Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Armchair BEA: Networking...In Real Life?!

Design credit: Emily of Emily's Reading Room
 
 Today's topic for Armchair BEA is:


Networking...In Real Life?!


We are supposed to share a positive "real life" experience and even though, I don't have any partnerships with local bookstores - we don't really have any - and haven't met any fellow book bloggers in person yet, I still felt like contributing to this topic.


My positive bookish experience is joining a book club at my local library. Having a little man I don't get to spend too much time solely around adults, so when I first heard there was a book club in the making, I had to sign up for it right away. There are no age restrictions which has positive as well as negative sides. We range from about 22 (I think) to 65 years in age and everybody's tastes are very different. Right now, it seems I am the only one who is into all things paranormal - whether YA or non-YA - while the majority of the others prefer non-fiction books. When I first saw the list of books planned for the first year, I was a little bit intimated since I hadn't heard of any of the books, apart from one. I have to say though, out of the first four books we have read, I thoroughly enjoyed three. They were books I probably would have never picked on my own and it's not because their subjects aren't interesting, but simply because they wouldn't have been on my radar with what I am usually reading.


So joining the book club has been very rewarding on many levels already. I get to discover new books from all kinds of genres, and I also get to interact with like-minded book lovers. Our last read was Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist (see my review here) and I was so surprised how far apart opinions were. One person outright hated it while I was on the other side of the spectrum and absolutely loved it. It was very interesting to hear everybody's thoughts and have a real face-to-face discussion which is not really possible in the blogosphere - not on that kind of level, anyway.

 
 

Another thing I love about it is that we got to meet author Anne Raina in our second meeting. She is from this area and co-wrote Clara's Rib with her sister Clara Raina Flannigan (see my review here). The book is about the many, many years Clara spent at a tuberculosis hospital in Ottawa, Canada. It is a very intense book and it was such an amazing experience to be able to talk to Anne about how she experienced her sister's illness and how it affected everybody in her family. I was completely mesmerized by this book and all the additional stories Anne Raina had to tell. This has definitely been one of the best book-related experiences yet for me.



*****

This shall conclude today's post, but I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment, telling me about your book club or any other bookish experiences.



14 comments:

  1. oh my!! Ina!!!
    That is sooo cool!!! The Alchemist is a high school obligatory read here BUT when I was in high school we changed it for 100 years of solitude which was AMAZING and is one of my all time favorite books! You should read it!! :)

    I wish we had book clubs here :(

    Who knows...maybe I'll put a bookstore or a library here and start one!! :D

    I beat you today!!!!!! I commented first!! ~throws a party~

    Here's my post, Bookpics is Talking Networking!
    http://bookpics-reading2alba.blogspot.com/2012/06/armchair-bea-lets-talk-networking.html

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    1. Haha, yes, you did beat me to it this time. ;)

      I first started looking around for a book club last year but I couldn't find anything - not unless I wanted to drive for 2 hours. When the sign up sheet went up at the library late in December, I knew I had to do it. There are definitely some funny characters in this group and I'm so happy I decided to join. :)

      Maybe you could put up a sign at your local bookstore to see if anybody would be interested in joining a book club. I'm sure you'd be able to find some book lovers. ;)

      100 Years of Solitude - the title alone has me very intrigued. I'll make sure to check it out. :)

      Off to read your post now. :D

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  2. Book clubs are fascinating in that you can chat about why you don't like and do. I fairly recently started an online one that takes place on Skype so we get that live interaction. I'm loving it so far!

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    1. Oh, that sounds awesome! What kind of books do you read in your book club? Can anybody join? ;)

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  3. I love my book club for exposing me to books that I normally wouldn't read. There have been several I have just loved and if it wasn't for book club I would not have given them a second thought.
    And if this book club is successful, maybe you could suggest that your library start another one for YA?

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    1. That's exactly what I love about this book club as well. I almost 100 percent certain I wouldn't have picked up any of the books we've read so far. I would have missed out immensely!!!

      That's actually a great idea. I'm afraid they would only let teens join though and I haven't been a teen for more than 10 years now. *lol*

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  4. I want to join a book club SO bad. I'm hoping to find one in my new city. :)

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  5. I'm so glad you found some new things to read! Book clubs are a great jumping point for so many other things. I hope you continue to enjoy your meetings! I'm glad you joined ABEA! Tattooed Books

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  6. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I have been wanting to join a local book club, but haven't had the chance yet. I do belong to a one that discusses books on Facebook and it's pretty fun!

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  7. I've joined a few school book clubs, and it's pretty cool, unless your teacher chooses a boring book, or she doesn't make the book club interesting.

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  8. Being a part of a book club is so awesome. I'm a part of 2 and totally agree that I read books I wouldn't normally and it's great when I love 'em - even when I don;t, it's still a learning experience.

    Tanya
    Girlxoxo.com

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  9. Love that you have a little man!!!

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks.com

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  10. I've wondered what it would be like to be part of a book club. Maybe I should check out my local library? I never think of things like that...

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  11. I really wish we have a book club here, I should create one if I find the members.

    -Jay
    We Fancy Books

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