Are you a part of a book club? Loads of Americans and people worldwide are part of them. They aren’t modern inventions, and I will tell you a little about their history in a second. What has been read has changed drastically through the ages but has also stayed the same. No matter what has been read, readers will find others who read the same literature and want to share it with them. I know I often ask people if they have read anything good lately for ideas. I mean, how else are you going to get recommendations? Oh yeah, there is TikTok now.
I figure we can look at a brief history of book clubs first. Book clubs can be traced back to 1634, when Anne Hutchison and her religious group studied and discussed the sermons given at church on their voyage from Europe to Massachusetts. While she was most certainly not the first person to organize a group to read books together, though this club solely focused on the bible, she was the first to be credited with it. At least that I found. Hannah Adams, in the late 1760s, read belle lettres, French for beautiful letters, and she and her women’s group read and discussed them with each other. They became a white women-only thing up through the early 1800s. In the 1820s and 1830s, African-American women finally had their own book clubs. However, at this time and later, they may have been called reading circles. Book clubs rose and waned in popularity since and took on new forms as social and political stances changed.
Book clubs have sparked controversy in every age, starting with Anne Hutchison, who was kicked out of the Massachusetts Colony and shipped off to Rhode Island for the women’s reading, study, and discussion of the sermons group she started. When African American people were allowed to learn to read and write, they were finally able to have their own clubs. In 1927, they were reading modern ( for the time, goofy) authors as opposed to classics, which caused a scandal. The 1960s and Oprah’s book club put us in touch with books that touch us emotionally or spiritually, which is always controversial. In the 1960s, political books were big from all sides, which, of course, caused friction. In 1996, Oprah started her book club, re-popularizing the idea. Oprah’s book club ended in 2010, which is a fourteen-year run. Not bad. In 2020, with the whole world in quarantine, there was a resurgence of book clubs, but the club part moved to an online platform.
Looking at the history above, one has to wonder why these gatherings have lasted centuries. It’s simple: People are nerds and want to share their love of literature with other like-minded people. People have long wanted to talk to someone else about the incredible or horrible book they are reading or just read to share emotions, perspectives, comparisons, and likes or dislikes. There are all kinds of books in book clubs. No genre or even a sub-genre is off-limits.
Another draw for these circles is socializing. Everyone eats and drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) and talks and laughs about stuff besides the book. Laughing. Those who choose these clubs find fellowship. They are not necessarily religious, though they can be; they are just a group of people brought together because of a love of reading. These clubs are small and intimate, usually less than ten members, yet over five million Americans are in a book club.
We all know reading is a great escape, but there are benefits to a book club:
Accountability- You make a commitment to a time and place to show up, having read the agreed-upon portion of the book.
Writing Improvement—You can improve your writing by studying different writing styles, including point-of-view writing, and gathering ideas for your own stories, poetry, or whatever.
Mental Acuity- It keeps your brain sharp. By engaging your brain, it gets “exercise” which helps keep it healthy, even if you stay in one genre. At least, that is what my doctor told me when I asked him about trying to make sure I don’t get dementia.
Critical Thinking- Continues the trend of keeping your brain sharp. With the trading of thoughts, emotions, views, and more of a shared read, you broaden your worldview and understanding. As we touched on earlier, different perspectives are offered because others in the club will think differently than you. Similar, sure, but different. They have different life experiences, possibly cultures, and thoughts that affect their point of view.
I know what I love about the book club I am in, but my sister-in-law has been a part of three, two of which she is currently a part of, so I thought I would ask her about her thoughts and experiences with said clubs and see if it lines up with the research and my own feelings. When asked why she likes her clubs, she said, “The socializing is a big draw. Having a specific time set aside helps allow me to socialize. With work and life, I can’t always make the time to go out, and my friends live a hundred miles away, so this gives me time with them. This is an easy commitment. I get to rant and rave about books while keeping up with friends.” When asked how many book clubs she has participated in, she said three, and when further asked why three, Leslie responded with “Friends. With you, I get to hang out with you and see the family since they always walk in. I had different friends in the other two groups, too. I am also exposed to different books through each.” I asked what she meant, and she went on to say that in the club she is in with me, we have read books the other clubs wouldn’t think to, like American Gods and Interview With A Vampire. The other one she is currently in sticks to high fantasy romance and smut and the one that fizzled out is stuck with historical/regency romance. Thankfully, our reading tastes line up pretty well. I do know I would not have made it through American Gods or Interview With A Vampire without her.
As for me, pretty much everything that has already been said. I was happy to see the mental acuity and critical thinking as a part of the benefits. I am mentally ill to the point of being mentally disabled, and I worry about my brain deteriorating because of it. My doctor assured me that with how much I read and write, I exercise my brain well, and that will help keep it healthy. Yay! I love to read. I have loved it forever, but my depression can keep me from picking up a book. Having a set amount of reading to do, I can handle at least that. Plus I get time weekly with my sister-in-law who is more like a sister than an in-law. We usually spend about an hour together; about half of it is about life stuff, and the other half is about book talk. Now, as close as we are, we have many issues that we have different thoughts on, and that colors how we see the book, and it leads to good discussions. Yet, we have enough similar views that we can squeal or be outraged over the same things. I am jealous, though; she uses audibles in many of her books as well as in one that she can read, so she knows the pronunciations better.
Women, well really, people of all genders and walks of life in today’s world, and people of all ages partake in the fun of book clubs. These clubs are for the walkers of worlds and their friends. So, are you in a book club? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
