Hard to believe, but an entire year has passed since my retirement from my (literally) life-long career with the Henry County Libraries. At first lots of people asked me how I’d fill my time. That definitely has not been a problem; the best thing about retirement is being free to make choices, and one of those choices for me is reading at least three times more than my earlier schedule would allow. But if you’re an enthusiastic reader like me, you know that the pleasures of reading solo grow exponentially when you can discuss and recommend what you’ve read to other like-minded people.

  I used to tell people that there were three types of feedback I absolutely loved to hear on the job: “You helped me with my resume, and I got the job I wanted;”  or “You explained how to do research on the Galileo database, and I got an A on my paper;”  and – my absolute favorite – “After I ran out of people to read, you recommended this author and I love him/her and I’m going to read everything they’ve written.” So you can imagine my reaction when Mickie (Henry County Times Publisher) brought up the idea of a book-related column. Her one restriction: that I curb my shall-we-say colorful vocabulary (the use of which I attribute to being part of the baby-boomer generation). Well, I can adapt. The important thing is, I get to talk about books and what they do for us.

  So, where to start? Let’s say you’re an enthusiastic reader. It fills your psyche in some way you can’t really explain, or it takes you away from the mundane, or it makes you feel more connected to this experience we call being human. If you’re really lucky you have friends that you can share all of this with. And if you’re really, really lucky you’re part of a book discussion group where everyone bounces observations and opinions off each other.  

  I can’t say enough good things about reading groups. The most obvious plus is the variety of books you’re exposed to. We tend to fall into reading ruts; I’d probably read only British murder mysteries if left on my own. But some of my favorite authors have been suggested to me by members of my group, and some books I’d never normally pick up (including most non-fiction) I’ve enjoyed tremendously. My point here is to strongly encourage you to find yourself a book club, and, failing that, start a book club of your own. There’s really nothing formal or intimidating about the process. Just start talking to another couple of people about the idea, plan a once-a-month meeting, and let things find their own rhythm from there. Perhaps your first meeting will be one in which each person just tells what they’re presently reading and gives its high points. Then one book is chosen for the next meeting. In my group of seven we take turns choosing a book. In January we set up who is in charge of each month. That person is also in charge of the food for that meeting. Since seven people are bound to have seven peculiar tastes in reading material, the variety takes care of itself.

  Keep everything informal and loosey-goosey. I recommend limiting the size of the group to less than ten. That way you still have enough people for a good discussion if some are missing, but you don’t have so many that everyone talks over each other. And everyone must feel free to express any opinion. Just because someone didn’t particularly care for another member’s choice doesn’t mean it was a poor choice, only that we’re all individuals. Our club has evolved over the years to an all-female group, because we’ve found that there are some topics we can discuss more freely this way. But there are plenty of successful groups consisting of both sexes.   So I suppose my main point here is that a lot of rigid details don’t really matter. It’s more important to just enjoy yourself. And how great it is finally being in a group of people who “get” you. Such a fun and enriching experience. Really, you should try it!