Am I the only one who thinks book club picks are getting too heavy?

Margaret Coleman · 2026-02-28T02:06:15.236323+00:00

I've seen a pattern in the books my friends' clubs are picking lately. For example, last month two groups I know both read that sad memoir about addiction. In my club, we argued for an hour about whether the author was too hard on herself. One person said it felt like we were just digging into someone's pain. Another said these tough books make us think more. It seems like every pick now has to be some big issue. I kind of wish we'd just read a fun mystery sometimes.

charles_black247mo ago

That digging into pain thing is spot on. Feels like forced empathy.

5

margaret4787mo ago

My club spent 40 minutes last week talking about the soup in a war novel. We barely got to the actual themes. Sometimes the heavy book is just a starting point.

3

the_andrew7mo ago

But does picking easier books make the talk feel shallow?

1