The Shallow Book Club Club

If you're the kind of person who wouldn't join any club that would have you as a member, why not come along on PG's new venture, The Shallow Book Club Club. Let me elucidate:

Literature encourages deep thoughts, doesn't it? Isn't that the point? To expand your mind? Learn new things? See it from a new perspective?

With this in mind, I recently joined a book club. I wanted to read books that normally I wouldn't glance at. I wanted to see what I had been missing, and discuss it with others. Plus, I wanted to make some friends as I don't actually have any non-internet ones who aren't married to me or related to me. So I went along to a book club meeting and found a group of people who are at the opposite end of the spectrum to me, book-wise.

Interestingly, they're all anti deep thought. This makes for a pleasant change when discussing literature. The emphasis is not on what you felt, or thoughts you had, but what characters wore and whether you'd like them to live around the corner from you. It puts a whole new spin on reading. The book is discussed for ten minutes maximum. It is then scored out of ten on some hazy comparative scale. After that, wine and low fat crisps are served and conversation moves on to mother in laws and decorating.

So, here's the deal. Each month I'll report back on the brief thoughts expressed on the book in question. If you would like to play along, read the book and leave your own, extremely shallow, thoughts as a comment. Let's see how brief we can make this book club.

As an example, we last read Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Comments included:

- I didn't like anyone very much.
- I wondered what order they donated organs in?
- I once found something I had lost in Norfolk.
- I didn't realise it was about clones until the end.

Next up, two books: Billie Morgan by Joolz Denby and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I'll report back at the beginning of November.