The Book Club Debate

How do you decide what to read?

AnnBanks

Posted: Mar 5, 07 6:31pm

Meet the Sunday night book club. We are eight enthusiastic readers with one thing in common: we each know what we like—and, especially, don't like—to read. I'm always amazed at how different our tastes are—especially considering that four of us are married to the other four.

When my friend Nancy first mentioned the idea of forming a couples book group, I had doubts. Would people really say what they thought? Would spouses feel obliged to agree with each other? As it turned out, I needn't have worried.

We each express our thoughts forcefully, and when we're discussing a book, nobody defers to anybody. We disagree—fiercely at times—but it never gets personal. And, although exchanges are sometimes intense, none of us feels compelled to win over the others to our point of view.

• Matt doesn't like to read anything in translation.
• Robert is allergic to magic realism. He likes novels about scientists.
• Nancy says reading anything written before 1920 makes her feel stupid.
• Christine believes there is no higher literary achievement than the Victorian novel.
• Peter is partial to metafiction, having once studied literary theory in graduate school.
• Mark wants to read more books set in India.
• Ann dismisses anything that just got a rave review as a flavor-of-the-month book.
• Carol thinks anything over 300 pages is too long.

So, you may wonder, how do we ever agree on the next book to read? I'm not sure, but somehow we do—generally after a good deal of spirited back and forth. Although this is a fun part of the meeting, it takes time and every now and then we talk about exploring other methods of choosing books. Suggestions, anyone? And what were the last five books you or your group read?