Reading my old book club notes from 2015...

I was cleaning out my desk drawer last week and found my notebook from when I first started hosting book club. Back then I used to assign everyone a character to track and we would debate who was the most reliable narrator... it felt so structured and serious. But after a while I noticed people were just nodding along instead of really sharing what they thought. So about 3 years ago I switched to a "no homework" approach... we just show up and talk about whatever jumped out at us from the reading. Now we get into actual arguments about what a scene really meant because nobody feels like they have to defend a pre-written analysis. Honestly the rows are way more fun now. Has anyone else found that ditching the formal structure made your discussions better or worse?

3 comments

3 Comments

derekward4mo ago

The rows are way more fun now" - thats the truth. Structure kills the vibe every time.

hugo_bennett4mo ago

Tried loosening up my own routine last month and it actually made things way more enjoyable. I was stuck in the same old pattern for years and never realized how much I was holding myself back. Totally agree with you @derekward, once I stopped overthinking it everything just clicked. Sometimes you gotta let the chaos in to find the fun again.

the_ruby4mo ago

Is it really all about letting chaos in though? I mean, I get what you're saying about routines getting stale, but for me having some structure is what keeps me from feeling totally lost. I've tried the whole "loosen up" thing before and it just made me anxious. Less planning meant I forgot stuff I cared about and ended up frustrated more than anything. Maybe it's a personality thing? Some people need those guardrails to actually enjoy the ride instead of worrying about crashing.