Book clubs still a novel pursuit for readers

Paul Ingram, the book buyer at Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City, picks the books for Paul's Book Club.

“My club, my books,” he says with a smile.

Business consultant Ron Moore of Cedar Rapids and the other men in his Awakenings book club suggest titles, “argue and advocate,” and then vote on what they'll read.

The members of the Book Lovers Club, who have been meeting at the Cedar Rapids Public Library for almost three years, check what titles are available at the library and then vote on what to read.

Those are just three of the burgeoning number of book clubs in the Corridor, as varied in topic and scope as people's interests and passions.

It's estimated at least 5 million Americans are in book clubs, without counting those who find their niche in an online book club.

“Literary ladies” began book clubs in the United States in the 1860s. By the 1920s, book clubs had become “aspirational” - an alternative for people interested in learning but who didn't have access to higher education, according to a Slate article by Nathan Heller.

Today, he writes, book clubs have evolved into mini-communities, “our bid to stay on the same page across the blur of modern life.”

That impulse propelled Moore of Cedar Rapids and a friend to start the Awakenings book group in 2004. The group meets once a month for 90 minutes, before work, to informally discuss a book chosen by the group, which runs between nine and 12 members.

“We vote on the titles, which is probably the reason the interest has been retained,” Moore says. The members also “enjoy each other because each member is a personal friend of at least one other member.”

Two-thirds of the picks are non-fiction, Moore says, with at least half of those concerning current issues.

Ingram says he picks books - always novels - “that have literary merit, ones that people probably haven't read” for his Paul's Book Club.

A recent selection included Sebastian Barry's “The Secret Scripture,” “Rich in Love” by Josephine Humphreys and “Observatory Mansions” by Edward Carey.

The discussion of Barry's book ranged from the nature of memory and grief to the impact of growing up in “terrible times” and the “secret history” in the plot.

The novel, Ingram said, “doesn't make harsh judgments. It's not really about forgiveness but the understanding of life.”

“The beauty of the language” in Barry's book appealed to Marcia Wegman, an Iowa City artist, who said she particularly enjoys the mix of ages and of men and women she finds in Paul's Book Club, now in its third year.

The History Book Club is a new group formed by Denise Roberts of the Marion Public Library and Kathy Wilson, historian and director of the Granger House in Marion.

The club just finished a two-meeting discussion of “Team of Rivals,” a history book that reads like a novel, as author Doris Kearns Goodwin examines the life and character of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was “like steel,” Pringle Smith of Marion said, adding she was struck by the description of the 16th president as “a humanitarian as wide as the world.”

On the lighter side, the Book Lovers Club that meets at the Cedar Rapids Public Library is now reading “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Synona Culbertson started the club, with the help of library staffers, almost three years ago. She was new to Cedar Rapids, and the club, she says, has proved a great way to meet people and to read a variety of fiction and non-fiction.

“We didn't want to just read classics or mysteries,” she says.

As in most book clubs, communication with club members is by email. Culbertson also created a Facebook page (Cedar Rapids Area Book Lovers Club) where she posts a synopsis of each month's book.

Karl Cassell, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission and another fan of non-fiction, saw a book club as a way to encourage discussion of issues.

The Civil Rights Book Club meets at noon every Friday at the commission's ninth-floor office in the former APAC building, 425 Second St. SE. People are encouraged to bring their lunches with them.

The group discusses one chapter a week until done with a book. The club started with “The New Jim Crow.” Then came “The Rich and the Rest of Us.” And that led to “Deep Economy,” a book about creating sustainable communities.

The result, Cassell says: “Excellent conversations.”

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How to start a book club

--- Do you want a club that's highly social or seriously academic or somewhere in between?

--- Decide on a theme - fiction, non-fiction, best-sellers, mysteries, classics or a mix.

--- Eight to 16 members work best - enough for a discussion but not unwieldy. Start by inviting three friends with similar tastes in books; ask them to invite one to three others who have a shared interest in the type of books you'll be reading.

--- Once a month works best for most. Many clubs don't meet during the summer.

--- Meet anywhere - homes, libraries, churches, restaurants, clubhouses or public places.

--- Whether to have food and drinks is up to the members.

--- Other tips: Send out meeting reminders - emails or postcards or use a telephone tree. Keep a list of member phone numbers and email addresses. Consider keeping a journal of books read, perhaps with discussion highlights.

Source: LitLovers.com

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Book clubs in the Corridor

• Here is a sampling of some of the book clubs open to the public in the Corridor:
• Book Lovers Club, 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month at the Ladd Library (the new west-side Cedar Rapids Public Library).
• Civil Rights Book Club, noon every Friday, Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission office.
• Coffee and Crime Book Group, 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month, Barnes & Noble Bookseller, Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville.
• Coffeehouse Fiction, 4 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month, Witte's End Coffeehouse, Marion.
• History Book Club, 3:30 p.m. the second Thursday of the month, at either the Marion Heritage Center or the Granger House, Marion.
• It's a Mystery Book Club, 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of the month, Coralville Public Library.
• Paul's Book Club, 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month, at either Prairie Lights, Iowa City, or the Iowa City Public Library.
• Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club, 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, Barnes & Noble Bookseller, Cedar Rapids.
• Women Studies Reading Group, 7 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, Barnes & Noble Bookseller, Cedar Rapids.