Just joking. But I do have that song stuck in my head now.
I think I’ll be talking about book clubs but before I do…..
Updates: So I’ve never done like a book haul before, just post pictures when we go charity shopping, but I may actually be able to do one for March! I just preordered the paperback of Cindy Pon’s Want for my YARC challenge (the library didn’t have it and the Kindle version was more expensive by enough that it made a difference and I bought the paperback, so I’ll be twiddling my thumbs for that, and A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia Cole…not to mention….Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller! (Comes out March 1 for us U.K. peeps!)
So there we have it, three new books when the newest book I bought was the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay, used, this past summer.
As far as reviews go, I’ll probably not post any reviews for my Agatha Christie reads on here, I might on GoodReads if I feel it’ll add something but it just feels like an unnecessary cluttering of the blog if I do it here!
I’ve finally started Dead Man’s Blues last night which is a large read, got through part one and there are 8, so, it’ll probably take me a few days as I’m trading off between that, an ARC, and my huge nonfiction slow burn read, The Romanovs. This weekend I plan to finish and review the ARC by Sunday, hopefully finish Dead Man’s Blues by Monday/Tuesday, and then really knuckle down on my February TBR that I’ve been ignoring to push down my NetGalley list (I am not allowed to browse on there until I’ve finished what I’ve picked up already). However, I feel I may not get to Becoming Michelle Obama, until late March, I was 90 on the hold list when I signed up (or 89…one of those two) and uh I’m 79 now, so progress, but, it’ll be a minute! Also on hold for two others but I’m in the single digits on those so I’m not too worried. : End Updates
Alright, now that I’ve got my mindless rambling out of the way, let’s talk, Book Clubs! I’m in one right now as well as in some reading groups on GoodReads (if you’re on there, feel free to snoop, I’m in 4, but active in 3 as I can’t get to the books they have in the last one, but the moment I can get one I’ll leap in!
Are you all in book clubs, and are they online or physical ones? I was the secretary of the High School Book Club and though I did enjoy it I found that most of their reads were not something I found interesting, I will admit though that at least two books had a really big impact on me. One neat thing about that club was that the school funded it entirely so we didn’t have to pay for the books. The others books I was able to give away to friends and so it was no harm no foul, but now as an adult, if I can’t get it at the library that means having to buy it. If it’s old or commonplace I can snag it cheap but if it’s not, well I’m like Scrooge and I cry over my pennies as they pry them from my hands at the counter. Such as, I spent 8 dollars (my kindle is still connected to my American Amazon and American bank card) on Stalking Jack the Ripper, and as someone who wasn’t very fond of that, I glare at it daily on my carousel on my KFire, in fact, I keep it in my carousel for that very reason, to glare at it.
I love that book clubs get me into genres I might not normally dive into, honestly, I do, but I also hate when we read ab ook that I know is going to be one everyone loves and I’m in the corner like this:
I also sometimes get very busy with other reads and forget and then I’m rushing to read and in a state of panic….like this:
I think for me I better enjoy doing a book club with people I know, or one that perhaps focuses on certain novels. Like I love my Agatha Christie GR group, but, because I know I’ll enjoy every book, not to mention, I don’t have to sit there with them in person. I am friends with the person who leads the FB one with the regrettable kindle purchase, and it’s nice to be in a book club with people I know in real life but via online. The only problem with this one is that it’s a free for all, people just recommend a read for the month and it’s randomly chosen, which is not the problem…The problem is that I can see myself being uncomfortable if I really don’t like the read and it was recommended by someone I like and know.
“Let’s read my favorite book, guys!”
“OKAY!”
Oh crap, I hate their favorite book.
“So what did you think of the book that changed my life?!”
I really don’t like feeling very guilty and I hate telling people I hate something they love. I mean I’m mean…but I don’t go soul-crushing for no reason!
So I can prep myself, has this happened to any of you all, book club situation or not? Did you just say ‘it just wasn’t for me’ or were you like ‘UNLEASH THE KRAKEN!’
Are you all proud of me? I finally had the energy to use gifs, can you tell???
In the end, my verdict on book clubs? I love them but I am an ugly ball of anxiety and lies in them.
The Caffeinated Reader 
13 replies on “It’s Friday, Friday, Gotta Get-”
I’m apart of a book club too and I rarely go to it because they read mostly books I know I’m not going to be into. So I don’t go. But when it is a book I’m interested in, everyone else thinks it’s just ok. So it’s half and half experience for me.
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At least you pop in for books you’ll like, sometimes I can’t even be bothered to that, and it’s always the worst when no one else loves a book as much as you in that type of setting lol like just all alone soaking up the awesomeness from the cool book
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dangit Haley I hate that song but it’s so. freaking. catchy. thanks for getting it stuck in my head too 😒
I’ve been looking forward to reading Want! weird that the Kindle version was more expensive, I definitely haven’t seen that happen much. and I totally relate to feeling like (certain) reviews clutter up the blog because there are so many of them haha.
I was actually a founding member of a reading/writing club in high school, which unfortunately ended up fizzling out within about a year and a half, because a) by high school a lot of kids shift to focusing exclusively on clubs/classes/activities that directly relate to their (or their parents’) desired future major, and b) there are so many clubs at my high school that most of their member lists are made up of friend groups, like ours was. we never ended up reading anything as a group, oops.
but I’m technically in a book club at my college; I don’t go to most of the meetings (we do “Fireside Fridays” where everyone just sits and reads for two hours, and about twice a semester we have discussion meetings for the club reads – but the club reads are often relatively popular books that I’ve already read: last year they picked Ari & Dante). we also keep a mini-library, so that’s a great way to get my hands on print books that I haven’t read yet!
and omg yes, as someone with reader best friends I relate to the struggle of not liking books they liked. I have one friend who still hasn’t read Harry Potter so she misses out on a lot of references (though she’s seen the movies so that helps; she does read other books so we don’t hold it against her 😜); luckily, the other friend and I have really similar tastes! so we got to freak out over TRC and AFTG together, and that was fun 😂
finally, “I love them but I am an ugly ball of anxiety and lies in them” is basically me about everything: book clubs, social media, even class discussions. what a mood.
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Look if it was stuck in my head it might as well be stuck in yours too lolol. High School is so hard to juggle with extracurriculars, parents have no idea lol. But at least you got out there and tried!
Also, your college one sounds pretty cool, like, very relaxed setting and awesome Fireside Friday deal I wanna do that at home haha.
Look if she watches the movies we shall not lynch her lol jk jk, it’s awesome that you rother friend has similar tastes! I’m alone lol I have one friend who reads everything but she’s supercritical which is insightful but when she takes a book you love and peels it back you’re like ‘oh god, you’re right…it’s trash, but it’s MY TRASH!’
I feel like a lot of us are swimming in that mood lol I’m glad I’m not alone!
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honestly at this point what are guilty pleasure reads. everything is problematic and/or trashy. I love what I love, and while I will acknowledge the ways it might be harmful, I’m just going to keep reading it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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This is the healthiest approach I have seen to this 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 you nailed a huge point, I clap 👏🏻👏🏻
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I like to go more in the neutral way of « this just wasnt for me; because X and Y and Z ». No need to be rude toward anyone who may like it or whatever.. specially when i know most of the time it’s on me 😂 (unless it’s problematic. Then I may do an exception.)
As i’m a mood reader and still paddling to get my full reading capacity I feel ive lost over my fight with mental illnesses… book clubs makes me nervous, and I fear them.
1) .. what if I dont feel like/cant keep with the book chosen? What if I wanna dnf it? If im reading something else? And then getting in the process of getting your hands on a copy in some way if you dont own it already..
2) there’ll be some kind of deadlines, usually… yeah im not good on that xD i can finish 2-3books a month, but sometimes? Hell it takes me a crazy time to finish ONE book (may it be because of migraines/inability to read or just because the english it’s written in is confusing to me and I need to read it slower.)
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I’m horrible with deadlines, as someone who procrastinates, I like to live life on the edge lol
But I do feel the best part about not being in a book club is you get to choose what you read and what pace you read it at!
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Yes! Also yeh.. so many times have I played sims instead of doing blog duties ahaha oops.
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I’ve never really been part of a book club, I want to find one with older books so I can get them from the library then I won’t feel bad if I don’t like them.
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Exactly, I’d rather be able to return it if I don’t like it instead of being stuck with a book that even when I donate I would have wasted money on in the first place lol
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I just want to say that now Friday is stuck in my head and I have you to blame for it.
I love the idea of book clubs but have never really joined one before. The pressure of not being interested in the book or hating it and then discussing it with people… sounds tiresome to me. I do, however, really love buddy reads and chatting along the way. And then discussing in my book review. I am a book club of one!
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Buahaha my evil plan has succeeded, and I totally agree it is nice to have someone to chat with along the way, but I think at the end I’m mostly just as you’ve put it, ‘a book club of one.’
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