I received an email from Barnes and Noble a few days ago where they announced that they are starting a nationwide book club. I find this intriguing but am very skeptical. Their tagline, as you can see, is "...bringing readers together to discuss some of the greatest books being published." In my opinion, that is a very subjective sentence. Who determines what the "greatest books" are? Critics? Readers? Publishers? It reminds me of the Oscars where the superhero movie that breaks box office records never wins because it isn't considered "serious film making" whereas the "artsy, deep, and intellectual" movie that no one has ever heard of takes home the coveted title. If you love those types of movies, please don't be offended but it just isn't my thing.
For me, reading is an escape from reality. We get bombarded day in and day out with news and tragic stories and I don't want to then go home at the end of the day and read the same type of thing. I think a lot of people feel that way, as well because I hear it all the time.
I think a nation wide book club is great idea but will they include genre books like mystery, sci fi, YA, romance, horror? From their tagline, it doesn't seem likely in which case, they are leaving out a huge section of the population. I hope they do but I am not holding my breath.
To that end, my fam and I decided to start our own book club. Each month, we will take turns picking a new book and will be discussing it here on my blog. We found it easier that way since we all live in different states but it also opens up the discussion to everyone who reads my blog. There is no specific genre and since we all like different things, it will be fun to open our literary horizons and read something we normally wouldn't consider.
The first book we are reading is Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. If you would like to participate in our club, all you have to do is read the book and come back here on March 31 to join the discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment