The Joy of Book Clubs

ja bk clubOn Friday night, I had the great pleasure of visiting a suburban Chicago book club to discuss TAKE A CHANCE ON ME and THE ONE THAT I WANT, the first two stories in my new Mirabelle Harbor series. It was a blast!! I knew going in that it would be, though, since I’d been invited to join this particular book club on multiple occasions and I’d always enjoyed its members & the delightful conversations we’ve had together. (They were one of the very first groups to read ACCORDING TO JANE when it came out and, in the six years since, they’ve also discussed FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, A SUMMER IN EUROPE, and THE ROAD AND BEYOND. Needless to say, I love them. 🙂 )

Until I became a published author, though, I’d never been to an official book-club meeting. I’d read and watched “The Jane Austen Book Club,” swooned over Hugh Dancy, and wondered if the experience would be anything like that…. But, even without any hot guys present, LOL, I couldn’t imagine disliking it. I mean, seriously, what’s not to like about discussing stories with a bunch of smart readers, munching on snacks, and drinking wine for a few hours?!

Turned out, I was right to be optimistic. In the years since the release of my debut novel in October 2009, I’ve visited dozens of book clubs in person and across several state lines. We’ve met in private homes, at public libraries, in a wide variety of coffee shops, and even at senior-citizen community centers. I’ve done countless long-distance telephone book clubs, too, such as one for a college class in Indiana, as well as a bunch of online book clubs, including several with Barnes & Noble. EVERY TIME it’s been a truly marvelous experience, and I’ve gotten to meet some incredible people as a result. Next month, I’ve been invited to chat for the first time with a church club that meets in a neighboring suburb. They wanted to discuss THE ROAD TO YOU — and already I can’t wait!

hugh dancyFor anyone who hasn’t been to a meeting in person, let me share a little about what happened on Friday:

7:00 – 7:30pm – Thirteen of us gathered at the house of one of the members (only two ladies couldn’t come) and everyone brought dishes to share. Because the first book in the Mirabelle Harbor series — TAKE A CHANCE ON ME — features a Greek-American heroine, one of the members suggested a Greek food theme. So there was everything from chocolate-dipped baklava (I have pictures of this on my FB page!), galaktoboureko (a delicious custard pie), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopita (spinach-filled phyllo dough triangles), a 7-layer Greek dip, grilled shrimp, Greek salad, wine, and so much more. We had dinner and just chatted for the first half hour.

7:30 – 8:45pm – We shifted into dessert (!!) and began talking about the stories. The group had a lot of questions about the process of writing a series, so it was fun to get to share with them some of the planning I’d done for the books. I got to show them an actual paper map I’d made for the fictional town of Mirabelle Harbor (it has the location of Nia’s family’s Greek restaurant & bakery, Chance’s gym, the house on Lake Michigan where the Michaelsen siblings grew up, The Lounge – a wine bar downtown, and the local “LOVE FM” radio station that plays a role in both stories…and it’ll play an even bigger part of the next novel, YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME). We talked about the characters themselves, impressions they had of the different heroes/heroines, the progression of the plot, and predictions they had for later books in the series. One of the highlights for me was getting the chance to read a short scene to them from the upcoming novel — one I hoped they might like!

books 1 and 28:45 – 9:30pm – This was my opportunity to ask them some questions as well and extend the discussion to things like “movie stars we loved as teens” (which is, of course, a major plot point in THE ONE THAT I WANT — the second book in the series). We also talked about books that influenced us while growing up (needless to say, Jane Austen’s stories were big ones for me 🙂 ). And I had some little party favors for the group members as well. I also signed any paperback books that the members brought in for themselves or for gifts for others.

9:30 – 10:00pm – Slowly the book club began to disband. There were busy weekend events ahead and the need to go to sleep after a long work week. With a last few sips of wine and a final bite or two of dessert, we said goodnight. I smiled the whole drive home!

Are any of you members of a book club — or have you attended any book-club meetings in the past? If so, did you enjoy it? If you haven’t done it before, does it sound like an activity you’d like to try? In addition to JA books, are there any novels you wish you could discuss with a group of reading friends? I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

14 comments

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    • Susan S on September 23, 2015 at 12:50 am
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    I loved reading about your book club experience!
    I’ve been a member of a Jane Austen book groups,
    a classics book club and currently belong to a
    general book club and a group which reads only
    about France, French history and culture, and
    French literature. Each one was different in
    organization, rules, type of member, etc. and
    I enjoyed all of them.

    1. Susan,
      Thank you for your kind comments and for sharing your own book club experiences with me! I’ve always wished I could be a part of an Austen book group that meets in person. The closest I’ve come is having discussions at JASNA events with other members ;). Your book clubs sound wonderful!!

    • Jennifer Redlarczyk on September 23, 2015 at 10:00 am
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    Marilyn, I’m in Crown Point, Indiana and if ever there is an event where I could drive up and meet you and some of the other authors or JAFF folks in general, please let me know. I’m jenred88@yahoo.com. Several years back I was invited to a tea at the Drake held by Beth Massey. It was great fun meeting her and several of the gals that live in the area who I knew from the forums. Meanwhile, best wishes with your publications. I’m going out of town for a week and have two of your books loaded on my Kindle (which Brenda Webb gave me, by the way.) I say, when it comes to JAFF it’s a small, friendly world! Jen

    1. Jen,
      Oh, it would be so wonderful to meet you in person! Yes, if I’m near your area again, I’ll definitely let you know 🙂 . The next two things I have coming up aren’t until February & May of next year, and they’re both multi-author events in Illinois (they’re listed on this page: http://www.marilynbrant.com/events/) — the closest one to you would be the Spring Fling Writers’ Conference in Schaumburg — but I’m really hoping I’ll get to visit Indiana again, too. A good friend of mine is originally from Valparaiso, and we took 2 different road trips there to visit her mom’s book club. SUCH a wonderful group of women, and many were Austen fans!! (They’d read According to Jane first and then did Friday Mornings at Nine a year later.)
      I hope you have a lovely trip and that you’ll enjoy the stories Brenda shared!! So sweet of you both <3.
      xox

  1. At our former church, I led a monthly book group called Logos which met after church for lunch and discussion. We read everything from Shakespeare to Twilight, discussing the works from a viewpoint of faith. It was an amazing group, and we had such incredible discussions. I really miss that group which slowly shrunk from 15 people to about three, so we disbanded. It was a wonderful four years, though! 🙂

    Your description of the book club sounded so much like a Logos meeting, Marilyn–it made me miss the group more than ever. We have a library group in our small town, but the librarian who leads it is quite anti-Christian, and my viewpoint is not welcome. 🙁

    Thanks for your lovely post!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    1. Susanne,
      How fun it must have been for you and your church book club to have those luncheon discussions! I’m so sorry to hear that the group disbanded. Having spoken to a few book club leaders about their group’s history, it sounds like many go through periods with just a handful of members…so maybe you’ll be able to gather together some old friends and new ones and start it again at some point. XO

  2. I’m in a book club, which is good because it motivates me to read a wider range of things than I would otherwise.

    I’ve also, several times, been the special guest at book clubs who are reading one of my books: best time ever! You’re right, Marilyn. What’s not to like? – books, new friends, and good food. I’d never thought of doing a long-distance telephone appearance, though (or I suppose Skype would be great). That would infinitely expand the number of book clubs within reach. I like that idea!

  3. Shannon,
    I totally agree that being a part of a book club opens up all kinds of new books and authors. The other members bring up titles I’ve never heard of and it’s been really cool to expand my reading range 😉 .
    Love hearing that you’ve enjoyed being a guest at book club so much too!! I hope you’ll have many more visits (in person & virtual!) coming up!

    • Carole in Canada on September 23, 2015 at 10:04 pm
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    Hi Marilyn! I am not part of a book club but have attended one that my sister hosted. She and some other teachers in her former school set one up and each take a turn hosting it at their homes. My sister invited me down last June for hers, though I think it was to help her make food and set up (LOL). Originally, they would all have to read the same book and still do in some cases, but mostly they pick their own. I like that idea better. Anyway, it was fun and everyone had read some interesting books. Unfortunately, none have ever read any JAFF, let alone Jane Austen!!!! Of course, I had to tell them how passionate I am about Jane and all the JAFF out there! They all nodded politely but I don’t think they truly understood my obsession! All in all it was a lovely evening. Not sure though if I could do that on a monthly basis.

    1. Carole,
      LOL about your sister wanting you to help set up for the book club! That’s really interesting about everyone in the group sharing the different books they’d read… I haven’t heard of another club that does is that way. I’ll bet that helps them all learn about a lot more authors than they might have otherwise, and I’m glad you were there representing the Austen lovers of the world! 😀

    • Deborah on September 24, 2015 at 7:03 am
    • Reply

    A book club sounds like so much fun. I have never actually been to one. One day, when I work fewer hours.

    1. Deborah,
      I think you’d really love the experience and I know that the other book club members would enjoy having someone like you (who’s kind, reads a lot, and knows about many different authors!) in it 🙂 .
      xo

  4. I tried to go to a book club years ago and it was not a great experience, because all the ladies knew each other for years and years and they did not make me feel welcome at all, especially when I disagreed with nearly every viewpoint they had. After a few months I quit going.

    Most of my book-clubbing is done online, and is very unofficial, but they do have them at my library here, so maybe I should try again. It would be good for expanding my reading horizons, as others mentioned, into different genres.

    Your book club sounds pretty perfect! I’d love to have been there.

    1. Monica,
      I would have loved to be able to bring you to it… Truly, this group would have *adored* you and would have welcomed your comments, no matter how similar or different. With a gathering of 12 – 15 people every time, the women in it are used to a range of opinions, and their ages span from mid-20s to early 60s, so they’ve had vastly different life experiences. I’m so sorry the book club you went to before was such a disappointment. They were missing out because I’ve read a lot of your comments about novels on blogs or on Twitter, and you bring a tremendous insight to stories 😉 . Hope you’ll try one again sometime. <3

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