Had to choose between a deep dive on themes vs. keeping the discussion light for my book club last week

I was leading the chat on 'The Measure' and I figured if I pushed too hard on the moral questions people would just zone out, so I picked the light route. We ended up spending 20 minutes talking about the characters' dating lives instead of the actual plot, and nobody wanted to admit it was a dud. Has anyone else messed up by trying too hard to keep the peace?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley7291mo ago

Kept it light with my book club once too and we ended up debating whether the main character would pick coffee or tea for like 15 minutes. Totally missed the point of the whole chapter.

lewis.troy2mo ago

Maybe people just wanted to escape into the love stories instead of heavy stuff.

-1

maryt622mo ago

All those 20-star reviews on Goodreads for Colleen Hoover books... I mean, I get it, people like a simple happy ending. But calling it an "escape" from serious stuff feels like a stretch when half of those books still deal with abuse and trauma. It's like people just want the drama without having to think about it too hard. Maybe they just want to feel something without the world having to make sense, you know?