Book Club: the good the bad and the fugly

Throughout the past ten years I have jumped from book club to book club trying to find one that suits me, but to no avail.  It was pure accident that I even joined a book club.  I ran into someone I knew and they asked if I (and my mom) would like to join their group.  We said yes.  The group was filled with women who worked at the elementary school I went to, some of which I had.  We were in said group for about a year in which we read:

1. The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
2. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb (my selection)
3. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella
4. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

My selection did not go over well.  I will admit that it did not translate with time but I still enjoyed it.  I unfortunately was in the minority.  Next we read a Shopaholic book, the majority of the group gave it a thumbs up when mine went down.  Our Christmas selection was The Christmas Train and made me vomit.  That was the tipping point for me.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with reading Shopaholic and Baby, but it is not for me.  Soon thereafter I slipped out of the club due to work commitments.

A year or so later, I joined the one at my library.  Here we read:

• Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
• Cane River by Lalita Tademy
• Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews

When we read Cane River, a novel about slavery one of the members asked why all black people in Hollywood get nose jobs.  Yeah, hold for crickets and allow time to pick our jaws off the floor.  Later, the moderator suggested The Christmas Train as their holiday selection, I may have mentioned that that was the reason for why I left my previous book club.  I dropped out again soon after, although this was not due to The Christmas Train suggestion.

Lastly, I started my own, which I have discussed previously on the blog.  Now I got to choose what books we read, or at least to start with.

The three I got the group started with were:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

As it was an open group at the town’s coffee shop we only had three people show up, so six when you count the owner, Mom and myself with the novel well recepted Me Talk Pretty One Day got about the same number but looking back realize this may have been a little too “out there” for the conservative town.  Lastly Angela’s Ashes got a few more persons but with a very heated crowd, with one woman sayingwhen one partner is under the influence of alcohol it is consider rape to the other even if consensual.  

Then other members got to choose the books and this is when we went down hill.

• The White Masia by Corinne Hofmann
• French Lessons by Ellen Sussman 
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Nortan Juster

Each group dwindled in numbers after that.

Our last book, The Bad Seed which was my selection and had read it previously.  It was a no show.  That was it, the end of book club and felt no remorse about its conclusion.  We may have failed, but you can’t say I never tried, but on a positive note, our third club never considered The Christmas Train.  That my friends is the good.