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Remember when book clubs actually finished a book in time?
I used to be in a book club that met every month but nobody ever read the whole thing. We spent half the time apologizing and the other half guessing plot points. Then I suggested we try the "two chapters a week" approach instead of the whole book at once. We set up a group chat where we posted short thoughts after each chunk. It worked way better and we actually finished 8 books in 6 months. Has anyone else found a system that keeps people reading instead of making excuses?
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paulc9310d ago
Twenty bucks says your group chat devolved into people posting memes and "I'll catch up this weekend" texts by month two. I've seen this play out a dozen times. The problem isn't the book's length, it's that people sign up for book clubs to feel smart and sociable, not to actually read. Lowering the bar to two chapters a week just means they RSVP "maybe" and then binge Wikipedia summaries before the chat check-in. My old group tried the same approach with "Half a chapter a day" and we ended up with three people reading ahead and six people ghosting the chat entirely. The system that worked best for us was meeting every six weeks and making everyone pay a $20 fine if they showed up without finishing. We read 12 books in a year.
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faith_schmidt9d agoMost Upvoted
Man, that's basically every group thing people start with good intentions, isn't it? It's the same with gym memberships or meal prep plans, everyone's hyped for a week then life happens. People just hate being held accountable unless there's real money on the line, it's wild.
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