So, I love to read. I love to read what I like to read. I like mystery/thriller/romance and happy endings. I occasionally pick up a biography, business book, or one on faith, but for the most part I like to read for entertainment. When you join a book club you are forced to read things you might never have picked up – ever! Who am I kidding: I would never have picked them up! This has actually been a really good challenge for me.
With the book club, I have read books that have helped me understand times in our history I know nothing about, it has helped me see other countries in a different light, it has helped me try new genres like dystopian novels, and it has even made me deal with some difficult topics that I don’t like facing. I help with the Well Red book club at GPL and some of the books we have read have been really, really great – and I would never had read them had I not been a part of the book club. I am so glad I joined in these conversations about life from all different angles. Some of my favorites were: The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai – about living in Vietnam during the war; The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – about the Japanese internment camps in the US; There, There by Tommy Orange – about life as a Native American in the US; and Ready Player One (that dystopian stuff).
I highly recommend joining a book club, or at least picking up a recommended book that you would normally never read. Stick with it until the end and maybe discuss it with a friend or coworker or read the discussion questions on the website. It can be fascinating and fun. Don’t get me wrong, there are still books I will never like – horror comes to mind – but, at least now I am willing to give it a try. Now when we get “assigned” a book club book that I roll my eyes and breathe a heavy sigh about, I pick it up and read it all the way through! I have come to appreciate all kinds of genres I would never have read on my own. I am a better person for it.
The library’s brand new History Roundtable series is for any adults with an interest in history. You are in charge…you pick whatever you’d like to read (non-fiction books only), listen to, or watch that matches up with each month’s topic. Then come to the meeting on the 4th Thursday of the month prepared to summarize your book/podcast/documentary and share what you’ve learned with everyone. We’ll learn from each other and see how history applies to our lives today.
