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Rant: I spent $50 on a book club guide and it almost killed our discussion
Our group picked a dense classic last month, and I panicked and bought a fancy online study guide. It gave us all these rigid discussion questions that felt like a school test. We spent the whole meeting just going down the list instead of talking about what we actually felt. It totally sucked the life out of the room. Has anyone found a better way to prep for tougher books without boxing everyone in?
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maxm5024d ago
Hold up, I gotta disagree. Those structured questions are a lifesaver for tough books. Without a guide, my group just ends up talking about the movie adaptation or getting totally lost. Last time we tried a classic "cold," we spent twenty minutes just arguing about a character's name pronunciation. A good guide gives you a map so you don't waste the whole night. Maybe you just picked a bad one?
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jamiesingh24d ago
What guide did you use that worked?
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kevin_flores5d ago
Totally get where you're coming from. Our group had the same exact problem before we started using a guide. We'd pick a dense book and just stare at each other for the first fifteen minutes. Someone would bring up the casting for a potential film version and the whole discussion was dead. A solid list of questions at least gives everyone a place to start talking. It keeps you from that awkward silence or going down a rabbit hole about nothing.
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