Johnstonians join book clubs to hear other perspectives — and find community.
“I have this quote, ‘No two people read the same book,’ ” said Mary Lou Parker, 87, of Four Oaks.
A reader’s take on a book comes from what they know, Parker said. “Our reading is influenced by our heritage, what we’ve experienced, and what we are now doing,” she said.
Parker enjoys hearing the perspectives of fellow members of the Adult Fiction Book Club at the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield. “We all love to read, and that is what ties us together,” she said. “It’s so interesting to see the perspective of other people who read the same book.”
Rebecca Bennett, 29, of Smithfield, a member of the library’s Bookaholics Book Club, is on the same page as Parker. “This is a place to talk about the books that I read instead of just sitting there reading and spiraling my own thoughts on it,” she said.
Bennett encourages readers to check out book clubs, even if they don’t read that month’s book selection. “If you’re interested in joining, you could just come and get the vibes of the club,” she said. “Somebody will probably know what book we’re reading. … Read it if you have time, and if not, just come for the vibes and see what the experience is like.”
The Princeton Public Library Book Club has allowed Kristy Gardner, 49, of Princeton to meet new people. “I don’t really hang out with folks outside of Princeton Baptist,” she said of her church. “I think the library book club is fun because you get to see people that you don’t normally interact with on a day-to-day basis.”
In the interest of full disclosure, Gardner’s first experience with the club did not go so well. “The first book was horrible,” she said. “I didn’t think I was gonna make it through it, and I thought, ‘What have I done?’ ”
The first book was not what she typically reads, Gardner explained. “I’ve always read like light reads, and so that one was really in-depth and real deep-thinking,” she said. “I persevered, and since then, the books have been much easier to read.”
The Princeton group’s latest read, “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus, was not new member Ashley Boyette’s standard reading choice. “I would have never read that book if I just saw that cover,” said Boyette, 32, of Princeton. “But I trusted their judgment and read it, and it was good and entertaining.”
The club helped her to see different perspectives, Boyette said. “I never looked at it from some of the ways that people were honing in on,” she said. “They wanted it to be a religious book, but it wasn’t, or they thought that they didn’t like the feminist approach in that era. I didn’t think about any of that when I was reading it.”
Most book clubs have a certain genre they read.
“We’re mostly a fiction group, but we are open to other things,” said Hope Dougherty, leader of the Princeton Book Club. “I will come up with a list of books,” she said. “I like when people can offer their own suggestions because it broadens the scope of the book club.”
Dougherty leads the discussion with questions. “I try to prepare with questions in the back of the book or ones I’ve researched online, and sometimes with my own questions,” she said.
“I don’t want it to be like a class,” Dougherty added, explaining that the questions are simply to jump-start discussion. “It’s just about reading and your impressions.”
At the Smithfield library, the Adult Fiction Book Club gives out prepared discussion packets, said Katie Guthrie, manager of the club.“The librarian will prepare a book discussion guide that includes the book’s title, the author, about the author section, and the summary of the book, as well as a list … of discussion questions,” she said.
The attendance can range for every meeting, Guthrie said. “We typically have a lot of our regulars in attendance,” she said.
In the beginning, many of the club’s members were older, Guthrie said. “And now we’re seeing new members join that are still in college or that are young adults that are out of college,” she said.
The age range allows for different perspectives, Guthrie said. “It is fun to see the generations kind of pick each other’s brains about what they thought and why they thought that,” she said.
A lot of people are searching for community, said Hannah Brennan, manager of the Bookaholics Book Club. “When we first started it, we had a huge group of people show up; like it was way beyond what we expected,” she said. “They were like, ‘Man, we’ve been waiting for something like this in the community.’ ”
“I think we had 20 to 25 people at our first meeting,” Brennan said. “We were hoping for, like, maybe 10 people.”
Many people are looking for a place to get involved, said Lauren Daughtry, manager of Bookaholics Book Club. “They want a sense of belonging and community, which also, I think, is what draws people to our book club,” she said. “ I think it’s just part of being a bit of an open space. We have people from different backgrounds in our group. … It’s a 100% judgment-free zone.”
