves as refreshments. We meet for a few hours to discuss the latest work and then mozy on down to the local tavern for a recap before heading home. We meet every two weeks, which I like, as a once a month meeting seems (to me, anyway) to smack of laziness. I guess in my estimation you're either involved in something like this or your not.

At any rate, I found a book club that suits my own needs exceedingly well. I get to hang with intelligent, well-rounded individuals twice a month and discuss "larger" issues. I get to read works that I might never have heard of or that I might never have touched had I not been part of the club. So, I enjoy it, and I'm terribly glad that they accepted me as a member.

What about you? Do you belong to a book club? Does it suit your needs, or are you just going through the motions?