BikeBookBread Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I've had a month to read the book, which I am enjoying (A Girl Named Zippy) but I just haven't finished it; I'm about 30% through. I forgot to bring it along to my parent's home over Christmas vacation, and when I got home, I was so busy unpacking, PDG got sick, yadda yadda yadda. When you don't finish the book, do you still go? We don't have any "rules" in our club (I know some clubs are strict about not participating, etc.). I'm definitely going, but I'm more curious than anything. This is not a "searching my soul" post, just an "I'm bored on Friday afternoon" post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Were you enjoying the book? Do you think you would finish it anyway? It might depend on how serious your book club is... not much help, but if you want to get out of the house...;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Our group is laid back and everyone is welcome whether or not they finish the book. I don't like going if I haven't finished, especially if I'm enjoying the book because once I know the outcome I am not always motivated to read to the end. It can also be frustrating if there are a few who didn't read who get impatient waiting for the book discussion to end so that we can all visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'm not in a book club any longer (we moved) but my group was very easy going. Lots of people came who had read the book but still didn't speak up much. It still added synergy to the group to have them there! And I doubt any of the discussion would give away the entire plot - you might be motivated to go home and finish it that night ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'm not in a book club any longer (we moved) but my group was very easy going. Lots of people came who had read the book but still didn't speak up much. It still added synergy to the group to have them there! And I doubt any of the discussion would give away the entire plot - you might be motivated to go home and finish it that night ;) I'm one of those people who won't even read the discussion questions until I'm completely finished with a book. I don't want to know *anything. Curious (and I apologize for the hijack), how many people are in your book groups? How do you choose books? How often do you meet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfOneFunOne Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I started a mother/daughter book club and we're in our 3rd year. I would definately prefer that everyone read the book to the end but if she didn't, I'd rather she come and partiicipate anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'm one of those people who won't even read the discussion questions until I'm completely finished with a book. I don't want to know *anything. Curious (and I apologize for the hijack), how many people are in your book groups? How do you choose books? How often do you meet? Not a hijack! We have had 6 members, but only 4 seemed to show up for each group. It was frustrating. We have recently added 2 more people, so in theory, 8. We meet every other month. In the past we have met on a Saturday morning in a home. However, one person couldn't come, so we changed to Friday night. This was a group decision, but very hard for me personally because my kids go to bed at 6:45. I was scheduled to hostess tonight, and I just said I couldn't. Our home is relatively small, and I couldn't ask my husband to take our kids into the back bedroom and sit with them for two hours (there's no way they would sleep with 8 chatting women outside their bedroom door). I think people were kind of put off by this. So tonight, we are meeting at a centrally-located Starbucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thea Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I still go. The book club I'm a part of is as much a 'get out of the house once a month and chat and eat with friends' club as it is about discussing the book. :) Every month there is at least one (out of 8) that didn't read the book. No big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Ours hasn't met in a while and I really miss it. We would meet at a restaurant and sit and talk for hours. When I joined, there were already 5 other members. Later, two dropped out, one more joined, and one moved away... so now there are only 4 of us. We always said that if one of us didn't finish we'd come anyway, so as not to hold up the others or make the group smaller. It was never a problem, though, until last year when one of the members consistantly didn't read the chosen book and then begged us to wait for her. By the time we could finally meet, the other 3 of us had forgotten a lot of the details. I guess that's why we haven't met in so long... it became really annoying, but she would get really upset if we left her out. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 In the several book groups I've run, I always encourage people to come even if they haven't finished the book. Sometimes it makes for a less-than-stellar discussion, but generally it works out okay. Personally, though, I don't think I've ever not read the entire book if I go to the book group. Book groups are one of my favorite things and I read the book (even if I don't like it, and that's unusual for me). I truly hate it when people who haven't finished on time try to postpone the meeting so they can finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 how many people are in your book groups? How do you choose books? How often do you meet? It has varied through the years, but right now we have 6 of us who are 'regulars'. Everyone tosses out book ideas -- usually during the meeting, though sometimes we'll email ideas ahead of time. It just depends on the mood & consensus as to what we'll read. We meet approx. every 4-6 weeks. We used to take turns hosting (providing dinner) in our homes on Sunday evenings. However, we've now morphed into going out to dinner most of the time. Since it's getting dark early now (and a lady in our group is uncomfortable driving after dark), we've moved our winter meetings to mid-afternoon until the daylight lasts a bit longer. I still go. The book club I'm a part of is as much a 'get out of the house once a month and chat and eat with friends' club as it is about discussing the book. :) This sounds like our group too, lol! I started w/ this bookclub right after my dd was born. Back then, I rarely read the whole book in time (w/ an infant), but getting out was oh-so-nice! Most times I read the book, but there are times I don't manage to finish (or sometimes even start it). Not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melopher Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 There are 7 people in my book club, and generally people still go even if they didn't finish the book. We meet every 4 weeks or so on Monday nights--it's a night out I look forward to. We rotate who picks the books and hosts the meeting. Often we'll meet at a coffee shop, but occasionally at a restaurant or home. I like the rotation because it helps me to branch out and read things that I normally wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Our group has been meeting for 6 years now. We are all close friends and cherish that time together regardless of the book reading. There is always someone who hasn't read the book and at least one person who rarely reads any of the books. :) We just enjoy being together. Sometimes we discuss the book for a good portion of the evening. Sometimes we don't. :) Oh, there are 13 of us. We've lost 2 members and gained a couple over the years, but most of us are the original group. 8 babies have been born since we began!! We usually have 8-12 members show up each month. We try to meet on the last Thursday of each month. We skip November and meet at the beginning of December with a cookie exchange and no book discussion. We each hostess one month, bring dessert (usually chocolate, as it is a book & chocolate club) one month, and recommend one book (or theme) a year (roughly). We meet at 7pm and wrap it up at 10 or 11. :) Book discussions are very informal. We don't ever postpone a meeting because someone isn't finished. (And there is usually someone who hasn't finished...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 We usually go anyway. If we haven't finished we often find out the end of the book before we want to, but we still have fun. There have been a couple of times when I just haven't been able to get into the book, so I didn't finish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share Posted January 9, 2010 Just got back...it went very well! The other members had some very interesting insights into the book that will color my reading of the rest. One gal had done quite a bit of research on the author, and her insights have completely changed how I'm perceiving the way the book was written. I'm glad I went. And no one was mad that I moved it from my house to Starbucks! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'm one of those people who won't even read the discussion questions until I'm completely finished with a book. I don't want to know *anything. Curious (and I apologize for the hijack), how many people are in your book groups? How do you choose books? How often do you meet? Our group started small, there were 3 of us at the beginning. We read the WEM novels. When we got to Pride and Prejudice, about 20 people came ;) and we fluctuated after that from about 6 to 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Our group has been meeting for 6 years now. We are all close friends and cherish that time together regardless of the book reading. There is always someone who hasn't read the book and at least one person who rarely reads any of the books. :) We just enjoy being together. Sometimes we discuss the book for a good portion of the evening. Sometimes we don't. :) Oh, there are 13 of us. We've lost 2 members and gained a couple over the years, but most of us are the original group. 8 babies have been born since we began!! We usually have 8-12 members show up each month. We try to meet on the last Thursday of each month. We skip November and meet at the beginning of December with a cookie exchange and no book discussion. We each hostess one month, bring dessert (usually chocolate, as it is a book & chocolate club) one month, and recommend one book (or theme) a year (roughly). We meet at 7pm and wrap it up at 10 or 11. :) Book discussions are very informal. We don't ever postpone a meeting because someone isn't finished. (And there is usually someone who hasn't finished...) This sounds very much like my book club. We have been meeting for 7 years and although the first few years we were part of a larger "club" most of us have been together since the beginning. We have 9 members and 16 babies born during our time together! We don't skip November, but instead December, when we meet for an ornament exchange, white elephant gift swap & potluck. Our book for January is always a young adult book (Chronicles of Narnia, The Giver, and Where the Red Fern Grows are a few of our previous picks). We meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month, usually at someone's house and we all bring an appetizer, dessert of bottle of wine to share. Occasionally we will meet out at a restaurant instead, which is fun, but usually more difficult to have a discussion. I've selected The Help as my pick for February. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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