I usually just look at video reviews and analyses. I never get to talk about books I read or am reading with someone else in person. I can sometimes briefly talk about them on some subreddits but I’m interested to know peoples’ experiences with buddy reading and talking about books in-depth together. Do you alter the book genre(s) from what you would typically read when reading the same book with someone else? How do you decide on books to read? Do you discuss the books during, after, or just enjoy the shared experience and move on to the next book?
by _SemperCuriosus_
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Mostly at book club, occasionally with a coworker.
I’m in a book club with some friends. We try to switch up the genres, but we’ve also noticed we get a smaller turnout if we read anything other than Thriller or Fantasy. I have definitely read books I never would have chosen myself through this club and I’m grateful for that even if I don’t usually like those books.
We meet up with the assumption everyone has read the book, but people are still welcome if they aren’t all the way through it. You’re just not allowed to complain about spoilers if you’re making that choice. Our conversations about the books really differ each month.
My girlfriend and I just read “Killing Commendatore” together earlier this year and had an absolute blast.
We chose it because I’d recommended Murakami’s “The Colorless Life of Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” to her last year and she’d loved it, then my brother recommended KC. We decided to check in after a certain number of chapters, I think five, so we could each read at our own pace. Then when we’d both read to the stopping point, we’d talk all about what we’d read. I found that in doing this, I looked forward to the conversations, and paid especially close attention because I was preparing to have a conversation about it, rather than just taking it in for myself. It heightened my experience of the book before the conversation, and then her thoughts and perspective on what we’d read populated my experience of the book further. It was an excellent book in the first place, and I think I appreciated how good it was far more than I might have reading it on my own.
After that we read “Eastbound” by Maylis de Kerangal on a Saturday together because it was short and recommended on a lot of Best of 2023 lists. We didn’t enjoy it as much for a lot of reasons, but still, I think, had a deeper experience of it because we were investing in it together.
Now we’re about 600 pages into Les Mis, checking in about every 150 pages, and that’s the best experience yet. Have a great time with whatever you choose with your partner!
I’m known as “the book person” among the other parents at my kid’s school. I frequently loan books to them, and we’ll grab a coffee and chat. It’s informal, and we don’t read it at the same time since it’s usually me finishing a book and passing it along.