I’ve always been a reader for as long as I can remember
and will read (almost) anything; I’ll read the back of cereal packets or
adverts on the underground if nothing else is available. I’m also never short
of things to read … I have piles of books all over the house and keep a TBR
list on Goodreads. Then there are the post-it notes with recommendations from
friends plus photos on my phone of books I’ve seen in shops and libraries.
Just setting the scene … lifetime reader, librarian, house
full of books, never short of something to read …
So why did I join a book group a few years ago?
Over time, most of my reading has veered towards
teen/YA with the occasional new novel by a favourite adult writer thrown in
during the holidays. Nothing wrong with that but it wasn’t always the case.
Once upon a time I read only adult novels, wasn’t even aware that teen/YA books
existed but exposure to these writers as a school librarian meant that slowly things
changed and I wanted to extend my adult reading again, discover new authors,
try something different. I know I could have done this by asking for
recommendations or browsing the shelves in my public library but there’s
something about sharing the experience of reading a book. Whilst reading itself
is a solitary activity, each book will tell a different story to every person
who discovers it and listening to others talking about what they got out of a
book, how they identified with the characters, what they picked up on and
noticed, adds additional dimensions to your own reading experience. It’s good
to share.
It worked. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed every book we read
and some of them I wouldn’t have finished if I hadn’t been listening to an
audio version during my daily commute. But there were certainly a few books
which encouraged me to read more by the same author.
Then I moved, joined a new book group and it’s been a
bit of a disaster!
I have struggled with every book. Every single one!
Even when I was able to find an audio version, I would not connect in any way
with the story and my thoughts would drift off so that I missed chunks of it. I
found myself resenting the time I had to spend reading these books for the next
meeting, glaring at them sitting on my bedside table and covering (aka hiding) them
with other, more appealing, tomes.
This surprised me. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt such
animosity towards a book in my life before plus I found myself not wanting to
go to the book group, which got me thinking about why? How had something that
was such an integral part of me, something that was as natural as breathing,
been turned into something I was actively avoiding?
I recognised it was because I didn’t want any more
books that would result in a bad reading experience as each of these felt like
a failure. Everyone else was able to read the book, and most of the group
enjoyed them, so why not me? There was
also an element of guilt involved as I felt I was letting down the other
members of the book group. And I realised how awful it must be for those
children who really couldn’t seem to find a book that they connected with and
yet were forced to read. How, if they tried book after book after book, only to
give up half way through, or only ever read books chosen by their teachers and
which they didn’t like or enjoy, they would soon come to the conclusion that all
books were the same and that they hated reading. I don’t think I’d ever really
been able to truly understand this because I’ve never felt like that towards
reading.
Students today have huge demands on their time so
reading often isn’t a high priority and if they don’t find it a pleasant
experience, why would they actually choose
to do it? This makes connecting the right book with the right child so
important. It also means that they need to be able to try, and give up, books
that they don’t enjoy … without any pressure. And they need to be able to
choose their own books, not be directed by a reading scheme or a book list or a
teacher’s choice for the whole class. Sure, guidance from a knowledgeable librarian
helps but ultimately, it has to be their choice because they will be the one
reading it.
As for my reading group, a busy time and the summer
holidays provided a natural break, and the next book was one that I actually
wanted to read so that aided a natural move back into it. I have also given
myself permission to “not” read a book if I don’t want to …
