I finally saw why our book club debates changed direction

Our book club has met every month for five years. We used to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Lately, every book we choose seems to be about current social issues. I saw this change when more people from online groups joined. Our debates now center less on story and more on how books relate to real life. This matches a trend I see in other clubs too. Some members want to go back to classic books, but I like that we discuss important things. It makes me think book clubs are changing with the times.

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

parker_sullivan7mo ago

Have you noticed how many classic books were also secretly about the big social issues of their own time? The change might not be what we talk about, but how directly we're willing to name it. We used to talk about the themes in "To Kill a Mockingbird" without always saying "systemic racism" out loud. Now we just use the plain words for it.

8

max1357mo ago

Actually my friend's book club had that exact shift last year.

0

parker_sullivan7mo ago

Consider how we used to tiptoe around the big ideas in books. Now it's like a therapy session mixed with a political debate. I half expect someone to bring a flowchart to next month's meeting on Pride and Prejudice and class inequality. Subtlety packed its bags and left the building.

4