Book Clubs as Accountability

Recently a friend asked me to join a book club and I happily agreed.
While most of my reads lean toward fiction, this book club has encouraged me to focus on non-fiction. It’s been a great way to step out of my comfort zone and keep me on a reading schedule. I have one week to read a section. This has been helpful to me personally because I tend to either consume a book in days with no other care for the rest of my life or I take so long that I have to reread some sections. With no schedule I am a free agent to read at the speed I choose. That comes with benefits to my goal when I focus on consumption only but disadvantages when I don’t allot a specific time frame. A book club however keeps me accountable for a section of a book once a week determined by a group of people. Once I finish that section I force myself to put down the book and go on with the rest of my life (very often picking up another book). 

The book club has also been a great validation on books I have not liked. We’re only a club of three at the moment but when three people feel the need to just power through, it’s definitely validating to NOT include that book in my 1000 book shelf. 

Tying the book club to my goal of owning 1000 books I enjoyed has been encouraging. Even when life has gotten busy, a book club keeps at least one book in my hand at all times. Meaning, I never step away from the goal and I have encouraging friends who understand the goal.