Sound Off Sunday - Book Clubs

Sound Off Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Reading Between Classes.  This is your chance to speak your mind.  Each week will feature a new question or topic on which you can share your thoughts.

This week's Sound Off topic is: Book Clubs

How many people have been involved, at one time or another, in a book club? And, how many people have watched the book club devolve into drinking and debauchery (well, maybe not quite to debauchery but at least drinking)?  Book clubs have become the chief dasher of hopes in my life.

I was part of an adult book club a few years ago.  It was the one evening that I escaped the drudgery of motherhood and wifehood and had an evening to myself.  We met every 6 weeks or so and whoever was the host got the honor of choosing the book for that meeting.  The group featured a group of women with varying tastes in genre and writing style, so we got to read pretty different books each weeks.  This went well for about 6 months.  Then things fell apart.  More and more people showed up having not read the book or, worse, did not show up at all.  Eventually, members starting leaving citing that they didn't have time to read.  SERIOUSLY?  You don't have time to read one book in 6 weeks???  If you joined a book club, you must have had some interest in actually reading, and yet, your life is filled with so many other things that you cannot even attempt to read one book in 6 weeks?  

Since it fell apart, I have missed the companionship that the book club provided.  I have attempted to find other book clubs in the area or to find like minded individuals in order to start one of my own, but none have arisen.  Last week, I discovered that a local bookstore which is a favorite of mine, is starting a book club.  I spread the word to my friends - no takers, I shared the link - barely a whisper.  I went to the first meet and greet in which we had planned to choose a book and lo and behold, found myself and one other person.  I was so disappointed.

I realize that reading is a solitary endeavor, but I seriously wish that I could find a way to find those like minded individuals.  The ones that read more than a handful of books a year.  The ones that live their online lives on Goodreads and their favorite book blogs.  The ones that will talk peruse a bookstore for hours and talk about their favorite authors (because the favorite books list is just far too long) ad nauseum.  I know there have got to be other YA readers out there because you are clearing second hand bookstore shelves before I can get to them so where are you?  Why am I the only one who feels passionate enough about my reading that I am willing to pull my behind off the couch once every few weeks in order to talk to real life people about it?