Book clubs … they’re not just for overachievers anymore

About 12 years ago my friend Joe and I started a book club. We made it through two novels – The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein – before suffering a slow and agonizing death at the dirty paws of our third selection, The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams.

At first we blamed the club’s demise on our laissez-faire leadership … maybe our little club needed an iron fist to turn their pages and discussion topics that ran deeper than “So, what did you think about the cover art?”

Then we decided the breakup was a direct reaction to the crappy snacks we provided … Nilla wafers and Kool-Aid do not a productive discussion group make.

After a while we decided the blame should fall on that damned third book. It’s a notoriously difficult read, a near-impossible read if you can’t find a copy. Back in the day we weren’t privy to such delightful contraptions as the Kindle, and so were forced to dedicate the better part of a weekend to poking around second-hand shops for obscure titles. Even then it was an iffy endeavor because second-hand shops are typically filled with shiny objects that are, let’s face it, much more enticing than dusty paperbacks.

So here we are, 12 years later. Joe and I sometimes reminisce about that failed literary experiment. One or the other of us have thrown out a tentative “We should try again” before the other one unleashes a hairy eyeball that expresses, simply, “You have lost your mind.”

Well, maybe I have lost my marbles. Because last week I came across a little something that just might restore my faith in book clubs: The Spokane County Library’s District’s Book Bag.


Each sturdy tote contains 10 copies of the book (totes are tagged so you know which bag holds which book) and in most cases, one copy of the book on CD. Plus there are discussion questions (that do go beyond whether or not the cover is lame, I checked) and a helpful list of tips to help you get the most out of your reading circle (a “popular book club snacks” list is not included, I checked).

Now all you need to do is find 9 friends who are comfortable with not having an excuse to get out of book club.

• Can’t find the book? I happen to have one right here, just for you!
• What? You have a nasty eye infection that doesn’t allow you to read for the next four weeks? No problem, this CD will read the book to you!
• Not sure what to talk about at the meeting? Here’s a list of questions to keep in mind while you’re reading so you’ll be sure to come to the meeting with poignant insights that’ll Wow! everyone else.
• Afraid the book might be an unpopular choice and scare would-be clubbers away? Oh, no way … if anybody knows how to pick a winner, it’s the library. They bag up everything from classics like To Kill a Mockingbird to endearing newbies like The Art of Racing in the Rain . Sweet.

See … it’s almost too easy! And if you get real desperate, I’ll even suggest some snack ideas — might not be library-recommended, but I promise I’ve learned from my mistakes … Cheetos and Yoohoo! , anyone?

Visit any of the Spokane County libraries to check out your Book Club In A Bag. Or, browse and reserve available titles online, by performing a Catalog Power Search. I’ll walk you through.

• Once you get to the library’s home page , click on Catalog, toward the top of selections at the left of the page.
• Once you’re at the search window, click Power Search, which you’ll find in red at the bottom of the search box.
• Now you’ll see a page with a lot of pull-down selections. Don’t panic … toward the bottom of this search box you’ll see the word “location” … select “Adult Area” and then, on the line directly below this, titled “format” select “Book Bag for Various Collections.”
• Now click Search, located above the lines you’ve just manipulated, but below the top section of choices, which you ignored.
• Voila! There’s the list. (If the list doesn’t appear, slowly do each step, in order, one more time. If you still don’t see what you’re looking for, call the library and have the nice, patient person at the other end of the line walk you through it all over again.