The Worst Book Club Ever

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Remember a few months ago, when I deemed our book club amazing and dubbed us “The Bad Ass Book Club for Nice Girls?”

Well. That’s all gone to shit now.

We’re now officially “The Worst Book Club Ever,” and this is why.

Top 5 Reasons We Are The Worst Book Club Ever

Month meetings – shot to hell

We planned to meet monthly. Since January, we’ve met twice. Our third meeting is tonight. We just keep pushing things off because our schedules are so busy that we can’t make time to sit down and drink wine and eat snacks with each other while discussing a book.

Attendance – we don’t get bonus points for having a full group every time, right?

Our book club members have never all been in the same place at the same time. Ever. Some members showed up for the first meeting. Some for the second. Some members have missed one or two meetings. But one day. One day, we hope to have a full class.

Choosing the book – changing midway through the “month”

We try to rotate who chooses the book (and mind you, we’re only on our third book), and then we keep changing our minds. The book we’re discussing tonight? It’s the third book we’ve chosen. One friend chose the original book. Then she changed the book (but kept the same author). Then we invited someone new to the club and let her choose a different book, pushing the previous book to our next meeting (whenever that happens).

Reading the book – is there a Cliff’s Notes?

No, seriously. Is there a Cliff’s Notes? Because at every meeting (all three of them), there are at least two people who haven’t so much as picked up the book. At all. This week? It’s my turn. I’m not going to lie, I’ve forgotten what we’re even talking about today. Because I’ve been busy reading other books. Because apparently I know 27 billion published authors. I’m working on how I can pimp their work into my book club…

Talking about the book – what’s the point?

By the time we actually schedule the meeting, choose the book and forget to read the book, being at the actual book club meeting leaves up ready to talk…about anything but the book. We play catch up with each other, gab, yell really loud and drink – A LOT. Someone usually gets good and toasted (who, me?) and we eat a lot of delicious snacks. We usually spend about 5-10 minutes talking about the book, and I don’t think we’ve all liked a book yet. Some of us liked the first. Some liked the second. Some hated them all. We’re definitely exposing each other to new genres, but that doesn’t mean it changes the way we think about them.

My lady group calls our book club The Worst Book Club Ever for five distinct reasons, but we still succeed as a book club because of these two very important tips.

Of course, any successful book club has to have SOME good things.

Two Reasons our Book Club Succeeds

We like to drink

There is always an open bottle or two of wine…or three or four…sometimes whiskey. Sometimes vodka. Sometimes beer. We love spending quality time not drinking alone.

We like to eat snacks

Those of us who’ve hosted also like to make snacks. It works out well for everyone involved. Tonight, the menu includes: cheese, something with crescent rolls and cream cheese, and pizza (because it’s a Friday night and pizza is fast and dirty on a school day).

So that’s how our book club is working out in a nutshell. The secret to a successful book club is all in consumption. If you’re not consuming the books

Do you have a book club or a monthly group that meets? How well do you manage your groups? Do you have any tips for improving our book club?

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19 Responses

  1. Hahahha at this stage it’s just meeting to eat and drink wine. Which is no bad thing. I go to a (don’t tell) weekly DnD group, which I found cos it was a HUGE part of Exby’s life and he wanted to find a local group, so I went to support him, and found I liked the people there, so I still go and still play. But it’s better when we play cards against humanity or dixit. And I can’t have the bad snacks any more so it’s not that much fun cos I don’t get to stuff my face 😉

    1. Yes. That’s probably true. But one day we might all read the same book and enjoy it lol. oooh DnD – Brian got me to play a bit. I’m not very good but I have sparkle dice. And I think it’s cool you still play! Is exby still in it?

  2. I think we should start a national movement for “book clubs” that are really just “wine and nutella” nights. The only reading you’ll be doing is the little review cards they hang up below the wine rack that says stuff like “a hint of berry smoked mountain peanuts” or something.

  3. I like to categorize my book club as a “drinking club with a book problem”. It’s easier if you pick a day that stays consistent every month, like the Third Wednesday of every month, that way people can put it in their calendars as a recurring event. If someone misses it, they automatically know where the next one is. Works for my club, we’ve been drinking strong for three years! And we only talk about the book for maybe 10 min as well, so you’re right on track!

    1. We keep thinking about doing that…and then we start looking at the next few month and we’re all apparently really busy LOL. (I suppose it doesn’t help that we’re all relatively far away from each other – 40-60 minutes drive from the farthest two points).

  4. Sounds like my bookclub although we’re good with the monthly. We meet at the same restaurant, and it’s basically a 2 hour gab fest with food and wine where we start talking about the book but that last for about 5 minutes before we start talking about other books or just other things in general. It is what it is. Embrace it.

  5. My book club rarely stays on subject for long. The imbibing is typically kept to a minimum, but I’m one of two members without small children. I’ve been told the only thing worse than a hangover is a hangover during which you have to deal with small children.

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