Book Club Experience

Book Club

I am part of a book club at my school that consists of 8-10 female teachers. The school librarian organized this at the beginning of the year. At our first meeting, we discussed what type of books we wanted to read and we agreed that we wanted to choose books that were made into a movie, books that were not overly depressing, and books that were realistic. We communicate through email and the librarian will send out a google form for us to choose our top picks for our next book.

The first book that was read is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach. Some teachers used paperbacks provided by the library and others used e-readers. The group was given a month to read the book prior to meeting to discuss it and watch the movie. We met in the library after school, the librarian had provided snacks and arranged the comfy chairs in front of a projector screen we could watch the movie on. The atmosphere was one of friends talking and relaxing together away from the stress of teaching.

All attendees were excited to discuss the book and watch the movie. The librarian asked some probing questions about topics addressed in the book and everyone had the chance to respond and talk about their opinions. One member did dominate much of the conversation and one did not speak much, the librarian did a good job of moderating and trying to give everyone a chance to participate. Considering that all of the members work together and know each other pretty well everyone felt comfortable enough to give their honest opinions about the book and movie.

We watched the movie as a group and enjoyed it immensely. After the movie, most of the discussion revolved around the major differences in the book and the movie and everyone’s opinion on this. We thought there were many significant changes from the book to the movie, but that the changes made the movie work. The movie was nominated for many awards and was considered a box office hit.

I had seen the movie before reading the book and found the book hard to get into because I was constantly comparing it to the movie and thus did not finish it. I found all of the different characters interesting and their backstories were provided in the book giving you more insight to each of them. I loved the movie and some of my favorite actors star in it such as Maggie Smith and Judi Denche. I decided in the future to always try to read the book before watching the movie.
                                                                             

I have also joined the RW Book Club on Facebook, this is Reese Witherspoon’s book club that takes place on Facebook and Instagram. The discussion takes place on Facebook and the books are announced on Instagram. We are currently reading: The Dry by Jane Harper & The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. The discussions have not taken place yet, but the club members are very active and post frequently about what they are reading, looking for recommendations, and news about other books.

We are doing a March book exchange and all members that want to participate can. The theme of this exchange is "green." You may interpret this however you'd like (cover is green, the book is about money or flowers, etc). One of the admins of the group is organizing it and will send out who you are sending a book to on March 15th and all books need to be sent by March 31st.


I can’t wait to be a librarian full time and get to participate in more book clubs or help with one.