Just found out how many books the average book club actually finishes

I was reading a blog post from a librarian in Austin yesterday, and she cited a study showing only about 65% of book clubs finish the book before meeting. I always thought everyone did the reading. It made me check our club's last four picks, and sure enough, we only fully finished two. Has your group ever had this problem, and how do you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

david5621d ago

We started a "no shame" rule where you can come even if you only read half. It helps keep people showing up. Picking books under 300 pages made the biggest difference, though. We also spend the first 15 minutes doing a quick plot recap for anyone who fell behind.

emmawood1d ago

Our group actually started picking shorter books on purpose. We did a few novellas last year, like "The Pearl" by Steinbeck, and the completion rate shot up. It takes the pressure off and lets us actually talk about the whole story. Sometimes a great discussion needs everyone to have read the same ending.