Book club fight over a memoir split us down the middle last night

We meet at the library downtown and six of us loved the author's honesty while five called it self-serving drama, so now nobody wants to pick next month's pick. How do you handle a vote that ends up this divided without someone quitting the group?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanc3221d ago

Expect this to happen with any group that meets on purpose. People do not gather monthly for a book unless they care deeply about the stories they read, and caring deeply means strong feelings will eventually clash. A split vote like yours is actually a sign the group is working right, because nobody is just nodding along to keep the peace. The real problem is not the tie, it is that everyone seems to want their own taste to win instead of accepting that the group is a mix. Next time, let the losing side pick the book after the winning side gets their turn, so nobody feels ignored. If someone quits over a single pick, they were probably looking for an excuse to leave anyway.

emery_lopez20d ago

...and honestly that is exactly what happened with my knitting group a few years back. We split right down the middle over a true crime book, half of us thought it was gripping and the other half said it was just misery for fun. I was on the losing side and I nearly quit that night, but then Jordanc32 said something similar about letting the other side pick the next one. We agreed to alternate, winner picks one month, loser picks the next, and it saved the whole group. We still fight sometimes, but now it is about the books, not about who gets to win, and nobody has walked out since.