The Book Club which Julianne Lowe belongs to has published a book about its first 20 years. PHOTO/ STEPHEN PARKER
Formed through a shared passion of reading, book clubs in Rotorua have lasted the distance. Rebecca Malcolm finds out more about the popularity of book clubs and their enduring nature.
When Julianne Lowe joined The Book Club almost two decades ago she had little idea what to expect.
Looking back, the avid reader says it was just about finding some new books to read, and engaging in a bit of intellectual conversation about them.
What she didn't expect was to find herself in a somewhat exclusive club that's been as much about forming friendships, supporting each other through bereavements, celebrating children's achievements and welcoming grandchildren. Friendships formed as they leafed their way through more than 1700 books over nearly 20 years.
The book club was the brainchild of Tricia Briscoe, who, on returning to Rotorua from Auckland, suggested to a friend they set up a club similar to the one she'd been involved in.
The idea soon grew and The Book Club was formed with eight members. It has since expanded to a maximum of 10 members, but there's no waiting list - with just three members leaving over the two decades it's one of those clubs that once in, you tend to stay in, Julianne says.
It started with each member bringing their two favourite books to start the library, but these days each member puts in $20 a month, and when it's "their" month they take a turn to spend $200 on books for the club library.
The books remain in the library for a year - perhaps longer if they're popular - before being returned to the purchaser to keep.
Each month members take turns to talk about the book or books they've read the previous month and the hostess introduces the new books.
"We've all got quite different perspectives as we've all come from quite different backgrounds."
Over time - and they've had 20 years - they've discovered whose books they like. Julianne knows she'll love the books some of the members recommend, while there's others that no matter how hard she tries, she just can't love the same books as them.
"It's friendship first. The thing that has kept us together is that wonderful supply of books."
So popular is the club that despite moving away, some members travel back for the monthly meetings.
"We wanted a book club so we could share books, that's what we had in common, a love of reading. We've seen each other through deaths, births and marriages. There have been the marriages of children, and lots of grandchildren popping up recently. "We see each other every month which is more than most friends."
And because of that, they've formed some close relationships. "It's not the sort of place you confess your deepest, darkest secret but we're all pretty non-judgmental." While none would admit it, Julianne says they all want to be the one to buy the book everyone loves.
Among the most popular was The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth.
"There are some grim books that are beautifully written like The Glass Castle."
She says there's plenty of knowledge in the group.
"It's like being a voyeur - you look into people's lives you wouldn't normally experience." The club has one rule - no matter how bad a book, it can't be discarded until you've read 30 pages. "The Book Thief is the exception. Once you got into it it was amazing."
Across town at another book club, the way it works is different but the underlying friendship is still the same.
LINDA MACPHERSON Linda Macpherson says if her club wasn't a book club it would probably be a wine club - "It's always about the total experience isn't it?" "Book club is a great excuse to get together with great people to talk about books and drink wine."
A group of girlfriends started it, with about eight women in the unnamed club at any one time, she says.
Whenever one moves away or leaves, another is quick to snaffle the free spot. "We don't always all know the new person coming so over time we have met new people who have become great friends too. There are all sorts of people - lawyers, health professionals, an entomologist, business people, stay-at-home mums - so everyone sees the books through different eyes and experiences."
The group subscribe to the Book Discussion Scheme - a not-for-profit organisation in Christchurch run mostly by volunteers. Each month they receive a set of books and discussion notes, so they all read the same book at the same time.
"If we didn't read the same book, I think it would be more of a book swap, and we wouldn't talk about the book so much."
Members have found different books appeal to different people depending on the experience they've had in their life, she says.
"Last year I really enjoyed Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese) and The Industry of Souls (Martin Booth).
"You end up reading books that you might not have picked out yourself but really enjoy." While they probably get one "dud" a year, a book one might not like might have really appealed to the next member. And besides, there's no obligation to read it, she says.
"As parents, it is easy to default to talking about our children. Book club stirs up all sorts of discussions - not always about the book - that I don't think we would have otherwise."
THREE DECADES Also going down the Book Discussion Scheme route is the book club Maureen Cresswell, Fran Blundell and Pat Osborne belong to.
The group has been meeting for three decades, and Fran says while in the early days membership changed a bit because of the transient nature of Rotorua, most of the members these days had been in it for 20 years or more.
She laughs that they don't have a waiting list because they simply don't have the people leaving. "I've advised a lot of people to start their own."
The book club didn't get off to the best start though - with a "serious librarian" selecting the heavy volume 100 Years of Solitude as the first read. "It was like a door-stopper. Nobody wanted to own up to the fact they hadn't read it," Fran says.
While the group steer away from books that are too light - Pat says those with too many adjectives are dubbed chick lit in a derogatory fashion - as their lives have changed they've tackled more serious books.
"We haven't got the distractions we had when we started," Maureen says. Half the members are now 70 or older. The eldest is 87 and can recount every book she's read. The youngest is in her mid-30s.
The club also has two mother-daughter combos and a number of members have travelled overseas together. "There's never a meeting that goes by without tons of laughter. It's not the food and drink, it's the people and the books."
The Book Club facts •The only rule is to read at least 30 pages. •About 1700 titles have been purchased as part of the book club. •Based on an average 10 readers, each member has 170 more books than when they started. •With an average width of 3cm, that's 5m of books. •The longest book title is The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. •The shortest book title is Lit. •Thirty-two books in the library have Girl in the title and only 15 have the word Woman. •The author with the most books was Alexander McCall Smith. •There were 26 authors the club held over six books for. - From The Book Club, The First 20 Years, published by The Book Club Julianne Lowe is a member of.