I finally switched from picking books by vote to having a rotating host, and our club is actually reading again.

For six months, we used a simple majority vote on a list of five books. Attendance dropped from 12 people to maybe 5 because the picks were always safe, popular bestsellers that half of us had already read. Last month, we switched to a rule where a different member picks the book each month, no group vote. The first pick was 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke, a book I never would have voted for. We had our first full attendance in months and the debate was wild, with people actually defending their interpretations. Has anyone else found that giving up total democracy saved their club?

3 comments

3 Comments

corap211mo ago

Totally get that. Our club did the same thing after a year of boring picks. Letting one person choose each month brought in way more weird and interesting books. It feels less like homework and more like a real discussion now.

jamie8041mo ago

Oh man, same thing happened with us! We got stuck in a rut of just picking the big book of the moment that nobody really hated, but nobody loved either. Switching to a single person's choice each month forced us out of our comfort zone and actually made people show up ready to argue, it was way better.

dixon.james1mo ago

Funny how letting one person be in charge works better than trying to please everyone.