How We Escaped Book Club Guilt and Started Enjoying Book Talk Again
This spring, Curious Matter partnered with the Jersey City Free Public Library and launched On Reading & Response, “a different kind of book club” organized as part of our year-long inquiry, On Books: The form, flow, and force of books. The premise was simple. Rather than asking everyone to dutifully read the same book, we invited them to bring whatever they were already reading, whether they had finished, or just started their book.
What followed was more lively and enjoyable than we expected. Over three weekly gatherings in May, readers arrived with novels, memoirs, poetry collections, histories, sociological studies, philosophy, research, and texts difficult to categorize. Yet despite the variety of reading material, the conversations quickly found common ground. Participants spoke not only about books, but about curiosity, memory, identity, work, relationships, and the questions that accompany us through daily life.
What became clear was that people were eager for an opportunity to talk about their reading—not as homework or obligation, but as part of an engaged life. There was genuine enthusiasm in the room. Participants returned from one gathering to the next, welcomed new attendees, and helped create an atmosphere that was thoughtful, generous, and unexpectedly joyful.
As the series evolved, small-group discussions became a central part of the format, allowing conversations to deepen and connections to emerge between readers whose books had seemingly little in common. What mattered was not the subject of a particular book, but the experience of being engaged by it.
We’re sincerely appreciative to the Jersey City Free Public Library for seeing the potential in this experiment, especially to Kevin Ortiz and Yolanda Keahey for their partnership, support, and enthusiasm throughout the series. The popular response has encouraged us to continue.
We hope you'll join us. Bring whatever you're reading.
