Do best friends and book clubs mix? What happens if you and your best friend can never seem to agree on the types of books your want to read.
Here’s a good question from the mailbag:
My best friend and I started a book club together. But it turns out that she just wants to read light romances. The rest of us like variety—bios, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy—and novels a little more challenging. Any suggestions?
There are a number of ways you can go about this, depending on everyone’s willingness…or not…to compromise.
- Rotate monthly so each person gets to select a book. That way your friend gets to choose a romance once, say, every 6 or 8 months.
- Appeal to her sense of fairness if she’s unwilling to compromise—remind her (nicely, right?) that she’s in the minority.
- Offer to help her start another club if all else fails, a club based on romantic fiction. You can even come up with a clever name…like Kiss & Tell Book Club...or Love'm or Leave'm Book Club.
The best solution is to avoid the issue from the get-go. If you’re going to start a book club, first determine the kind of books you like to read. Then find like-minded readers. (Oh, sure…now I tell you.) It turns out that like-minded readers aren’t necessarily best friends. Love to read your thoughts!