Book Clubs to Book Love

Book clubs have been on my mind lately for more reasons than one. I think the catalyst was joining a book club. I never thought I’d join one for a couple for reasons. The two most significant being that I don’t have a great deal of free time and I have plenty of books I want to read. However, there was a book club opportunity I couldn’t refuse. The time commitment is minimal and the books are selected by a vote. The best part is that I can enjoy my book club in my pajamas. How so? Well, it’s an online book club. We chat through a program called Plurk and we decided that since none of us have time for a traditional book club we would have our own. This month we’re reading two books, The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. You can read either one or both, if you so choose and then comment on our discussion thread. I’ve wanted to read The Gargoyle but have been afraid that it would be emotionally overwhelming; reading it with a group feels more comfortable. This is why I’m glad that I’ve found a book club I can be a part of, it can push my literary boundaries within the safety of the group.

Thunder Bay Public Library both hosts and supports book clubs. You may (or may not) be aware of our two book clubs that meet at Mary J.L. Black and Waverley libraries. Mary J.L. Black hosts the Novel Lunch Bunch on the third Monday of the month, and Casual Clerisy meets the second Tuesday of the month at Waverley. Both clubs have a monthly theme, as opposed to a specific book for each meeting. More information can be found on the library website under What’s On – Book Clubs. On the same page of our website you can also get information about the Online Book Club. Perfect for someone who’s looking for some new books and authors, you can join a book club in which you receive an excerpt of the book each business day, via e-mail and is approximately a five minute read. Each book is featured for a week, so while you never get the whole book, but if something piques your interest you can either take it out from the library or request it for purchase if it’s not already in the collection.

Our newest book club is self named B-tween the Covers, which is for young people who are hovering between childhood and the teenage years. Some members have met at Waverley Resource Library to make book selections which they then discuss on a Friday afternoon. You can find out more about this exciting new book club on our Kids’ Zone website, where we have also featured some of their recommended books.

You may also have heard of our Book Clubs in a Bag. These bags contain 10 paperback copies of a book, discussion questions, author information, and reviews. To give you a taste of the titles available we have: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The full list can be found on our website under What’s On – Book Clubs – Book Clubs in a Bag.

Our help however, is not limited to offering the Book Clubs in a Bag. If there’s a book your group has liked we can help you find similar types of materials. Or if you’re feeling stuck and just want to try something different take a look at our new blog The Best of the Backlist where we’re featuring some staff favourites that you may have missed the first time around. We encourage you to comment on what you think of the materials we showcase and let us know about books you’ve loved. One of the greatest pleasures of working in a library is sharing the love of books. There is nothing better than putting the right book in someone’s hands, except maybe when they put the perfect one in yours. It really is all about sharing and we’re so glad to be able to share with you and have the privilege of learning of great works we may have missed.

As I write this I realize that while I started with book clubs I’m ending with book love. For me that’s what the ideal book club is all about, people getting together and sharing a love of books and reading. It doesn’t matter if I loved the book or you hated it, we both got something out of it and may have learned something about ourselves and each other along the way. This column is a short space to say everything we want to say on a given topic and so I invite you to come in and share your stories with us.

Ruth Hamlin-Douglas, Children's and Youth Services Librarian at the Brodie Resource Library – www.tbpl.ca.