Just learned most book clubs die after 3 meetings

I was venting to a librarian friend last weekend about how my current group keeps losing steam. She pulled up some stat from a library journal that said over 60% of book clubs don't make it past the third meeting. That hit me hard because we're sitting at meeting four now and two people already bailed. She said it's usually because people pick books that are too long or too dense for busy schedules. Our last pick was a 500 page historical novel and half the group admitted they only read the first chapter. Now I'm wondering if we should switch to shorter books or maybe even short story collections. Has anyone else seen their club fall apart that fast and found a way to keep it going?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel_jones29d ago

It's funny how this same pattern shows up everywhere, not just in book clubs. People have good intentions when they start something new, but real life and daily responsibilities just wear that enthusiasm down pretty fast. The trick is figuring out what works with everyone's actual schedule, not what sounds impressive on paper.

margareto2628d agoTop Commenter

Right, because nothing says "organized book club" like showing up with snacks and pretending you actually finished the book. @the_lisa's fourth meeting sounds like a masterclass in making awkward silences feel productive, maybe next time pick a coloring book. Real life schedules are great at killing good intentions, but hey, at least the snacks don't judge you for not reading.

the_lisa29d ago

Oh man, that statistic actually makes me feel a little better because our club absolutely crashed and burned after meeting three. We started with eight people all excited and by the fourth meeting it was just me and one other person sitting in awkward silence. We tried picking a popular thriller that was supposed to be a quick read but some people still said they couldn't keep up with it between work and family stuff. It got to the point where I started bringing snacks just to have something to do while we sat there pretending we had anything to say about the book. I honestly think the whole thing works better when you keep it casual and pick stuff that's under 300 pages or even a collection of short stories.