One of my fellow mystery book lovers stunned me during our last Mystery Book Club discussion – the club I attend in Manchester, Massachusetts. He asked/exclaimed, “Why do you have to compare books?”
In my mind, I’m thinking, “That’s more than half the fun of our meetings, the source of much fun, laughter, and thoughtfulness. What’s Joe’s problem?” I didn’t say that exactly, but my thoughts then and immediately afterward were dismissive.
So why does his question stay in my mind?
Apparently Mystery Book Lovers Appreciate Their Mystery Books in Differing Ways!
I’ve known Joe for roughly the nine years I have been attending the mystery book club. He is one of three members still attending that were present when I first visited. One of the things about Joe that is quite different is that he often reads the assigned book two or even three times – just for the fun of it.
“I get something different out of it each time,” he has said. I have heard people say that about the Bible, but mystery books are different, aren’t they?
I don’t know, but Joe savors different phrases, different characters, hidden clues in each book. He doesn’t need to compare it to other books he has read, or that others have read, because each book is enjoyable on its own merits. He isn’t crazy about the “grading form” we use either, so he gives most books a score of 90 along with a telltale shrug of his shoulder.
I admit that I created the “grading form” a few years back as a way to facilitate comparing. It helps the club members to compare their opinions with one another about one book’s plot, characters, and more. It also makes it easier for me and others to remember their feelings about one book and compare it with many others as the year rolls forward. I like comparing! It’s fun to see how we can totally disagree about a book at times, and then, unpredictably, agree at other times.
But Joe doesn’t care that much about comparing.
Carol, another club member, also has no problem making comparisons. In fact she often compares one of the assigned club selections to her high standard of “a Lincoln Rhyme book” by Jeffrey Deaver. Yet if I suggest that a plot is in a book is just too “over-the-top” and failed to draw me in and make me like the central protagonist, she feels like I am taking the book apart too much. “I just read it and enjoy it and don’t over-think it,” she’ll say.
Bottom Line: Just because we, in the book club, are all mystery book lovers, doesn’t mean that we love the books in the same way.
I think that reading a book is one experience to enjoy, and reflecting on a book’s pros and cons is another experience to enjoy – and that’s what draws us all together each month. As the day of the meeting draws near, I always wonder how the others enjoyed the book selection. I am rarely disappointed by the variety of views and good fun that we have sharing together.
By the way, there is most likely a mystery book club near you. Here is just a start of a list. And as for our own mystery book fan club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, look here.
I love hanging out with other mystery book lovers, no matter how they love their books!
