Book Club Experience

I went to a book club in late February. I have never gone to a book club so I was not sure what to expect. I always worked nights before I got my current position then the pandemic came and in-person events have mostly stalled. I chose one that was fairly local to my area to participate in. The history book club sounded fun and I like hearing what others think about different time periods. I chose to go to a history book club for a couple of reasons. 

1. I studied history for my undergrad degree so it sounded like a fun way to experience my first book club.

2. I wanted to read more nonfiction books which is what this book club reads.

3. The book sounded more like my cup of tea than this month’s fiction lover’s book club. Plus the book is on my TBR list.

4. I was hoping to meet some new people who also enjoyed some of the same subjects I do.

5. The book is about a woman who was born and raised in Huntington, IN which is where I live.

The book that was discussed was The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone. From what I had read it is well-written and I felt like I was reading a book that was a mix of fiction and nonfiction. It was more of a narrative and made me feel like I could connect with the main character.

I had emailed the leader of the book discussion the day before to let him know that I was an MLIS student and that I had read some but not all the book for the discussion. He was extremely polite and said if I just wanted to observe he was fine with that and he was excited to have a new member. He also warned me that if there is bad weather or snow on the ground (even if it has been there for over a week) that it might be a small crowd.

The night of the meeting I went into the genealogy room at the library and was worried that I was going to be the only participant aside from my husband. He read some of the book as well and decided to tag along. Then two more patrons showed up. I could tell they were regulars because the librarian leading the discussion knew their names and talked to them for a couple minutes about how their lives were going and if they were doing okay. The atmosphere was cheery and they all made my husband and I feel welcome. All in all there were four of us and two librarians. One librarian was leading the discussion and from what I had been told if he was unable to make it the other one would have led the discussion. 

Since there are social distancing rules and masks I did not expect it to be a big crowd or snacks and drinks. I was correct. We all sat distanced at different tables. It started with the leader giving us about a minute or two of background on the book’s author and Elizebeth, the main character. Then he started off the discussion with a question. This led to a couple people talking and we had a good discussion about how we all felt about the book and writing style. He let us answer and then he told us how he felt about the book. That is how he did each question he asked. He tried to interact with all of us individually by asking us by name what we thought about different parts of the book, characters, and other general questions. One of the participants sounded like a big history buff so he told us a little bit about how he saw this woman’s life relating to other nonfiction works he has read based in those times. The other patron explained how she thought the PBS documentary did a good job of staying true to the book. Just to let you guys know there was a short documentary put out about the book. I’ll add the link to the bottom of this post.

Sadly, as much fun as I had about talking and learning about other peoples’ perspectives the librarian who was not leading the discussion monopolized much of the conversation. She kept talking about her own personal life and I could see where she was connecting it to the story but felt like she was not giving others a chance to talk much. When the other librarian would ask someone a specific question she would talk first without giving the patron a chance to talk. It was clear that there was a clash on how the book club should be run and I felt like the leader wanted more discussion and less personal talk. I am not sure if this is how it always goes but for the most part I could tell that the leader kept trying to circle back to the book discussion. I know he had plenty of questions because he had a page typed up that he would look at before asking us something. We got to talk very little about the book.

We all actively participated a little bit and the questions we were asked were ones that people could expand upon and dive deeper into the story and they were ones that could lead to other topics within the book. One attendee talked more than the rest of us but I think that is because the other attendees were shy, two being my husband and I. If we had discussed more of the book and kept up the discussion that we were having when patrons were talking I would have really enjoyed the book club. I was even excited because the next book they are reading is also on my TBR list. The attendees were both nice and said they hoped we would come back next month. We even ended up walking out together and it ended on a great note. I felt like I could go back and that I made some new friends. Who knows, I might give it another try and see if next month is any different. The actual book discussion was fun and the librarians were extremely nice and excited that two younger people showed up. 

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/codebreaker/