Why I'm Not In a Book Group

I have nothing against the idea of book groups. In fact, I love book groups. And in spite of articles like this one (thanks to Syntax of Things) I don't even hate the corporate book groups -- anything that helps sell literary fiction is fantastic in my book. So to speak.

Yet. Yet. I'm not in one. Today I had a fantasy about starting one -- wouldn't it be nice to be compelled to read a book all the way through, and then have some girl friends over to chat about it? Yes, it would. It would be fun. Unless they chose a book I hated. Or unless they hated a book I chose (much worse, actually). All that airing of opinion. Hmph.

Actually, reading and socializing are opposites to me. Reading is a self-involved, indulgent, purely mental pleasure. Socializing is, well, about others. Having to deal with other people's experience of a book ruins the reading pleasure, and the reading gets in the way of getting to know other people. When I have the rare and delightful experience of spending time with other adult women, I want to talk about their lives, not fictional lives.

Anyway, I fully anticipate reneging on this post sometime in the future. My excellent friend Angele is moving to Florida very soon and I'm already totally lonely and missing her. Wouldn't starting a book group be the perfect excuse to to find some new friends???