I’m Starting a Library Book Club - What Could Go Wrong?
Hot Topics Or Go Home
I asked my local library— a small city with 10 branches— if I could volunteer some hours this summer.
Other people go to Paris— I want to work at the library, just like Mom.
The librarians suggested I might volunteer for two projects. One, they’ll have me pull online reader requests, which then get shipped to the patron’s home branch.
It will be fascinating to see what everyone in town is reading and curious about, eh?
Second, Would I like to lead a monthly book club?
Oh, yes I would. I want a readers’ room of books you can’t put down. Hot topics. The zeitgeist.
Naomi Kanakia wrote a great piece about the peril of the dreary book club. I don’t quite subscribe to her rules (we will have fiction!) but I respect her hard stops.
Could I make rules for my branch readers? Who wants to obey or rebel?
I’m the book club leader, therefore I get to pick all the books. See how easy that was? There will be variety, the spice of reading life.
No reciting the plot.
Any gossip, behind-the-scenes knowledge, conspiracy theories on titles — welcome.
I actually don’t care if you “read the whole thing,” but you better be ready to hold your own.
We can’t drink, imbibe, or spread crumbs at the library. Shame. We could continue later at the park down the street? Maybe “potluck picnics” after, when the weather is nice.
“What did you learn from this book?” —Absolutely NOT. This is not an after-school special. People who come to library afternoon book clubs are grown-ups.
I will start reading aloud a passage from the book at the stroke of the hour. Then we’ll segue to saying hello and I’ll throw out an opening question to consider. It’ll be a good one.
“Hot Topic” Book Club Ideas I’m Kicking Around
I want variety. I want lively times. The book has to be a pageturner and impossible to have only one opinion about! I’d welcome your suggestions, too.
FICTION/FANTASY, & MEMOIR
Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke
Strangers - Belle Burden
Both Yesteryear and Strangers are the tear-away bestsellers of the year thus far. And the debate is fierce. Why do New Yorkers get to have all the fun? We shall set our hair on fire in Santa Cruz.
ROMANCE/EROS
“M/M Fiction” - The Rachel Reid Explosion and Long Tail of Getting Pucked
Can I say “pucked” on a library flyer?
S/F
11-22-63 - Stephen King
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
(Did you know F-451 is back on EVERY bestseller list right now?)
HEALTH
Into the Wood Chipper - A Whistleblower’s account of how the Trump admin shredded USAID - Nicolas Enrich
This is also known at “The Ebola Book.” We can consider this as either Health/Politics, or Horror genre. Either way.
FOOD
“Le Cookbook Special” - In the fall, before the holidays, I want to chow down on all the most cherished, “I don’t want to return this” cookbooks we borrowed this year— what we’re making, harvesting, drinking. I’ll find out, and reveal, what are the most “checked-out” foodie books in the system.
BIOGRAPHY
Emerson Circle: The Concord Radicals Who Reinvented the World - Bruce Nichols
I feel a bit guilty to not choose a West Coast version of this notion, (what would you suggest?) but the fact is I am fascinated by the Massachusetts bohemians who so profoundly created an American philosophy and way of life. Yes, a bestseller right now.
Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Brian Evenson
This title will be my exception to the “everyone’s talking about it” rule — I doubt anyone in Santa Cruz besides my family has read (or better yet, listened) to Evenson’s memoir/biography of Carver, but they OUGHT TO. Whew. I want to change a few lives. Here’s my previous review.
COMIX
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
Marjane’s recent and somewhat mysterious death has everyone in tears, and her title has jumped back to the bestseller lists. The fact that it’s set in Iran reveals even more today than the day it was composed.
POLITICS
Regime Change - Maggie Haberman
Hoo boy, this will be fun. A great “hate-read” if there ever was one, an author many despise, but it’s great to read it at the library and then begin the ruckus!
PSYCHOLOGY
The Third Reich of Dreams: the Nightmares of a Nation - Charlotte Beradt, editor.1
Few will have heard of this buried German classic — it is literally a record of dreams Germans were having during the rise and unfolding of the 3rd Reich. Yes, let your mind explode. I thought for this session, I’d ask everyone to bring in a dream they’ve had lately which included scenes/characters from contemporary world/American politics. And then maybe we’ll act them out, Jungian style!
OKAY, LET’S DO 2 CLUBS! - In Town —and On Zoom
The club at my local library branch is for everyone — free, in person, registration through the library. Come sit by Mike’s fireplace. There’s a 10 person limit; it’s a small room
The other monthly book club will lives HERE, for paid subscribers.
Every month I’ll pick the book and set the date.
I’ll record a video chat (yes, you can attend, live).
I’ll read aloud a juicy passage from our title, and get the conversation going with my questions, as all the publishing gossip, conspiracy theories, the behind-the-scenes, any “fuck-marry-kill. that might be involved.
No plot summaries. No “how did you improve yourself.” Adult intellectuals only!
If you want a seat in the room, get an annual paid subscription to my newsletter. We’ll start Sunday July 19, 2026 — at 5pm PST. I’ll plan for the third Sunday of each month for the rest of the year. I’ll archive the videos so you can always re-watch or catch up.
When you sign up, please click on annual membership, (where you pay a year in advance), or you may upgrade to “Seminars” if you wish. (a bit more, for those who are taking my publishing classes as well)
My most outrageous book group night
One day, a local readers club of policewomen, sheriffs, and other first responders — all gals — said they wanted me to come talk to them about Santa Cruz Noir. They also commanded, yes, commanded, that my partner Jon appear, who had a story in the pages about a Westside Surfer who went over the edge.
Well, when we arrived, the women surrounded Jon and demanded to know who his fictional n’er do well antihero was!
“I arrested that bastard!” “I married him!” “Is he in jail for good?” “I oughta nail his dick to the wall.”
Jon tried to explain it was a composite character — SURE JAN — but they wouldn’t stop hounding him.
He took it as a real compliment that he got the meth, violence, and toxic blow-out atmosphere nailed. We all know a guy like that around here, and when we’re not laughing about it, it’s a heartbreaker.
To edit a book of murder stories, where the cops and the medics are often part of the scene, and have every detail click, that was work well put in.
Okay, now I wanna hear what you’re reading!
In Case You Missed It
Brian Evenson: What We Talk About When We Talk About Raymond Carver
When I was producing audiobooks in the early 00s, when audio went digital and fever was in the air, every so often I got to produce the entire catalog of a beloved and prolific author.
I rec’d a letter this morning I’d like to share with you:
“ Hi Susie,
“If you don’t already know her, you might be interested in Martha Crawford. She has a blog called What a Shrink Thinks and facilitates discussion groups about a variety of topics hanging out in the subconscious. I did one about dreams. She had us read “The Third Reich of Dreams.”
“She also did a project called The 45 Dreams Project, collecting and analyzing the dreams people were having about the 45th and now 47th president. It was based on “The Third Reich of Dreams,” and she has a lot of interesting thoughts about what is different about our Trump dreams (I had one where he was marrying my mother!) and those smuggled out of Germany. It’s a hopeful thesis.
“https://45dreamsproject.com/
“All my best, R.”
What absolute fun! I bet the Strangers discussions will be fascinating.
I have had one book club that ran for maybe a year—I thought that was a success, as it was on zoom; we were all over the country. (One member tuned in from Germany a couple of times!) It was a Cure bookclub, which happened after I noted on fb how many Cure songs were inspired by (or in some cases, lifted from) various novels and poems. We started by reading the novel Charlotte Sometimes, which inspired their song with that title. We read Lol Tolhurst’s book on goth (it was surprisingly good), a couple of books about the history of college radio and alternative music, and Viv Albertine’s memoir. Eventually, I got tired of trying to make people’s schedules work and facilitating. However, it was really fun while it lasted.