The meeting went incredibly well! When he gave us our books last month, David asked that we each write down our three most favorite and three least favorite things as we read. This was the perfect way to handle an author meeting, in my opinion. It allowed us to encourage the author in the areas we thought he succeeded in while giving us the push we might need to share the things we thought could use improvement. I mean, no one wants to be insulting, right? But we do want to be honest and this plan made that easy to do.
Just about everyone came up with something that she enjoyed about the book, and just about everyone came up with something that she did not enjoy. For a while the conversation veered off into religious beliefs but thankfully that didn't last too long. And we all got a good laugh when David repeatedly stated (with a great sense of humor) that "THIS is why I'll never write a religious book again!"
At the end of the meeting David surprised the girls with unedited copies of his upcoming bioterrorism novel for any who were interested. Thanks!!!
We had three new members this time - welcome all! Eleven people attended the meeting and lots more read the book but couldn't make it to the meeting. This was our biggest group of readers ever ... 17! Here's how the rating went:
- 4 = 3 votes
- 5 = 2 votes
- 6 = 7 votes
- 8 = 5 votes
Our next meeting will be at Nancy's house on Aug. 3 and it's our Annual Pool Party - yeah! We'll be discussing Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. This was Steph's book pick. Kelli gets to choose the next book.
At our next meeting we'll also discuss ways to improve our club. Please think of the things you like about SdelleS and also the things that need improvement; I want to hear from honest opinions from everyone. :)
(In case you forgot, here's the backstory of how David Wilson ended up at our book club.)
1 comment:
I read this and just had to respond!
As an author I thoroughly enjoy book club discussions- I participate in person (when I can!) by speaker phone, ichat and skype. What I have found is that readers are smart and often times are astute at seeing things I may have done subconsciously. I will say that it's refreshing when everyone does not have the same opinion about my book. I emphasize to the groups that it's perfectly fine to communicate that the book didn't resonate with them- it makes for engaging and interesting discourse.
As an author you make certain literary choices - I think readers are fascinated when I tell them, "Yes I wrote it that way at first but then I changed it- and here's why - what are your thoughts?"
Also I think it's been an eye opener to readers to realize that an author is NOT any of their characters and often times these characters end up doing and saying things that horrifies the author lol!!! Thanks for a great post!
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