Recently, a new book club has started back up after a hiatus. Members have been meeting to discuss literature and spend time with other students who are avid readers.
“A lot of my really literary kids who enjoy reading on their own have really had the drive to keep Book Club going,” English teacher and book club sponsor Courtney Brown said. “All of the students involved in book club love to read on their own. They’re independent readers and independent thinkers.”
Book club was started in the 2014-2015 school year by current sophomore Sydney Smith. She brought the idea of book club to Mrs. Brown, who agreed to sponsor the club and hold meetings about the books read.
“The very first book we read was the Catcher in the Rye, which is my favorite book,” Smith said. “The first meeting was really surreal, because I had wanted a book club for a long time. I had wanted one since the beginning of the year, so it was really cool to see everybody gather together for one common thing.”
This school year, book club kicked off by reading Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. The most recent book read and discussed by the club is Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Each new book the club will read is announced on the first Tuesday of every month.
“I consider myself an avid reader, and I noticed that over the summer I got into this rut and I was just reading the exact same style over and over,” senior Zoe Henderson said. “I joined book club to expand my horizons. I would’ve never picked up a book by Ray Bradbury before, but I ended up reading it because of book club and I got sucked in.”
Meetings for book club are monthly on Tuesdays after school until 4:30, and there are two fundraisers held every year. Each meeting is held in Mrs. Brown’s room and the current book is thoroughly analyzed and discussed by book club members.
“In book club you’re reading on your own, pulling information and analyzing the text,” Brown said. “They’re enjoying it as well, but they’re researching things and collaborating with other people and discussing the book. All of that is helping them gain important skills for succeeding in their future classes.”
