Hot take: Discussion guides kill good book club talks

My group used those official reading guides for 6 months and every meeting felt like homework. Switched to just letting people bring up whatever stuck with them and our last talk about the unreliable narrator went 2 hours past closing time. Anyone else ditch the structure?

3 comments

3 Comments

blairc901mo ago

Ditched the structure months ago and it's the same thing with how people plan vacations now... everyone's got this minute by minute itinerary and nobody leaves room to just wander into a cool bookstore or whatever.

lewis.mila1mo ago

Totally agree with you @blairc90 ... I did the same thing last summer on a trip to Portland. Just had a hotel booked and a rough idea of neighborhoods I wanted to see, ended up spending a whole afternoon in this tiny used bookstore that wasn't even on my radar. It's way more fun that way, feels like you actually discover things instead of just checking boxes.

felix4141mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly @lewis.mila I get what you're saying but I actually like having a loose plan. I've had too many trips where I wandered around for two hours trying to find something cool and just ended up at a chain restaurant. A little structure helps me not waste half the day.