ben436•23d agoMost Upvoted

Got roasted for my book club pick last month and it actually helped

I picked a dense literary novel for our November meeting and everyone spent the first 20 minutes complaining it was too slow. After I admitted I almost quit halfway through, the whole group opened up and we had the best discussion we've had in 2 years. Has anyone else had a rough book choice turn into a great debate like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretf4023d ago

So did your friend group secretly start a support club for people who fake their way through book club picks? Because that's basically what happened here, everyone was just waiting for someone to crack first. I've been in that exact spot where the host picks something they clearly haven't read yet and we all just nod along for 45 minutes pretending not to skim Wikipedia. Honestly, sometimes the best bonding is just admitting you all hated the same thing together.

fisher.diana23d ago

Honestly, I'm gonna go the other way on this one. Ngl, a rough book pick just kills the whole vibe for me, and I'd rather skip a meeting than drag through something nobody likes. If everyone's complaining for the first 20 minutes, that's not a good debate, that's people being polite because they feel bad for the host. Tbh, the best discussions come from a book everybody actually enjoyed, where you're arguing about themes or characters, not whether it was worth the time. I've seen a "bad" pick turn into a group that just rants for an hour and nobody leaves feeling good about their evening. A bad choice is a bad choice, and one moment of honesty doesn't fix a month of slogging through something you hate.