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PSA: Our group tried picking books by vote versus a rotating host and it was a total game changer
For the first six months, our club in Boise just voted on a list of five books each time. It was fine, but we kept picking the same kind of safe, popular fiction. Then we switched to letting a different person host and pick the book each month. The host has to give a short pitch about why they chose it. The difference is huge. Last month, my friend Mike picked a graphic novel memoir, 'Maus', which I never would have voted for. We had the best talk ever about history and how stories are told. The rotating host makes us read stuff we'd never pick ourselves and the debates get way deeper because someone in the room is personally invested in the book. Has your club tried a system like this, or does the vote work better for you?
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parker_sullivan21d agoMost Upvoted
@gibson.elizabeth is right, that's a smart system. My old club did votes and we just picked the latest bestseller every time. It got boring. Letting people host forces variety. We read a weird sci-fi book about space ants because Dave was into it, and we ended up having a wild talk about work and society. You need that push sometimes.
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the_nina21d ago
But that "push" can backfire if someone picks a total dud, then you're all stuck with it. I actually agree with @gibson.elizabeth that voting keeps things fair.
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