Book Club Blues—best friends

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.

1. 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.
2. Appeal to her sense of fairness if she’s unwilling to compromise—remind her (nicely, right?) that she’s in the minority.
3. 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!