My book club tried a 'silent read' first and it totally changed our discussion

Last month our group of 8 people was stuck in a rut where nobody really showed up having finished the book. So I proposed we start meetings with 20 minutes of silent reading from the chapter we all agreed on, then talk. It worked way better than I expected, even the two folks who always show up unprepared had something to say. Has anyone else tried mixing a quiet reading block into their book club meetings?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin83613d ago

Feels like doing homework before the actual discussion.

robin_foster113d ago

Ngl the homework comparison is funny but here's the thing nobody's talking about. When you show up having read the whole book, you spent that time alone and forgot half the small details. That 20 minute block forces everyone to look at the same 2-3 paragraphs together, so you're all picking up on the same weird sentences or character moments at the exact same time. Like last week we all read this awkward scene where the mom brings groceries, and five of us laughed at the same line about the expired yogurt but then three of us missed the crying baby in the next paragraph because we were still snickering. That kind of shared timing just doesn't happen with pre-reading.