Reading "The Cowboy Girl" in a book club
Last month I had the first experience of participating in a book club that had read "The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart." I think it was as fun for me as it was for the readers.
It's true that I had some familiarity with this club -- it's in my hometown. But it's an all-women's club, so I had never attended, and indeed a special dispensation had to be made for the author. I tried to speak only when spoken to.
One thing that made the session especially fun for the participants was the Book Club Questions posted here on the website. One of the members had printed them off, cut them into tiny strips, and handed them out. Club members randomly read a question, and discussion ranged from 10 seconds to 15 minutes, with laughter of course frequently included.
What made the session fun for me was not just that I could watch readers go through the same sets of reactions that I had in researching and writing the book. It was also that these folks got to share those reactions, and immediately disagree about them. A couple of the readers had big problems with Lockhart; others were willing to defend her. Many made frequent parallels to today's hot political topics (sexism, abortion, and homosexuality, to name three).
There were also -- and here's where the laughter particularly increased -- some rather gossipy discussions of Lockhart's personal life. One of the members seemed rather embarrassed for me.
"Don’t apologize," I responded. "You're talking about issues of how people see the moral choices in their lives, issues that occupied me in writing the book as well. Look at the question I put first on that list!"
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
It's true that I had some familiarity with this club -- it's in my hometown. But it's an all-women's club, so I had never attended, and indeed a special dispensation had to be made for the author. I tried to speak only when spoken to.
One thing that made the session especially fun for the participants was the Book Club Questions posted here on the website. One of the members had printed them off, cut them into tiny strips, and handed them out. Club members randomly read a question, and discussion ranged from 10 seconds to 15 minutes, with laughter of course frequently included.
What made the session fun for me was not just that I could watch readers go through the same sets of reactions that I had in researching and writing the book. It was also that these folks got to share those reactions, and immediately disagree about them. A couple of the readers had big problems with Lockhart; others were willing to defend her. Many made frequent parallels to today's hot political topics (sexism, abortion, and homosexuality, to name three).
There were also -- and here's where the laughter particularly increased -- some rather gossipy discussions of Lockhart's personal life. One of the members seemed rather embarrassed for me.
"Don’t apologize," I responded. "You're talking about issues of how people see the moral choices in their lives, issues that occupied me in writing the book as well. Look at the question I put first on that list!"
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
