By Brian Walny
As weather warms and operations continue to return to “normal,” the programs and activities at Vicksburg District Library are blooming. All in-person programming was on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are thrilled to bring back the in-person book club! Hosting a book club is one of the library’s oldest and dearest traditions, and having it return in spring, the season of renewal, just feels right. Offering traditional programs like our Book Club or Writers’ Roundtable helps establish the library as a place where the community can congregate and enjoy opportunities to learn, socialize, develop relationships, and connect with one another in an increasingly virtual-driven world.
One of my greatest joys in life is reading, and I’ve always enjoyed reading book reviews and criticisms to help me decide what to read next. Book critiques can be very helpful in discovering your preferences and save you time when choosing your next book. For me, pacing is huge, and I tend to lose interest in slow-paced stories. If something is slow, I might not like it, and if it’s fast-paced, there’s a better chance my easily distractible brain will be able to stay engaged.
Learning how to critique and find what elements work or don’t work for you can serve as a guide as you look for new materials. It’s good to understand these things about yourself and to be able to express how a book or movie made you feel.
Reading can be a social activity. It is wonderful to share an opinion about a book you have just read. The idea for our newest book club is to meet regularly to talk about books we like and determine what the other members have been reading. We will decide on a theme/genre to read for each meeting, like books about love, death, food, family, etc., and everybody will bring the book they chose and read. This relaxed approach to our club allows us to explore different genres that we have never delved into before and to talk about our love of reading. This is in contrast to a structured book club where members read an assigned book they may not like.
The library is adding new titles all the time: fascinating new biographies, science fiction, mysteries, thrillers, romance and more. Somewhere among all those new releases are titles that interest you but might not be easy to find on your own. We can help with that!
Meetings are held 9:30-10:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month in the lower level of Vicksburg Library. Drinks and snacks provided! Call 649-1648 or e-mail Brian at bwalny@vicksburglibrary.org for more information.