Book Club is are Hard to find
May 14th, 2009Have you ever considered joining a local book club? Have you ever wished to read books and discuss those topics with others who have read them too? Well, psychology expert Jill Peterson, says; “Be careful what you wish for.” She explained that most small book clubs are quite dysfunctional, as the tastes and choices of books vary so much amongst the members. Still, that is only the start of the problems and challenges of small book clubs; in walks Personality Dynamics and Control Issues.
That’s right says our psychologist, as often the founder of the book club works to control in a dictatorial style. And if you think that a writer’s club is any different think again; the same pecking order issues, control aspects, and personality challenges are there as well. What you will find is that there are always several splinter groups of the original within less than a year, even for those groups that only meet one time per month.
Worse, each group uses the newly formed competition as a point of strength comparing and telling of how they are better than the other group or groups. If you think that sounds a bit dysfunctional, you are absolutely right. And dysfunctional is indeed the right word says psychologist Peterson, as it is very similar to that of a family with personality conflicts and issues.
Another big problem is how some members condemn other members who did not read the entire book or did not participate fully in reading it all - almost as if the club is a classroom or college course and the reading assignment is one-third of a person’s grade.
Unfortunately, it gets even more problematic as new members are not given the same amount of time for opinion or not considered exemplary members in good standing to make future book recommendations. So, be careful when joining a small book club. Please think on this.
Simple “Traffic Machine”
