Have you ever finished a really good book and just wanted to talk with someone about it?
And then when you try to strike up a conversation at the office water cooler, nobody has a clue what you’re talking about and uncomfortably walks away as you’re explaining the plot. We feel your pain.
If we can offer a little advice, we recommend connecting with one of the many local book clubs. There’s ones offered by libraries and book stores, as well as private ones and the bright side is you’ll never need to have another intellectual novel “conversation” with your cat ever again. We’re pretty sure Boots will appreciate that as well.
Some of the clubs have a more traditional feel, like you’ve seen in sitcoms and movies, where a book is assigned, you read it and then meet with the group to talk about it. Others have taken on a different directive, but the one thing they have in common is the no pressure, no judging approach.
The goal is for people to read books and talk about them. But instead of going back and forth about all the different clubs we found (which we know isn’t all of them), we decided to break it down in a more reader friendly way.
Concord Library
Last year, they tried to do the traditional book club approach, but there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of interest.
So a few months back, Deb Baker came across an idea being used by another library and figured why not give it a try. Instead of assigning a book and hoping people would, one, enjoy it, and two, actually read it and come back to talk about it, the library started Books & Brew.
It meets the first Wednesday of every month at True Brew Barista at 6 p.m. and is advertised as a no pressure book club. It’s a place for book lovers to meet and talk about books without having to read one selected for that month.
“You just come and talk about what you’re reading, what you like,” Baker said. “It can be anything – fiction, nonfiction, new or old, anything you’re reading.”
It allows other book lovers to get some ideas for future reads and gives people the opportunity to share their interests with the group.
“It’s a fun atmosphere,” Baker said. “It’s kind of a book love fest.”
Books & Brew started in September and about a dozen people have shown up for the first two installments. The three members of the library staff who are leading the group have been compiling a master list of book ideas so people don’t have to take notes during the talks and can engage in the conversation – or just listen.
“It opens your eyes to other things,” Baker said. “If you’re stuck in a reading funk, this is the best idea for you.”
The next Books & Brew is this Wednesday, but don’t worry, if you read this a little late to make the November gathering, there will be another on Dec. 2.
The first hour is for book discussion and the second is geared toward socialization and smaller groups.
“Plus you can order a beer,” Baker said.
Baker Free Library (Bow)
The book club at Baker is run in more of the traditional sense. It meets the second Tuesday of each month to discuss a book that was assigned at the previous meeting and then members receive a copy of the next book on the list.
“They have a month to read it,” said Amy Bain, a library assistant and inter-library loan coordinator at Baker. “But we have such a great group so they come whether they’ve finished it or not.”
The books are voted on the previous year by members and spans four different genres – fiction, nonfiction, classic and award winners. For 2016, there are six fiction, three nonfiction, one classic and two award winners to give members a round grouping to talk about.
“I keep a list of books that are very popular with book clubs around the state or have been read by me or members of the staff,” Bain said.
The club not only meets the second Tuesday of the month, but there are also two meetings that day, one at 12:30 p.m. and another at 6:30 p.m. for those who can’t make the afternoon session.
“We have some member who come to both,” Bain said. “We have a core group who come all the time.”
And there’s no pressure to go each month or to finish the book. The meetings are only scheduled to go for an hour, but you know how people can get when talking about their books.
“They usually end up going an hour and a half to two hours,” Bain said.
The books are borrowed through the inter-library loan program, where Bain requests one copy from libraries all over the state. She usually has about 20 copies for each month, so the preparation starts well in advance.
Bain doesn’t intend for everyone to like the books they read.
“I don’t want to read a book that everybody loves cause then you don’t have a good discussion,” Bain said.
The book club has been running for more than 20 years and there’s one member (from Concord) who has been there from the beginning. So you don’t have to live in Bow to go this book club. And did we mention they have snacks?
Gibson’s Bookstore
Once the store closes down on the first Monday of the month, it’s time for the book club festivities to begin.
That’s the way it’s been for the last 15 years and the book club at Gibson’s is thriving more than it ever has. With about 30 members, the discussions can easily last the entire two hours, but it really depends on the book, who shows up and what people thought of the latest assignment.
“There’s no obligation to come every time,” said Hillary Nelson, who works at Gibson’s and helps run the club.
The club votes on the selections for the next year and there are currently 10 on the list. Most of them are of the fiction variety, but every year they do Shakespeare in February and poetry in April – and there’s also two nonfictions on the list. There’s typically about 30 books when the list is distributed and then it’s whittled down.
“We always keep an eye of what sells, what’s getting good reviews,” said owner Michael Herrmann. “We want it to be good for discussion. That’s the primary idea.”
People can purchase the book at a discounted rate (25 percent off) or get it from the library – the whole point is to read the book. And when it comes to length, Nelson tries to keep with her rule of thumb.
“We try to stick with around 300 pages,” Nelson said. “When it’s more than 350 pages, sometimes it’s hard to finish.”
And for Nelson and Herrmann, it’s not always about picking books they like.
“The books that I really love, people come in and say ‘Hillary what were you thinking? I hated this book.’ ”
Although it is good for the book club.
“It’s really great when people disagree cause it makes for good discussions,” Nelson said.
And it you’re curious what’s coming up in December or over the next few months, there’s a section in the store dedicated to the book club titles along with a list on the store’s website gibsonsbookstore.com.
Bow Book Club
It all began a handful of years ago with four women who had an interest in books. They’d get together once a month to talk about ones they had chosen. Through conversations with other friends, the group grew to six and then dozen and now one of the original four, Kate Ess, sends out the monthly emails to 22 members.
“It’s really been word of mouth,” Ess said. “And there’s a whole different spectrum of age, interests and careers in the club.”
Not all show up each month, but there’s usually eight to 12 women at the gatherings, which take place at the Concord’s Books-A-Million, the large chain that doesn’t have a book club it sponsors, but provides space for private book clubs to use and offers up suggestions for books to read. And the club is not opposed to men joining, there just aren’t any right now.
“Some of them just read the books even if they can’t make the meeting,” Ess said.
Ess had never been a part of a book club, but always wanted to. Over the years she had gotten together with friends and all decided to read the same book, but it usually fizzled out after a couple reads. But for one reason or another, this one stuck.
“I love it. I look forward to it,” Ess said. “It’s really a fun group.”
Ess works at the Baker Free Library in Bow and gets a number of copies of each book through the inter library loan program, while some get it from their own hometown library (not all the members are from Bow) or buy the book. When the group first started out, they used kits from the library especially created for book clubs.
“When we started we used that quite a bit,” Ess said. “We usually can’t get the newer books, but for the most part, we’ll read anything.”
And there’s a nice social aspect to the club, where many of the members’ paths may have never crossed if not for the group.
“We let people know that they’re welcome to come even if the haven’t finished the book,” Ess said.
But this is by no means the only private group in the area, just the one we got in touch with. From what we’ve heard, there’s quite a few out there, which is great for book connoisseurs.
To inquire about the Bow club, email bowbookclub@gmail.com.
